00:00Cook repudiates entire affidavit police possess. Atlanta, Georgian, Thursday, June 5, 1913.
00:06Utter repudiation of the affidavits which she was alleged to have sworn to incriminating
00:11conversations in the home of Leo M. Frank, indicted for the slaying of Mary Fagan, was
00:16made Thursday by Manola McKnight, Negro Cook for the accused factory superintendent and his wife's
00:22parents. The woman denies absolutely every statement attributed to her by the police
00:27and denies that she even signed the paper made public by the police. The Georgian presented the
00:32McKnight affidavit to its readers with the distinct admonition that it must not be accepted as credible
00:38evidence until passed on in a court of law. The affidavit was so full of strange incoherencies
00:43and the need for some explanation was so apparent that a further investigation was decided upon.
00:49The Cook's statement, giving the case a new and startling turn, is therefore presented just as
00:54the police affidavit was, for what it is worth, and not as evidence. It is an utter and absolute
01:00repudiation of the affidavit printed Wednesday, and which purported to have been signed and sworn to
01:06by her. She denied unequivocally that she had made the startling statements in the alleged affidavit
01:11which might send Leo Frank to the gallows could their truth be established beyond a doubt.
01:16Repudiates Whole Affidavit. She repudiated the alleged affidavit as a whole, and in detail,
01:22she made her denials willingly and emphatically. There was no hesitation in her replies. Her first
01:28comment on the alleged affidavit constituted a complete and absolute denial of its truth.
01:33Her statements were made at her home in the rear of 351 Pulliam Street only. Her husband Albert
01:38McKnight and the Georgian reporter were present. No member of the Frank family was about to influence
01:43her replies in any manner. If any influence could have been exerted, it would be supposed to have
01:48been in the opposite direction, as it was her husband who was said indirectly to have furnished
01:53the information which resulted in her arrest, and the three hours third degree in the office
01:58of Chief Lanford. McKnight, however, furnished another sensation by declaring that he never
02:03had heard his wife say those things which he is reported to have told at the hardware shop of Beck
02:07and Gregg, and which resulted in her grilling, says she had no attorney. The McKnight woman even went so
02:13far as to say that she had no attorney, yet the affidavit she is alleged to have signed said,
02:18Q. You make it of your own free will, and in the presence of Mr. Gordon, your attorney?
02:23A. Yes, sir. To the Georgian, the McKnight woman declared that she did not know who Mr. Gordon was.
02:30I ain't got no lawyer, sep God. He's my lawyer, she cried, raising her right hand toward heaven.
02:35You just put that in the paper. You just tell them I ain't got no lawyer, sep God.
02:39Did you sign any affidavit in the office of Chief Lanford? was the first question that was asked
02:44the McKnight woman. No, sir, I never had a pen or pencil in my hand, she replied. Most all jack
02:49of
02:49lies. Have you read what this affidavit says as it was published in the papers? It was read to me.
02:55I can't read. Is there anything in there that you said? No, sir, it's most all a pack of lies.
03:01Where did they get all that stuff, then? I don't know, sir, I don't know.
03:05The remainder of her statement, in effect, was, I did not say that Frank was in the house only about
03:10ten minutes when he came home about one-thirty on the Saturday of the murder. I did not say that
03:15I understood that a girl and Mr. Frank were caught at the office Saturday. I did not say that I
03:20heard
03:20Miss Lucille, Mrs. Frank, say that Frank was drunk Saturday night and made her sleep on the floor.
03:25I did not say that I heard Miss Lucille tell her mother that Mr. Frank had said that he was
03:29in
03:30trouble and didn't know the reason why he would murder, and that he told his wife to get his
03:34pistol and let him kill himself. I didn't say they gave me extra money to keep me quiet. I didn't
03:39say
03:40that I made any affidavit in the presence of Mr. Gordon, my attorney. The strange turn that has been
03:45given by the McKnight woman's repudiation of the affidavit, and her declaration that she never even had a
03:51pen or pencil in her hand adds fresh mystery to the hunt the detectives are making after the slayer
03:56of Mary Fagan. Actions appeal peculiar. That the woman would make statements most damaging to Frank
04:02and then calmly return to his home to work is peculiar in itself. That she would make these
04:07statements and then, almost the moment she is at liberty, utterly repudiate them is still more
04:12inexplicable. Several explanations have been offered, but they are only guesses at the best.
04:17The implication contained in the McKnight woman's emphatic denial is that the testimony in the
04:22affidavit was manufactured by the detectives and not given by herself. It is regarded as unfair,
04:28however, to draw this inference, as it has to be taken in consideration that the McKnight woman is
04:33illiterate, and that there was great opportunity for misunderstanding and confusion. A still weightier
04:38consideration with others is contained in their declaration that there is no basis for the
04:43assumption that the detective force is after anyone but the guilty man or that they would frame
04:48evidence against any man. McKnight disavows all accusations. Another strange feature of this phase
04:55of the case is McKnight's sudden change of attitude, if change there actually has been. It was reported
05:01that McKnight had informed persons at the Beck and Gregg hardware store that his wife had told him of
05:05conversations between Mrs. Frank and her mother that strongly indicated Frank's guilt. To the
05:11George and McKnight said that he had done nothing of the kind. He declared that his wife never had
05:16told him that she overheard Mrs. Frank tell her mother that Frank had said that he was in trouble
05:20and didn't know the reason why he would murder. He was plied with questions as to other statements
05:26in the affidavit until he finally said, half angrily, I told you she ain't told me about anything at the
05:31Frank's house, nothing at all. Just wait till she comes and she can tell you everything she said in
05:36two minutes. The McKnight woman said that she only bore out Frank's own statements as to the
05:41approximate time that he arrived home Saturday afternoon and again in the evening.
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