Murder In America - EP. 85 MASSACHUSETTS - Lizzie Borden and The Trial of the Century

Episode Date: October 21, 2022

It’s the year 1892, and everyone in the town of Fall River, Massachusetts is going about their morning as usual - except for one family. Inside the home at 92 Second Street, Abby and Andrew Borden had been brutally murdered. It wouldn’t be long before their daughter, Lizzie Borden, was accused of their murders, sparking one of the most infamous trials in American history. Follow us as we take you through one of the biggest names in true crime and a verdict that is still debated to this very day. This is the story of Lizzie Borden, and you’re listening to Murder in America. - Get a smoother shave at myfreebird.com/murder for 20% off your order! - This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/MIA and use our custom code MIA for 10% off your first month of easy online therapy! - Try HelloFresh today- America's #1 Meal Kit! Just go to https://www.HelloFresh.com/state65 and use code STATE65 for 65% off plus free shipping! Stay Connected:  Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Life is a journey. I know this. I think we all know this. Some days feel good and other days feel absolutely overwhelming. Whatever's keeping you up at night, it's easy sometimes to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own. But the truth is, nobody has all the answers. And no journey should be taken alone.

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by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. Lizzie Borden took in nacks, gave her mother 40 wax.

When she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41. Andrew Borden now is dead. Lizzie hit him in the head. Up in heaven he will sing on the gallows she will swing. It's the year 1892. And everyone in the town of Fall River, Massachusetts, is going about their morning as usual.

It's about 11 a.m. on a Thursday, so most people are working, cleaning around the house, running errands, or preparing for lunch. But not the Borden, family. Inside of that home on 92 Second Street, 64-year-old Abby Borden is upstairs in the guest room. But she's lying on the ground, face down, in a pool of her own thick and congealed blood. On the back of her head, there are 19 deep axe wounds. Hours earlier she had been in the room

cleaning up when someone snuck up behind her and brutally murdered her. Her husband, Andrew Borden, had no idea about what happened to his wife upstairs. And when he came home at around 10 a.m., he decided to lie down in the sitting room and take a little nap. He closes his eyes, leaning his head on a pillow, and, for long, he drifts off to sleep, having no idea that he would never wake up again. Because shortly after Mr. Borden dozes off, the same person who killed Abby Borden sneaks over to the sitting room, lifts the axe above their head,

and slams it down on his face while he sleeps. For the next few moments, Andrew Borden gets 11 deep hacks to the face, making him completely unrecognizable. And it wouldn't be long until their bodies are discovered by the family's live-and-maid and one of their daughters, Lizzie Borden, a name that you might be familiar with. Shortly after the murders, Lizzie would be accused of murdering her parents. And her trial would go on to be one of the most infamous trials in American history. It was the trial of the century, and the verdict is still being debated to this very day.

Follow us as we take you through one of the biggest names in true crime, Lizzie Borden, and the murder of her parents, Andrew and Abby. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browne. And you're listening to Murder in America. Two young boys were playing around with a cannon, and they accidentally started a fire. Nearly 300 buildings burned down and around 200 families became homeless, all from a fire that started on the corner of Maine and Borden Street.

No one could have ever known that the name Borden would soon come back to haunt the town, nearly 50 years later. By 1892, the Borden family had really made a name for themselves in Fall River, Massachusetts. The patriarch, Andrew Jackson Borden, was a very hard worker, and throughout the years he had become quite the businessman. In fact, by that year, he was worth around $500,000, which in today's time is nearly $10 million. So the board and family was very well off. Andrew was self-made, and he started his career as a cabinet maker and eventually became an undertaker where he made caskets for the dead.

Then, after those businesses started doing really well, he decided to become president of the Union Savings Bank. He was also on the board of directors of two textile mills in town. He owned two farms, had multiple rental properties, and he even owned a portion of Main Street. So, as you can see, there was a lot of money coming in for the Borden family. Now, some sources say that Andrew came from an influential family, but they still struggled with money growing up, so he made sure to work really hard. And more importantly, to be smart with his money. And although he was good with his money, some people described Andrew as frugal.

