Atlanta Georgian (Hearst’s Sunday American)
July 27^th, 1913

Emphatic denial of the charges by Chief of Detectives Lanford that he had kept bad faith with the city department in connection with the investigation of the murder of Mary Phagan was made by H. B. Pierce, superintendent of the Pinkerton Detective Agency in Atlanta, Saturday night.

Chief Lanford’s accusations against the Pinkerton official were mainly that he had withheld evidence from the city police, especially the bloodstained stick and the pay envelope of the Phagan girl, both of which were found by Pinkerton operatives on the first floor of the factory and were later reported in possession of the defense. The Chief intimated that the Police Board would be asked to take action against Pierce personally.

“The stick was submitted to Chief Lanford by myself,” declared Mr. Pierce. “The Mary Phagan pay envelope was shown him by our representative, Harry Scott.

Scoffs Stick Story.

“When I displayed the stick to Mr. Lanford, he informed me that it could not have been found in the place it was reported found, as a minute search of every bit of the three floors in the factory already had been inspected by two of the city detectives, in company with Mr. Scott. Under this information, we cast the stick aside and did not regard it as evidence and thought nothing else about it until I read about it in the newspapers—I think, Thursday.

“The stick was turned over to Mr. Rosser. When I learned a day or two ago that Mr. Dorsey had not heard of it, I went to Mr. Rosser’s office, obtained the stick, and took it to Mr. Dorsey. Mr. Dorsey, I understand, does not think much of the stick as evidence, and neither does Mr. Rosser.

“As to it being planted evidence, I desire to say that I believe Mr. Rosser to be entirely too honorable to have been connected with the planting of evidence, while I also hold the same opinion of Mr. Dorsey.

“Inasmuch as two city detectives and Mr. Scott had made a minute investigation of the factory before the time of the reported finding of the stick, I do not regard the stick highly as evidence.

“Scott Has Been Fair.”

“The policy of the Pinkerton Agency is to be fair and impartial in its investigations. Mr. Scott has been absolutely in charge of this investigation, and I think the least that could be said is that he has been absolutely fair with the police, Solicitor General and the National Pencil Company people in his work upon it.”

Mr. Scott was with Mr. Pierce at the time of the interview. He said he did not remember hearing the conversations between Chief Lanford and Pierce regarding the stick.

“I submitted the pay envelope to Chief Lanford, though,” he said. “He asked me for it, and I said that I preferred to keep it. The Police Department has been advised of everything we have developed in the case, while the same is true of the Solicitor General and Mr. Rosser.”

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian
July 26^th, 1913

Both Sides Hide Vital Phagan Facts

State’s Prosecutor Shrouds Identity and Stories of Scores of Witnesses in Secrecy.

Prosecution and defense continued their preparations for the Frank trial Saturday, the last-hour hurry of interviewing new witnesses and gathering up the stray ends of evidence giving a fair promise that the trial will start as scheduled next Monday forenoon.

That Solicitor Dorsey has nearly a score of important witnesses whose testimony has been carefully guarded from the defense and the general public is well known. These witnesses have come to his office from time to time, and the Solicitor has refused to give out the vaguest intimation of the line of testimony they would give at the trial.

The prosecution has reserved their evidence to spring as a surprise during the trial. On these persons the State depends to clinch its case against the young factory superintendent. Some of them will be called to bear out different portions of the negro Conley’s affidavit, in which was told the story of the disposal of Mary Phagan’s body. The Solicitor is understood to have witnesses who will corroborate portions of Conley’s story which have been under the severest fire.

Thinks Conley Story True.

The Solicitor several times has announced that he believes Conley is telling the truth in the essential statements of his affidavit. He has strengthened his belief by interviewing many people who were in a position to know of different circumstances mentioned in Conley’s story. The only possibility of an alteration in the State’s theory is that the time element may be modified in certain respects.

Similar surprises may be expected from the defense. Attorney Rosser has not been communicative with the newspaper men. The few bits of his evidence that have become known to the public were obtained in spite of him. Except for the Mincey affidavit, published in The Georgian, most of the important evidence of the defense has been so carefully guarded as to make it still a matter of conjecture. The general plan of Frank’s defense can be surmised, but the contents of the hundred or more affidavits in the possession of Attorney Rosser remain a deep mystery.

“Plant” Generally Suspected.

