00:00C.W. Tobey, Burns' agent, tells of the conferences he held with S. Collier,
00:04Atlanta Constitution, Sunday, May 25, 1913, following affidavit concerning his connection
00:10with the Fagan case and with A.S. Collier. Georgia Fulton County personally appeared
00:14before the undersigned, an officer authorized by law to administer oaths, C.W. Tobey, who first
00:21being duly sworn, deposes and says that he is a citizen of Chicago, with offices in the first
00:27National Bank building of that city, and that he is manager of the criminal department,
00:31West, of the William J. Burns National Detective Agency, that he has occupied this position for
00:37the past ten months, that he has been connected with the William J. Burns National Detective Agency
00:42as manager of the Kansas City MOA branch office since May 1910, that for a year prior to that time
00:50he was connected with the Tillotson Detective Agency, correspondence of the William J. Burns
00:55National Detective Agency, that prior to that time, deponent was connected with the Pinkerton
01:00National Detective Agency for a period of nine years, that he severed his connection with the
01:05Pinkerton National Detective Agency in May 1909, charges false. Deponent says on oath that the
01:12statement that he was discharged by said agency is utterly, absolutely, and deliberately false,
01:17that he resigned from said agency, and not under compulsion, but of his own volition.
01:22Deponent further says on oath that during the period of his labors as a detective covering the
01:27United States, Canada, and some of the foreign countries, his work has never been brought into
01:32question, and his character as a man and detective has never been assailed. Deponent further says on
01:38oath that about two weeks ago he was instructed by Raymond J. Burns, the secretary and treasurer of the
01:44William J. Burns National Detective Agency, who was acting under instructions from his father,
01:48to come to Atlanta on a murder case and report to Colonel Felder. Arriving in Atlanta he had a
01:53conference with Colonel Felder, and immediately entered upon the work at hand. Later he had a
01:58lengthy conference with Colonel Felder and Honorable Hugh M. Dorsey, working to find murderer. Deponent
02:04further says on oath that for the past ten days he has been diligently at work in an effort to
02:10unearth the
02:10Fagan murderer or murderers, that during this time no hint, suggestion, or proposition has been made to
02:16him by either Jew or Gentile, man, woman, or child, to work in the interest of Frank, or any other
02:22suspect, that during this period he has acted conscientiously, faithfully, and diligently, in an
02:28effort to ferret out the mystery and place the crime upon the shoulders of the guilty party. At no
02:33time has deponent ever been requested, required, or instructed to investigate the police or the
02:38detective department, or in short, to perform any other duty in connection with his stay in Atlanta
02:44except the duty which brought him to the city, namely the investigation of the Mary Fagan case.
02:50Deponent further says on oath that the statement imputed by an afternoon paper to Collier to the
02:56effect that I informed him at the Piedmont Hotel that I was going to Colonel Felder's office to meet
03:01a committee of citizens, among whom were Mr. Hirsch, Mr. Meyer, and Mr. Greenstein, and several other
03:07prominent Jews in the city, is a deliberate, malicious, and willful falsehood. As a matter of fact,
03:13I never heard of either one of these gentlemen until I read their names in the papers on yesterday
03:17afternoon, and I have never met them or either of affidavits, whereupon the said Collier elsewhere,
03:23and deponent firmly believes that this statement is made as a part of a well-planned conspiracy to
03:28discredit his efforts, and the efforts of Colonel Felder, to unearth the Fagan murderer or murderers,
03:34when he met Collier. Deponent further said, on oath, that he never laid eyes on Collier in his life
03:40until he met him at the office of Colonel T.B. Felder on Sunday evening, May 18. At the time
03:46of
03:46deponent's arrival at said office, the conference between Collier and Colonel Felder, which had
03:51evidently been brief, was drawing to a close, and at Collier's invitation I made an appointment to
03:57meet him at the Piedmont Hotel on the following morning, as he stated that he had very important
04:02information in connection with the Fagan case, which he desired to impart to deponent. After meeting at
04:08the Piedmont Hotel, the said Collier stated to deponent that he had a number of affidavits involving
04:14the chief of police and chief of detectives, which he desired to submit to him, that he was not here
04:19on that mission, and declined to examine the telephonic communications from him, stated to
04:24said deponent that the city police and detective departments were undertaking to discredit Colonel
04:28Felder's, Solicitor General Dorsey's, and deponent's efforts, and added that deponent had three things to
04:34fight, to wit, jealousy, politics, and money, and repeated it by saying, remember now, you are up
04:41against JP and M. Deponent reached the conclusion almost instantly that this man was a crook and
04:47humbug, and thereupon ended the interview abruptly, and although he has received numerous telephonic
04:52communications from him since, he has declined to meet him at his hotel or elsewhere in the city of
04:57Atlanta. Toby has been obstructed. Deponent further says on oath that he is advised and believes that in
05:03his diligent efforts to unravel the Fagin mystery, he has been obstructed by some secret agency at
05:08every turn of the road. In his efforts to interview witnesses, he has found them reluctant to answer
05:14questions and to give him necessary information, with the result that deponent reached the conclusion
05:19that said witnesses were acting under instructions in their conduct. Deponent further says on oath that
05:26there is nothing in the Fagin mystery different to other mysteries, and that with the cooperation of
05:31the agencies that should be in sympathy with the efforts of the William J. Burns National Detective
05:36Agency, guilt should be fastened upon the real criminal by absolute and conclusive evidence.
05:42C. W. Toby, sworn to and subscribe before me this 24th day of May, 1913, Benedict Kobach,
05:50Notary Public, Fulton County, Georgia.
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