Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-17
NOTED WRITER DECLARES
BRAN INNOCENT; ISSUES
STATEMENT WITH BOOK

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-
Nlcted Bran. Mrs. Rinehart has re-
Gently issued a 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
lY 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 that
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
'Nt''NCIl tllt ialld anu tlit ltdl sup
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-
ndrt's argument. by which she sus-
tains her belief in the innocence of
Bran:
Motive Dscredited.
ca Bram's motive, lacking any otl-
er, was laid to piracy. If Bran had
had any piratical ambitions, it would
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 mutiny he implored the pas
senger to protect him from them The
only motive which the prosecutions
could attribute to the first mate was
piracy, and here we have it abso-
lutely disCredited.
(bD The crimes were hideous,y
bloody ones The AK left its dripping
trail up the CompaniOnway to The
deck, diagonally across the roof Of
the afterhouse and back again to its
hiding place under a lashing plank.
tlS 1T lGtN lOl " d u u Tie POI tOliltt
Of the afterhouse. Could the muir
derer have avoided being stained
with blood? OR, at least. fearing that
he bore the tell-tae marks over him
Dram was below five or six minutes
from the time Brown last saw him on
deck before he came up again. It
does not appear how long ne was be-
low from the time Brown heard the
shrek until he came on deck again.
After LoheaC heard the gurgling
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 womans
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
(c) There is a curious discrepancy
of time in the story Charley Brown
told at the trial. He stated that Eve
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 h had