On August 4, 1892, Lizzie Borden’s father, Andrew, and stepmother, Abby, were bludgeoned by a hatchet in their Fall River, Massachusetts home; where Lizzie and her sister, Emma, also resided. Lizzie was accused of the murders. 1893: Her trial was major news. She was acquitted. 1961: she was popularized by a Chad Mitchell song, based on an old children’s rhyme.
In 1975, there was a television movie about her, The Legend of Lizzie Borden that was banned by some local ABC affiliates, although the movie as well as members of the cast and crew were nominated for awards. Lizzie’s back in the news again, courtesy of a new book to be published in July, Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and her Fall River, written by co-curators Michael Martins and Dennis Binette for the Fall River Historical Society.
Lizzie Borden: Family Conflict
She said nasty things about her father and didn’t talk to him for days when he displeased her. She detested her stepmother. Abby had a cat who entered a room when Lizzie had visitors. She removed it. Later, she took the cat downstairs and decapitated it. Abby was distraught for days because her cat was missing – until Lizzie told her where she could find it.
Lizzie kept caged pigeons in the barn behind the house. Andrew decapitated them with an axe because the birds were attracting young boys to the barn. He thought they might get hurt or start a fire.
There was always dissention in the household. Conflict increased between the two daughters and their father about his decision to divide their properties among relatives before he died.
Shortly before the murders, there was a major argument. Both sisters went on extended vacations. Two strange incidents happened shortly before the crime. Lizzie tried to buy hydrogen cyanide from pharmacist Eli Bence, but he refused. During the trial, Lizzie testified she planned to use it to clean a seal skin cloak.The household was violently ill. The doctor diagnosed food poisoning.
Lizzie Borden’s Parents Murdered
Abby was bludgeoned to death in the second floor guest room before 9:00 a.m.. Andrew was out on business and returned home around 10:30 a.m. Less than an hour later, Lizzie yelled to their maid, Bridget Sullivan, that somebody killed Andrew in the sitting room. He was also bludgeoned. While neighbors and the family doctor took care of Lizzie, Bridget discovered Abby’s body. Lizzie was arrested for the murders on August 11, 1892. Her behavior was suspicious and her accounts inconsistent.
Folklore has it that an anonymous person created a song to sell newspapers: "Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother 40 whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41."
Abby suffered 18 or 19 blows, and Andrew 11.
Lizzie Borden’s Trial
A grand jury commenced hearings on November 7, 1892. Lizzie was indicted on December 2, 1892. Her murder trial was in June 1893. A hatchet, found in her home’s basement, was believed to be the murder weapon, but it was clean and most of its handle was missing. There was no blood-soaked clothing. Several days after the murder, Lizzie tore and burned the dress she wore on August 4, claiming she spilled paint on it. There was conflicting testimony. Although Lizzie was acquitted on June 20, 1893, she was ostracized.
Did Lizzie Borden Kill her Parents?
People had had different theories about who killed the Bordens. Some believe the maid killed them because she was angry that she had to clean windows on a hot day when she was sick. Others theorize that William Borden, Andrew's illegitimate son, killed them because he tried to extort money from his father and failed. Some postulate that Lizzie had petit mal seizures, went into a fugue and, unknowingly, committed the murders. Lizzie’s cousin, Barbara Morrissey, believes she killed her parents. She said her cousin was a kind person who might not have intended to murder her father, but she held much anger for Abby. Barbara believes that the motive was money, because if Andrew died before Abby, his widow would have inherited the estate.
New Book’s Authors: Lizzie Borden Probably Isn't Murderess
Martins stated that, although Lizzie appears to be a cold woman who was capable of killing her parents, she was a giving, caring person. Binette and he researched private correspondence and letters, which gave them a different portrait of Lizzie.
The trial was a field day for the press. The public wanted to know about the spinster who was accused of parenticide. Martins maintained reporters who wrote articles didn’t know or interview her. Lizzie didn’t display emotion in public because she was a Yankee. Those who knew her loved her; those who didn’t gossiped.
Martins speculated that the killer could have been someone who hated Andrew and/or Abby. Perhaps, he or she was a relative or a businessman. He further postulated that, if Lizzie or Emma was the perpetrator, it wasn’t about inheritance, but was about abuse or a dysfunctional situation. He admitted he hadn’t read about the case, but wrote what he felt.
Lizzie Borden House Today
Now, the building is the Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum. The haunted Lizzie Borden House has ghosts haunting the scene of two gruesome hatchet murders. Witnesses report hearing a woman weeping, muffled conversations in empty rooms and phantom footsteps on the stairs and the floors above them. They have seen a woman in Victorian dress doing household chores. Doors open and close by themselves. Lights flicker, video equipment goes on and off and cameras operate without human hands, but don't work when people try to use them.
Who Killed the Bordens?
In the late 1800s, there was a lot of conjecture about who the killer was, which is still true today. Imagine living in that era. Lizzie, 32, was considered a spinster, or old maid, because women that age were married. Her family was affluent. At the time, society couldn’t accept the fact that a gentlewoman could commit the ghastly crime of bludgeoning her parents to death.
Sources
- Gabriel Falcon, “’Caring’ Lizzie Borden is Misunderstood, New Book Says,” today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42612544/ns/today-books/?gt1=43001. Accessedon April 23, 2011.
- Haunted Places, Dennis William Hauck, (Penguin Books, 2002).
Jill Stefko - I'd rather deal with the paranormal than human abnormal - having dealt extensively with both.
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