- 2 days ago
Saturday, May 31st, 1913
"No Man With Common Sense Would Even Suspect That I Did It," Prisoner in Fulton Tower Tells Attache. "It's a Negro's Crime Through and Through." Asserts His Innocence to Turnkeys and to Fellow Prisoners.
"IT'S UP TO MR. FRANK TO TELL THE TRUTH," ASSERTS JAMES CONLEY
"I Believe He'd Let ‘Em Hang Me to Get Out of It Himself if He Had the Chance," Says Negro Sweeper—Chief Lanford Is Pleased With Work of Department and Ready for the Case to Come to Trial Immediately.
"No white man killed Mary Phagan. It's a negro's crime, through and through. No man with common sense would even suspect that I did it."
This declaration was made by Leo M. Frank in his cell at the Tower to a jail attaché, the attaché told a reporter for The Constitution last night. He is also stated to have made incessant pleas of innocence to turnkeys and prisoners who are permitted within the sacred confines of his cell.
No newspaper men are allowed to see him. He has instructed Sheriff Mangum to permit no one in his presence except at his request. The sheriff is obeying the order to the letter. Even Chief Lanford, headquarters detectives and Harry Scott, of the Pinkertons, which agency is in the prisoner's employ, are denied admission to his cell.
Coupled with the declaration Frank is said to have made to the jail attaché, comes his statement made Friday to Sheriff Mangum that he knew not who was guilty, but that the murderer should hang. This was made after news reached him of Conley's confession, it is said.
Many Friends Visit Frank.
Frank devours newspaper stories of the Phagan investigation, it is said at the jail. His cell is crowded daily with friends and relatives who bring him papers and delicacies. His wife now visits him once each day. He talks but little of the crime to anyone beside his friends, and but little is gained from him by the jailers and prisoners who visit him.
James Conley sat on a bunk in his cell at the Tower last night and for an hour freely discussed his grim connection with the Mary Phagan tragedy. He was a willing talker, ready answerer of questions, and throughout the interview he seemed to find relief in relating the narrative of his complicity in Atlanta's most hideous crime.
"I made an affidavit down to police headquarters," he said. "It was the third one I made since they had me arrested. It's the truth, though, the whole truth, and I hope to God that He strikes me dead this very instant if it ain't.
"I was intendin' not to tell the whole business. I was fixin' to take care of Mr. Frank like he told me to in the first place. I was going to keep my mouth shut and say nothin', until some of those folks down at the pencil factory opens up and begins tryin' to make out that I killed the little girl, and that I'm trying to save my own neck by fixin' it on Mr. Frank.
Scared Into Confession.
"No Man With Common Sense Would Even Suspect That I Did It," Prisoner in Fulton Tower Tells Attache. "It's a Negro's Crime Through and Through." Asserts His Innocence to Turnkeys and to Fellow Prisoners.
"IT'S UP TO MR. FRANK TO TELL THE TRUTH," ASSERTS JAMES CONLEY
"I Believe He'd Let ‘Em Hang Me to Get Out of It Himself if He Had the Chance," Says Negro Sweeper—Chief Lanford Is Pleased With Work of Department and Ready for the Case to Come to Trial Immediately.
"No white man killed Mary Phagan. It's a negro's crime, through and through. No man with common sense would even suspect that I did it."
This declaration was made by Leo M. Frank in his cell at the Tower to a jail attaché, the attaché told a reporter for The Constitution last night. He is also stated to have made incessant pleas of innocence to turnkeys and prisoners who are permitted within the sacred confines of his cell.
No newspaper men are allowed to see him. He has instructed Sheriff Mangum to permit no one in his presence except at his request. The sheriff is obeying the order to the letter. Even Chief Lanford, headquarters detectives and Harry Scott, of the Pinkertons, which agency is in the prisoner's employ, are denied admission to his cell.
Coupled with the declaration Frank is said to have made to the jail attaché, comes his statement made Friday to Sheriff Mangum that he knew not who was guilty, but that the murderer should hang. This was made after news reached him of Conley's confession, it is said.
Many Friends Visit Frank.
Frank devours newspaper stories of the Phagan investigation, it is said at the jail. His cell is crowded daily with friends and relatives who bring him papers and delicacies. His wife now visits him once each day. He talks but little of the crime to anyone beside his friends, and but little is gained from him by the jailers and prisoners who visit him.
