Friday, 3rd April 1914: Frank Innocent, Declares Burns, The Atlanta Georgian

PAGE 1, COLUMN 8

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CHICAGO, April 3. "The murderer of Mary Phagan has been found. Leo M. Frank will not be hanged on April 17."

This statement was made by William J. Burns, the famous detective, who arrived in Chicago to-day. He has been working on the mysterious murder for which Frank was convicted and sentenced to be hanged. He went into conference immediately upon his arrival here with a number of men whose identities were not permitted to be known.

Before he entered the conference Detective Burns said that he might give out some information which he had obtained later in the day. The information, he said, would result in the freeing of Frank and the conviction of the murderer.

Refused to Give Details.

The detective refused to go into details about what he had learned in his investigation of the case, except to say that he was positive of the identity of the Phagan girl's slayer, and that it was not Frank.

The detective arrived from Kansas City this morning, where he declared he had been clearing up a few final details of the mystery.

"When the time comes, I will point out the real murderer of Mary Phagan," he said.

No Mystery, He Says.

"There is no real mystery about the case. It is very simple. I have taken the case because of the strong public sentiment that was against Frank and because I do not believe he was given a fair trial."

"When I took the case, I started at the very beginning. I questioned scores of witnesses. I saw those who testified at the trial and many who were not called. My report is now ready and will be presented to Frank's attorneys within a few days."