00:00Mincy's Story Jolts Police to Activity. The Atlanta Georgian Friday, July 11, 1913.
00:08Editor's Note. The following column ran in the final edition of the Georgian with the title
00:13Georgian's Story Stirs Officials to Action and contains the following bracketed text in lieu of
00:18the first two paragraphs and preceding sub-headline. Mincy Affidavit leads to another
00:24cross-examination of Fagan Kaye's suspect. As a result of the publication by the Georgian
00:29exclusively Thursday of the sensational affidavit of W. H. Mincy, the insurance agent, which declared
00:35that Jim Conley had confessed on the afternoon of the Fagan murder that he had killed a little girl,
00:40the Negro sweeper was again put on the grill late Friday afternoon. The cross-examination was conducted
00:46by Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey personally at the police station and was attended by utmost secrecy.
00:53Conley was taken into the police commissioner's room on the second floor of the station house by
00:57a circuitous route to avoid being seen. In the room awaiting him were the solicitor,
01:02his assistant, Frank J. Hooper, and Chief of Detectives Lanford. The Negro was questioned
01:08for more than an hour. The result of the inquiry was not made known. That Mincy's affidavit is of
01:13the utmost importance became obvious with this latest move by the prosecution. Undoubtedly its startling
01:19accusations, directing guilt at the Negro, have shown themselves to the state to have foundation of more
01:25strength than Mr. Dorsey and his colleagues have so far cared to admit. Steps taken immediately to
01:31discredit affidavit published exclusively in the Georgian. The Georgian's exclusive publication of
01:37the sensational details of the W. H. Mincy affidavit, in which Jim Conley was alleged to have confessed to
01:43the killing of a girl the afternoon that Mary Fagan was slain, created a big stir Friday in police
01:48circles and immediate efforts were made to discredit the accusations against the Negro. Detectives set out
01:53at once on a still hunt for Mincy. Lines were thrown out to produce witnesses who would swear
01:58that Mincy's word was not to be depended upon. The detective force, which virtually had been
02:03resting on its oars in the Fagan case for several weeks, was galvanized into action by the startling
02:09charges made in the affidavit of Mincy, which was first made public by the Georgian, police deny being
02:15told. Interviews with the detective heads brought denials that Mincy ever had told them the story that
02:20was printed in the Georgian. Attorneys for the defense, however, corroborated the published
02:25details of the affidavit. It is correct in every detail, said one of the lawyers. It was not the
02:31intention to make any of our important evidence public, but now that Mincy's story has found its
02:36way into print, there is nothing to do but admit that we have the affidavit, and that it makes the
02:40assertions which the Georgian printed yesterday. It is only natural that an attempt will be made to
02:46discredit Mincy's story, but we are assured of its truth and are confident that it will stand the
02:51test of all the investigation that can be made. J. S. Dukes, manager of the American Insurance Company,
02:57by whom continued on page 2, column 4, slaying charge for Conley as expected, speedy indictment
03:02of Negro is likely following publication of Mincy's affidavit, continued from page 1. Mincy was employed
03:08until two weeks ago, was seen Friday, and was disposed to discredit Mincy's affidavit.
03:12He declared that Mincy was something of a braggart, and that on the Monday following the crime had
03:17asserted his belief in the guilt of Newt Lee. When Conley was arrested, said Dukes, Mincy at once
03:24became just as certain that Conley had committed the crime. Mincy was wondering how much money he
03:29might make as a witness, and seemed more concerned with this phase of the case than with the identity
03:33of the murderer, said Dukes. Conley indictment? Likely. The speedy indictment of Jim Conley on the charge
03:40of murdering Mary Fagan was the strong possibility discussed in court circles Friday, following the
03:46sensational turn given the strangling mystery. For nearly two months, a self-confessed accessory
03:51after the fact of the murder of the little factory girl, Conley has been allowed to go without an
03:56attempt at bringing an indictment against him. The startling new evidence which indicates most
04:00strongly, if the credibility of the defense's witness can be established, that Conley was not
04:06the accessory after the fact, but the actual principle in the crime, is expected to result
04:12in a thorough investigation by the grand jury of all the rumors and stories which have been in
04:17circulation of the Negro's connection with the pencil factory tragedy. Dorsey makes no comment.
04:23Solicitor Dorsey. Friday morning would make no comment on the new evidence. The detectives openly
04:29declared their disbelief in the statements of Mincy. They said that he told a different story when he was
04:34at police headquarters, and that he asserted after confronting the Negro that Conley was not the
04:39man with whom he talked the afternoon that Mary Fagan was murdered. Chief Lanford, of the city
04:44detectives, and Harry Scott, of the Pinkertons, said that if Mincy had related to them the story told
04:50in his sensational affidavit, they would have made an immediate investigation in an attempt to verify it,
04:56and would have sworn out a warrant charging Conley with the murder if a basis for the story could
05:00have been found, denies police assertions. Mincy's statement, insofar as it provides an answer to the
05:06detectives, was that he did tell the same story to them, that he did identify Conley as the man he
05:13talked with on Saturday afternoon, and that the detectives told him they didn't care to take his
05:17evidence. Conley told me Saturday afternoon that he had killed a girl and didn't want to kill anybody
05:22else, Mincy swears he told the detectives. This man, Mincy, never made mention of having heard Conley say
05:28that he had killed a girl, and Mincy never even identified Conley, is the reply of Detective Scott
05:33to this assertion. Detective headquarters were thrown into excitement by the publication of the
05:38startling developments. Within a few minutes, Scott was in conference with Chief Lanford, and it was
05:43said that it had been decided to make a search for Mincy with a view of bringing him before Solicitor
05:47Dorsey for a grilling in regard to his story accusing the Negro. News disturbs Dorsey. Solicitor Dorsey
05:53was evidently disturbed by the new turn in the mystery, but would make no announcement of his
05:57intentions in respect to quizzing Mincy, providing Mincy can be found. The witness is said to be in
06:02Chattanooga at present teaching school. Leo Frank's lawyers, if they know Mincy's whereabouts, are
06:07keeping it a profound secret. They had not intended even that the contents of his affidavit should be
06:12made public. They declared, however, that he would be on hand for the trial prepared to repeat
06:18everything he said in the affidavit. The latest rumor in connection with the Fagan mystery is that the
06:24girl's mesh bag pocketbook, which she carried to the factory on the day she met her death, has been
06:28found and has been examined for fingerprints. This rumor could not be confirmed at police headquarters.
06:34Lee hearing Saturday. The habeas corpus proceedings in behalf of Newt Lee, night watchman at the pencil
06:40factory, will be fought out Saturday forenoon at ten o'clock before Judge Ellis. Bernard L. Chappell,
06:46representing the Negro, said that he would issue subpenas for at least fifty witnesses,
06:51whose testimony he would rely upon to obtain the freedom of his client. Among them will be Leo M.
06:58Frank and Jim Conley. The appearance of both of these men, the first accused of murder, the second
07:03held as a material witness, will be bitterly contested. Reuben R. Arnold, of Counsel for Frank,
07:09has declared that no law on earth can force Frank to appear as a witness at the hearing.
