Monday, 2nd June 1913 Negro Cook at Home Where Frank Lived Held by the Police
Monday, June 2nd, 1913
Woman Questioned by Dorsey, Becomes Hysterical; Solicitor Refuses to Tell Whether She Gave Important Information; Alibi for Defense.
Minola Mcknight, the negro cook in the household of Mr. and Mrs. Emil Selig, 68 Georgia Avenue, with whom Leo M. Frank lived, was put through the severest sort of grilling in the office of Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey Monday in an effort to break down Frank's alibi which tends to show that he was at home about the time James Conley swore the notes found by Mary Phagan's body were written.
The negro woman grew histerical [sic] and her shrieks and protestations could be heard through the closed door. She maintained to the end of the two hours of rapid-fire questioning, however, that Frank had arrived home by 1:30 o'clock the Saturday afternoon of the crime.
She was taken into custody on information said to have been furnished by her husband. She later was taken …More
Monday, 2nd June 1913 Frank Asked Room to Conceal Body Believes Lanford
Monday, June 2nd, 1913
Detective Chief Forms New Theory as to Reason Why Prisoner Is Said to Have Phoned Mrs. Formby.
HER DISAPPEARANCE PUZZLING TO OFFICERS
Lanford Says He Will Find Her in Time for Trial, But Does Not Know Where She Is Now.
That Leo M. Frank telephoned Mrs. Formby on the night of Mary Phagan's murder for a room to which he would be able to remove the victim's body and thereby lessen suspicion against himself, is the theory on which Chief Newport Lanford is basing a search for Mrs. Formby, which is extending over the entire south.
She mysteriously disappeared several days ago. Efforts to locate her have been futile. The entire detective department is puzzled. The Pinkertons are mystified. Her whereabouts is a matter that interests detectives and the Pinkertons.
Mrs. Formby, in a recent interview to a reporter for The Constitution, told him that she had been made several offers of money to leave …More
Monday, 2nd June 1913 Beavers to Talk Over the Felder Row With Dorsey
Monday, June 2nd, 1913
Dictograph conversations and alleged bribery charges will be discussed by Chief of Police Beavers and Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey at a conference to be held to-day.
Chief Beavers is ready to have every one who had anything to do with the graft charges called before the Grand Jury, and if conspiracy can be proven it is very probable there will be indictments.
However, it is all up to Solicitor General Dorsey just what will be done. It is thought that, owing to the present state of the Phagan case, the dictographers will not be subpenaed for some time.Monday, June 2nd, 1913
Dictograph conversations and alleged bribery charges will be discussed by Chief of Police Beavers and Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey at a conference to be held to-day.
Chief Beavers is ready to have every one who had anything to do with the graft charges called before the Grand Jury, and if conspiracy can be proven it is very …More
Monday, 2nd June 1913 5 to Testify Frank Was at Home at Hour Negro Says He Aided
Monday, June 2nd, 1913
Defense to Cite Discrepancies in Time to Disprove Conley's Affidavit—Sheriff Denies Friends of Superintendent Approached Sweeper in Cell.
After a two-hour grilling by Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey Minola McKnight, a negro woman about 21 years old, was taken to police headquarters and is held under suspicion in connection with the murder of Mary Phagan.
She is believed to have made sensational disclosures to the solicitor.
At the police station she was in hysteria, shouting:
"I am going to hang, but I didn't do it."
* * *
Five persons will be prepared to testify at the trial of Leo M. Frank that he arrived at home for luncheon at 1:20 o'clock the Saturday afternoon that Mary Phagan was killed, which would have been an impossibility, the defense will assert, if Frank had directed the disposal of the body and dictated the notes at the time the negro alleges.
Testimony before the Coroner's …More
Monday, 2nd June 1913 Franks Defense is Outlined
Monday, June 2nd, 1913
Mary Phagan Met Death on First Floor, Is Claim
Defense Will Endeavor to Show That Conley Struck Her in Head and Threw Her Down Elevator Shaft
ELEVATOR WAS NOT MOVED APRIL 26, IT IS CONTENDED
Blood Spots on Second Floor Explained by Fact That Employes Frequently Cut Fingers—Theory in Detail
From apparently reliable authority it was learned Monday that the theory to be advanced in defense of Leo M. Frank, the pencil factory superintendent, who has been indicted for the murder of Mary Phagan, will be that James Conley, the negro sweeper, and he alone, killed the girl and hid her body in the factory basement.