Most wealthy people in town lived in a neighborhood called the Hills. And even though Andrew had enough money to live there, he didn't think it was necessary. Instead, he decided to move his family into a home on 92 Second Street, which was a lot closer to the industrial areas in town. And the Borden house was still very nice, but his daughters wanted to live in the hills. where the wealthy people were. Andrew also didn't think it was necessary to install plumbing into their home. Now, indoor plumbing was just becoming a thing at the time, but almost everyone that could afford it had it installed.

It was also rumored that Andrew was so frugal that when he would build caskets, he would actually cut the feet off the corpses so he wouldn't have to pay for a bigger casket. Again, this is just a rumor, and I'm not sure if it's even true, but if it is, that's pretty savage. Now, Andrew's first marriage was with a woman named Sarah Morse. And on March 1, 1851, they had their first child, who they named Emma Borden. And I wasn't able to find much about this time in their lives or why they waited so long to have their second child. But on July 19, 1860, nine years after Emma was born, Sarah and Andrew welcomed another baby girl, who they named Lizzie Andrew Borden, just Lizzie, not Elizabeth.

And from what I was able to find, life seemed to be going pretty well for them. They were growing their family and Andrew was becoming more and more successful. But shortly after Lizzie was born, tragedy would strike. Sarah, their mother, fell ill from uterine congestion and disease in her spine. And sadly, in 1863, when Lizzie was just two years old, her mother Sarah would die from her illnesses. Why she died of uterine congestion is unknown, but it's believed it came from a miscarriage. Regardless, 12-year-old Emma and 2-year-old Lizzie were left without a mother, and Andrew was left without a wife.

But a few years later, Andrew would meet another woman in town, 37-year-old Abby Gray, and she would go on to be the only mother Lizzie ever knew. Abby Durfee Gray and Andrew Borden ended up getting married on June 6, 1865, when Lizzie was five years old. but it's been said that they never really had a warm and deep connection. In fact, Lizzie looked at her sister Emma as more of a mother figure than she did Abby. After all, Emma promised their mother while she was on her deathbed that she would look after her sister no matter what. And she did.

There isn't a lot of information about Lizzie when she was in her adolescent years, but we did find in the book Lizzie Borden passed and present by Leonard Rebello that as a child, Lizzie was very sensitive. She kept her herself and she wasn't really the one to go out of her way to make friends, which is a characteristic that seemed to follow her throughout her life. Lizzie did have an education and she went to Morgan Street School. And in terms of her intelligence, Lizzie was considered average. She wasn't brilliant by any means, but she worked hard in her glasses and always held a good rank.

By the time Lizzie reached adulthood, it seemed like she had a good head on her shoulders. She was very active in her community, heavily involved in the local charities, and she even taught Sunday school services every week at their church. In her free time, Lizzie enjoyed needlework, and we also found that she loved Orange Sherbert. As for her temperament, according to Sarah Miller in her book, Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century, Lizzie was described by her principal as someone who was subject to various moods. Another person in Fall River said that Lizzie is known to be ugly in reference to her personality. Others said that Lizzie was usually calm and collected, but she could be excited.

extremely sarcastic. And at times, she had a bad temper. Other sources say that her biological mother, Sarah, had these same attributes. But it's also important to keep in mind that people said these things after the murders that would later define her. So who knows if these comments are really accurate? But something else that's interesting to note about Lizzie Borden was that even in two her 30s, she still lived with her dad and stepmom. And so did her sister Emma, who was in her 40s. Now, it was very common for daughters to live with their parents up until they got married, but Lizzie was never married. In fact, from what I could find, she never even really dated,

which I thought was interesting because according to Senses.gov, the average age that a woman got married in the 1890s was about 22 years old. and Lizzie came from money, which back then was very important. Now, there is some speculation that Lizzie was actually a lesbian, and we will get into that a little later, but that could possibly be why she never married, because she wasn't interested in men. But nonetheless, Lizzie wasn't really focused on finding a man.