James Conley sat on a bunk in his cell at the Tower last night and for an hour freely discussed his grim connection with the Mary Phagan tragedy. He was a willing talker, ready answerer of questions, and throughout the interview he seemed to find relief in relating the narrative of his complicity in Atlanta's most hideous crime.
"I made an affidavit down to police headquarters," he said. "It was the third one I made since they had me arrested. It's the truth, though, the whole truth, and I hope to God that He strikes me dead this very instant if it ain't.
"I was intendin' not to tell the whole business. I was fixin' to take care of Mr. Frank like he told me to in the first place. I was going to keep my mouth shut and say nothin', until some of those folks down at the pencil factory opens up and begins tryin' to make out that I killed the little girl, and that I'm trying to save my own neck by fixin' it on Mr. Frank.
Scared Into Confession.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Mary Fagan's murder was work of a Negro, declares Leo M. Frank, Atlanta Constitution, Saturday,
00:05May 31, 1913. No man with common sense would even suspect that I did it, prisoner in Fulton Tower
00:11tells Attaché. It's a Negro's crime through and through, asserts his innocence to turnkeys and
00:16to fellow prisoners. It's up to Mr. Frank to tell the truth, asserts James Conley. I believe he'd
00:22let him hang me to get out of it himself if he had the chance, says Negro sweeper Chief Lanford,
00:26is pleased with work of department and ready for the case to come to trial immediately.
00:31No white man killed Mary Fagan. It's a Negro's crime through and through. No man with common
00:36sense would even suspect that I did it. This declaration was made by Leo M. Frank in his
00:41cell at the Tower to a jail Attaché, the Attaché told a reporter for the Constitution last night.
00:46He is also stated to have made incessant pleas of innocence to turnkeys and prisoners who are
00:51permitted within the sacred confines of his cell. No newspapermen are allowed to see him.
00:56He has instructed Sheriff Mangum to permit no one in his presence except at his request.
01:01The Sheriff is obeying the order to the letter. Even Chief Lanford, Headquarters Detectives,
01:07and Harry Scott of the Pinkertons, which agency is in the prisoner's employ, are denied admission to
01:13his cell. Coupled with the declaration Frank is said to have made to the jail Attaché, comes his
01:18statement made Friday to Sheriff Mangum that he knew not who was guilty, but that the murderer
01:22should hang. This was made after news reached him of Conley's confession, it is said. Many friends
01:28visit Frank. Frank devours newspaper stories of the Fagan investigation, it is said, at the jail.
01:33His cell is crowded daily with friends and relatives who bring him papers and delicacies.
01:37His wife now visits him once each day. He talks but little of the crime to anyone beside his friends,
01:43and but little is gained from him by the jailers and prisoners who visit him.
01:46James Conley sat on a bunk in his cell at the Tower last night, and for an hour freely discussed
01:52his
01:52grim connection with the Mary Fagan tragedy. He was a willing talker, ready answerer of questions,
01:58and throughout the interview he seemed to find relief in relating the narrative of his
02:02complicity in Atlanta's most hideous crime. I made an affidavit down to police headquarters,
02:07he said. It was the third one I made since they had me arrested. It's the truth, though,
02:12the whole truth, and I hope to God that he strikes me dead this very instant if it ain't.
02:16I was intending not to tell the whole business. I was fixin' to take care of Mr. Frank like he
02:21told me to in the first place. I was going to keep my mouth shut and say nothin' until some
02:25of those
02:26folks down at the pencil factory opens up and begins trying to make out that I killed the little
02:30girl and that I'm trying to save my own neck by fixin' it on Mr. Frank. Scared into confession?
02:36That made me mad. It didn't make me any madder than it made me scared. I just put it down
02:42that if I didn't come on out with the truth, they would get me and hang an innocent nigger.
02:46I called for Mr. Detective Black that Saturday and begins to open up. I was afraid even then,
02:52though, to tell the whole business. Finally, the thing got to workin' in my head so much that I
02:56just couldn't hold it any longer. I couldn't sleep, and it worried me mightily. I just decided it was
03:02time for me to come on out with it, and I did. The detectives and Chief Lanford treated me mighty
03:07fair, and I felt a whole lot better when I went up before them and told the truth.
03:12I don't think I slept better in a long time than I slept last night. I knew I had told
03:16the truth,
03:17and I felt like a clean nigger. They won't do much with me, I don't think. Mr. Hugh Dorsey,
03:22he came a long time ago when I first started to open up, and told me everything was all right
03:26and
03:26for me to go ahead with everything I knew. This is the Negro's first statement for publication.
03:32He was being visited by his wife, a young mulatto, while the reporter talked with him.
03:36He gave her directions regarding obtaining a few personal articles, which he would need while in
03:41prison. It's up to Frank.
03:42Mr. Frank, he did that murder, and he knows it, the sweeper continued. It's up to him now to come
03:47out with the truth. I done told it, and it's his time. I never saw him do it, and he
03:52didn't say
03:53he did, but they ain't no debout that he did do it. If he didn't, then why didn't he go
03:57and send for
03:57the police when he found the body, instead of having me help him carry it down to the basement?
04:02That's what I'd like to know.
04:03He ain't got much chance, Mr. Frank ain't. He must know it, or he'd told the truth a long time
04:08ago.
04:09I believe he'd let him hang me to get out of it himself if he had the chance. He ain't
04:13pad me
04:14nothing yet like he promised to do, and the only thing I got out of it was that two dollars
04:18he gave
04:18me in the cigarette box. He was asked if he knew of the staple being pulled from the door in
04:23the
04:23basement.
04:24Nah, sir. I don't know anything about that, he answered. It must have been done after I left,
04:30because when I got the chance to get away from that place, I hustled. Also, the reporter questioned
04:35the Negro if his connection with the body's disposal was through fear. No, sir, it wasn't
04:40exactly that. I didn't get scared of Mr. Frank but once, and I don't want to tell what caused me
04:44to
04:44be afraid then. I went on ahead with the body like he told me to, because I had been drinking
04:49and wasn't
04:50exactly in my right mind. Mr. Frank's looks kinder scared me, though, because he looked just for the
04:55world like somebody that was crazy. I never saw a man look like he did, and I never want to
05:00see
05:00another look like that again. Conley was asked to describe in detail his movements in helping
05:06Frank lower the body to the basement as the Negro confesses. Affidavit tells story. I done it just
05:12like I say in the affidavit. I don't like to talk about it or think about it. The affidavit tells
05:16exactly the way we took her to the basement and left her there and everything else I know about it.
05:20I done told everything. There ain't nothing else for me to tell. I done come clean now,
05:26and it's Mr. Frank's time to do the same thing. Conley gives his age as twenty-seven. He has been
05:31a laborer all his life. For the past two years he has been employed with the pencil factory.
05:36He said Frank had often encountered him in the plant and frequently stopped to joke with him.
05:41Mr. Frank a whole lot of times when he'd come down the aisle where I was working to stop and
05:45guy me a
05:45little bit and then go on about his business. I used to laugh and joke with him some whenever I'd
05:50go in
05:50his office. That Saturday we moved the body wasn't the first time we'd ever come together.
05:55He's in bad shape, Mr. Frank is, and I kinder feel bad for him, although that was a horrible thing
06:00he
06:00did. If I was him I'd come on out with the truth. It'll be the best thing for him. I
06:05done told it,
06:06and what I said in that affidavit Chief Lanford and them have got is the truth for God and high
06:10heaven. If he was to tell me this very minute that he was going to hit me with a streak
06:14of lightning
06:15if I didn't tell the straight of it, I couldn't say a thing on earth except what's in that affidavit.
06:19Chief greatly pleased. Chief Lanford swung round in his swivel chair at the desk of his office in
06:25police headquarters yesterday afternoon and faced a group of eager reporters who had entered for
06:29their hourly conference. There was a smile of victory on his face, and he chuckled inwardly as
06:35he reached into a pigeonhole for the final affidavit made by James Conley, the confessed
06:40murder accessory. I feel like a mountain had been moved from my shoulders, he told the reporters.
06:45I feel more relieved at present than I have felt in my whole career. I'm happy to tell the truth,
06:51happier than I ever will be. The Mary Fagan murder is no longer a mystery. It is cleared
06:56absolutely, and in my opinion is to be considered, the guilty man will be convicted within thirty days.
