Tuesday, May 27th, 1913
Dan P. Lehon Holds Conference With Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey and Other Officials and Then Makes Announcement of Severance of Connection With Case.
FELDER TO CONTINUE PROBE, HE DECLARES; NO STATEMENT SOON
"One of the Girls" in the Pencil Factory Brings Statement to The Constitution Defending the Character of Employees — Bribery Attempts Are Denied.
As a startling climax to the sensational turn of affairs in the Mary Phagan murder investigation, it was announced yesterday by Dan P. Lehon, superintendent of the Burns southern offices, that his agency had retired from the investigation of the Atlanta mystery.
The announcement was made after a conference he held for several hours with Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey and other officials promoting the investigation. C. W. Tobie, chief of the Burns criminal department, who has been in command of the Burns men at work on the case, leaves for Chicago this morning.
Tobie Makes Statement.
Tobie was seen last night by a reporter for The Constitution in his apartments at the Piedmont hotel. He was preparing to leave the city, but spared time to give the newspaper man a statement regarding the departure of the Burns forces and their attitude in the Mary Phagan case. General Superintendent Lehon, he said, left Atlanta Monday afternoon.
"The connection of the William J. Burns agency with the Phagan case," he told the reporter, "is now severed entirely. We have nothing whatever to do with the investigation. When these bribery charges were published I immediately notified Dan Lehon, general superintendent of the southern branches of our organization.
"He came to Atlanta Monday morning. After he and I had conferred and he had talked with the solicitor general and other officials interested in the case, his decision was to drop operations and return to Chicago. I will probably leave tomorrow or the following day—just as soon as matters can be satisfactorily arranged."
"What is the principal reason for your severance of connection?" he was asked.
"Primarily, because, in the face of open opposition and efforts to frustrate our work, we cannot successfully operate," he said. "We cannot render service proportionate to the money we are being paid. It is being insinuated by certain forces that we are striving to shield Frank.
Frank Guilty, I Believe.
"That is absurd. From what I developed in my investigation I am convinced that Frank is the guilty man. We were working on the theory that he was the murderer. We were employed to find the slayer. We would have done it, too, and pinned the guilty beyond a doubt, had we remained longer on the ground."
Tobie said the bribery charges of Chief Lanford and the counter charges were unfortunate, in that they create a situation which deplorably hampers the investigation of the murder.
