On direct examination, Epps testified that
he boarded a streetcar with Mary Phagan at 11:50 on the day of her
murder. Epps said they both got off the train at 12:07 near the
pencil factory and that Mary has said she would meet him at 3:00 so
they could watch the Confederate Day parade together. Epps also
testified that Phagan said that she feared Frank because he had been
flirting with her.
Cross-Examination by Luther Rosser
Rosser: “How did you
know what time it was when Mary Phagan
joined you going downtown that morning?”
Epps: “I looked at a clock just
before I took the car.”
Rosser: “You didn’t say anything
about a clock when you testified before the coroner’s jury.”
Epps: “Nope, but I looked at one
just the same.”
Rosser: “How did you know what time
it was when Miss Mary left you?”
Epps: “I estimated it from the
time she got on the car, and I told it by the sun. I can tell time by
the sun.”
Rosser: “You can tell the time to
within seven minutes by the sun, then?”
Epps: “Yes, sir, I can.”
Rosser: “Did Mary get off the car
with you?”
Epps: “Yes,
sir.”
Rosser: “You went to sell your
papers then?”
Epps: “Yes,
sir. I
thought I could sell them by 3:00 and meet her as she had agreed with
me to do.”
Rosser: “Had you sold out by 4:00?”
Epps: “No, sir, I finished sellin’ out at the ball grounds.”
Rosser: “What time was it when you
finished selling your papers?”
Epps: “I don’t know, sir,” Epps
replied.
Rosser: “Couldn’t you tell by the
sun?”
Epps: “No sir, the sun had went down by that time.”
Re-called by the defense:
[The defense presented testimony from a
reporter who interviewed Epps the day Phagan's body was
discovered. The reporter, John Minar, testified that Epps's
sister told him that George he had not seen Phagan since the Thursday
before her murder and that George, who was present, did not contradict
his sister.]
Reuben Arnold: "Did
he ask you and your sister when was the last time
you saw Mary Phagan, and did your sister say Thursday?"
Epps: "I
wasn't
there then."
Arnold: "Weren't
you there when he asked that question?"
Epps: "No.
I was
not."
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