00:00My son Innocent declares mother of Leo M. Frank. Atlanta Constitution, Tuesday, May 13, 1913.
00:07I am confident that he will be proven not guilty of this terrible crime, she tells reporter has
00:12not seen her son since he was married, W.J. Burns secured to take charge of Fagan mystery
00:16investigation, engaged by Friends of Murdered Girl, another arrest expected in Fagan mystery case.
00:23It was reported on good authority this morning that officers working upon the Mary Fagan murder
00:27would make a new arrest today or tomorrow which is expected to throw an entirely new light upon the
00:31case. None of the officials have discussed this new phase of the mystery, and whether or not their
00:36activity of the past few days has resulted in the unearthing of clues leading to an arrest is unknown.
00:42My son is entirely innocent, but it is a terrible thing that even a shadow or suspicion should fall
00:48upon him. I am sure of his innocence, and am confident that he will be proven not guilty of
00:54this terrible crime. Mrs. Rudolph Frank, aged mother of Leo M. Frank, who is held in the tower as a
01:02suspect in the Mary Fagan mystery case, made this statement yesterday afternoon to a representative of
01:08the Constitution at her home in Brooklyn. She had just informed her friends of the arrest of her son
01:13in Atlanta, and of the charge made against him in the Gate City. She had not told them earlier because
01:19of her belief that he would be quickly set at liberty. Mrs. Frank has not seen her son since she
01:24came south with her husband to attend his marriage. It is probable, however, that she will soon come
01:29again to be with him at the trial.
01:30Last night the Constitution received the following telegram from its New York representative.
01:35Story from New York
01:36New York, May 12th, Special
01:38Mrs. Rudolph Frank, of number 152 Underhill Avenue, Brooklyn, mother of Leo M. Frank, general
01:46superintendent of the National Pencil Company of Atlanta, Georgia, made it known to her friends
01:51today that she had received news from Atlanta that her son has been held for the grand jury
01:55in connection with the murder of Mary Fagan, 14-year-old employee of the company. Mrs. Frank
02:01has not seen her son since two years ago last fall, when she and her husband went to Atlanta
02:06to be present at his marriage. Leo Frank, although only 29 years old, has advanced so rapidly and
02:13was so well thought of by his employers that he was given charge of all three plants of the
02:17company at Atlanta. Young Frank went south about six years ago. He is a Cornell graduate and is
02:22very highly thought of and greatly respected in Atlanta, according to his mother's statement.
02:26He is a church man, has taken a leading part in organized charitable work, and is a member of
02:32several clubs in the southern city.
02:34I know my son is entirely innocent, but it is a terrible thing that even a shadow of suspicion
02:39should fall upon him, said Mrs. Frank.
02:41You see, my boy was the last one so far as the police know who saw the girl alive.
02:45He gave her her pay envelope on Saturday two weeks ago, and she was not seen alive after that.
02:51I am sure of his innocence and am confident he will be proven not guilty of this terrible crime.
02:56Young Frank was employed by the National Meter Company in Brooklyn before he went south to
03:00Atlanta. The Franks live in a handsome home in an exclusive neighborhood. His father is a traveling
03:06man. William Burns secured. William J. Burns, heralded as America's greatest detective,
03:12is to personally begin a hunt for the murderer of Mary Fagan. Upon his arrival from Europe in New
03:17York this afternoon, it is said he will come immediately to Atlanta. Colonel Thomas B. Felder,
03:23who has been retained in the Fagan mystery by relatives and friends of the slain girl,
03:27is responsible for the engagement of the famous sleuth. Several days ago, he journeyed to New York for the
03:33express purpose of consulting officials of the Burns Agency. As a result, Raymond Burns,
03:38son of the noted detective, cabled his father in Europe, where the latter has been investigating the
03:44whereabouts of Wilberforce Martin, the Memphis millionaire, whose disappearance recently created
03:50international sensation, Burns wired back that he would take up the local mystery and would embark
03:55immediately for America. Burns is scheduled to be in Atlanta Thursday en route to Macon, where he has
04:01been invited to speak before the convention of the Georgia State Bankers Association. His address,
04:06a new era in the detection of crime, is to be delivered Friday afternoon, has never failed
04:12on a case. The noted detective's reputation of having never personally undertaken a mystery which
04:17he did not solve, inspires hope in the thousands throughout the city and state who have become
04:22interested in the baffling case. Mr. Felder would not divulge the source of the funds which are to
04:27employ Burns, but is inferred that they have been obtained by subscriptions donated by friends of
04:33relatives of the slain girl, in which manner he himself was retained. Neither would he state the
04:38amount necessary to engage Burns. No new developments. The Fagan mystery remained in its normal, unsolved
04:44state Monday. Although the detectives worked diligently throughout the day, no new clues were
04:50discovered or no developments unearthed. Solicitor Dorsey spent the day examining witnesses and preparing
04:55evidence at hand for submittance to the grand jury. For the first time during his imprisonment,
05:00Leo Frank was visited by his wife. Heretofore she had been too ill to reach the tower. She remained
05:07for an hour or more, and was in tears upon emerging from the prison. Frank, too, was visibly affected by
05:12the visit. He apparently is regaining the health impaired by the effect of imprisonment and the
05:17grueling to which he was subjected by detectives and at the inquest. The mysterious sleuth employed by
05:23Solicitor Dorsey, whose identity has never been revealed, but whose fame is said to be widespread,
05:28left the city Monday morning on some secret mission which is puzzling newspaper reporters and the
05:32detective staff at police headquarters. Mr. Dorsey will not tell his strange detective's destination
05:38or the nature of his errand. Such an atmosphere of mystery has been created around the Solicitor's
05:43sleuth that many persons are striving as hard to disclose his identity as they once strove to find
05:49the murderer. Knows Dorsey's sleuth. Chief Newport A. Lanford, in charge of the detective department at
05:55police headquarters, told a reporter for the Constitution last night that he could reveal
06:00the identity of Solicitor Hugh Dorsey's mysterious sleuth, who has been heralded as a world beater.
06:06He's either Detective John Starnes or Patrick Campbell, said the chief. Both of these men are
06:11attached to the headquarters staff and are working under the Solicitor. I believe they are the only
06:16detectives employed by Mr. Dorsey, and there's not a doubt in my mind that one of them is the
06:20mysterious sleuth. Mr. Dorsey said, Campbell and Starnes are doing good work, all right,
06:25and they are capable detectives, but neither of them is the man to whom I referred when I said
06:30America's greatest sleuth. For reasons best known to myself, I intend to withhold his name until the
06:36proper time for disclosures. He is out of the city at present working on the Fagan case, and upon his
06:42return I expect to be able to give out some startling evidence he plans to unearth.
06:47Character Testimony
06:48Although three witnesses with testimony of that nature were introduced in the coroner's inquest,
06:53and detectives have obtained a park policeman as a witness, character testimony cannot be
06:58introduced by the prosecution unless Frank's character is put into issue by the defense.
07:03This was made definitely known Monday by Solicitor Dorsey, who declared that but few efforts were
07:09being put forth to obtain evidence derogatory to the suspect's character and conduct. It has been
07:14rumored that the one hundred or more employees of the pencil factory were subpoenaed to give testimony
07:20against the superintendent's character. Only three of that number were examined. The coroner and
07:25members of his jury say, however, that such was not the intentions of his jury.
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