- 3 months ago
Thursday, May 29th, 1913
They Declare That They Are Anxious to Get at the Truth of the Murder Case, Regardless of Who Is Guilty
Little if any credence is placed by the city detectives in the theory of the officials and employes of the National Pencil factory that Mary Phagan was killed by James Conley, the newro [sic] sweeper, and that his motive was robbery.
The detectives have accepted as true Conley's second affidavit, in which he swears that he wrote the notes found by Mary Phagan's body, and that he did so about 1 o'clock on the day of the murder, at the dictation of Superintendent Leo M. [F]rank, who is now under indictment by the grand jury.
However, they are somewhat puzzled by the discrepancies in the time of certain occurrences as sworn by Conley and testified at the coroner's inquest by other witnesses.
Harry Scott, the Pinkerton detective who is working with the city detectives on the Phagan murder case and who developed the fact that Conley could write, notwithstanding his denials, declared that the shortest route to a complete solution of the mystery is to bring the negro Conley and Superintendent Frank face to face. He says the negro insists that he is anxious and willing to confront Mr. Frank with his story, and that if Mr. Frank and his attorneys agree, they (Conley and Mr. [F]rank) will be brought together to discuss the truth or falsity of the negro's declarations.
Thursday afternoon the detectives will put Conley through another vigorous interrogation, and it is said will question him as if they are convinced that he committed the murder. Failing to bring out any further incriminating admissions from him, they will, it is said, dwell upon what appear to be the weak points in his second affidavit.
SURE HE WROTE NOTES.
The detectives are satisfied that Conley wrote the notes, which he admits writing. They consider the handwriting of these notes identical with specimens written by Conley, Wednesday, photographs of which were reproduced by The Journal Wednesday afternoon.
No doubt is entertained by the detectives concerning Conley's admission that he was hiding in the pencil factory on the morning of the murder, for they claim to have corroborated thoroughly from other witnesses certain incidents which occurred at the factory that morning, as detailed by Conley. The negro must have been there in order to observe these incidents, the detectives assert.
That portion of Conley's latest statement which the detectives so far have been unable to corroborate, and in which the negro's declarations directly conflict with the testimony of inquest witnesses concerns his alleged visit to Superintendent Frank's office on the day of the murder.
OBSERVED TIME—12:56.
They Declare That They Are Anxious to Get at the Truth of the Murder Case, Regardless of Who Is Guilty
Little if any credence is placed by the city detectives in the theory of the officials and employes of the National Pencil factory that Mary Phagan was killed by James Conley, the newro [sic] sweeper, and that his motive was robbery.
The detectives have accepted as true Conley's second affidavit, in which he swears that he wrote the notes found by Mary Phagan's body, and that he did so about 1 o'clock on the day of the murder, at the dictation of Superintendent Leo M. [F]rank, who is now under indictment by the grand jury.
However, they are somewhat puzzled by the discrepancies in the time of certain occurrences as sworn by Conley and testified at the coroner's inquest by other witnesses.
Harry Scott, the Pinkerton detective who is working with the city detectives on the Phagan murder case and who developed the fact that Conley could write, notwithstanding his denials, declared that the shortest route to a complete solution of the mystery is to bring the negro Conley and Superintendent Frank face to face. He says the negro insists that he is anxious and willing to confront Mr. Frank with his story, and that if Mr. Frank and his attorneys agree, they (Conley and Mr. [F]rank) will be brought together to discuss the truth or falsity of the negro's declarations.
Thursday afternoon the detectives will put Conley through another vigorous interrogation, and it is said will question him as if they are convinced that he committed the murder. Failing to bring out any further incriminating admissions from him, they will, it is said, dwell upon what appear to be the weak points in his second affidavit.
SURE HE WROTE NOTES.
The detectives are satisfied that Conley wrote the notes, which he admits writing. They consider the handwriting of these notes identical with specimens written by Conley, Wednesday, photographs of which were reproduced by The Journal Wednesday afternoon.