She wanted to give back to her community, teach Sunday school, and maybe even travel a bit. For her 30th birthday, she and four other women actually went and toured around Europe for 19 weeks. So it seemed like she was really focused on herself. But back at home, there was some tension within the Borden family. Like we mentioned earlier, Lizzie and her stepmother Abby never really had the best relationship. Now, according to most people that knew Abby, she was an easy-go-go-old. woman who pretty much kept to herself. She wasn't this evil stepmother that mistreated Lizzie and her

sister, but there was just something missing in their relationship. And one point of contention between Lizzie and her stepmom had to do with Abby's half-sister named Bertie. Now Abby and Bertie were very close. Bertie even named her own daughter after her. And the two sisters had a very unique relationship because Bertie was actually 36 years younger than Abby. So it was really like a mother-daughter-type relationship. And because of their age difference, Abby was really protective of her sister. Now, Bertie didn't have a lot of money, so throughout her life, Abby was known to give her Emma and Lizzie's hammy downs. And this didn't really seem to be a problem, but there was one incident that made Lizzie really upset. At one point, Bertie and her family were really struggling

financially, and they were about to get evicted from their home. Abby was worried for her sister, so one day she goes up to her husband, Andrew, and asks if they can help them out. Andrew was a good guy, and he didn't want to see his wife's family suffer, so he decided to write them a check for $1,500 so that they wouldn't be homeless. And I always do these calculations when we cover older cases, but that's about $50,000 today. And when Lizzie and Emma found out about their father giving Bertie that amount of money, they were pissed. They always believed that the only reason Abby married their dad in the first place was because of his wealth. And keep in mind, Abby's sister Bertie was about the same age as Lizzie, and she felt like it wasn't fair that their father was spending

all of this money on Abby's family when he wouldn't even buy indoor plumbing for them. According to Sarah Miller's book on this case, Lizzie supposedly confronted her stepmother and told her, quote, what he did for your family, he ought to do for his own children. Now, I can understand Lizzie's side to this, but it's also important to note that she and Emma were very well supported by their father. He always bought them nice clothes, and he even gave them a hefty weekly allowance. But it didn't seem like that was enough. They wanted to live the lavish lifestyle of daughters from a wealthy businessman. They wanted the big house on the hill, and there was definitely some growing tension within their family.

So much so that Lizzie and Emma stopped eating meals. with Andrew and Abby, and instead they would just eat by themselves. It's even been said that Lizzie used to refer to Abby as mom. But in the years before the murders, she started calling her Mrs. Borden. Now, in 1892, the year of the murders, Lizzie and Emma were both still living at the Borden home with Andrew and Abby, but they were known to take vacations, especially when tensions were high. In fact, just a few months before the murders in July of 1892, there was a fight within the family

and Lizzie actually left to go stay in a hotel for a few days to presumably cool off. It's unclear what exactly the fight was about, but many people believe it was about money. You see, after Andrew bought a house for Abby's half-sister, Bertie, Lizzie and Emma demanded that he buy them a house too, and they ended up buying the home that they grew up in. But, interestingly enough, a few weeks prior to the murders, the sisters sold the property back to Andrew for about $5,000. Which brings us to August 4, 1892. Lizzie was 32 years old at the time and her older sister Emma was 41. But on this day, Emma was actually away visiting friends in Fairhaven, about 16 miles east

of Fall River. The only other person in the home at the time was the Bordons live-in-maid, 25-year-old Bridget Sullivan, who Lizzie and Emma had nicknamed Maggie. Bridget was originally from Ireland and had been working for the family for three years at this point, but it didn't seem like she was very happy with her job. In fact, she had tried to quit three different times, but the first time she decided to stay because of her loyalty to Abby Borden. The two had a good relationship, and Abby just really wanted her to stay.

The second time Bridget tried to quit, Abby offered a raise that she couldn't refuse. It's unclear why Bridget wanted to leave the job so badly, but she was definitely aware of the growing tensions within the home. And in the days before the murders, the Borden's housemaid, Bridget, was very sick. In fact, the whole house was sick. Originally, everyone thought that maybe they had some spoiled milk, or it could have possibly been the mutton that they had been eating. But after days and days of violent illness and not being able to keep any of their food down,

Abby Borden decided to go to the doctor. She told him that her entire family had been up all night vomiting, and that it was so severe that she feared her family may have even been poisoned. On the morning of Thursday, August 4th, the entire family was still feeling sick, but work still needed to be done. Bridget had woken up early that morning to start the stove and bring in their daily milk, and Lizzie and Emma's maternal uncle named John Morse had actually stayed with the family the night before to discuss business matters with Andrew, so he was at the house that morning too. And a little after 6 a.m., he comes downstairs

and sits in the sitting room while Bridget prepares breakfast. Shortly after, Andrew comes down the stairs, walks outside, picks some pairs from their garden, and goes out into the barn. At about 7 a.m., Bridget, Andrew, Abby, and Uncle John all sit down to enjoy a nice breakfast. But Lizzie decided not to join them, and she stayed upstairs and bed. It's a normal morning for the family, and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. During breakfast, they all engage in good conversation, and after they were finished, Bridget cleared the table and started on the dishes.

