- 24 minutes ago
Thursday, May 1, 1913
Newt Lee Takes the Stand: Night Watchman's Testimony Raises New Questions in Phagan Murder Case
A troubling question emerged from Wednesday's coroner's inquest: was Mary Phagan's killer still hiding in the basement of the National Pencil Company when night watchman Newt Lee descended the stairs and discovered her body in the early hours of Sunday morning?
The question gained traction following Lee's testimony, which stood in direct conflict with that of every police officer who had visited the scene. Lee maintained that he found the body lying face up, with the head toward the wall. The officers, however, were uniform in their account that the body was face down, head pointing toward the front of the building.
Despite aggressive cross-examination, Lee did not waver. His composure and consistency left many observers with the impression that the killer may indeed have been lurking in the cellar at that moment, intending to destroy evidence, and that Lee's arrival had driven him away.
Lee also testified that on the afternoon before the murder, his employer, Leo Frank, sent him home early and told him to return at 6 o'clock. He described Frank as appearing nervous and agitated at the time. He added that Frank telephoned later that night to check that everything was in order, something he had never done before.
One aspect of Lee's account that initially raised suspicion, his claim that he immediately recognized the victim as a white girl, was clarified when he explained that he identified her by her straight brown hair, which was distinctly different from that of a Black woman.
The Inquest Reconvenes
The same jury assembled by Coroner Donehoo earlier in the week was reconvened at 9 o'clock Wednesday morning at police headquarters. The first witness, Officer W. F. Anderson, described the scene as he had found it after Lee led him and fellow officers to the body. He confirmed that the head was pointing toward the front of the building and that the body was face down.
Anderson painted a grim picture of the girl's condition. Her face was bruised and discolored, a stocking was torn, one shoe was missing, and twine along with a strip of cloth torn from her undergarment was knotted around her neck. The door to the basement had been forced open, its staple drawn from the frame. Anderson noted that her condition was so severe he could not initially determine her race.
Responding to a question from Dr. J. W. Hurt, Anderson confirmed that the light from Lee's lantern would not have reached beyond twelve to fifteen feet, making it impossible for the watchman to have seen the body from where he stood.
Sergeant R. J. Brown, who also responded to the scene, supported this assessment. He stated that even with standard police flashlights, visibility was poor, and that Lee's dim lamp could not have illuminated anything at a distance of twenty-five feet. Brown also recalled saying upon seeing the body, "This is nothing but a child." He s
Newt Lee Takes the Stand: Night Watchman's Testimony Raises New Questions in Phagan Murder Case
A troubling question emerged from Wednesday's coroner's inquest: was Mary Phagan's killer still hiding in the basement of the National Pencil Company when night watchman Newt Lee descended the stairs and discovered her body in the early hours of Sunday morning?
The question gained traction following Lee's testimony, which stood in direct conflict with that of every police officer who had visited the scene. Lee maintained that he found the body lying face up, with the head toward the wall. The officers, however, were uniform in their account that the body was face down, head pointing toward the front of the building.
Despite aggressive cross-examination, Lee did not waver. His composure and consistency left many observers with the impression that the killer may indeed have been lurking in the cellar at that moment, intending to destroy evidence, and that Lee's arrival had driven him away.
Lee also testified that on the afternoon before the murder, his employer, Leo Frank, sent him home early and told him to return at 6 o'clock. He described Frank as appearing nervous and agitated at the time. He added that Frank telephoned later that night to check that everything was in order, something he had never done before.
One aspect of Lee's account that initially raised suspicion, his claim that he immediately recognized the victim as a white girl, was clarified when he explained that he identified her by her straight brown hair, which was distinctly different from that of a Black woman.
The Inquest Reconvenes
The same jury assembled by Coroner Donehoo earlier in the week was reconvened at 9 o'clock Wednesday morning at police headquarters. The first witness, Officer W. F. Anderson, described the scene as he had found it after Lee led him and fellow officers to the body. He confirmed that the head was pointing toward the front of the building and that the body was face down.
Anderson painted a grim picture of the girl's condition. Her face was bruised and discolored, a stocking was torn, one shoe was missing, and twine along with a strip of cloth torn from her undergarment was knotted around her neck. The door to the basement had been forced open, its staple drawn from the frame. Anderson noted that her condition was so severe he could not initially determine her race.
Responding to a question from Dr. J. W. Hurt, Anderson confirmed that the light from Lee's lantern would not have reached beyond twelve to fifteen feet, making it impossible for the watchman to have seen the body from where he stood.
Sergeant R. J. Brown, who also responded to the scene, supported this assessment. He stated that even with standard police flashlights, visibility was poor, and that Lee's dim lamp could not have illuminated anything at a distance of twenty-five feet. Brown also recalled saying upon seeing the body, "This is nothing but a child." He s
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Newt Lee tells his story during morning session, Atlanta Constitution. Thursday, May 1st, 1913,
00:06was the man who first assaulted and then brutally killed Mary Fagan last Saturday night hiding in
00:12the basement of the National Pencil Company when the watchman, Newt Lee, came down and discovered
00:17the girl's mutilated body early Sunday morning? This is the question that rose to everyone's mind
00:22following the testimony of the Negro Knight watchman at the coroner's inquest Wednesday,
00:27in direct contradiction to the evidence of every policeman who had been on the scene,
00:31the Negro declared that he found the body lying face up with the head toward the wall.
00:37When the police arrived, the body was lying face down with the head pointing toward the front of
00:42the building. The most severe cross-examination could not shake the Negro. He stuck to his story,
00:48never seeming to waver for an instant. So convincing was his air that it became the general idea that
00:53the murderer must have been in the cellar at the time, waiting to burn the body of his victim.
00:59Lee's coming down into the cellar may have frightened him away. He declared that when he
01:03reported for work at four o'clock on the afternoon before the tragedy, his employer told him to go
01:08home until six o'clock. Frank looked nervous and excited at the time, he said. He also said that
01:14Frank had called him up later in the night to find if everything was all right, something that he had
01:19never done before. What was thought earlier in the day to be damaging to the Negro, his declaration
01:24that he was positive, that it was the body of a white girl as soon as he saw it, was
01:29brushed aside
01:30when he explained that he saw the difference because of the hair, which was straight and brown, totally
01:35unlike that of a Negress. The same jury that was used by Coroner Donahue Monday morning was re-empaneled
01:41at nine o'clock Wednesday morning when the inquest reconvened. Inquest at police headquarters. The
01:47inquest was held at police headquarters. W.F. Anderson, a call officer on the police force who
01:53took the Negro's message when he reported the finding of the body, was the first to testify.
01:59He described the body as he found it after the Negro had led him and other officers to it.
02:05He stated specifically that the head pointed toward the front of the building and that the body was
02:10lying face down. Minutely, he gave all of the gruesome details of the dead girl's appearance.
02:15He told how evident it had been that she had been in a struggle to the death, how her stocking
02:21was
02:21torn, her shoe missing, and her whole face discolored by bruises and grime. So shocking was
02:27her state, he declared, that he did not know at first whether she was white or colored. He said
02:31that her neck was knotted around with twine and a piece of cloth, evidently torn from her underskirt.
02:37He declared that the staple that had been used to hold the door from the basement closed had been
02:42drawn. Physician does questioning. Dr. J.W. Hurt took up the questioning at this point.
02:47Could the Negro have seen a body lying twenty or thirty feet away from where he was standing,
02:52by the light of the lantern that he carried, he asked?
02:55He could not, replied the policeman. At the most he could have seen for twelve or fifteen feet.
03:00His lantern was very old and dirty. Sergeant R.J. Brown, who also went to the scene of the crime,
03:06was next called before the jury. He corroborated the other policeman's testimony in regard to the
03:11impossibility for anyone to distinguish the race of the girl without the most minute examination.
03:17He also declared that the Negro could have seen nothing, standing twenty-five feet away from the
03:22body. It was very hard to see with our regular police flashlights, he said, and the Negro only
03:27had a very weak lamp. I am sure that he could not have seen anything at a distance of twenty
03:31-five feet.
03:31This is nothing but a child, he testified that he exclaimed when he first saw the body.
03:36He said that he could not tell her color until he rolled down one stocking and looked at the knee.
03:42He went over the revolting details of the girl's condition. His testimony did not conflict with
03:47his brother officers in any way, but he told of some matters which the other had failed to bring out.
03:52He said that there was dirt in her mouth even. The Negro night watchman had told him, he said,
03:57that he rarely came down in the cellar, but that he had a special reason for doing so on that
04:02night.
04:02When he was questioned about the telephoning of the news to Superintendent Frank, that the
04:07sergeant's information became most damaging. We called up at once, almost, he testified,
04:13but although we told Central that a girl had been murdered and that it was of the utmost importance
04:18that we get the number, we could not get in communication with Mr. Frank until much later in
04:23the day. Blood-stained garments shone. It was then that the most dramatic occurrence of the whole
04:28day took place. A one-piece purple silk dress, dirty and torn and blood-stained, and a gunmetal
04:34slipper worn by Mary Fagan on the night of the murder were shown to the jury. Ben Fagan, the dead
04:40girl's sailor brother, rose from his seat and looked down on the little heap of clothes with eyes that
04:46tragically stared. For a moment he stood so, and then walked out, his head bowed, his hands over his
04:52eyes. Upon being recalled, Officer Anderson testified that the body of the girl had still
04:58been warm when he came there and that blood was flowing from some of the wounds. Police Sergeant
05:04L.S. Dobbs, who was next called, identified the notes that had been found by the girl's body.