07:01We are now ready for trial at any time. He held up the Negro's affidavit in view,
07:06tapped it upon his palm, and continued, pleased with the work. This document here is a result of the
07:12best piece of detective work performed anywhere in the South. The Pinkertons and the police
07:16detectives solved the most baffling mystery of my experience when they obtained this affidavit
07:21from Conley. It's worth its weight in gold, and more, too. I wouldn't take a million for it.
07:27Conley was transferred from police headquarters Friday afternoon to a cell in the tower,
07:31where he will be kept until Frank's trial. He is being held as a material witness. No bond can be
07:37made for him, and he will be imprisoned in the jail until the exact moment he is called to the
07:41witness stand. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey said that if the Negro's story is true, he would
07:47indict him for having been an accessory after the fact. The solicitor says he believes Conley can be
07:52convicted of only a misdemeanor, which merits either imprisonment of one year or a fine of one thousand
07:58dollars. The most dramatic phase of yesterday's developments was the inaction by Conley of his
08:03movements on the day of the tragedy, when he says he and Leo Frank lowered Mary Fagan's corpse from
08:08the office floor of the factory building to the basement darkness below. With Chief Lanford, Harry
08:14Scott, other detectives, and a handful of newspaper men, the pencil plant was visited shortly before
08:19noon. Goes through pantomime. The Negro's pantomime was thorough in detail. He overlooked no part depicted
08:26in his astounding confession of the night before. He often even lay down upon the floor so as to
08:31minutely picture the position of the victim's body at certain stages of its removal into the cellar.
08:36With wavering voices that frequently choked slightly as though from some tragic recollection
08:41of the grim occurrence, he verbally explained his actions on the murder day. First, he led the
08:46detectives through the second floor to the rear, and into a small metal room in which he says he
08:51discovered the lifeless form at the direction of his superintendent. He lay down flatly in an obscure
08:57corner of the tiny room, distorted his limbs in a crumpled heap, telling his hearers that such was the
09:03position in which the body was found. All workers on the second floor were asked to leave the building
09:08during the grim performance. Upstairs the sound of machinery droned monotonously. Downstairs came the
09:14sound of traffic in Forsyth Street, but on the office story only the sounds of the Negro's voice were to
09:20be heard, with the shifting of feet as he moved from one spot to another. The pantomime was shot through
09:26and through with a tenseness that thrilled even the sated sleuths and reporters. The Negro told that when
09:32he entered the factory, Frank had told him to go into the metal room, as there was a girl lying
09:37there
09:38who had struck her head on a piece of machinery and had been knocked unconscious. Conley says he found
09:43the body as he had described, one glance satisfying him that she was dead. Mr. Frank, he says he called
09:50to
09:50the superintendent, this little girl's stone dead. Frank ordered him to remove the corpse, he says.
09:55He got a piece of crocus bagging, bundled the body into it, and started to carry it from the tiny
10:00death
10:00chamber. It was heavy, he says. He stumbled and dropped his tragic load on the floor. He called to
10:06Frank, he said, and Frank came to assist him. Had legs and feet. Mr. Frank took hold of the legs
10:11and feet,
10:12the Negro told, and we carried her to the elevator. He switched on the current and ran it down into
10:17the
10:17basement. He helped me carry her to the gaslight at the end of the trap door. He dropped her legs
10:23and told me to take the body on down to the further end of the basement. I dragged her away
10:27down in the
10:27back end of the cellar and lay her down. I found one of her shoes and her hat. Mr. Frank
10:33told me to
10:33throw them in the trash pile close to the boiler, and I did. We got back in the elevator and
10:38ascended to
10:38the second floor. We went into the office. Mr. Frank closed all the doors and sat down by his desk.
10:45Suddenly, we heard footsteps. There comes Emma Clark and Corinthia Hall, he said. He shoved me
10:50into this wardrobe. Conley indicated the small cabinet in Frank's office and told me to be
10:55right still. He went outside and met the two women. I heard one of them say, are you all alone?
11:01And
11:01Frank answered, yes. When Frank came back, he let me out, sat back down to his desk, and I took
11:06a seat.