Uncle John and Andrew then moved to the sitting room to discuss some business matters. It's unclear exactly what they were discussing, but the conversation seemed to be cordial, and at about 8.50 a.m., Uncle John leaves the home to go visit some family members. On his way out, both Abby and Andrew invite him back for lunch. Little did he know, however, when he walked out the door, he would never see them again. Now, back inside of the home, Bridget is still washing dishes. And while she's doing so, she noticed that Lizzie had come downstairs and passed through the kitchen. Shortly after, Abby comes in and asks Bridget to wash both the inside and the outside windows, both the inside and the outside windows once she's finished. So it's about 9 a.m. at this point

when Bridget steps outside and starts washing the windows. And it's also around this time when Andrew leaves the home to go run some errands. So the only people inside of the home are are Lizzie, Bridget, and Abby Borden. Abby goes upstairs, tidying up the guest room while Bridget is outside vomiting in between cleaning the windows. But no one really knows where Lizzie is at this time. And unbeknownst to everyone, at approximately 9.30 a.m.,

while Abby is in the guest room cleaning, someone else had just grabbed a hatchet and is headed upstairs in her direction. When they step into the room, Abby didn't see them because her back was to them. Then all of a sudden, they sneak up behind her, lift the hatchet above their head, and slam it down on the back of Axe's head.

The wound was deep and likely killed her immediately. But even after Abby Borden falls to the ground, the murderer rips the hatchet from the back of her head and continues to hack into her skull, a total of 19 times. Have you ever used a hatchet, let's say to chop a piece of wood? If so, you'll know that pulling it out of the wood requires a bit of a pull. And when axing a human skull, I can imagine it's very similar except you're having to deal with hair, brain matter, bone, and blood spatter. Abby Borden's murderer was in that room for a while, hacking away at her head.

It would have required a lot of physical effort. It would have been messy. And whoever did it seemed to be angry. This was overkill. And as Abby Borden bled out on the guest room floor, the killer waited around for Andrew Borden to finally come home from running errands. In the meantime, the house. housemaid Bridget was still outside washing the windows and she even took a few minutes to chat

with the neighbor who they referred to as the Kelly girl. And although Bridget was outside, she only had a view of the back door of the home, not the side door, and she still had no idea that Mrs. Borden had been murdered upstairs. Eventually, Bridget comes in to start cleaning the inside windows and at around 10.40 a.m., she can hear Andrew Borden at the front of the house. Now, something to note is that the front door actually had three different locks on it. And for whatever reason, Andrew was having a hard time getting them unlocked, so Bridget walks over and lets him inside. Around the same time, Bridget hears a laugh coming from upstairs. And she had lived with the family long enough to recognize the laugh as Lizzie's.

But again, no one knew that Abby Borden had been murdered, so no one thinks anything of it. Shortly afterwards, Andrew goes into the sitting room and he lays down on the couch for his midday nap. while Lizzie walks downstairs with her ironing board to iron some handkerchiefs, but she would later claim that she couldn't complete the task because her iron wouldn't get hot enough. And at this point, Bridget had completed all of her chores for the day, so she went upstairs to take a nap as well, since she still wasn't feeling well. But minutes after Bridget lays down, the murderer steps inside of the sitting room while Andrew was fast asleep on the couch,

lifts the axe into the air, and buries it deep into the left side of his face. Andrew never even saw it coming, and the wound penetrated so deep into his skull that he most likely died immediately. But that didn't stop the murderer from axing his face over and over and over again. By the time they were finished hacking at the old man's face, Andrew Borden was completely unrecognizable. One of his eyes was chopped in half. The left side of his face was nothing more than an empty cavity of blood, bones, flesh, and brain matter. just like with Abby Borden, whoever killed Andrew was angry, and they wanted to make damn sure that he was dead.

