The true story was a sensationalized case that appeared in newspapers all over the country in 1913. The victim, a 13-year-old girl named Mary Phagan, was strangled to death during a parade in Georgia. A criminal investigation showed that a Black man named Jim Conley had been seen with the body. Conley blamed the murder on the factory's manager, Leo Frank. According to Conley, Frank told him to carry the body of Mary Phagan to the basement or he would kill him. At trial Jim Conley's testimony helped convict Leo Frank. Frank always professed his innocence. He was eventually convicted of the little girl's murder and sentenced to death. The death sentence was later commuted, which caused an...
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