05:10He declared that, after a minute examination, he had been able to say with authority that the body was
05:15that of a white girl. External appearances, he said, tended to show that the body had been dragged and
05:20thrown into the corner. He said that after examining the body he turned to the negro watchman and accused
05:26him of having either committed the crime or of knowing something of it. The negro, he said,
05:30denied all knowledge of the affair. Read note to negro. He said that he then read him the note in
05:36which the girl is purported to have written, Tall, black, thin negro did this. He will try to lay it
05:41on night. The negro then replied, he declared, That means me, the night watchman. Other evidence simply
05:47corroborated the testimony of his brother officers. Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, was called on
05:53the stand at eleven forty-five o'clock. He testified that Frank had especially instructed him to come
05:58to work two hours earlier than usual that Saturday because of its being a holiday. Go out and have
06:04some more fun, Frank told him when he came to work at four o'clock, he declared. He explained that
06:09he
06:09made a round of the building every half hour, only going to the basement when he had an unusual
06:14amount of time on his hands. He said that Frank was still in the building when Gant, a former
06:19bookkeeper, came to the door and asked to be allowed in to get an old pair of shoes that he
06:24had left inside. The negro declared that he had told Gant that it was against the rules but that
06:28he would ask his employer. Frank looked frightened. Lee declared that Frank looked frightened when he
06:34told him that Gant was downstairs. He thought that this might have been caused by Frank's fear that
06:39the other, whom he had recently quarreled with and discharged, might do him dirt. He said that Gant
06:45got the shoes, wrapped them up, and made an engagement with someone over the telephone for
06:49nine o'clock that night. The negro was unable to say who Gant had talked to, but he said that
06:54it was
06:55a lady. How did you know? he was asked. By the name, he replied. He could not remember the name
07:01when
07:01further questioned, however. He said that he saw Gant leave, passing on down the street. He said that he
07:07did not know when Frank left, however. He explained the superintendent might have come back at any
07:11time anyway, as he had a key. He said that he went down into the basement at about seven o
07:16'clock,
07:17after making a round of the building. He declared that the gas jet, which he had left burning when
07:21he left before that morning, was not burning as brightly as before. Frank calls up. He said that
07:27shortly after this Frank called up to find if everything was all right. It is as far as I know,
07:32he declared, he answered. He said Frank called before at night. When he declared that he had
07:37found the body lying with the face up, the coroner directly asked him, why did you turn it over?
07:43I didn't, stoutly averred the negro. He declared that he had punched the time clock every half hour,
07:49that he himself had put in a fresh slip with Frank. He said that when he first saw the body
07:54in the
07:54basement it had looked very vague in its outline, and that he thought that boys had put it there to
07:59frighten him. It was only when he saw the bloody face and straight hair, he said, that he recognized
08:04it as the body of a white woman. He then became frightened and called up the police. He said that
08:11he had been told by employers on Sunday following his arrest that he had punched the clock regularly
08:16Saturday night. He emphatically declared that his lantern had been cleaned Friday, and that it was in
08:22good condition. He said that a negro fireman, Nallis, probably had a key to the back door of the
08:28building, kept open during the day, thinks he saw a girl. J.G. Spear of Cartersville testified that
08:34Saturday afternoon at about four o'clock, he passed the factory and saw in front of it a 17-year
08:40-old
08:40girl and a man about 25 years old, both very much excited. He said that he came back nearly an
08:46hour
08:46later and noticed the same couple standing at the same place. He said that he visited the body at
08:51Bloomfield's undertaking establishment and was sure that the dead girl was the same one that he saw
08:56Saturday afternoon. He said that Frank had the same outline as the man he saw, but would not identify
09:01him positively. Mr. Spear's testimony brought the morning session to a close. Friends of L.M. Frank,
09:08superintendent of the National Pencil Company, gave out yesterday for the first time their theory of
09:13how Mary Fagan came to her tragic death. They visited the scene of the crime, and claiming that
09:18Frank has been unjustly held and questioned by the police, they are pointing out how the girl could
09:23have been robbed, assaulted, and murdered without anyone connected with the factory knowing anything
09:27about it. They point to the foot of the stairway by which the girl would have left the factory and
09:32show how easily a man could have hidden behind the railing, which is closely boarded up. The foul
09:38criminal, they state, knew it was payday, and as it was Memorial Day, the place would close early in
09:44the afternoon. He could have hidden at the foot of the stairway, and when the girl came down the
09:49steps with her money in her purse, seized her, and thrown her into the hole which leads to the
09:54basement to the left of the elevator shaft. It could all have been done so swiftly by a strong-armed
09:59man that the girl would have had no time to make an outcry before she was insensible in the basement.
10:04Then the criminal could have quickly followed on the ladder that stood in the hole and led from
10:09the first floor to the basement. Down in the basement he had ample opportunity to carry out his
10:14hellish purposes. His exit was easy, as has been shown in the newspapers. No one could have heard
10:20or seen the crime committed who was passing in the street, or who was on the second or third floors.
10:25We are not advancing theories in the defense of Mr. Frank, states S. S. Selick, who was among those
10:31who made an inspection of the factory Wednesday, for he needs no defense. But the theory we advance is so
10:37plausible and fits so well into the clues that have been found that it is remarkable the officers have not
10:43worked along that line. The girl's parasol was found at the foot of the ladder, where it could have
10:48fallen when she was thrown into the hole. That the purse and money were missing shows that there was
10:52robbery as well as assault and murder.
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