Saturday, 4th April 1914: Burns Is Coming To Resume Probe Of Phagan Case, The Atlanta Constitution

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Noted Detective William J. Burns, who has been investigating various angles of the Mary Phagan murder mystery in New York and the West, left Chicago last night at 9:15 o'clock, bound for Atlanta, according to information received here last night. Before leaving Chicago, he gave out an interview in which he stated that he knew who killed Mary Phagan, and that his report had already been completed and had been sent to counsel for the defense. Reuben Arnold and Herbert Haas, of counsel for Frank, stated last night that they had not received this report, and that they did not believe that it was ready yet.

Chicago afternoon newspapers of Friday published an interview with Burns declaring that the real murderer of Mary Phagan was not yet under arrest, although he was being carefully watched and could be arrested at any moment. Early this morning, The Constitution received a telegram in which Burns denied positively that he had made such a statement. This message came from the detective, who is now on a train bound for Atlanta.

The Associated Press story of Burns' interview in Chicago, which makes no mention of a third party to the crime, is as follows: Chicago, April 2. William J. Burns, the detective, declared late today that he knew who murdered Mary Phagan, the Atlanta, Ga., girl, for whose death Leo M. Frank is under sentence of death. Whether the murderer was Frank or someone else, in his opinion, Burns would not say, but he intimated that from his investigations and comparing their results with the conclusions of the coroner's jury, that he did not think Frank the sort of man capable of making the attack on the girl alleged to have preceded her murder.

Burns, on his arrival today from Kansas City, related the story of his investigation. He said his attention first had been called to it by a young man from Atlanta who was a passenger on a steamer on which Burns was returning from Europe. The young man expressed his regret that Burns had not become interested in the case before the arrest and conviction of Frank. Through him, Burns read in newspapers of the trial and concluded, from the accounts he saw, that Frank was guilty. Later, while he was in Key West, three citizens of Atlanta, including two personal friends of Frank, saw the detective and asked him to undertake an investigation of the case.

At first, Burns said, he refused on grounds that if Frank were guilty, his investigation and final conclusion to that effect could only hurt the defendant, while if the investigation tended to show doubt of guilt on him, it might serve to thwart justice. Frank's friends declared that they believed he had not been given a fair trial; that he was innocent of the crime, but that if guilty they wanted indisputable evidence of his guilt. Burns then took the case. His investigations soon showed him, he said, first that public clamor, after a "crime wave" had resulted in the police making extraordinary efforts to adduce "evidence tending to convict Frank."

Then Burns interviewed many of the witnesses who testified in the case. At the conclusion of this phase of his investigation, he said, he was convinced that he knew the murderer. "There was no mystery about the murder of Mary Phagan," said Burns. "The tracks of the murderer were plain, and there is no doubt as to his identity."

"The story will all clear in a few days. I have made a complete report to Frank's attorneys in Atlanta, and in a few days, it will be given out. I cannot anticipate my report, and therefore I cannot say more definitely than I have, what the report will contain. The murderer of Mary Phagan is known to me and he can't get away. I will say that Frank will not hang on April 17 for the murder of Mary Phagan. I believe the Supreme Court cannot ignore the evidence we have gathered."

Hearing of an extraordinary motion for a new trial in Frank's case is set for April 16, the day preceding that on which Frank is sentenced to die.