11:06He was turning all kind of colors and trembling and was nervous. He took out a piece of paper and
11:12asked me
11:12to write this. Dear mother, a long, tall black negro did this by himself. He told me if I would
11:18lay down he would love me play like the night watchman did this boy himself. I wrote it, and he
11:23told me something about his rich people in Brooklyn. Why should I hang? He said kinder to himself. He said
11:29he was going to send my writing with a letter to his mother, and that if I was a good
11:33boy she would
11:33send him something. My people are rich, he said. Why should I hang? That made twice, he said. Why should
11:39I hang?
11:39I told him not to worry. I told him that that was all right, Mr. Frank, but what's going to
11:43become
11:44of me for helping you carry the body down? He told me not to worry. He handed me a cigarette
11:48box,
11:49and I took a smoke. He said I could keep the box. There was some money in it, two dollars.
11:53I told him
11:54about it, and he said, that's all right, you can keep the money. He also handed me a roll of
11:59two
11:59hundred dollars. I took it in my hand, and in a little while he told me to let him see
12:02it. I gave it
12:04back, and he put it in his pocket. I'll fix with you Monday if I live, he told me. The
12:07dollar,
12:08two, is all the money he has given me. I'm telling the truth, because I read in the newspapers that
12:12the folks at the pencil factory were trying to pin the killing on me. Luther Rosser, out of city.
12:18The order remanding Conley to the tower to be held as a material witness was issued by Judge L.S.
12:23Roan of Fulton Superior Court. The Negro says that he will willingly remain in jail, and that he will
12:29cooperate with the detectives in any manner throughout the future. Efforts are still being made to confront
12:35the imprisoned factory official with the Negro sweeper and his story. Luther Z. Rosser, Frank's
12:40counsel, is away at present, attending to legal matters in Clayton, but will return shortly. All
12:46depends upon him whether or not the detectives will be able to enter the suspect's cell. Mr. Rosser will
12:51be prevailed upon to give Chief Lanford and Harry Scott permission to carry Conley before Frank at an
12:56early date. They are extremely anxious for this move and expect valuable results. How confession was
13:02secured. Conley had been a prisoner in police station for three weeks, and was about to be freed when
13:07detectives Scott and John Black ran down a clue upon which they based their successful investigation
13:12into his connection with the crime. Conley stoutly maintained all during imprisonment that he was
13:17unable to write, and that he even did not know the alphabet. The sleuths had begun to put faith in
13:22his
13:22story, and were preparing to give him freedom when the fortunate clue was unearthed. Detectives Scott and
13:28Black were strolling through uptown Saturday morning two weeks ago today. Overhearing a conversation
13:33between two men, they learned that one was a collector for a jewelry concern from which the
13:38Negro sweeper had bought two watches. The detectives heard one of the men tell of possessing signed
13:43receipt from Conley. The receipt was procured by the detectives. They saw Conley's signature in his
13:49own hand, and upon searching his home discovered other evidence of his ability to write in papers they
13:54got from his residence. Confronting him with these papers, they obtained the admission that Conley
13:59could write. Handwriting compares. On the following Sunday, he was forced to give specimens of his
14:05script. They compared perfectly with the composition of the murder notes found in the pencil factory
14:10basement. He protested, however, that he knew nothing of the crime, and that he had nothing whatever to do
14:17with the writing of the notes. He was impressed with the fact the comparison of his handwriting with the
14:22murder note script was evidence sufficient to convict him of the murder. Then he was sent to solitary
14:27confinement in his cell to ponder over the situation and probability of his own implication.
14:32Last Saturday morning, at five o'clock, when he awoke and called upon the turnkey for his usual drink
14:37of water at that hour, he asked for Detective Black. As soon as Black reported for duty at headquarters,
14:43he went to the Negro's cell.
14:45Mr. Black, Conley said, I wrote them. I've been telling you a lie all along.
14:49I'm sorry, but I did. Mr. Frank, he told me to write them, and he'll tell you the truth. He'll
14:54say I did. Conley was rushed to the office of the Solicitor General, where he made affidavit to the
15:00effect of his statement to Black. He swore, however, that the notes were written on the Friday before
15:05the tragedy. Later, he amended this confession with the story that they were written on the
15:10afternoon of Mary Fagan's disappearance. Atlanta Constitution, May 31, 1913.
15:15Mary Fagan's murder was work of a Negro, declares Leo M. Frank. Leo Frank Case Newspaper Article Series.
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