Notwithstanding Luther Z. Rosser, chief counsel for Frank, maintains his sphinxlike attitude and declines to discuss the theory of the defense, it is understood that the arguments in Frank's favor will be based upon the idea that Conley was without assistance in the commission of the crime and that Frank had no …More
Monday, 2nd June 1913 Negro Girl is Arrested in Phagan Murder Case
Monday, June 2nd, 1913
"I Am Going to Hang and I Don't Know a Thing About It," Shouts Viola [sic] McKnight When Questioned by Solicitor
Viola McKnight, who lives in the rear of 351 Pulliam street, a negro girl, is said to have entered the Phagan mystery in a sensational matter. The woman was brought to Solicitor Dorsey's office Monday afternoon by Detectives Starnes and Campbell, who are working exclusively on the Phagan mystery, and was examined by the solicitor.
The girl was then carried to police headquarters, where she was docketed and the charge of suspicion placed against her name.
The solicitor and the detectives refuse to discuss the girl's connection with the Phagan mystery.
The woman was excited and hysterical and continued to shout: "I am going to hang, and I don't know a thing about it."
Still weeping and shouting that she was going to hang, although innocent, the woman aws [sic] led shortly after 2 o'clock …More
Monday, 2nd June 1913 Grand Jury Ready to Investigate Charges
Monday, June 2nd, 1913
Foreman Beck States Position, Probe Awaits Request From Chief Beavers
The Fulton county grand jury will investigate the Felder-Beavers controversy if any of the interested parties ask an investigation, according to Foreman L. H. Beck.
Mr. Beck has not yet been approached on the matter by Chief J. L. Beavers, who has declared that he will ask a grand jury investigation of the charges made against him and his department by Colonel Thomas B. Felder, and unless the police officials make a formal request for an investigation there is little likelihood of the grand jury taking up the matter at the special meeting to be held on Tuesday morning.
The specific object of the meeting, according to the foreman, is the appointment of routine committees, which have not yet been named, owing to the pressure of criminal business, although the jury has only a month more to serve.
Mr. Beck frankly stated his position to …More
Sunday, 1st June 1913 Conley is Unwittingly Friend of Frank, Says Old Police Reporter
Sunday, June 1st, 1913
By AN OLD POLICE REPORTER.
Developments came thick and fast during the past week, and one is able to approach consideration of the Phagan case to-day with more assurance and ease of mind than heretofore.
Distinctly have the clouds lifted, so I think, from about Leo Frank, and if not yet are they "in the deep bosom of the ocean buried," they have, nevertheless I take it, served to let a measure of the sunshine in.
Leo Frank, snatching eagerly at that faltering ray of blessed and thrice-welcome light, may thank the negro Conley for it—albeit Conley let it in neither by way of an impulse of sympathy nor intentional truth.
If I were a de-tec-i-tiff—which, praise be to Allah, I am not!—I think I should cease shouting from the housetops my unshakable belief in Frank's guilt, and should begin to contemplate in solemn and searching analysis the shifty and amazing James Conley, negro! …More
Sunday, 1st June 1913 Conley is Removed from Fulton Tower at His Own Request
Sunday, June 1st, 1913
Friends of Leo Frank Have Tried to Intimidate Him, Negro Sweeper Tells Detective Chief as Reason for His Transfer to the Police Station.
LANFORD RAPS SHERIFF DECLARING HE IS NOT ASSISTING THE POLICE
"He Appears to Be Placing Obstacles in Our Way," Asserts Chief, in Speaking of Attempts to Interview the Suspected Superintendent. Mangum Denies Intimidation Attempts.
Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford is authority for the statement that James Conley, the negro floor sweeper of the National Pencil factory, who, in his latest affidavit, has admitted his complicity in the Mary Phagan murder, after the killing, but lays the crime at the door of Superintendent Leo M. Frank, was removed from Fulton county Tower to police barracks for imprisonment at his own request to put an end to the attempts of the friends of the superintendent to intimidate him.
Conley was carried to the police barracks Saturday …More
Sunday, 1st June 1913 Confession of Conley Makes No Changes in States Case
Sunday, June 1st, 1913
Negro Will Be Used as Material Evidence Against Frank, Says Solicitor Dorsey
LEE LIKELY TO BE FREED
Sweeper Sticks to Story Accusing Head of Pencil Factory of Phagan Slaying.
The startling confessions by Jim Conley of the part he played in the Phagan murder mystery have not changed the State's case in any of its essential features, according to an announcement from Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey, at the close of a long examination of the negro yesterday.
Stormed at for several hours by the Solicitor and the city detectives, Conley's story was unchanged and he threw no new light on the case.