It had only been about 10 minutes since Bridget had laid down in bed when all of a sudden she was awoken to the sounds of screaming. And upon hearing this, she quickly jumps out of bed and runs downstairs to find out what's going on. But nothing could have prepared her for what would come next. At the bottom of the stairs, Bridget sees Lizzie backed up against the screen door. She looked to be in shock as she tells Bridget, Come down quick, father's dead.

Somebody came in and killed him. There, in this sitting room, lay what was left of Andrew Borden, and he still had blood oozing from his facial wounds. But before Bridget could even get a good look at him or even pre-year-old. process what was happening, Lizzie orders her to run and get help. But she doesn't tell Bridget to go get the police. Instead, she tells her to run and get the doctor, which is interesting because by the look of Andrew's face, it was very clear that he was dead. Now, I feel like you can look at this two different ways. It's possible that Lizzie was in shock after seeing her father and she was holding on to

hope that he could be saved. Or she wanted Bridget to run and get the doctor so she could possibly clean up or hide the murder weapon. But regardless, Bridget follows Lizzie's orders and she runs across the street to Dr. Bowen's house. But unfortunately, he was out making house calls to other sick residents. Bridget is frantic as she runs back to the Borden house to update Lizzie. And while she's there, she asks Lizzie, where were you during all of this? Lizzie tells her that she was out in the barn when she heard groaning coming from inside of the house. And when she ran back to check it out, Lizzie said she noticed the screen door of the home was open, but Lizzie didn't have time to get into all of the particulars with Bridget. She needed someone to help her and she didn't want to be alone.

So she asks Bridget to go get her friend Alice Russell and Bridget left the home on 2nd Street once again in search of health. In midst of all the chaos, Lizzie's neighbor, Mrs. Adelaide Churchill, had noticed Bridget running from the home of Dr. Bowen. Mrs. Churchill had been out running a few errands and thought it was odd to see the housekeeper in such a rush. She had gone inside her home and placed her groceries down when she happened to look out of her window and saw a distressed Lizzie by the screen door. Mrs. Churchill opened her window and called over to Lizzie to see if everything was all right, but Lizzie answered that somebody had killed her father and asked her neighbor to come over. Mrs. Churchill went to the board in residence and saw Lizzie sitting on the stairs. She described Lizzie

as pale and frightened. Mrs. Churchill then asked Lizzie about what she had been doing during the time of her father's death, and she responded, as she did with Bridget, that she had spoken with her father briefly when he returned home from the city. She said that when he was seated comfortably on the sofa, she stepped outside to the barn to get some iron, and she wasn't gone for very long before she heard the groan coming from inside. Meanwhile, Bridget had rushed to Alice Russell's house to get help. When Alice saw Bridget coming towards her home in a panic, She figured the Borden family had gotten gravely ill. The night before, Lizzie had told Alice that she, her father, and her stepmother had all been sick recently.

Alice figured that they had taken a turn for the worst, so she greeted Bridget at the door. But what Bridget had to say had nothing to do with an illness. Mr. Borden was dead. Alice and Bridget left together and on their way back to the Borden house, they saw Dr. Bowen getting out of his carriage and he followed the women to the home. When the doctor arrived, he saw Lizzie too, but she didn't look like the young woman he had known. For nearly 20 years, he asked Lizzie what was wrong, and she told him that her father was hurt, possibly stabbed. The doctor asked where he could find Mr. Borden, and Lizzie led him to the sitting room door, although she didn't enter. When Dr. Bowen entered the room, he saw Andrew Borden slumped over on his right side, his face hacked to pieces.

He was unrecognizable, and it was apparent that his left eye had been cut in two. his nose had been completely hacked off of his face, and that all that was left of his head was a bloody mess of chopped bone and tissue. Dr. Bowen knew that this was out of his area of expertise and that the police would need to be called immediately. He scanned the room for anything out of place, but everything seemed to be tidy. Just to be sure, Dr. Bowen lifted the hand of Mr. Borden to check for a pulse,

but as he expected, there wasn't one. And it was here where they put a sheet over Mr. Borden's body, and they send a telegram to Emma Borden, letting her know what had happened. At this point, Lizzie's friend Alice, the neighbor, Mrs. Churchill, and Bridget, were all surrounding Lizzie trying to console her when all of a sudden, she perked her head up and asked, Where's Mrs. Borden? The room was silent for a second.

