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https://docs.google.com/document/d/15a-QTW9AUPOIpMGZex2dfdLX9lHkq7evm0PuRGVCTf0/edit?usp=sharing

Click on the link to view a google doc of the biographies of the important people in the Lizzie Borden case. From the suspects to the victims to the lawyers and witnesses, we've got them all covered.

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Edmund Pearson points to all of the rumor and legends surrounding the case- most of them fabricated.

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When the curtain falls on the first performance of "9 Pine Street," the play about the Borden murders, I could wish to inspect one of the graves in a Fall River cemetery. Not in the family lot of Andrew J. Borden. No; the turf which ought to be examined, to see if he who rests below has been turning over and over, is on the mound above Edwin Porter, police reporter of the Fall River Globe, and author of the history of the Borden murders which failed to sell-or was withdrawn-so that part of the edition remains today, covered with dust, in the loft of an old barn.

The actual principals in any murder case-murderer and murderee-are not apt to be impressed when their story is turned into fiction. They can't possibly recognize themselves. So it will probably be Mr. Porter, conscientious historian, who will writhe in his sepulchre when he hears what has happened to that superb crime which was committed in Fall River forty years ago. Like many another collector of facts, he knows that whether or not truth is stranger than fiction, it is sometimes a devil of a lot more exciting. The real Miss Lizzie Borden can hardly be dramatized: she is incredible.

The moving pictures, by creaking machinery and papier-maché, can make us put our faith in a brontosaurus or a pterodactyl. But Miss Lizzie was a plump and complacent person wearing rimless eye-glasses, a lady who liked to put on an apron and fiddle about in the kitchen, who stuck up bird houses all around her garden, who loved sweet poems and novels-I think that the best-sellers of the nineties were exactly her meat: "Alice of Old Vincennes" and "When Knighthood Was in Flower"-who delighted to visit the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, who served as secretary of the Christian Endeavor Society, taught a Sunday-school class, belonged to a Fruit and Flower Mission and the W.C.T.U., and presented one of her friends with a painting on porcelain entitled "Love's Dream."

Yet a majority of her townsfolk, as far as I can discover, believe that this gentle lady chopped her stepmother's head to bits with a hatchet, hung around for an hour and a half, welcomed her father into the house, and then repeated the operation with him. And did all this, one summer's morn, on an empty stomach-except for half a cup of coffee and a few nibbles out of one side of a cookie.

The legal history of the Borden case began a long time ago: almost the same month that the sporting men in Boston were getting ready to travel down to New Orleans, all prepared to see John L. Sullivan lick Corbett-as, of course, he would. Its legal history still goes on. Mr. Borden's only other heir, his second wife, died ninety minutes before he did, so, without the slightest trouble, his daughters, Miss Lizzie and Miss Emma, each inherited about one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. That was supposed to be the object of the hatchet work. They both died six years ago, and distributed their estates, by will. There has been continued litigation over Miss Lizzie's will. The Animal Rescue Leagues, and other charities, together with two or three private individuals, got their shares, but some details continue to rumble in the courts, and the executor still has his bad moments.

As for the history of the murders, what discoveries may not occur when the genial family now occupying the old "murder house" decide to pull it down, as, a few years ago, they pulled down the barn! At that time, some reporters happened along, and out of the crumbling rafters dragged a sort of hammer. By their literary skill, the reporters converted this into "the missing hatchet," and entertained their readers for weeks. The treasury of Bristol County was actually wheedled out of two hundred dollars to have this impossible weapon examined for bloodstains.

When I am a doddering old man, in my wheelchair in the sun, history will probably repeat itself, and a wireless message descend upon me to say that this is the Boston Herald speaking, that the old Borden home is being demolished, all sorts of strange weapons have been discovered under the floors, and have I anything to say about them?

The legends about Miss Lizzie and her exploit are nearly as fascinating as the facts. Some have long vanished from memory and belief. It needed the excitement which instantly followed the murders to make anyone credit the stories of "wild-eyed" men and ruffians, who were to be seen a fortnight after the crime, haunting the environs of Fall River in broad daylight and flourishing hatchets, still dripping with hot blood. The tale of the "maniacal laugh" heard in the house that morning, and supposed to come from some frenzied unknown, is now recognized as a perversion of a much more interesting fact: Miss Lizzie really did stand at the head of the stairs, in sight of the body of her first victim, and utter a short laugh as her second victim, her father, entered the house of doom.

Nearly all experts and authorities upon the case who have emerged in recent years are now aware that it was the fanciful suggestion of amateur Sherlocks, and not a matter of history, that Miss Borden stripped herself quite naked before committing the murders-having foreseen that the police would examine her clothes for bloodstains. One school of these writers, people who prefer never to discuss any event relating to New England without taking a crack at the Pilgrim Fathers and the Salem "witch-burners," have rejected this story of an early conversion to nudism, but only on the ground that Miss Lizzie, as an inhibited Puritan beset by all the strict conventionalities, would have been too "prudish" to adopt such a sensible working costume. I can tell these gentlemen that they are right; the maidens of Massachusetts are not accustomed to undress before committing homicide. In fact, so rigid are their notions of propriety that a good many of them do not slaughter their parents at all, even when fully clothed.

One of the choicest bits of folklore goes back to a date prior to the murders. Miss Lizzie was then a bouncing schoolgirl, with a face rather heavy, not at all prepossessing; a little menacing, in fact. It is curious that at the age of thirty-two, when she was tried for murder, she had nearly lost this unpleasant appearance of her youth. At this earlier period, she had a school friend living in Hartford, and to her home she went upon a visit. The two girls, Lizzie and Blanche, shared the same room. Lizzie had not changed her first name to Lizbeth, as she did later, in the Fall River telephone book.

One morning, Miss Lizzie came down alone to breakfast, and the meal began without waiting for the daughter of the house. After a little, one of the family mildly inquired:

"I wonder where Blanche can be."

At this, Miss Lizzie looked up from her stewed prunes, and in the manner of one glad to be able to enlighten, replied:

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Blanche died during the night."

These Hartfordians seem to have been an impassive and taciturn group, but this news did jog them a little out of the regular morning routine. Some of the more excitable members of the family actually went upstairs to investigate. Miss Lizzie was right: there was Blanche, and, sure enough, she was dead.

They talked it over a little among themselves, as people will, and agreed that it was odd. The doctor came, glanced at the girl, and said:

"Oh, heart failure, I suppose."

Then the family, not wishing their guest's holidays to suffer, invited Miss Lizzie to stay for the funeral. Said she:

"Aren't you going to read the will?"

They froze up a trifle, and someone said:

"Why-no. Is that the custom in Fall River?"

"It certainly is," briskly replied the guest

"It isn't here. We read the will after the funeral."

"Oh, all right," said Miss Lizzie, pettishly, "I'll stay."

So the day after the burial rites, the testament of Miss Blanche was produced. It only caused more trouble, because Miss Borden flatly accused them of suppressing the true will. She said that she and Blanche had each made a will in the other's favor, and that she was named in Blanche's will as sole beneficiary. The family thought that this conduct was "most unfeeling," and they persisted that as far as they were concerned there had been absolutely no hocus-pocus.

Then their little guest from Fall River departed in a huff, and "it was not until years afterwards" (so runs the tale), when she was being tried for murder, that they recalled the incident. Then they did wish that old Dr. Dibble had been a little less casual in determining the cause of the death of Blanche.

There is another version of this engaging yarn. The scene this time was Fall River. The victim was an invalid named Bessie-daughter of a neighbor. Miss Lizzie was in the habit of calling to "sit" with the girl. At last, however, after one of these sittings, Bessie was found dead, with marks of strangulation on her throat. When things belonging to her were found in Miss Lizzie's possession, uncharitable suspicions were entertained.

At a dinner in Fall River where this gaudy tale was told, someone asked why no action was taken. The reply was:

"Oh, they knew that Bessie had an incurable disease anyhow, and naturally no one wanted to incriminate Lizzie."

It should be said, by the way, that for preposterous stories about the Borden murders, there is no place like Fall River. The belief is still nourished there that three days before the murders Miss Borden wrote to some friends in Fairhaven that she had a fine, new axe, and that she was having a lovely time whetting it. This story at the time was investigated, and exploded. I have seen District Attorney Knowlton's letter in which he says that no such message was written or received.

It is in Fall River that the story is repeated that when the neighbors arrived and beheld the body of Mr. Borden, weltering in his blood, someone sent for a sheet to cover the dreadful form. No one up to that moment had remembered Mrs. Borden, or considered that she also might be slain. So far, the tale is in keeping with known facts. But when the servant was ordered to go after the sheet, the legendary story begins. According to this, Miss Lizzie, hearing the order for one sheet, piped up:

"Better make it two!"

A laborious theory has reached me from an exalted source: no less a personage than the Warwick of the new Administration, Colonel Howe, a relative, by marriage, of the Bordens. This gentleman is entitled to sympathy; he is a reader of detective stories, and so the newspapers have promoted him to the standing of "a great criminologist." Colonel Howe is acquainted with what is called "the family view" of the crime.

It is that not Miss Lizzie but her sister, Miss Emma Borden, was the guilty one.

Miss Emma, ten years her sister's senior, was in Fairhaven on the day of the murders. The theory rests on the belief that there was a conspiracy between the sisters, both of whom wished to keep the stepmother from inheriting their father's property. Up to this point, it is all probable. But the further idea was that Miss Lizzie stayed at home, since she could clear herself of suspicion. It is not explained why they were sure of this-and she certainly failed to clear herself of the gravest suspicions. And Miss Emma, pretending to be in Fairhaven, really slipped away from that town early on that August morning, with the hatchet in her little reticule. She came unseen to Fall River, and to the family home, killed the victims, unobserved by the servant or the neighbors, and went back to Fairhaven, still undetected and invisible.

This theory depends on the notion that the police did not check up on Miss Emma's alibi-and this notion is untenable. The police work on this case was, at any rate, painstaking. Colonel Howe may be assured that the idea that the police did not find out what Miss Emma was doing that day is as doubtful as a pre-election statement from Republican headquarters.

Why anyone should reject the claims of the sister who had every opportunity, and nominate as murderess the one for whom it would have been fantastically difficult, is hard to see. But it is also true that many persons who credulously repeat all sorts of rumors seem to be unaware that one damning fact rests not on gossip but on the sworn testimony of three reputable witnesses. And this is that Miss Lizzie, the day before the murders, went into a pharmacy not far from her home and tried to buy prussic acid.

A lady who knew Miss Lizzie Borden for many years assures me that she was timid, shrinking, and quite lacking in initiative or adventure. Yet she also tells me of a week-long house-party, for an entire theatrical troupe. Miss Borden hired the house, financed the party, and attended it herself, because of her admiration for the leading lady. Surely, that is a departure from the traditional shyness of the New England spinster.

Was she quite without rancor or venom? One informant tells me that she was. Another, entirely deserving credence, tells me a story of Mr. Justice Moody, of the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Moody, before going on the bench, was assistant prosecutor in the case of Commonwealth vs. Lizzie A. Borden. After the trial was over, and Miss Borden had been acquitted, amid the ecstatic cheers of all the agitators for "Women's Rights," Mr. Moody one day received a package by mail. It was from Miss Borden, and contained copies of all the official photographs in the case-including the gruesome pictures of the dead bodies of the victims. A note accompanied the gift, in which Miss Lizzie said that she thought that Mr. Moody might like to have these pictures, "as souvenirs of an interesting occasion."

One more story-undoubted fact. It comes from a friendly source, that is, from a believer in Miss Lizzie's innocence of murder. The teller of the tale was a witness to the incident. Miss Lizzie, some years after her acquittal, visited two sisters who owned a farm in the country. In her presence, these ladies always avoided unpleasant topics of conversation. For instance, keeping in mind the ancient precept of courtesy that in a family in which someone has been hanged, one does not speak of ropes, the two ladies always were careful to say nothing about axes or hatchets. Although the Borden murders were undoubtedly committed with a small hatchet, the word "axe" got into the case-probably because of the popular rhyme:

Lizzie Borden took an axe
And gave her Mother forty whacks-

As Miss Borden and her hostesses walked about the farm, one of the sisters pointed to an old shed, tumbledown and decayed.

"Look at that wreck," said she. "Tomorrow I'll have Mike pull it down and cart it off."

Miss Lizzie's sudden and enthusiastic response made them gasp. She exclaimed:

"You don't need to get Mike to do it. I could do it now. Gimme the axe!" ♦

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Edmund Pearson on Lizzie Borden, who was tried for and acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother with a hatchet blade, in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892.

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Douglas O. Linder is a professor of law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. He believes that Lizzie the only person who had the means, opportunity and motive to commit murder.

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1. If not Lizzie, then who? Only Lizzie had a good opportunity to commit the murders. At the time of her mother's murder (around 9:30 A.M.), household guest John Morse was visiting relatives, sister Emma was out of town, Andrew Borden was running errands around town, and maid Bridget Sullivan was outside washing windows. Only Lizzie was known to be in the house at the time of Abby Borden's murder. To commit both murders (Andrew Borden was murdered around 11 A.M.), an outside intruder would have either have had to hide in the house for 90 minutes or departed and then returned without being seen.

2. It looks like an inside job. Police found no signs of forced entry into the Borden home (despite the fact that the Borden's habitually locked their doors) and nothing appeared to have been stolen. No stranger was seen entering or leaving the Borden house on the morning of the murders.

3. Although Lizzie claimed to have been downstairs at the very time her mother was violently murdered upstairs, she said she heard no alarming noises--this despite her mother having been struck multiple times with an axe and falling to the floor.

4. On August 3, the day before the murders, witnesses identified Lizzie Borden as having visited Smith's drug store in Fall River, where she attempted to purchase a poison, prussic acid. She explained that she needed the acid to clean a sealskin cape. The druggist refused to sell the prussic acid.

5. On the night before the murders, Lizzie visited a neighbor, Alice Russell, and told her that she feared that some unidentified enemy of her father's might soon try to kill him.

6. Lizzie told police that while she was alone in the house with her mother on the morning of the murder, a messenger came to the door with a note summoning her mother to visit a sick friend. Lizzie told people that she assumed her mother had left. Despite a thorough search of the Borden home, no such alleged note ever was found.

7. When Bridget Sullivan came back inside after having finished washing outside windows, around 10:30 A.M., she reported hearing a muffled laugh coming from upstairs. She assumed that it was Lizzie making the noise. (Lizzie, of course, denied being upstairs during this time period between her mother's murder and her father's murder.)

8. At the time of the murder of Andrew Borden, Lizzie claimed to have been in the loft of the backyard barn for 15 to 20 minutes looking for lead sinkers for a fishing excursion. Police found the loft so stiflingly hot that it was difficult to believe anyone would voluntarily remain in such a place for as much as 20 minutes. They also found no footprints in the loft that could substantiate Lizzie's story.

9. Lizzie had a strained relationship with her step-mother. They usually ate their meals separately. Some theorize that Lizzie resented the fact that her father transferred a Falls River property to Abby's sister, rather than to her. Police noted that during her interview, Lizzie insisted that Abby be described as her "step-mother," not her mother.

10. Although Lizzie appeared to have a somewhat better relationship with her distant and forbidding father, there were problems there as well. Lizzie was outraged, for example, when her father beheaded pigeons in the barn loft for which she had built a roost. (Her father thought the pigeons attracted neighborhood boys, who broke into the barn to hunt the pigeons.)

11. In the week before the murders, following an apparent family argument, Lizzie and her sister Emma left Fall River by coach for New Bedford. When Lizzie returned, she chose to stay in a rooming house for four days, rather than in her own room in the family residence.

12. In 1891, cash and jewelry were stolen from the master bedroom in the Borden home. It was an open secret that Lizzie was suspected as having been the thief. Lizzie also had been accused by several local merchants of shoplifting. (Yes, murder is far different that stealing--but it does suggest that Lizzie was hardly a model daughter.)

13. Immediately after the discovery of her parents' bodies, Lizzie sent various persons who came to help off on various errands. It seems strange that a woman would choose to remain alone in a house if she thought a murderer still might be nearabouts on the loose.

14. On August 7, three days after the murders, Alice Russell observed Lizzie burning a blue corduroy dress in a kitchen fire. When asked about it, Lizzie explained that she chose to destroy the dress because it was stained with old paint.

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Fourteen Reasons to Believe Lizzie Murdered Her Parents

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Welcome to Famous Trials, the Web’s largest and most visited collection of original essays, trial transcripts and exhibits, maps, images, and other materials relating to the greatest trials in world history.
“Famous Trials” first appeared on the Web in 1995, making this site older than about 99.97%…

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This article discusses the fascination of the Lizzie Borden case into present day. It posits that it's a combination of an unlikely suspect, sensational journalism and a morbidly curious public.

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It didn't take long after Lizzie Borden was accused of murdering her father and stepmother for the public to start obsessing over the case. Newspaper coverage began immediately after that hot August day in 1892, and centered on the fact that a prim, proper, churchgoing woman in Fall River, Massachusetts, may have brutally killed two members of her family with a hatchet.

Lizzie's acquittal in June 1893 only stoked the interest - and that interest never died down. Deborah Allard, a staff reporter at the local Herald News and a lifelong resident of Fall River, has covered everything from a couple who got married after meeting during the annual dramatization on August 4th, 2012 (the bride played Lizzie and the groom played a detective), to the renovations of Maplecroft - the home where Lizzie lived out her life after the murders - which is set to open to the public soon. Recent discoveries of new materials have made the paper, like letters and journals that belonged to Andrew Jackson Jennings, Lizzie's attorney, and Lizzie's meatloaf recipe. "As the unofficial Lizzie Borden reporter, you'd be surprised how newsworthy a 124-year-old cold case murder can be," she says.

Outside of the press - and the ubiquitous "Lizzie Borden took an axe" schoolyard chant - Lizzie has been a lasting figure in pop culture. There was Agnes de Mille's 1954 ballet Fall River Legend and the 1965 opera Lizzie Borden, the concept recently updated as a rock opera called Lizzie: The Musical. The 1975 made-for-TV movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden, starring Bewitched's Elizabeth Montgomery - who in real life was sixth cousins with Lizzie - brought the story to a new generation. Almost 40 years later, Lifetime aired the Christina Ricci vehicle Lizzie Borden Took an Ax, and followed it with a series called The Lizzie Borden Chronicles. While both were panned by critics, they did bring the case back to the public eye, opening the door for an upcoming psychological thriller starring Chloe Sevigny as Lizzie and Kristen Stewart as Bridget Sullivan, the family maid.

The facts of the case are fairly straightforward: During an oppressive heat wave in August 1892, prominent Fall River residents Andrew and Abby Borden were brutally murdered in their home; each had received multiple blows to the head with a hatchet. The only serious suspect was Andrew's 32-year-old unmarried daughter, Lizzie, who was at the house during the killings. His other daughter, Emma, was out of town, and their live-in maid Bridget Sullivan was in her third-floor room, resting from a morning of window washing and vomiting following the consumption of spoiled mutton stew. But the finer details of the Borden murders were hazy from the beginning, starting when thousands of curious townspeople visited the crime scene, unintentionally tampering with evidence. Moreover, Lizzie's inquest testimonies were inconsistent, perhaps owing to the fact that she was prescribed morphine after the murders to help calm her nerves.

But it's not just the act of murder that keeps us coming back well over a century later. What separated this from other crimes was the combination of an unlikely suspect, the rise of sensationalized journalism, and the fact that it offered a morbid and wry critique of high society - and we have never lost interest.

"I think we're still fascinated by the case to this day largely because it has all the elements of a Greek tragedy or a Victorian melodrama, and the fact the case is unsolved gives it cultural longevity," Richard Behrens, host of The Lizzie Borden Podcast says. "Lizzie Borden has been elevated to an American tragedy at the same level as the sinking of the Titanic." There have been many theories regarding Lizzie's potential motives, including that she was the victim of incest at the hand of her father, or was angry with him for killing her pet pigeons, or simply sick of his strict and rigid ways, ready to inherit his wealth and stop living under his thumb. None can be proven - but that only adds to her mystique.

"I think the case has gotten so much attention because our proper Victorian ancestors couldn't fathom that someone among the upper class - especially a woman - could commit such a heinous crime," Allard says. "It has endured for those same reasons, and because it offers something for everyone today - history, brutality, mystery, the supernatural, and even sex."

The salacious elements and the uncertainty surrounding the Borden murders has become modern American mythology. In addition to the fact that the only real suspect was acquitted and the case was never solved, the murder and trial occurred during a time when the quantity, quality and content of American newspapers was changing rapidly.

Lizzie's was one of the first trials in American history that both fueled and was fueled by major mass-market newspapers and magazines. Moreover, she was a media sensation because her trial exposed the sleazy shortcomings of high society, delighting the poorer masses. "The case ripped aside a curtain that covered and concealed a kind of dry-rot, a concealed pathology, " wrote Stanford legal historian Lawrence M. Friedman. "One which (arguably) was eating away at the pillars of respectable society."

Typically, explains Dr. Jean Kim, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at George Washington University, a memorable historical murder highlights a particular social insight or reality that society had repressed or ignored until that moment. The Borden murders, she suggests, "reflect a key moment in our modern public consciousness about the reality of violence in private families, even ones that seem outwardly affluent or normal."

Kim cites other cases of note, including Jack the Ripper, which highlighted the "underbelly of prostitution and the contrast between their social class and their sometimes surprisingly well-to-do customers," and O.J. Simpson's case, which drew attention to "issues of racial perceptions of the police, the invulnerability of celebrity, and domestic violence even in a wealthy household."

"Murders that stay in the public imagination often are bellwethers or signposts or precedents for key moments in our collective social consciousness," Kim continues. "They are events that challenge the status quo, for good, and resist prior covering up of shameful repression, or they shock societal norms, confirm our worst fears about ourselves, or reflect the anxieties of the era they occur in which we can look back upon with more objectivity."

In the Borden case, the prosecution - and in turn, the media - used the trial to convey that the wealthy are not exempt from unsavory, violent behavior. Lizzie's defense was, in some ways, a defense of upper-class society; an attempt to demonstrate that someone from her background could not have possibly committed a brutal murder. This clash of ideologies and opposing narratives made for compelling copy, and newspapers and the public ate it up. Once the media created Lizzie Borden as a persona and celebrity, the process was self-sustaining: the more Lizzie became a household name, the more newspapers people would purchase.

Newspapers often took liberties when reporting the facts - not an uncommon practice in 19th century reporting culture, which focused more on crime and vice than accuracy. Because the case and trial had so many easily sensationalized components, articles often featured very dramatic accounts of what happened in the courtroom - for example, when Lizzie fainted at the sight of her father and step-mother's severed heads, which were brought in as evidence. On slower news days, reporters would comment that Lizzie was yawning or looked bored during the trial, planting the seed that a woman exhibiting boredom by such a gory event might be capable of murder. Her every move made headlines, but that still doesn't explain why, all these years later, we still pore over the evidence in search of something new.

Perhaps one place to look for answers is the Lizzie Borden Museum and Bed and Breakfast, the family's home, reconstructed to look just as it did when the murders took place - one of the preeminent locations of "dark tourism" in the country. Visitors can take a guided tour of the house, visit the gift shop where the barn once stood (Lizzie bobblehead, anyone?) and stay overnight, including in Lizzie's bedroom or in the room where Abby was murdered. The museum has several thousands of visitors each year, says manager Lee-Ann Wilber, coming from as far as Germany, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

According to Wilber, there are several factors that play into the crime's enduring appeal, including the fact that the primary suspect was a woman, and that the murder weapon was a hatchet, at a time when poison was the method of choice for most female Victorian killers. Many are drawn to the house in the hopes of interacting with supernatural beings. The juxtaposition of the meticulously decorated middle-class Victorian home with the brutality of the crime that took place within its walls is hard to resist.

In addition to the unlikely suspect and violent murder weapon, one thing that makes the Borden tragedy so fascinating is simple: time. The fact that the Borden murders took place so long ago detaches us from the trauma and violence, making it a compelling story. According to investigative journalist and true crime expert M. William Phelps, historical crimes are somehow not real because they took place so long ago,

Phelps suggests that the case's "voyeuristic magnetism" stems from the fact that she may have pulled off the perfect crime, literally getting away with murder, and that we like that version of the story far better than the alternative. "It's more fascinating, comforting and compliant to the crash-and-burn-on-live-TV society we live in today to accept that a young woman murdered her parents," he explains. "We expect it. Lizzie is the perfect archetype; the Jodi Arias or Casey Anthony of her day." Our obsession exists because we're simultaneously scared of and fascinated by death - as long it happens in somebody else's community and someone else's era.

This blurring of news and entertainment during the initial coverage of the Borden trial has only become more pervasive today, making it unlikely that the fascination with Lizzie will end anytime soon. Between being a permanent fixture in popular culture and the center of one of the most famous cold cases in American history, Lizzie is now as much a part of American mythology as Paul Bunyan. Recent developments like the discovery of her attorney's journals, and the renovation of Maplecroft make Lizzie more accessible to the public, offering the possibility that the case could be solved - perhaps for the 125th anniversary. Or maybe she'll forever be the smirking spinster who got away with one of the most memorable murders in history, and we won't be able to look away.

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Lizzie Borden: Why a 19th-Century Axe Murder Still Fascinates Us

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In 1892, the upper-class spinster was accused of her parents' murders - and she's been part of the public consciousness ever since

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The two hosts of the Crime Junkie Podcast, discuss the infamous case. They dig into the evidence against Lizzie Borden and explore some possible alternative theories.

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INFAMOUS: Lizzie Borden | Crime Junkie Podcast

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Did Lizzie Borden really kill her parents? In this episode we tell her story and the other suspects in the case who you've probably never heard of.

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After examining all of the evidence, we have to come to the conclusion that Lizzie Borden was guilty of murdering her father and step-mother. Given that the murders were approximately 2 hours apart, there was not anyone else (other than Bridget) who had the opportunity. The timing of the death also supports a financial motive.  Because Abby was murdered first, she (nor her descendents) could not inherit Andrew's fortune and therefore it went to the daughters. Because there had been so much turmoil in the family about money and Abby's family, if Lizzie was the murderer she would have definitely taken this into consideration.

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Since Bridget was the only other person in the house and she left immediately after the trial, was she some how involved? Is there a reason that Bridget wasn't really investigated and isn't talked about much?

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During the trial, there was a lot of talk about the bundle of clothes that was carried from the house after the murders. Was this the infamous blue dress? If not, was it burned? Emma claimed that Lizzie had paint on the dress and was throwing it out because it was it was ruined. Was it paint or blood?

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On Aug 4, 1892 Andrew and Abby Borden were murdered in their home in the middle of the afternoon. The only other two people in the house were their daughter, Lizzie Borden, and their maid, Bridget. Almost immediately after the murders, Lizzie became the primary suspect in the case. There were very few pieces of evidence and the trial was primarily a character trial, with most witnesses claiming that Lizzie was "not the sort of person who could commit murder." In the end, Lizzie was found innocent, but suspicion has surrounded her for decades with many believing she was actually guilty.

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This article points toward the nephew being involved, but also mentions the poison purchased by Lizzie. It was published 2 days after the murder.

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This article is very certain that Lizzie will be arrested soon. It places a lot of emphasis on the purchasing of the poison and the news/public circus around this whole event.

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These floor plans show the layout of the house as it was during the murders. It also includes where the bodies and important items in the house were located.

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Complete floor plan drawings of the Lizzie Borden home and property; first floor, second floor, attic, basement, barn and lot plan.

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Photo of the Borden home as it stands today. Though the interior of the building has been changed, the exterior is still very much the same.

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This article outlines the events of the funeral and Lizzie's odd dramatic behavior. There's also a retelling of her refusal to allow the police to search her bedroom.

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One of the first articles about the murder. At this time, Lizzie is not specifically suspected.

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Here you will find the official medical autopsies of Abby and Andrew. Notice the degree to which the bodies were attacked and their times of death. What do they tell us about some conclusions we can draw from the case?

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Fall River, Mass. August 11, 1892

Source: Lizzie Andrew Borden Virtual Museum and Library

Record of Autopsy held at Oak Grove Cemetery on body of Andrew J. Borden. Autopsy performed by W. A. Dolan, Medical Examiner, assisted by Dr. F. W. Draper. Witnesses F. W. Draper of Boston and John W. Leary of Fall River. Clerk D. E. Cone of Fall River. Time of Autopsy 11.15 A.M. August 11th, 1892, one week after death.

Body that of a man well nourished. Age seventy years. 5 feet 11 inches in height. No stiffness of death on account of decomposition, which was far advanced. Inguinal hernia on right side. Abdomen had already been opened. Artificial teeth in upper jaw. There were no marks of violence on body, but on left side of head and face there were numerous incised wounds and one contused wound penetrating into the brain.

The wounds beginning at the nose and to the left were as follows:

1. Incised wound 4 inches long beginning at lower border of left nasal bone and reaching to lower edge of lower jaw, cutting through nose, upper lip, lower lip, and slightly into bone of upper and lower jaw.

2. Began at internal angle of eye and extended to one and 3/8 inches of lower edge of jaw, beginning 4 and 1/2 inches in length, cutting through the tissues and into the bone.

3. Began at lower border of lower eye lid cutting through the tissues and into the cheek bone, 2 inches long and one and 3/8 inches deep.

4. Began two inches above upper eye lid 1/2 inch external to wound No. 3, thence downward and outward through middle of left eyebrow through the eye ball cutting it completely in halves, and excising a piece of the skull one and 1/2 inches in length by 1/2 inch in width. Length of would 4 and 1/2 inches.

5. Began on level of same wound superficial scalp wound downward and outward 2 inches long.

6. Parallel with this 1/4 inch long, downward and outward.

7. Began 1/2 inch below No. 5, 3 inches in length downward and outward, penetrating cavity of skull. On top of skull was a transverse fracture 4 and 1/2 inches in length.

8. Began directly above No. 7 and one inch in length downward and outward.

9. Directly posterior to No. 8 beginning at ear and extending 4 inches long, 2 inches in width, crushing bone and carrying bone into brain. Also crushing from without in.

10. Directly behind this and above it, and running downwards backward 2 inches long superficially.

The general direction of all these wounds is parallel to each other.

HEAD. Right half of top of skull removed. Brain found to be completely decomposed; and in fluid condition.

CHEST. Chest and abdomen opened by one incision extending from neck to pubis. Right lung glued to ribs in front. Left lung normal. HEART normal.

ABDOMEN. Spleen normal, kidney normal, liver and bladder normal. Stomach and portion of liver had been removed. Lower part of large bowel filled with solid formed feces. Feces also in lower part of small bowel.

William A. Dolan, Medical Examiner

D. E. Cone, Clerk

Record of Autopsy on body of Abby D. Borden, aged 64 years. Thursday August 11, 1892. at 12.35 P.M. One week after death.

The Autopsy was performed by W. A. Dolan, Medical Examiner, assisted by Dr. F. W. Draper, and witnessed by F. W. Draper of Boston, and J. H. Leary of Fall River. Clerk of Autopsy D. E. Cone of Fall River.

Body that of a female, very well nourished and very fleshy 64 years of age. 5 feet, 3 inches in height. No stiffness of death, owing to decomposition, which was far advanced. Abdomen had already been opened. Artificial teeth in upper jaw. No marks of violence on front of body. On back of body was

FIRST an incised wound 2 and 1/2 inches in length, and 2 and 1/2 inches in depth. The lower angle of the wound was over his spine and four inches below the junction of neck with body, and extending thence upward and outward to the left. On the forehead and bridge of nose were three contused wounds. Those on the forehead being oval, lengthwise with body.

SECOND The contusion on bridge of nose was one inch in length by on half inch in width.

THIRD On the forehead one was one inch above left eyebrow, one and 1/4 inches long by 3/8 inch in width, and the other one and 1/4 inches above eyebrow, and one and 1/2 inches long by 1/4 inch wide. On the head there were 18 distinct wounds, incising and crushing, and all but four were on the right side. Counting from left to right with the face downwards, the wounds were as follows:

1. Was a glancing scalp wound two inches in length by one and 1/2 inches in width, situated 3 inches above left ear hole, cut from above downwards and did not penetrate the skull.

2. Was exactly on top of the skull one inch long penetrating into but not through the skull.

3. Was parallel to No. 2, one and 1/2 inches long, and penetrating through the skull.

4. Was 2 and 1/4 inches long above occipital protuberance and one and 1/2 inches long.

5. Was parallel to No. 4 and one and 1/2 inches long.

6. Was just above and parallel to No. 5, and one and 1/4 inches long. On top of skull was a traverse fracture two inches in length, a continuation of a penetrating wound.

7. Was two inches long and two inches behind ear hole crushing and carrying bone into brain.

All the wounds of the head following No. 7 though incised crushed through into the brain.

8. Was 2 and 1/2 inches long

9. Was 2 and 3/4 inches long

10. Was one and 3/4 inches long

11. Was 1/2 inches long

12. Was 2 and 1/4 inches long

13. Was one and 3/4 inches long

14. Was two and 1/2 inches long

15. Reached from middle line of head towards the ear 5 inches long

16. Was one inch long

17. Was 1/2 inch long

18. Was 3 and 1/2 inches long

These wounds on the right side were parallel, the direction being mostly from in front backwards.

HEAL. There was a hole in right side of skull 4 and 1/2 to 5 and 1/4 inches, through which the brain evacuated in fluid condition being entirely decomposed.

CHEST. The chest and abdomen was opened by one incision from chin to pubis.

LUNGS bound down behind but normal. HEART normal.

ABDOMEN, Stomach and part of bowel had been removed. Spleen, pancreas, kidneys, liver, bladder and intestines were normal. Womb was the seat of a small fibroid tumor on anterior surface. Fallopian tubes and ovaries normal. Lower bowel empty. Upper portion of small bowel containing undigested food.

W. A. Dolan, Medical Examiner

D. E. Cone, Clerk

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This website outlines the approximate times and events on the day of the murders.

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Lizzie Borden's Timeline

Source: Lizzie's testimony at the Inquest held from August 9 - August 11, 1892. Inquest Upon the Deaths of Andrew J. and Abby D. Borden, August 9 - 11, 1892, Volume I and II. Fall River, MA: Fall River Historical Society.
Aug. 4, 1892, Thursday
8:45 - 8:50 a.m.
Lizzie comes down "a few minutes before nine." "I should say about a quarter" [before nine]. (pg. 56, 59).

Saw "Maggie" [Bridget] and Mrs. Borden; Morse "was not there." (pg. 56).

The family had already breakfasted.

Spoke to her father, and Mrs. Borden . . . "spoke to them all."

Did not mention Morse, nor inquire anything about him. (pg. 56).

"When I first came down stairs I went down cellar to the water closet." (pg. 63).

Mr. Borden was in the sitting room reading the paper. (pg. 58).

Mrs. Borden was in the dining room dusting. (pg. 58).

Mrs. Borden had left the guest room "all in order". (pg. 63).

She was going to put some fresh pillow slips on the small pillows at the foot of the bed and was going to close the room . . . "

"She had done that [made bed, dusted, etc.] when I came down."

It would take "about 2 minutes" to put on the pillow slips. (pg. 63).

Did not see her after Lizzie "went down in the morning and she [Mrs. Borden] was dusting the dining room." (pg. 62).

"I left her in the dining room." (pg. 62).

"I should have seen her if she had stayed down stairs; if she had gone to her room I would not have seen her." (pg. 63).

Mrs. Borden could have gone to her room while "I was down cellar." (pg. 65).

Lizzie did not see Mrs. Borden when Lizzie came back from down cellar. (pg. 65).

"I had supposed she had gone out." (pg. 66).

Lizzie gone [down cellar] a little more than 5 minutes. (pg. 66).

"Maggie" had "Just come in [while Mrs. Borden dusted the D. R.] the back door with the long pole, brush . . . she was going to wash the windows around the house. She said Mrs. Borden wanted her to." (pg. 58).

Lizzie did not have any coffee or tea; does not know if ate any cookies. (pg. 59).

When she got down the breakfast things were all put away "except the coffee pot; I am not sure if that was on the stove or not." (pg. 59).

The next thing that happened after Lizzie got down was "Maggie went out of doors to wash the windows . . . " and Mr. Borden "came out into the kitchen and said he did not know whether he would go down to the post office or not. And then I sprinkled some handkerchiefs to iron." (pg. 59).

"Maggie" went out after the brush before Mr. Borden went away. (pg. 59).

"It must have been after 9 o'clock" when Mr. Borden went down town. (pg. 60).

"I was in the dining room . . . [when Mr. Borden started away] . . . I had just commenced . . . to iron." (pg. 59).

"About 10 a.m."

"My father did not go away . . . until somewhere about 10." (pg. 68).

Lizzie "had not commenced [to iron handkerchiefs], but [I] was getting the little ironing board and the flannel." (pg. 60).

Before Mr. Borden returned, Lizzie did not see "Maggie". (pg. 67).

After Mr. Borden went out Lizzie did not go up stairs at all. (pg. 67).

Lizzie carried some clean clothes up. (pg. 60).

Stayed "in my room long enough when I went up to sew a little piece of tape on a garment." (pg. 60).

The door to the guest room was closed. (pg. 64).

"He [Mr. Borden] came home after I came down stairs." (pg. 60).

"I think "Maggie" let him in." (pg. 61).

"It must have been after 10 [when he came home] because I think he told me he did not think he should go out until about 10." (pg. 83).

"He was not gone so very long." (pg. 84).

When the bell rang "I think [I was] in my room up stairs." (pg. 61).

"I was on the stairs coming down when she ["Maggie"] let him in."

"I don't think I had been up there over 5 minutes" [when Mr. Borden returned]. (pg. 61).

Mr. Borden was gone "not very long." (pg. 62)

"I was down in the kitchen . . . [when he returned] reading an old magazine" . . . "eating a pear." (pg. 60, 68).

"I am not sure whether I was there [kitchen] or in the dining room." (pg. 60).

Lizzie was in the kitchen when her father was let in. (pg. 67).

Lizzie was reading an old magazine "for perhaps 1/2 an hour" before going to the barn. (pg. 71).

After Mr. Borden came home Lizzie was in the sitting room with him. (pg. 66).

Lizzie did not iron any more after he came in. (p. 68).

Lizzie swears she did not see him go up stairs (to his room). (pg. 84, 85).

Lizzie did not see "Maggie" after she let Mr. Borden in. (pg. 69).

Lizzie "might have seen her ["Maggie"] and not know it." (pg. 70).

Lizzie doesn't know when Mr. Borden came home. (pg. 69).

Lizzie went right out to the barn-not less than 5 minutes [after Mr. Borden returned]. (pg. 84).

Lizzie got some pears first. (pg. 72).

Lizzie stayed under the pear tree 4 or 5 minutes. (pg. 88).

Lizzie was 15 or 20 minutes in the barn "trying to find lead for a sinker", and ate pears. (pg. 69, 77).

15 or 20 minutes after Mr. Borden came home Lizzie found him on the sofa. (pg. 69).

Mr. Borden was lying down on the sofa. (pg.78).

Lizzie noticed that he had been cut.

Lizzie..."did not see his face, because he was all covered with blood." It made her "afraid."

Lizzie called "Maggie" and told her Mr. Borden was "hurt."

Lizzie did not know whether or not he was dead.

Lizzie did not search for Mrs. Borden.

Lizzie thought Mrs. Borden was out.

Lizzie sent "Maggie" for Dr. Bowen. (pg. 78).

Questioning by Knowlton:

Q: "Miss Borden, I want you now to tell me all the talk you had with your mother, when you came down, and all the talk she had with you. Please begin again."

A: "She asked me how I felt. I told her. She asked me what I wanted for dinner. I told her not anything, what kind of meat I wanted for dinner. I told her not any. She said she had been up and made the spare bed, and was going to take up some linen pillow cases for the small pillows at the foot, and then the room was done. She says: "I have had a note from somebody that is sick, and I am going out, and I will get the dinner at the same time." I think she said something about the weather, I don't know. She also asked me if I would direct some wrappers for her, which I did."

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lizzie andrew borden virtual museum and library

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Lizzie Borden Timeline | Lizzie Andrew Borden Virtual Museum and Library

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Source: Lizzie's testimony at the Inquest held from August 9 - August 11, 1892. Inquest Upon the Deaths of Andrew J. and Abby D. Borden, August 9 - 11, 1892, Volume I and II. Fall River, MA: Fall River Historical Society. Aug. 4, 1892, Thursday 8:45 - 8:50 a.m.

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This website outlines the events of the Lizzie Borden's trial. It gives some clues into how long it took try her and what witnesses were thought to be valuable.

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Welcome to Famous Trials, the Web’s largest and most visited collection of original essays, trial transcripts and exhibits, maps, images, and other materials relating to the greatest trials in world history.
“Famous Trials” first appeared on the Web in 1995, making this site older than about 99.97%…

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Watch as experts examine the evidence presented in this padlet and draw important conclusions

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Tour the current version of the Lizzie Borden House! Notice that there have been changes to the floor plans since the murder.

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230 Second St Fall River MA 02721 United States