"He has told everything he knows of the crime," one of the detectives said as the negro was led from the Solicitor's office to be taken back to the police station.
Regarded as one of the most significant announcements from the Solicitor was that the negro would be prosecuted as an accessory after the …More
Sunday, 1st June 1913 Dorseys Grill Fails to Make Conley Admit Hand in Killing
Sunday, June, 1st, 1913
Does Not Deviate In Least From Detailed Story Despite Traps to Snare Him
FRANK APPEARS PLEASED
Prisoner Tells His Friends That Sweeper's Affidavit Is Good News to Him
A gruelling cross-examination of Jim Conley, confessed accessory in the murder of Mary Phagan, in an effort to break down his charges against Leo M. Frank as the actual slayer of the little girl, was made by Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey late Saturday afternoon.
Before the rapid-fire questioning, in which every imaginable snare was set to entrap him, the negro did not deviate one iota from the detailed account which he made Friday to the police. Every effort to make him confess that he was the slayer failed.
In amazing contrast to the attitude of the negro is that of the pencil factory superintendent.
To friends who visited the Tower where he is confined, Frank declared Saturday that Conley's statement was good news to …More
Sunday, 1st June 1913 Conleys Story Cinches Case Against Frank, Says Lanford
Sunday, June 1st, 1913
‘He Has Told the Whole Truth—There's Not a Lawyer Who Can Shake Him,' Asserts Chief.
Jim Conley has told the whole truth—there's not a shadow of a doubt about it. We feel perfectly satisfied now with the case against Frank. If we had the least suspicion that his story were false, we could not feel satisfied—we would be puzzled and worried just as much as when the crime was first committed.
Conley's evidence cinches the case against Frank. He will go on the witness stand in the trial of Frank and tell his story just as he has told it to the officers. There's not a lawyer in the whole United States—no matter how shrewd he may be—who could shake that negro's testimony—because it's the truth. No person could doubt this after seeing him re-enact that tragedy in the pencil factory Friday. It was the most dramatic and remarkable spectacle ever witnessed here, and thoroughly convinced us that …More
Sunday, 1st June 1913 Conleys Statement Analyzed From Two Different Angles
Sunday, June 1st, 1913
The Weak Points in the Negro's Story Are Shown in One Analysis and the Points That Would Seem to Add to Its Reasonableness Are Weighed in the Other.
Below are given analyses of the negro, James Conley's latest statement or confession from two viewpoints. In one analysis the negro's statement is weighed with the idea that Conley has not told the whole truth, that he is endeavoring to hide his own responsibility in an accusation of Mr. Frank, who is innocent of the crime, is the victim of a chain of circumstances which link his name with suspicion. In the other analysis Conley's confession is discussed from the standpoint of the man who regards it as being truthful and its points are argued from that partisan angle. The Journal presents these discussions without any wish to influence any reader to either view but simply for whatever news value they may have in throwing light on the case.
…More
Sunday, 1st June 1913 Today is Mary Phagans Birthday; Mother Tells of Party She Planned
Sunday, June 1st, 1913
Parents Intended to Give Child Happy Surprise—Now They Will Strew Flowers on Her Grave in Marietta Churchyard.
By MIGNON HALL.
This will be the saddest Sunday with Mary Phagan's family since that fatal Sunday just five weeks ago when the little girl's body was found hidden away in the basement of the National Pencil factory.
For to-day is Mary's birthday, and it had been planned by her mother and stepfather, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Coleman, that they would give her a party. If she had lived it would have been celebrated last night in her little home on Lindsay Street, where she had spent the past fifteen months of her life.
Instead of that, there is a shadow over the household, and she was spoken of with an ache in the throat and tears. Where last night would have been so happy for Mary, there was silence, and to-day the family expects to go to Marietta to weep above the little …More
Sunday, 1st June 1913 Grand Jury Meeting Remains a Mystery
Sunday, June 1st, 1913
Foreman Will Not Say Whether Beavers-Felder Controversy Will Be Considered
There is still much speculation over the probable action of the Fulton county grand jury on the Felder-Beavers -Lanford controversy, and it is not yet known whether or not the grand jury will make an investigation.
Foreman L. H. Beck, who called a meeting for next Tuesday morning, has refused to commit himself on the matter, although repeatedly asked whether or not the Felder-Beavers controversy would be investigated.
The present grand jury has little more than a month to serve, and none of the routine investigating committees have been appointed, and this is one of the matters which will come before the body next Tuesday.