No one had thought to check on Lizzie's stepmother, Abby. Lizzie mentions that maybe Abby left her. left the home. Earlier, she apparently received a note about someone being sick, so maybe she went to go visit them. Just to make sure, both Mrs. Churchill and Bridget told Lizzie that they would go upstairs to look for her. But they feared the worst because if Abby was home, she definitely would have been the first to respond to Lizzie screams. So the two women slowly crept through the house. fearing that the murderer may still be around. As they near the landing upstairs,

Mrs. Churchill glances over to the guest bed, and she could see something lying on the ground. As she inched closer, she was horrified to see that the figure was an outline of a body on the other side of the bed. She froze and would not go any further. Bridget, however, hadn't seen it yet, and she continued to walk into the guest room. As she stepped inside, it appeared to be tidy, despite what she found on the floor.

In between the dresser and the guest bed was the body of Abby Borden. She was lying face down, with her arms tucked underneath her body, and there was thick and congealed blood pulled around her head. Bridget stared at the bloody scene in disbelief. Abby Borden had met the same fate as her husband. Except it was the back of her head that had been hacked up with a sharp instrument. Bridget and Mrs. Churchill quickly ran back downstairs, and by the look on their faces, everyone knew that it wasn't good news.

It was silent in the room. Before Lizzie's friend Alice asks, has another body been found? Bridget responds, yes, Abby Borden's body is upstairs. There are a lot of attractive people in Hollywood, but when I think of some of the manliest men, Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, the rock, I think of bald guys. But did you know that most bald men are shaving their head wrong? If you have a bald husband out there, listen up. Yeah, they're using the same multi-futable.

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and newspaper reporters hoping to gather what happened. Lizzie was overwhelmed with everything, and she and her friend Alice decided to go upstairs so she could gather her thoughts. And soon enough, an officer named Marshall Fleet made his way to Lizzie's room to ask her some questions. First, he asks her where she was when her father was murdered,

and she tells him that she was in the barn, looking for irons for her fishing pole, and that she was in there for maybe 20 to 30 minutes. Now, Officer Fleet would later say of this interaction that Lizzie seemed kind of irritable, like she was annoyed for being questioned in the first place. When asked who could have possibly done this, Lizzie tells him that she had no idea. But there was one man who had been by the house weeks earlier, who was arguing with her father on the front porch.

Lizzie didn't know what the two were arguing about. But she said it got pretty heated, and her father had asked the man to leave. But she had no idea who this guy was, and she told the officer that he may have been a farm laborer, but she wasn't sure. Lizzie also told the officer about how her family had been sick the last couple of days, and she even suggested that they may have been poisoned. So Officer Fleet is taking all this in, and he asks Lizzie something about her mother, Abby, and what she says in return just doesn't sit well with him.

Lizzie says, she's not my mother, she's my stepmother, which just seems kind of inappropriate, considering that she was just murdered. After speaking with Lizzie, the officers decide to talk. to Bridget. And she confirmed that, yes, they had all been violently ill the last few days. Bridget told them that it had been a completely normal day. She woke up, made breakfast, did the dishes. Mrs. Borden told her to clean the windows and that was the last time she saw her. She told them that the last time she saw Andrew was shortly before 11 a.m. when she let him inside of the front door. And then she went to take a nap and woke up to Lizzie screaming. So next,

the officers decided to look for the murder weapon. First, they searched the cellar downstairs where they found a hatchet. Now, the hatchet was clean and it didn't have a handle on it, but it was the closest thing they had found as far as evidence. So they took it in for further analysis, and they continued their search of the home and the barn outside where Lizzie said she had been during the murders. But the police were curious as to how Lizzie spent 20 to 30 minutes in the barn when there was nothing of interest there. But after the officers went through and searched the house, they didn't really find anything else of interest. Everything was in place. there were no signs of forced entry and nothing of value had been stolen.

