1706 Sheet – Supreme Court Georgia Appeals of Leo Frank, 1913, 1914

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interview
to interview some witnesses that he told me were living in Birmingham, or Chattanooga, or Nashville. One of the witnesses he told me was a prostitute in a house of prostitution at either Chattanooga, or Birmingham, who had information would go to Frank being a pervert and I instructed him to go and get this information by all means; and he also informed me at the same time that he had a very important witness in the person of Mack Wilson, a negro, who would testify that he saw James Conley buy a lunch from Mary Rich, the negress near the pencil factory on the day of the murder and that Wilson would also state that he saw Conley going back to the pencil factory in the alley and coming out of the alley. He also told me there was another witness named Ragsdale, a negro, who could verify and support or corroborate the statement of Mark Wilson, and it was for that purpose I gave this money to Tedder to defray his expenses and he explained to me he was broke and needed money and asked me to advance him a month's salary, which I did. At the time I advanced this $250.00 I had never heard of the preacher. I do not know a man by the name of Petrie. If he is working for the Burns' agency, I don't know it. I don't know anything about him. I never heard of the name Petrie before. At the time I advanced Tedder the second $250.00 I had not then heard of this man Ragsdale. The first time that Tedder discussed Ragsdale with me was on the 22nd of April. Tedder told me that Arthur Thurman, a lawyer here, had a preacher client of his, who claimed to know a great deal about the Frank case; that he had overheard some negroes talking in an alley way and one of them admitted the killing of a girl in the pencil factory, and that they were willing to make an affidavit to that effect. I told him I would be very glad to get it. That was all that was said at that time that I can recollect. The next time, I think, was on the 23rd of April, Tedder called me up on the telephone and said, "Thuman is bringing those two men to your office, the preacher and another man, to make affidavits." I said, "All right have them bring them down." Thuman came into our office and said, "Mr. Johnson, this is Dr. Ragsdale and this is Mr. Barber" pointing to the men, "they desire to make affidavits in the Frank case." I said "All right" and Thuman withdrew. I asked Barber and Ragsdale to step into my private office and they were only seated a minute and I got