The American Mercury On The Leo Frank Trial Closing Arguments Of Solicitor Dorsey Part Three Trial of Leo Frank

The Third Part of the Closing Arguments of the Trial of Leo Frank in Atlanta, Georgia sometime around late 1913 by Solicitor Dorsey Continues With Frank being accused of trying to bribe Jim Conley to burn the body of thirteen year old Mary Phagan (June 1, 1889 - April 26, 1913) and cover up for him. Jim cautiously rejects his offer saying that the risks and troubles are not worth it if he gets caught in the act. This was very likely since smoke would eject from the chimney and into the sky thereby implicating him directly in the crime. Frank even tries to deflect suspicion off him and cast it upon Gantt when he sends the telegram to his uncle laying the blame on Gantt. Earlier Frank had claimed that he didn't know Mary Phagan but the other employees saw him calling her Mary and his accounting books showing that he had been paying her weekly salary for a year uncle proved otherwise.

He was seen by other eyewitnesses like Willie Turner approaching her a few months ago in March of 1913 with untoward and inappropriate behavior while she resisted him. Frank had also been seen touching factory workers in uncomfortable ways like putting his hands on their shoulders and getting a little bit too close for comfort with the child laborers at the factory. Frank setup a forged card to implicate Newt Lee in the murder, but when this racist diversionary tactic failed, he also tried to direct suspicion toward James Milton Grantt, the former payroll director at the factory that knew Mary Phagan; it was plausible framing given that Gantt had been a friend of the Phagan family for years. Frank obviously knew her since he did the payroll for her every week. At first he tried to blame the night watchman Newt Lee but when the timings in the punch card seemed off, he laid the immediate blame on Gantt who he claimed knew the girl. The prosecutors also claimed that Leo Frank made Jim Conley write sloppy notes that he put on her body to deflect blame from himself, and direct blame to the Negro night watchman Newt Lee. The contradictions in Frank's testimonies and the mismatch of the evidence at hand made Leo lose all credibility every time he made any further statements.

Originally posted on The American Mercury:

https://theamericanmercury.org/2013/12/the-leo-frank-trial-closing-arguments-solicitor-dorsey/

The Mary Phagan Family Website:

https://www.littlemaryphagan.com

Leo Frank Archive:

https://www.leofrank.org

Leo Frank Research Library:

https://www.leofrank.info

The American Mercury:

https://www.theamericanmercury.org