No doubt is entertained by the detectives concerning Conley's admission that he was hiding in the pencil factory on the morning of the murder, for they claim to have corroborated thoroughly from other witnesses certain incidents which occurred at the factory that morning, as detailed by Conley. The negro must have been there in order to observe these incidents, the detectives assert.
That portion of Conley's latest statement which the detectives so far have been unable to corroborate, and in which the negro's declarations directly conflict with the testimony of inquest witnesses concerns his alleged visit to Superintendent Frank's office on the day of the murder.
OBSERVED TIME—12:56.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Detectives seek corroboration of Conley's story. Atlanta Journal. Thursday, May 29, 1913.
00:06They declare that they are anxious to get at the truth of the murder case, regardless of who is
00:11guilty. Little, if any, credence is placed by the city detectives in the theory of the officials
00:16and employees of the National Pencil Factory that Mary Fagan was killed by James Conley,
00:21the new row sweeper, and that his motive was robbery. The detectives have accepted as true
00:27Conley's second affidavit in which he swears that he wrote the notes found by Mary Fagan's body
00:31and that he did so about one o'clock on the day of the murder at the dictation of Superintendent
00:36Leo
00:37M. Frank, who is now under indictment by the grand jury. However, they are somewhat puzzled by the
00:42discrepancies in the time of certain occurrences as sworn by Conley and testified at the coroner's
00:48inquest by other witnesses. Harry Scott, the Pinkerton detective who is working with the city
00:53detectives on the Fagan murder case and who developed the fact that Conley could write,
00:58notwithstanding his denials, declared that the shortest route to a complete solution of the
01:02mystery is to bring the Negro Conley and Superintendent Frank face to face. He says the Negro insists that
01:09he is anxious and willing to confront Mr. Frank with his story and that if Mr. Frank and his attorneys
01:14agree, they, Conley and Mr. Frank, will be brought together to discuss the truth or falsity of the
01:20Negro's declarations. Thursday afternoon the detectives will put Conley through another
01:25vigorous interrogation and, it is said, will question him as if they are convinced that he
01:30committed the murder. Failing to bring out any further incriminating admissions from him,
01:34they will, it is said, dwell upon what appear to be the weak points in his second affidavit.
01:39Sure, he wrote notes. The detectives are satisfied that Conley wrote the notes which he admits
01:45writing. They consider the handwriting of these notes identical with specimens written by Conley
01:50Wednesday, photographs of which were reproduced by the journal Wednesday afternoon. No doubt is
01:55entertained by the detectives concerning Conley's admission that he was hiding in the pencil factory
02:00on the morning of the murder, for they claim to have corroborated thoroughly from other witnesses
02:05certain incidents which occurred at the factory that morning, as detailed by Conley. The Negro must
02:11have been there in order to observe these incidents, the detectives assert. That portion of Conley's
02:16latest statement, which the detectives so far have been unable to corroborate, and in which the Negro's
02:21declarations directly conflict with the testimony of inquest witnesses, concerns his alleged visit to
02:27Superintendent Frank's office on the day of the murder. Observe time, 1256. Conley swears that after
02:33remaining in hiding on the first floor just back of the stairs for nearly two hours, he was summoned
02:38upstairs to the office by Mr. Frank, who whistled for him to come up. That, as he passed the clock
02:43on the
02:44way to the office with Mr. Frank, who had him by the arm, he noticed it was exactly four minutes
02:49to
02:49one o'clock. That no one was in either the outer or inner office at the time. That almost immediately
02:55after he and Mr. Frank had arrived in the office, and the latter had closed the doors leading into
02:59both offices, footsteps were heard, and Mr. Frank bundled him into a wardrobe in the inner office,
03:05and went out and conferred with two ladies who, Mr. Frank told him, were Miss Corinthia Hall and
03:10Mrs. Emma Freeman, employees that he overheard the conversation between Mr. Frank and these ladies,
03:15and that Mrs. Freeman said she had come for her coat, which she had left in the dressing room
03:20upstairs. Then he wrote notes. Conley swore that when these ladies left the office, which was within
03:26a minute or two after they arrived, Mr. Frank followed them out and was gone for about a minute,
03:31after which he returned, and closing the doors of the offices, left him, Conley, out of the wardrobe,
03:37and dictated the two notes to him, saying he wanted a sample of his handwriting. That Mr. Frank was very
03:42much excited at the time. That he kept running his hands through his hair, and remarking in an
03:47undertone supposedly to himself, Why should I hang when I've got rich relatives? That after the notes
03:53were written, Mr. Frank pulled out a cigarette box and handed it to him. That when he opened the box,
03:58he found it contained $2.50. That he called Mr. Frank's attention to this, and the latter told him to
04:04keep it, saying, You are a good boy. I am going to send these notes to my mother in Brooklyn,
04:09N.Y.,
04:10who is rich, and who will probably send you something. According to Conley's second affidavit,
04:15he then was escorted to the stairs by Mr. Frank. He walked on down and out the front door and
04:20to a
04:21nearby saloon where he drank some beer, it being about 1.30 o'clock when he reached the saloon.
04:26Mr. Frank, in his statement to the coroner's jury, testified that he left the factory to go to lunch
04:31about 1 o'clock, after having warned Arthur White, Henry Denham, machinists at work on the third floor,
04:37and Mrs. White, who was up there with them at the time, that he was going and intended to lock
04:42the
04:42front door, and if any of them desired to leave, they had better do so. Mr. Frank and Mrs. White
04:47came down and went away. In her testimony at the inquest, Miss Corinthia Hall, one of the young ladies
04:53the Negro Conley swears, came into the office while he was in hiding in the wardrobe, stated that she and
04:58Mrs. Freeman left the factory about 11.45 on the day of the murder, that they were there but a
05:04few
05:04moments, that when they arrived Mr. Frank was standing in the office door, and that a stenographer
05:09and Mrs. White were inside the office, that when she and Mrs. Freeman went upstairs to get the ladder's
05:15cloak, Mr. Frank called to her to tell Mr. White that his wife was downstairs awaiting him, that she
05:21delivered the message, and Mr. White came downstairs to see his wife, that up on the third floor she found
05:26Mrs. May Barrett and Messrs. White and Denim. Conley swears in his second affidavit that Mrs. Barrett
05:33came downstairs before he was called up to the office, that she wore a certain kind of dress,
05:38and that she stopped just inside the street entrance to remove some money from a pay envelope,
05:42which she transferred to her handbag. Seek corroboration. Thursday morning the detectives
05:48planned to obtain affidavits from Miss Hall and Mrs. Freeman concerning the conversation which they
05:53held with Mr. Frank in his office on the day of the murder. This was done with a view to
05:58corroborating,
05:58if possible, what the negro Conley says he overheard. The detectives took the position that
06:04if these ladies corroborated Conley's account of what transpired, then that there could be no doubt
06:09that he was hidden in the office as he claims to have been. Such corroboration they hold would
06:14establish the truth of Conley's statement. After reviewing the evidence given by Miss Hall at the
06:20inquest, the detectives Thursday afternoon admitted they were somewhat puzzled concerning the
06:25discrepancies in time, as stated by Conley and Miss Hall. They offer no explanation of the further
06:31discrepancy in the statements of the two, as regards the presence in the office of Mrs. White
06:36and the stenographer during the visit there of Miss Hall and Mrs. Freeman. Discussing the case
06:41Thursday morning, Detective Chief Lanford declared that he was investigating every possible
06:46theory and every phase of the evidence presented. He said he was not shutting his eyes to any fact,
06:52but was earnestly endeavoring to establish the truth or falsity of every conclusion reached.
06:57I am not trying to make a murderer, he said. I am doing my best to clear up a murder
07:02mystery,
07:03and to establish beyond the question of doubt the guilt of the person who committed the murder.
