Memories of the Leo Frank case in Georgia, in 1915, which culminated 1 the lynching of an innocent Jewish business man who had been sentenced to death and then had his sentence changed to life imprisonment, were revived today with the confession of Frank Lockhart, saved from an infuriated mob here, that he was one of the lynchers who had participated in the hanging of Frank.
Lockhart, held have for attacking and killing Mae Griffin, a sixteen-year-old girl, turned from reading the Bibel in which he had been seeking consolation and told how he had driven the automobile which carried Frank from Milledgeville prison in Georgia 110 miles to Marietta, where Frank was hung by the mob near the grave of the girl he was accused of having murdered.
“I know now how Frank feit when he was taken from the Georgia prison and hanged.” Lockhart declared.
MOB ATTEMPTS TO LYNCH HIM WHILE
While Lockhart was telling his story four companies of national Guardsmen patrolled the courthouse grounds. The troops were called out Tuesday night as a mob unsuccessfully stormed the courthouse to reach Lockhart in the jail located in the upper stories of the building.
Lockhart, who said his real name is D. B. Napier, admitted having escaped from a Georgia prison camp in 1931 while serving a life sentence for criminal assault.
The Frank case was a “cause celebre” for American Jewry which was convinced of the innocence of Frank. It was felt that the sentence was the result of prejudice against the Jews and not based on the evidence against Frank which was circumstantial.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