No one expects at this time that the pay envelope, the bloody club or the piece of rope found on the first floor will play any large part in the trial. Neither side is convinced of their genuineness. The suspicion of a “plant” has prevailed from the time of their discovery.

Two operatives who began turning up this sort of startling evidence the moment they were placed on the case soon were taken off the Phagan mystery by the Pinkerton agency.

Both sides announce themselves ready for the trial to proceed. It is regarded as doubtful that the defense will ask for another continuance, except on account of the absence of material witnesses or the illness of counsel. About 150 witnesses already have been summoned by the defense.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Sunday, May 4^th, 1913

At the top is a sketch made by Henderson from the last photograph taken of little Mary Phagan, the 14-year-old girl of tragedy. Below is a photograph of her mother and step-father, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Coleman, and her sister, Miss Ollie Phagan. The other picture was taken at the funeral.

Could you walk for hours in the heart of Atlanta without seeing a person you know?

What did Atlanta detectives do to keep murderer from “planting” evidence against suspects?

Are all the men who have been held as suspects marked men for the rest of their lives as the result of a caprice of circumstance?

This not the story of Mary Phagan. It is a story about the story of Mary Phagan.

All of the story of little Mary Phagan that can be learned has been told simply and without further sensation than the facts themselves afforded in the columns of The Atlanta Constitution from the time of this paper’s exclusive story of the grewsome discovery of the girl’s body last Sunday morning. It is, therefore, not for this story to shed light on the case, but merely to point out and discuss a few of the extraordinary phases of the most extraordinary case that has ever shocked a city.

The story of the death of Mary Phagan is the most improbable chain of events that has ever occurred within the lifetime of Atlanta. And these events have gripped and stirred the people of Atlanta as nothing that has ever happened before.

Aside from the mystery which shrouded the slyer of the girl, the thing which has held the sympathies of a whole city, as if Mary Phagan were the daughter of each person, is the youth and innocence of the little girl. She was just a little girl. When that has been said about Mary Phagan, all has been said. All testimony that has been brought out shows that she was all in simplicity, guilelessness and purity that is implied in that simple statement.

There have been other cases—recent cases—which have interested the public and appealed more or less to their sympathies, but the principals in the cases were as different as the world is wide. In the other cases there was maturity and experience, worldly wisdom and pasts that came home to roost. In all the interest and sympathy there was a subcurrent that ran chill and repellant. In past cases, could all the tears blot out one word of the sordid tales of illicit loves and intrigues? Could the “leopard skins” change their spots?

No, Lady Macbeth, No Spotted Hand.

But in the story of Mary Phagan there were no words or sentences through which she or any one would have cared to have traced a killing line. There were no stains from a spotted past to shriek their shame to the world. There was no Lady Macbeth in the past of Mary Phagan to wander through the halls of her conscience and scrub with frenzy at the tiniest speck of wrongdoing upon her white hands!

Mary Phagan’s life was one of such beauty and purity that when the world knew of her her memory instantly became the fondled child in the heart of every parent and the playmate of every little girl in the city.

There was also the impenetrable mystery of it all. The haunting of a score of horrible secrets that persecuted and compelled the mind to more than mere idle curiosity.

It seems utterly beyond the bounds of reason that a person with a thousand friends could in the twinkling of an eye drop from the face of the earth—vanish into thin air in the heart of a city of 200,000 souls!

A Life Vanishes Into Air.

Yet from the moment that a street car motorman saw little Mary Phagan walking down Hunter street toward the National Pencil factory at noon Memorial day there was nothing to indicate that of all the hosts of friends who knew her a single one ever laid eyes on her with the blood of life in her veins. There came those—scores of them—who said, “I saw Mary Phagan here at such and such a time,” and, “I saw the girl at the other place at this hour,” but never a man of them all in the final test could prove that “it was Mary Phagan whom I saw!”

Do you think that you, who are reading this, could walk on any street in the heart of the city under the light of the sun for any considerable length of time—for as much as an hour—without meeting and speaking to some friend or acquaintance?

Yet this marvel apparently happened in the heart of Atlanta! It was as if you yourself had watched Mary Phagan when she stepped off the car and walked for half a block down Hunter street, and then maybe you unconsciously blinked your eyes for minutest fraction of a second, and when you opened them again—Mary Phagan was not there! It was as if some invisible master of the black art had whispered a magic word, and—Presto! In the act of taking a step Mary Phagan was gone—as utterly vanished as the snows of yesteryear!

Notes Written By a Light.

That they were written by a light is beyond all question. Each line of the notes follows accurately the ruling of the paper upon which they were written. Could this have been accomplished in the darkness of the remote corner where her body was found? Where then could they have been written?

One note says, “He pushed down this hole.” At the bottom of “this hole” is the only light in the basement—a single sickly gas jet.

Two days after Newt Lee was arrested, a bloody shirt was found at his home. Why did the detectives wait two days after Newt Lee was arrested before they searched his home for evidence? And who was watching his home in the meantime to see that evidence was not “planted?”

Three days after the murder the register of the watchman’s time clock showed three discrepancies of an hour each. Possibly the clock was registered correctly Sunday. Who was watching to see that it was not changed?

Others were in the building on Monday besides employees. The factory was operated on Tuesday and Wednesday. Others not connected with the factory were allowed to enter the building.

As a matter of fact what detective was watching Leo M. Frank’s home to see that no one entered it and stole a monogram handkerchief, say, stained it with blood and placed it in the basement of the building, where the girl’s body was found? What did the detectives do to keep the real murderers from planting evidence against those under suspicion?

And, do you think it was possible for the letter which purported to have been dropped by Mary Phagan on the street car in which she came into the city Saturday at noon to have been undiscovered in that street car until Wednesday when it was first discovered—four days after she was last on the car?

Who Planted The Evidence?

Is there in your mind, reader, a question as to whether there was someone at large who was very, very busy while Newt Lee, Leo Frank, Arthur Mullinax and J. M. Gantt languished in jail?

Again—the mystery!

Who had been “planting” the evidence?

And why?

And what about Newt Lee, Frank, Mullinax and Gantt? Are these marked men for the remainder of their lives? Will they go through life always with a finger pointing at them and some one saying “There is the man was mixed up in that murder?” Are they victims of circumstance? Has a caprice of chance placed a brand upon them for life?

At this minute I glance out my window. Out of the darkness looms the building of the National Pencil company, and from a window in the top story shines dimly one wee little light. Except for this there is nothing but darkness, gloom, great haunting shadows and mystery.

This scene seems, somehow, to typify for me the case of Mary Phagan, and that one tiny light is little Mary herself—the only bright spot in the whole horrible story!

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Atlanta Constitution, May 4th 1913, “The Case of Mary Phagan,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Sunday, May 4^th, 1913

Representing Themselves as Pinkertons, Two Men Are Interviewing Leading Witnesses in Mystery.

DETECTIVES WORRIED BY PLANTED EVIDENCE

Men Working on Case Believe That Some Interests May Be Trying to Fix the Crime on Suspects.

What interests are promoting the planting of evidence in the Mary Phagan mystery?

This question confronted police headquarters yesterday. Further evidence of mysterious forces underhandedly at work on the baffling case was revealed when it became known that imposters, representing themselves to be Pinkerton detectives had been questioning leading witnesses.

This new disclosure, coupled with past discoveries of obviously “framed-up” evidence, has stirred the police and solicitor’s staff to action. Arrests are expected at any moment. If the bogus detectives are caught, Chief Lanford declared they will be thrown into prison, held without bond or communication, and put through a gruelling [sic] third degree.

Why Such Methods?

Although many theories have been advanced, the police are at a loss to fathom the cause of such methods. It has even been suggested that the real murderer is at liberty, and, in the effort to avert suspicion which might be cast upon himself, is endeavoring to weave the web tighter around the suspects already under arrest.

Friday morning a suave well-dressed man appeared at the home of Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of the murdered girl, and, introducing himself as a detective from the Pinkerton agency, put her through an hours exhaustive examination relative to Mary’s character and habits.

She told her husband of the incident. He later questioned Harry Scott, of the Pinkertons, regarding the man who had appeared at the Coleman home. Scott was astounded at the revelation. Aware that he was the only man from the Pinkertons at work on the mystery, he knew that the man who had questioned the dead girl’s mother was an impostor.

Later, George W. Epps, a leading witness at the coroner’s inquest, was visited by a man answering an entirely different description from Mrs. Coleman’s visitor. George is the youthful companion of the Phagan girl, with whom he rode uptown on the morning of her disappearance. He was quizzed thoroughly of the girl’s habits and character.

Evidence Is Being Planted.

