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."