Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-03-17
lRv|NGT0N MAN IS
. Chief WITNESS IN
FRANKS DEFENSE
Henry F. Becker Becomes I'M
portant Figure i'm Atlanta
Murder Mystery.
HIS NAME ON PAD PAPER
CONTAINING "DEATH NOTES
Lawyers Count on This TO De-
molish Negro's Story lmpli-
eating Condemn ed Man. ~

Henry Frederick Bee ker. of Al Ma
PIE avenue, 1ryington. promises to be
an important witness in the defense
OF Leo NJ. Frank, the young pencil
factory superintendent of Atlanta
ga, who has been con vieted of the
murder of Mary Pha gan, sixteen
= Eear-old factory emplOye, on April
-o6, 1918.
Becker was the master mechanic at
the National Pencil E>a ctory, of At
lanta, in the basement of which the
Phagan girls body was found, from
September, 1908. to December, 1912.
Becker's connection with the case
centres about the blank paper pads,
one of which was used to write the
death notes" found beside the body
OF the murdered girl
jim Conley, a negro sweeper in
the factory, swore at I he trial that
the notes found with the girl were
dictated to him by Frank and that
one of them was written on a new
blank used for orderfn = factory sup
pies. He swore that the blank had
been taken from Fran ks desk.
Becker's Name on Blank Paper.
A microscopic scrutiny of the blank
made since the trial showed that the
plank was an old one. and had been
written on before. and I hat apparent
ty an attempt had been made to
the blank appeared the vague outline
OF q word, the only one which was
not written over in the death note"
hour OF the letters looked like
It is the contention of the defense
lhat Conley, the negro. committed the
toul crime, 1t was his Ilncorroborat-
ed story on the with eSs stand that
convicted Frank. who is now con-
demned to hang on April II, on which
day he observes his tn irtieth birth
day.
In their efforts to uI1 dermine the
damaging story that Conley told, the
defense want to use the point that
tue paper in which the death notes
We're written could never have beer
on Franks desk, as the negro al
ieged, but was part of a number of
blank pads thrown away by Becker
during his time at the factory and
lodged somewhere in the cellar. The
defense is now preparing an extraor-
dinary motion for q new trial, and
! they count on the circIIIr1stanee of the
pad paper as q strong weapon with
which to destroy Confey's story.
Case Has wide Appeal
Franks fight for vim dication and
the numerous new turns in the case
recently brought to light coupled
with the fact that William J. Burns
the famous detective. is now engaged
in making a sweeping Investigation
of the case have attrz8 cted the at
tention OF the country
Mr.. Becker was seen al his Irving
ton home today and S3 id he was pre-
pared to explain what he knew about
the tell-tale paper pads
Mr.. Becker said that when he
worked in Atlanta he signed all of
Eg. 1t
quiesced when asked to sign his name
hurriedy in the fashion in which he
said he always signed tae factory or
ders ending the last etter of his
name with q flourish back over the
signature.
~ always make that curl at the
and Of the r. he said
Comparison of the Eecker sigma
ture and the puzzlin& word on the
reproduction of the blank revealed
a striking similarity IN every detail
even to the flourish at the end of
the name. The "B.' OF which only
part of the outline on the death
note was complete, was of almost
Identical formation AS that of Mr.
Beckers signature. The word was
the same length as his signature, and
part of the outline OF his initials
could be traced
Sent Old Blanks - Cellar.
Shortly before leaving the Atlanta
factory" Mr.. Becker SAID, II packed
UP all OF the old orders which I had
written and sent them down to the
cellar. In the date lin g of my old
order blanks the figures 190 were
printed, but ] had just a bout used up
the supply of blanks " Ia en | left and
new ones had To be bou& &ht. That was
In 1912, and ! think the new ones had
1911 in the corner.
The reproductions OF the note bore
the numerals f190--'' on The date line
tend to show that the negro Conley
was lying about having gotten a new
blank from Franks ofii &C for the note
which was meant to convey the idea
that the girl had written 1t and which
described her assailanL as a long,
tall negro" and would indicate that
the blank was picked IID from a pile
Of rubbish in the basement and did
not come from Franks office.
Liked Franks CIaz.racter.
Il knew Mr.. Frank very well dur
ing the whole four years | was en-
ployed in Atlanta" Mr. Becker said.
II was thrown into intimate contact
with him every day at the Office, ana
[ can testify that he was almost dis
sapt toward the girls EN- ployed in the
Factory / knew him both before he
was married and after. and his con-
duct was always beyon q reproach.'
Another detail of Conleys testimony
yyhich Mr.. BecSer'S interview tends
m discredit is the stateD1ent that the
6rst time he recalled seeing Mary
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