What is Leo Max Frank?
{{more sources}} [[File:Leo Frank.jpg|thumb]] '''Leo Max Frank''' (April 17, 1884-August 17, 1917) was a [[Jewish]] American industrialist. He was superintendent at a pencil factory in [[Atlanta]], Georgia. In 1913, he was accused of the [[rape]] and [[murder]] of Mary Anne Phagan, an employee at the factory. The [[attorney]] who prosecuted Frank was Hugh Dorsey. Dorsey was related to Luther Rosser, who was Frank's [[defense attorney]]. The main prosecution [[witness]] against Frank was James Conley. Conley was a [[janitor]]. He said that Frank asked him to help cover up the murder. Frank and his defense attorneys said that Conley was the real murderer. Before that there had been other [[suspect]]s in the murder, including James Gantt, a former employee fired by Frank for theft,<ref>''Atlanta Journal''. April 28, 1913. [https://www.leofrank.org/j-m-gantt-is-arrested-on-his-arrival-in-marietta-he-visited-factory-saturday J. M. Gantt is Arrested on His Arrival in Marietta; He Visited Factory Saturday]</ref> Arthur Mullinax, who witnesses said they saw with Mary the night of her alleged murder and Paul Bowen, who was arrested at a hotel because a woman said that she heard him confess to the murder but was released for lack of evidence. <ref>''Atlanta Journal''. May 6, 1913. [https://www.leofrank.org/paul-bowen-held-in-houston-known-here-but-left-atlanta-in-october-hasnt-been-back/ Paul Bowen, Held in Houston, Known Here But Left Atlanta in October; Hasn’t Been Back]</ref> Frank was [[convicted]] of the murder and [[Sentence (law)|sentence]]d to death. Governor John Slaton reduced the sentence to [[Life imprisonment|life in prison]] upon reviewing the [[evidence]]. Relatives of Phagan kidnapped Frank from prison and [[Lynching|lynched]] him in 1917. In Atlanta, Frank was president of [[B'nai B'rith|B'Nai Brith]], a quasi-[[Freemasonry|Masonic]] fraternity for Jews. His case led to the founding of the Anti Defamation League. ==Sources== *Oney, Steve ''The Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynch