Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-11
PHAGAN CASE IS
ANALYZED BY
NAPIER
Letter by Lawyer Gives Legal
Facts as They Concern Leo N.
Frank and COnley.


the prosecution any serious impress
sion as 90 his own guilt RS the actual
murderer of A.gry Phagan.
Two things, % seems TO me, would
be sufficient 10 clear Frank Of the
crime, in the absence Of any proved
motive TO commit II The first is the
work done by him on his books at
the pencil factory on the afternoon OF
the killing and subsequent 10 the time
which is assigned by common consent
for the occurrence Of the deed
How Could He Have Done Work?
That a man could go TO tine delicate
and intricate task Of spreading upon
account books the record and figures
Of a weeks transactions Of a factory
employing a large number Of hands,
and involving numerous financial
dealings, and requiring four or more
hours Of steady work and that he
could dc this with HIS usual accuracy
and celebrity staggers belief
The other fact Is a piece Of testi-
mony by tine negro Conley himself
He has made the statement that when
he was ASSISTING Frank IN the dis
posal OF the dead girls body he no
tiCeG the time clock IN the factory
and saw that II lacked four minutes
Of / o'clock. At that moment he says,
Miss Corinthia Hall and Mrs. Emma
Clark Freeman, two employees. came
into the factory and Frank told him
% hide IN a cupboard in the office.
But Miss Hall and Mrs Freeman
testified that they were at the factory
one hour and eleven minutes earlier
than that and that they left the fac
tory at ll:45 and did not return that
day. The conversation they had with
Mr.. Frank is the same that the negro
says he heard.
Discrepancy in Time.
The murdered girl reached the city
by street car at 1900 This has been
definitely proved She reached the
factory and received her pay envel-
opc at 1910 or 1918. so far as Is
known. Thus the negro adds this 10
his MANY other admitted lics-and II
the girl was dead dt the time he heard
Frank talking 90 Miss Hail and Mrs.
Freeman. she was murdered before
she lcft her home.
To one who is sufficiently interested
10 look over the scene OF the crime
several things worth noting win be
revealed. Coming down from the Of
fee .n the pencil factory, "a young
girl unprotected. might well glance
with nervous dread at the pile Of
large boxes under the stairway near
the elevator shaft In daytime the
corner under the stai-vasc is i'm semi
darkness. 1t Is an ideal place for a
Would-be criminal 60 screen himself.
n the girl left the factory after re-
CciyinC her pay and came down the
stairs, this dark corner was behind
her as she walked down the steps. A
woman who testified, but whose name
7 do not now recall saw negro Turk
ing IN this corner. Conley has adj
mitted that he sat for some time near
the elevator.
Negro Had Opportunity.
He had the opportunity TO spring
upon the poor girl as spider would
upon a fly. n robbery was his mo-
tive. an assault with "a stick might
have felled her She could have been
thrown down the elevator shaft ar
through the opening near the eleva-
tor. which has a ladder under ii lead
ing down 20 the dirt floor OF the base
ment
The place on the second floor where
Conley says he picked up the body of
the girl shows no trace Of blood.
Every circumstance indicates that
she received the blow on her head
before She died-and he says she was
NfuA wien ilf saw IltI llIfTtr---H0 IT
she bled anywhere the strong prob
ability Is that the bloodstains would
have been found where she had been
picked up
Even the mystifying fact that jhe
staple of the rear door. leading out
Of the basement 10 the street had
been pulled from the inside could be
easily explained on the theory that
the criminal took the prccaution TO
pull that staple SO as 20 be able 10
run down the ladder and make his
exit safely by the back street I'm the
event any Outcry was made by his
victim.
Much emphasis is placed upon the
dramatic manner with which Conley
re-enaCtcd the supposed work Of ear
rying the body from the second floor
10 the basement that fatal day
Might Not He Swear Falssly7
Does 10 tax our Credulity greatly 20
believe that "a cunning negro, who
has been proved TO have had unob-
structed opportunity to commit the
crime and who admits having se-
GREETED the body Is capable OF swear
ing that another man was with him
when the crime was 2 committed "a
man behind whom he can hide from
the law
Would "a drinking. irresponsible,
perhaps criminal man of low order
~ life he incapable of swearing away
the life OF any man II by SO doing he