In 1982, at age 83, Alonzo Mann — the former office boy at the National Pencil Company — came forward with a sworn affidavit that shattered the narrative of one of America's most infamous miscarriages of justice: the 1913 conviction and 1915 lynching of Leo M. Frank for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan.
Mann, who was just 14 in 1913, revealed he had withheld crucial information out of fear. On Confederate Memorial Day, April 26, 1913, he returned to the factory shortly after noon and saw janitor Jim Conley holding the unconscious (or dead) body of Mary Phagan on the first floor. Conley, alone with the girl slung over his shoulder, threatened Mann: "If you ever mention this, I'll kill you." Terrified, the young boy fled and told only his mother, who insisted he remain silent to protect him and the family.
Mann testified briefly at Frank's trial but was never asked about what he saw upon returning. Conley's testimony — claiming Frank killed Phagan and forced him to help move the body — was riddled with lies, according to Mann. Conley alone had the body on the ground floor, not Frank. Mann believed Conley attacked Phagan for her $1.20 paycheck, not for sexual motives, as her money was never found.
Haunted for nearly 70 years, Mann regretted his silence, believing his full testimony would have acquitted Frank and prevented his lynching by a Marietta mob. He shared the secret with family, friends, and even a reporter decades earlier, but only in 1982 — facing heart issues and a pacemaker — did he make it public through reporters Jerry Thompson and Bob Sherborne.
This affidavit highlights how fear, antisemitic crowds yelling "Kill the Jew," perjured testimony, and a rushed trial led to tragedy. It underscores that courts and juries can err gravely, with irreversible consequences.
Mann hoped revealing the truth, even late, would clear the record: Leo Frank was innocent; Jim Conley was the killer.
Keywords: Leo Frank case, Mary Phagan murder, Alonzo Mann affidavit, Jim Conley lies, 1913 Atlanta trial, wrongful conviction, antisemitism history, exoneration evidence.
