Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-17

That Thomas Bran, who was re-
Gently released from the Federal
Prison at Atlanta, after serving sew
enteen years for the murder of three
persons on the bark Herbert Fuller,
Is innocent of the crime, is the belief
of Mrs Mary Roberts Rinehart, the
noted authoress. whose latest book,
The After House." parallels and is
based upon the incidents that CON
Victed Bran Mrs. Rinehart has re-
Gently issued statement, through
her publishers. in which she asserts
Bram's innocence. and advances ar
gument to sustain her belief
Two Stories Parallel.
Mrs Rinehart's story is so evident
" modelled after the famous Bran
case that Atlantans who have read n
and who were familiar with the local
end of the case were able readily to
trace the resemblance. The murders
in the story and the murders thai
actually occurred on the Herbert Full
Ter were committed with an AK; the
same number OF persons were on
board the fictional boat and the real
boat. Through the story the parallel
between the Ella and the real ship
Herbert Fuller is striking, and the
first mate, Singleton, of the Ella, is
readily identified as Bran. the first
mate of the Herbert Fuller. Like
Bran, Singleton was suspected of the
crime and tried, but, unlike Bran,
was acquitted. Here is Mrs. Rine-
harris argument, by which she sus-
tains her belief III the innocence of
Bran
Motive Discredited.
(a) BRAINS motive. lacking any otn-
er, was laid to piracy If Bran had
l., -s4s- ]
have been his attempt during the ear
~ part of the voyage to conciliate the
crew. On the contrary his treatment
of them was so harsh that when he
feared a mutiny he implored the pas
senger to protect him from them. The
only motive which the prosecution
could attribute to the first mate was
piracy, and here we have 1t abso-
lutely discredited.
OBJ The crimes We're hdeous.y
bloody ones. The ak left it's dripping
trail up the companionway to The
deck, diagonally across the roof of
the afterhouse and back again to its
hiding place under lashing plank
eight feet forward of the port corner
of the afterhouse. Could the muir
derer have avoided being stained
with blood? Or, at least fearing that
he bore the tell-tale marks over him?
Dram was below five or six minutes
from the time Brown last saw him on
deck before he came up again. 1t
does not appear how long he was be-
low from the time Brown heard the
shrek until he came on deck again.
After Loheac heard the gurglns
sound Bran went below, but came
up Immediately afterward) And yet,
from the moment Bran, according to
Browns story, came on deck, just
after Brown had heard the woman'S
shrek, until broad daylight, Bran
was In the presence of others. made
no attempt to change his clothing or
to wash. He went fearlessly into the
passengers room, while the passen-
ger dressed although the cabin was
lamp-lit
Discrepancy in Browns Story.
Co There is A curious discrepanC%
of time in the story Charley Brown
told at the trial He stated that FIVE
or six minutes passed from the time
he missed Bran from the deck until
he returned up the forward Compan-
iOnway: that in that interval he had
seen him attack the captain aad
heard Mrs. Nash scream, that at the
end OF this approximate length Of
time Bran appeared at the forward
Companonway walked back over the
roof of the afterhouse, which served
as part of the deck to the point
where the blood stains stopped
stepped down on to the port side Of
the deck, walked between the whet
and the pinnacle to the starboavd
side. turned and walked back to the
port side. and then again to star
board After that he called to Lo-
heaC. who was on watch forward
-Four bells and Loheac came back
and relieved Brown at the wheel
LoheaC, at the wheel heard a CUR
Cling noise from the Chartroom. just
in front of him After he had taken
the wheel and Brown had gone for
ward. he saw Bran go down the com
panionway and Immediately come 10
again.
How long a time would all this