Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 2 months ago
Tuesday, May 6, 1913
(Page 1, Column 5)

By Kenneth Todd
Formerly of The Atlanta Journal, now special correspondent in Houston, Texas
(Special Dispatch to The Journal)

Paul P. Bowen, a round faced youth of twenty years, fell into custody of Houston detectives Monday night. Authorities link him to the murder of Mary Phagan in Atlanta several days earlier.

Mrs. A. Blanchett, from Texas City, provided the key tip that sparked the arrest. She and Bowen shared adjoining rooms at the St. Jean Hotel Sunday night. According to her account to detectives, she spotted young Bowen reading an Atlanta newspaper. He collapsed upon reaching the murder story.

Later that night, she heard him moaning loudly in his room, preventing her sleep. She phoned the chief detective. Monday evening, Bowen grabbed his trunk and suitcase, relocating to a boarding house. Detectives arrested him there just two hours later.

Pictures of Fifty Girls

A search of papers and letters in his trunks revealed numerous Atlanta sourced photographs and letters mailed to him in Tyler, Texas, from Atlanta. Two images show Bowen in national guardsman uniform. Records indicate his last Atlanta address was 108 Ivy Street.

Bowen's trunk brimmed with photos of at least fifty different girls. Some capture him with them at Savannah surf photo galleries. Others depict him in guardsman garb, likely snapped during a Savannah encampment.

Shortly after the arrest of Bowen...
Transcript
00:00Pictures of 50 girls found in search of Bowen's trunk. Atlanta Journal, Tuesday, May 6, 1913,
00:06page 1, column 5, by Kenneth Todd, formerly reporter on the Atlanta Journal, now the special
00:12correspondent in Houston, Texas. Special dispatch to the Journal. Paul P. Bowen, a round-faced youth
00:18of 20 years, was arrested in Houston by detectives Monday night in connection with the murder of
00:24Mary Fagan in Atlanta several days ago. Information furnished the department by Mrs. A. Blanchett
00:29of Texas City led to the arrest. Bowen and Mrs. Blanchett occupied adjoining rooms at the St.
00:34Jean Hotel Sunday night, according to the story she told detectives. She saw young Bowen reading
00:39an Atlanta paper and saw him collapse while reading an account of the murder. Later in the night,
00:44she heard the young man moaning aloud in his room. She could not sleep and telephoned the chief of
00:49the detectives. Monday evening, Bowen took his trunk and suitcase and moved to a boarding house
00:53where he was arrested two hours later. Pictures of 50 girls, an examination of the papers and
00:59letters in his trunks showed that he had numerous photographs taken in Atlanta. Also, letters
01:04mailed to him in Tyler Tex from Atlanta. Two pictures show him in the uniform of a National
01:09Guardsman. It is understood that Bowen's last Atlanta address was 108 Ivy Street. In Bowen's
01:15trunk were pictures of no less than 50 different girls. He was taken with some of them in surf
01:20photo galleries at Savannah. Others show him in the garb of a Guardsman and were taken in Savannah,
01:25probably during an encampment, shortly after the arrest of Bowen. Continued on page six, column one,
01:31day.
Comments
VERDICT VOYAGER
Creator
#MurderofMaryPhagan

Recommended