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-
victed 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
~ modelled after the famous Bran
case that Atlantans who have read n
and who were familiar with the local
end of the case We're able readily to
trace the resemblance. The murders
in the story ana 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
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-
nart's argument, by which she sus-
tains her belief III the innocence of
Bran:
Motive Discredited.
(a) Bram's motive, lacking any 9th
er. was laid to piracy. If Bran had
had any piratical ambitions, it would
have been his attempt during the ear
ly part Of the voyage to conciliate the
crew. On the contrary, his treatment
of them was so harsh that when he
feared d mutiny ne 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 it abso-
lutely discredited
(b) The crimes were hideousIy
bloody ones. The ak left its dripping
trail up the companionway to he
deck, diagonally across the roof Of
the afterhouse and back again to its
hiding place under a 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 tel-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. II
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 gurgling
sound Bran went below, but came
up Immediately afterwardD 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.
tc) 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