00:00Evidence Against Frank Conclusive Say Police, Atlanta, Georgian Monday, May 26, 1913.
00:05Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford Monday announced that the mystery of the Mary Fagan
00:10tragedy is solved as nearly as is possible without the absolute direct testimony of eyewitnesses
00:16and expressed himself as perfectly satisfied with the evidence now in hand.
00:21Accompanying this statement comes the authoritative announcement that the great strangling crime
00:26will be placed on Leo M. Frank, now under indictment on the charge of murder, and that Newt Lee,
00:31the suspected Negro night watchman of the National Pencil Factory, will not be indicted.
00:36Lee will be held in jail until the trial as a material witness and will be placed on the
00:41stand to give evidence against the factory superintendent. Lee has completely been
00:46eliminated from the case as a suspect and is now counted as one of the strongest witnesses against
00:51Frank.
00:52There is not the slightest doubt of the innocence of Newt Lee, said Chief Lanford.
00:56I am certain he has told all he knows of the death of Mary Fagan.
01:00Can hold Lee indefinitely?
01:02No further action nor proceedings of any kind will be necessary to hold the night watchman
01:07for the trial.
01:07He was ordered by the coroner's jury, held for investigation by the grand jury, and until
01:12the latter body either returns an indictment or a no bill, he cannot be freed from jail.
01:17It is the plan of the state, it is understood, to defer action on his case by the grand jury
01:23until after the trial of Frank.
01:25He will then be released.
01:26The great advantage gained by the state in holding Lee as a material witness is that he
01:31can be cross-examined when he goes on the stand.
01:34By this means the state can bring out every possible circumstance against Frank that has
01:39been related by the Negro.
01:40Were he indicted as an accomplice or on any other charge, and appear in court as a defendant,
01:46Lee would merely make such statement as he chose, and could not be cross-examined by either
01:51the state or the defense.
01:53The refusal of the grand jury to indict Lee is one of the shrewdest moves yet made by the
01:58prosecution.
01:58It came as a great surprise, as it generally had been conceded that both Frank and Lee would
02:03be indicted, either jointly or Frank as principal and Lee as accessory.
02:07Lanford is satisfied.
02:09Chief Lanford, in declaring himself satisfied with the status of the case, said that the real
02:14work of his detectives is now over, and that all that remains for them to do is to knit
02:19some of the circumstances together and strengthen a few of the weak points.
02:24He said a case was circumstantial, but felt sure the state would be able to convict Frank.
02:29He added,
02:30With the evidence we now have, we could convict Frank with a recommendation to mercy in ten
02:36minutes.
02:36This would mean a life term.
02:38It is going to be difficult in this case to impose the extreme penalty of the law, as
02:43so many people are opposed to capital punishment on circumstantial evidence.
02:47The slaying of Mary Fagan, however, was straight murder or nothing, and the state will demand
02:51the limit.
02:52While the evidence is purely circumstantial, still I am satisfied it is strong enough to thoroughly
02:57convince any jury, the confession of Jim Conley, the Negro factory sweeper, that from the dictation
03:03by Frank, he wrote the mysterious notes found beside the dead body of Mary Fagan in the factory
03:09basement, has added an unexpected phase to the case, and brought about much speculation.
03:15Detectives admit that they are skeptical of the Negroes' confession, as they are unable
03:20to reconcile it with other circumstances.
03:22Was slaying planned?
03:24If his story is true, detectives say it means that the murder was premeditated and planned,
03:29as he declares the notes were written the afternoon before the tragedy.
03:33The accepted theory is that the murder was not planned, but resulted from unexpected conditions
03:39at the time.
03:40Conley sticks to his confession.
03:42He told a Georgian reporter that he confessed because he considered it safer for him, that
03:46he feared if he didn't tell the truth, he might be hanged.
03:49He will be put through another rigid examination in the Office of Detectives Monday as a test
03:54of his truthfulness.
03:55He also will be shown the original murder notes for the purpose of identification.
04:00He has not seen these notes since his arrest three weeks ago.
04:04Just what bearing the Negro story will have on the case officers are not prepared to say.
04:08Chief of Detectives Lanford Monday afternoon declared his belief that the confession of James
04:14Connolly, the Negro sweeper, that he wrote the murder notes at the dictation of Frank is
04:19absolutely false in every detail.
04:21He said he attached no importance whatever to the confession.
04:25The lines on which the state will seek the conviction of Frank were carefully mapped out
04:29in a three-hour conference between Solicitor Dorsey and Chief Lanford the latter part of last
04:34week.
04:34The number of witnesses to be introduced, the order in which they will be called, and all
04:39other essential details were agreed on, contentions of state.
04:43The contention of the state, briefly outlined, will be this.
04:46First, that the murder of Mary Fagan was an inside job, that it was committed inside the
04:52factory and by a person connected with the place.
04:55Second, that Leo M. Frank, in struggling with the girl, accidentally forced her against a machine,
05:01knocking her unconscious and fearing exposure, killed the girl by strangulation, and hid her body
05:07in the basement, where it was found by Newt Lee, the night watchman.
05:11Third, Mary Fagan had worked but one day Monday, in the week of the tragedy, and was not notified
05:17that the employees would receive their money Friday afternoon, and that the factory would be closed
05:22Saturday, on account of Memorial Day, that she went to the factory at noon Saturday to get her money,
05:29finding Frank alone in the office.
05:31She asked Frank if the metal had arrived.
05:33She worked in the metal department, and had been laid off because of the lack of material.
05:38Frank, the state will claim, probably enticed the girl back into the factory by remarking
05:42that they would go back and see if the metal had come.
05:45Fourth, that Frank had ordered Newt Lee to report for duty at four o'clock in the afternoon,
05:50and that when Lee arrived at the factory, Frank told him to go away and have a good time and
05:55return at six o'clock.
05:56Frank appeared nervous and agitated, and was wringing his hands.
05:59After the Negro left, Frank removed the girl and carried her down the elevator.
06:04The girl revived after being taken from the closet, and Frank strangled her with a piece
06:08of twine, which probably he had used in binding her hands or feet in order that he might carry
06:13her more easily.
06:14Negro, not accomplice.
06:16Fifth, that Frank left the factory shortly after six o'clock, and that he called Newt Lee
06:21over the telephone shortly afterwards, asking if everything was all right, a thing he had
06:25never done before.
06:26Sixth, that Newt Lee had absolutely no connection with the crime further than the finding of
06:31the body at three-thirty o'clock Sunday morning.
06:35Seventh, that Monteen Stover of 175 South Forsyth Street, a girl employee, called for her money
06:41shortly after twelve o'clock on Saturday and found Frank out of the office.
06:45She waited ten minutes and left.
06:48Evidence, which has not been disclosed, will be presented to strengthen these points.
06:52From what has been made public, it is plain the state has only circumstantial evidence
06:56and little of that bearing directly on the crime.
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