07:08Police Chief Beavers also declared that the investigation was not being conducted with
07:12a view to fixing responsibility on some particular individual. What we desire to do is convict the
07:18real murderer, be he white or block, said the Chief. Notwithstanding the apparent discrepancies
07:24in the Negro Conley's affidavit as compared to the testimony of the inquest witnesses, the detectives
07:29are not included to change their theory. They will, it is said, during Thursday afternoon put Conley
07:35through another interrogation with a view to clearing up the weak poyntons in his statement,
07:39and while doing so the detectives will, it is said, make another effort to ascertain if Conley
07:45knows more about the murder than he has heretofore admitted. Theory of Factory Employees
07:49At variance with the theory of the detectives is the theory of practically all of the employees of
07:54the National Pencil Factory who have always maintained that Superintendent Leo M. Frank is
07:59innocent. The factory employees charge the crime now to the Negro Conley theory of crime. To a journal
08:05reporter, three officials of the place, Assistant Superintendent Herbert G. Schiff, E.F. Holloway,
08:10Timekeeper, and N.V. Darley, General Foreman, outlined their very plausible theory of the crime.
08:15The fact that Conley was in the building for several hours on the fatal Saturday must be granted,
08:20said Mr. Schiff. He told how Mr. Holloway came down the steps and went to the front of the building
08:24during the morning to talk with a peg-legged Negro employed by a certain glass company.
08:29Mr. Holloway, who did not see Conley, but who says that he might easily have missed him in the
08:34darkness of the first floor, corroborates the statement that he talked to the peg-legged Negro.
08:39Conley told just how Miss Maddie Smith came up to the office and now she came down,
08:44talking to Mr. Darley about her sick father and the mistake in her pay envelope,
08:48and how he told her that he would fix it up all right next week.
08:51All of this corroborated by both Mr. Darley and Miss Smith. Conley has described the dress of Miss
08:57Smith and she says the description is correct. Now the theory of the crime we entertain is simply this.
09:02Conley came in, following Miss Smith, and expected to rob her as she came down with her money.
09:08When Mr. Darley happened to come with her, Conley gave up his attempt, but continued to wait there
09:13in the darkness. Later he saw little Mary Fagan come in and waited until she came down. Then he
09:19grabbed her and tried to get her purse. A scuffle by the elevator ensued and the Negro knocked the girl
09:25down the elevator shaft. He quickly followed her, going down by the trap-door. He found her cut and
09:30bruised and unconscious. Then he tied the cord around her neck and choked her to death. He wrote
09:35the notes himself, and then he pulled the staple off the rear basement door and left the place.
09:40Now the double doors at the head of the second floor were locked, and Mr. Frank could have easily
09:45remained in his office without hearing screams or noise of a scuffle. Unreasonable, he says.
09:51It is unreasonable to suppose that an intelligent white man would have called in the Negro
09:56and dictated those notes to him. Mr. Frank has been in the South a few years and does not know
10:01enough about Negroes to dictate notes characteristic of the race. In addition, why would any intelligent
10:08white man try to write two notes to throw pursuers off the track when one would do just as well?
10:14Further, the Negro says in his statement to the detectives that Mr. Frank said,
10:18Oh, why should I hang? Why should I hang? Would any man of Mr. Frank's intelligence and education,
10:25even under stress of excitement, make such a statement to a Negro? Mr. Schiff points out
10:30that Mary Fagan's purse and her pay envelope have never been found, and declares that this fact adds
10:36to the plausibleness of the robbery motive. Didn't see Mary Fagan. Another disturbing statement in the
10:41Fagan case has been eliminated by Detectives Starnes and Campbell. Some time ago, Mrs. Aya Smith,
10:47of 198 West Peachtree Street, wrote to the newspapers and the police that on the Monday following the
10:53crime she heard three women talking on the street of the tragedy, and that one of them remarked that
10:58she saw Mary Fagan at four o'clock on the afternoon of the tragedy. The lady who, Mrs. Smith says,
11:04was doing the talking has been located. She is the mother of G. W. Epps, the little boy who came
11:10to
11:10town with Mary Fagan on the day of the tragedy. Mrs. Epps dressed in the same clothes she was wearing
11:15when Mrs. Smith saw her on the streets, and both are satisfied that it was Mrs. Epps' conversation
11:20which Mrs. Smith overheard. Mrs. Epps says, however, that Mrs. Smith misunderstood her,
11:25and that she did not see Mary Fagan on the afternoon of the tragedy.
Comments