Chief of Police Beavers, who has requested a grand jury investigation, has not seen or communicated with Foreman Beck since the controversy commenced, according to the latter.
Chief Beavers, however, is expected …More
Sunday, 1st June 1913 Lanford Tells Why Conley Was Placed in Police Station
Sunday, June 1st, 1913
Chief of Detectives Gives Out Statement Relative to Transfer of Prisoner From the Tower to Headquarters
FURTHER QUESTIONING IS PLANNED BY DETECTIVES
No Arrangement Yet Made for Negro to Confront Frank—Report of Finding Girl's Purse Proves Without Foundation
The prosecuting officials connected with the Phagan case all denied Saturday evening that the state's theory of the murder has been changed by anything that the negro sweeper Conley has said, but the fact that the negro was transferred t police headquarters, where he can be freely examined by the detectives, seems to show that the officials are not fully satisfied with Conley's story of the crime as it now stands.
Conley was permitted to leave the jail on an order signed by Judge L. S. Roan, of the superior court. Conley was perfectly willing to accompany the officers anywhere they desired to take him.
From the jail he was carried by …More
Saturday, 31st May 1913 Conley Tells Graphic Story of Disposal of the Dead Body
Saturday, May 31st, 1913
Following is the complete signed confession of James Conley, the negro sweeper employed at the National Pencil factory, which was made to Chief of Detectives Lanford, Chief of Police Beavers, Harry Scott, of the Pinkertons, and others, late Friday afternoon:
"On Saturday, April 26, 1913, when I came back to the pencil factory with Mr. Frank I waited for him downstairs, like he told me, and when he whistled for me I went upstairs and he asked me if I wanted to make some money right quick, and I told him, yes, sir, and he told me that he had picked up a girl back there and had let her fall and that her head hit against something—he didn't know what it was—and for me to move her and I hollered and told him the girl was dead.
"And he told me to pick her up and bring her to the elevator, and I told him I didn't have nothing to pick her up with, and he told me to go and look by the cotton …More
Saturday, 31st May 1913 Special Session of Grand Jury Called
Saturday, May 31st, 1913
Will Reconvene Next Tuesday for Routine Business Only, Declares Foreman Beck.
Lewis H. Beck, foreman of the Fulton County Grand Jury, which has been called to meet in special session at 10 o'clock next Thursday morning, said Saturday afternoon that the Grand Jury positively would not take up either the Phagan case or the Felder-Beavers row.
The purpose of the special session, Mr. Beck said, was to appoint certain committee. Mr. Beck went a step furthere [sic] and said the Grand Jury had been called for no other purpose except to appoint these committees and that no other business would be transacted.
Announcement of the special session for next Thursday was made Saturday morning. It was called by the foreman himself. Following the announcement, unfounded rumors were circulated to the effect that the Grand Jury would delve deeper into the Phagan murder and possibly also look into the Felder bribery
Saturday, 31st May 1913 Plan to Confront Conley and Frank for New Admission
Saturday, May 31st, 1913
Police Hope Meeting Will Prove Whether Negro Will Stick to Latest Story Under Eyes of the Man He Accuses—Ready to Pay Penalty.
[Important Developments Looked For, but Nothing Sensational Made Public—Insists He Has Told All, but Further Confession Is Expected.
For hours Saturday James Conley, negro sweeper, whose sensational confession accuses Superintendent Leo M. Frank of the murder of Mary Phagan, explained in detail to Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey the dread mysteries of the National Pencil Factory on April 26, explaining many things that had not been clear to the officials, but sticking tenaciously to the story he told the city detectives.
Conley was taken to the Solicitor's office at that official's request and put through a severe cross-examination. With an elaborate diagram, drawn for the Solicitor by Bert Green, a Georgian staff artist, to guide him, the negro traced the …More
Saturday, 31st May 1913 Silence of Conley Put to End by Georgian
Saturday, May 31st, 1913
That The Georgian played a conspicuous part in obtaining the latest and most important confession from Jim Conley, the negro sweeper, in which he admitted his complicity in the crime, was the declaration of Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford late Friday afternoon.
Chief Lanford, in telling of the cross-examination of Conley on Thursday afternoon which resulted in his confession, said that Conley for a long time persisted in maintaining that he knew no more of the crime than what which he had related previously.
After several hours of futile questioning the chief showed him a copy of The Georgian quoting officials of the pencil factory to the effect that they believed Conley the guilty man. It was then that Conley made his startling affidavit fixing the deed upon Frank.
All Questions Failed.
"All lines of questions had been tried without avail," said the detective chief, in relating the incident. …More