Grand Jury to Consider Phagan Case This Week

#MurderofMaryAttention in the Mary Phagan murder investigation shifted Saturday toward the grand jury, as the two-week-old case moves closer to a formal proceeding that could result in indictments against one or both of the men already ordered held by the coroner's jury.

Those two men are Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil Factory where the tragedy occurred, and Newt Lee, the negro night watchman who discovered the body. Neither has yet been formally charged, and no indication has been given as to precisely when bills against them will be placed before the grand jury.

When the Jury Will Act

The grand jury is not scheduled to convene until next Friday, though Solicitor General Dorsey or the jury's foreman may call the body together on just a few hours' notice. Dorsey has stopped short of making any firm commitment, but it is apparent from his preparations that he does not intend to present the case until late in the week, most likely Thursday or Friday. The grand jury has been specially charged to investigate the murder and retains the authority to summon witnesses before it at any time of its choosing.

Should the grand jury return a true bill, the unusual level of public interest in the case makes it possible that a trial could be set as early as the week of May 19th, when the criminal division of the superior court next convenes under Judge L. S. Roan.

Felder Returns, Denies Hiring Burns

Thomas B. Felder, the prominent Atlanta attorney retained by citizens of the Bellwood district where Mary Phagan lived, returned Saturday morning from a week in New York and Washington. He described the trip as professional business connected to the Phagan case but declined to elaborate.

Felder directly denied reports that he had engaged William J. Burns, the nationally known detective, to come to Atlanta and work on the investigation. Burns, Felder said, is currently in Europe. The two have worked together on cases in the past.

It has been rumored that Felder intends to put the fee paid by the Bellwood citizens toward hiring private detectives from the east, and that he plans to contribute his own time and legal skill to the prosecution without taking personal compensation. Felder would neither confirm nor deny any part of that account, and declined to say whether he had engaged any outside investigators to assist the Atlanta officers.

Solicitor in Conference Throughout the Day

The center of activity in the investigation moved Saturday from police headquarters to the office of the solicitor general, where Dorsey spent most of the day in private conference with witnesses and detectives. Among those who met with him was Dr. H. F. Harris of the State Board of Health, who has twice examined Mary Phagan's exhumed body.