The Pinkertons were informed of this. Descriptions of both men have been furnished a squad of headquarters detectives who have been detailed to the special assignment of searching for the impostors. A Pinkerton official said Saturday night.

“I am satisfied that evidence is being planted. The object of such operations is mystifying. The clock record is plainly a “framed-up” clue. The shirt appears to be, and there are numerous other indications. Also, we are convinced that there are mysterious forces antagonizing our investigation. Sad will be the day that these men are caught.”

Solicitor Dorsey Active.

Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey has taken a decidedly active hand in the investigation. His entire staff has been loosed upon the mystery, together with a number of private detectives in his employ. Coroner Donehoo is also giving his entire time and energy in assisting the detectives and police.

Saturday morning the coroner, solicitor, detective chief and a number of detectives revisited the scene of the murder. A minute examination was made of the pencil factory premises, and measurements were taken of the basement. From 1 o’clock in the afternoon until 6:30, the investigators were closeted in Chief Lanford’s office, conferring over the evidence.

Headquarters was flooded with wild and groundless rumors throughout the day, a majority of which were to the effect that Mary Phagan had been seen on the afternoon of her murder. These stories were all found to be groundless. Chief Lanford declared last night that he had confined himself to the theory that the murdered girl never emerged from the pencil plant after entering it to draw her pay.

A number of new witnesses were subpoenaed from the coroner’s office. Although their names would be divulged, nor the character of the testimony which they will be expected to render, it is the general belief that they are former women employees of the pencil concern. New witnesses are being summoned daily. The total list, when the coroner’s inquest is re-opened Monday afternoon, will probably reach 300 or more.

Will Examine Bloody Shirt.

Detective Scott Saturday turned over to City Bacteriologist Claude W. Smith the bloody shirt found at the home of the negro Newt Lee. It will be put through a thorough microscopic inspection to ascertain if the blood spots compare with those on the clothing of the murdered girl. Dr. Smith stated, however, that the examination could not be made until early next week.

Action by Grand Jury.

“I am not in a position to state when the grand jury will take up the investigation of the Phagan murder,” Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey stated last night. “The new grand jury will be impanelled on Monday and it is certain that the matter can not be taken up that day. The coroner’s inquest is to be continued on that day, but whether or not the grand jury will wait until this is completed or not. I can not now say.

“The only reason for my personal investigation of the case and my conferences with police and detective heads,” added the solicitor, “is because of the exceptional nature of the case. The duties of the solicitor’s office prevent me from attending every inquest and police examination, but I feel that this affair demands that I should familiarize myself with every detail while it is fresh, for by that means I can better handle it when it becomes my business to prosecute the murderer, whoever he should appear to be.”

From the manner in which the solicitor spoke of his conferences and with the police officials and the coroner it is inferred that there is yet as deep a cloud as ever over the murder and that nothing has been found out which has not already been published in the daily papers.

The grand jury when once sworn in, has the authority to take up its own examination at any time a majority of its members see fit and until it is impanelled and takes formal action, there is no way of determining what will be done, unless the solicitor should announce his intention of placing the matter before that body.

The usual procedure is for the jurymen to wait until the coroner’s jury completes its action and then take up an investigation for indictment of any parties bound over to it. In case its members see fit, though, the investigation may be begun at any time.

Scream Frightens Girls.

The employees in the National Pencil plant were badly frightened early Saturday morning, when a blood-curdling scream came from the basement. Girls stopped their work and thought of Mary Phagan and her tragic fate flashed through their minds.

An investigation was started immediately. Twenty officials of the plant, swinging lanterns, climbed into the basement. It was then found that a member of the solicitor general’s staff was testing the range of sound from the spot in the basement in which the murdered girl was found. The cry penetrated the first floor and was just heard upon the second.

Believe Girl Was Gagged.

Did the murderer use the strips of his victim’s underclothing to suppress her screams—convert them into a gag which he never removed?

Chief Lanford expresses his opinion that the strips were not the garrote with which she was strangled to death, as at first believed, but were bound over the mouth to stifle her cries for help.

The detective chief also believes that the girl was alive when she was carried into the basement, but unconscious, and that upon regaining consciousness, a struggle ensued. Signs of scuffling were evident in the sawdust neighboring the spot in which the corpse was discovered.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, May 4th 1913, “Impostors Busy in Sleuth Roles in Phagan Case,” Leo Frank case newspaper series (Original PDF)