Timeline Emerges: Mary Phagan Dead Hours Before Body Found

The headline you referenced, "Girl Was Dead Ten Hours Before Her Body Was Found," reflects the intense scrutiny during the 1913 investigation into Mary Phagan’s death. Mary Phagan was last seen alive on Saturday, April 26, 1913, when she arrived at the National Pencil Company to collect her wages. Her body was discovered by the night watchman, Newt Lee, in the factory basement at approximately 3:30 a.m. the following Sunday morning.

The forensic and investigative timeline of the case became a primary point of debate during the coroner's inquest, as officials worked to determine the exact hour of her death and the circumstances surrounding her final hours at the factory. The assertion that she had been dead for many hours prior to the discovery was a key element in establishing the timeline of the events that unfolded at the factory on that Saturday