At around noon, Officer Philip Harrington arrived to assist with the investigation. After he viewed the bodies, he found Lizzie in her bedroom with Alice, and he wanted to ask her some questions as well, but he suggested that she may need a day to recuperate and remember all of the details. But Lizzie was adamant that she could tell him everything she knew. But as Lizzie recalled everything that had happened that day, he couldn't help but notice how cold she seemed about the entire situation. Lizzie was very matter-of-fact.

She talked about finding her father as if it was a normal conversation. And she didn't seem like she was very upset, which was suspicious. And when he left Lizzie's bedroom, he went to the city marshal and told him about the encounter he had with the victim's daughter. Soon enough, the bodies of Abby and Andrew are photographed, and they truly are horrific scenes. We'll be posting every picture we could find from the case on our Patreon because, obviously, Instagram won't let us post them there because of how graphic they are. But back at the scene, the medical examiner, Dr. William Dolan actually started his autopsy in since. the board and house. Andrews was done in the sitting room and Abbey's in the dining room and they were conducted on a table called a cooling board, which were tables that had holes in them

to allow for the flow of air. But it was there in the home where Dr. Dolan actually removes Abby and Andrews' stomachs. After hearing that they may have been poisoned, they wanted to look at the contents of their stomach to see if they could find any more clues. There, the physician analyzed Andrews injuries, counting all the hacks to his face that he could see with the name naked eye. Mrs. Abby Borden, however, was a lot worse. This is how he would later describe her injuries. The head was chopped into ribbons of flesh and the skull broken in several places, the most ghastly thing I had ever seen. They also discovered a deep gash in between her shoulder blades that gave the appearance that a hatchet had been the weapon of choice. It was later

determined that Abby had 18 blows to her head and her clothing underneath her was soaked in blood all the way to her waist. He also determined that Mr. Borden had been attacked while he slept because there was no struggle. The hatchet blows were so deep that the first hit probably killed him immediately. Mrs. Borden was attacked from behind while she straightened up the guest room, so she likely didn't see it coming either. The blows were also hard enough to kill her instantly as well. And because Mrs. Borden's blood had started to congeal by the time she was found, and Mr. Borden's blood was still oozing, it was obvious that Mrs. Borden's blood was still oozing. It was obvious that Mrs. Borden had been killed about an hour and a half to two hours before her husband.

And this was an interesting finding because that means someone had to have been waiting around, likely inside of the house, for hours. It didn't seem likely that a stranger would do that, especially with both Lizzie and Bridget inside of the house. But after these autopsies inside of the home are conducted, the bodies are taken to the local undertaker. Meanwhile, Emma had just arrived back in town after visiting friends, and she and Lizzie spent the rest of the day comforting each other after losing their parents in such a horrific way. But the investigators working the case aren't so sure that Lizzie is a grieving daughter. They suspect that she was the person holding the hatchet.

To them, it was odd that the home was in perfect order. If an intruder had broken in, it seemed like there would have been more of a struggle, or there would be items missing. Even the blood spatter was clean. There were only small amounts of blood on the walls and furniture. And based on the severity of the murders, whoever did this was angry. These murders seemed personal.

But after the stomachs were taken out of Andrew and Abbey, they were sent off to chemist at Harvard. They wanted to follow up and find out if, in fact, the victims had been poisoned. Dr. Bowen had confirmed Lizzie's story that the Bordons were sick a few days before the murder. The doctor told police that Mrs. Borden had visited him and told him that she and Mr. Borden had been vomiting all night,

possibly thinking that the bread or milk had been poisoned. Abby was obviously frightened, so much so that she told her doctor about it. Armed with this information, police wanted to follow up with every store in town that sold poison. And they would finally get a lead after speaking with the owner of the DR Smith's pharmacy in town. His name was Eli Bens, and he told investigators that on Wednesday, the day before the murders, a woman came in looking for hydrocyanic acid. When asked why she needed it, the woman

tells him that she needed a solution to the moths that had been eating her seal-sionic acid. skin cloak, and she had heard that the acid would do the trick. Now, according to the CDC, hydrogen cyanide has a bitter almond smell, but only about 20 to 40% of the population are able to detect it. So it wouldn't be hard to slip it into someone's food or drinks. And it can be rapidly fatal, and it specifically affects the brain, heart, and lungs. And because of how lethal it is, you can't just walk into a store and grab it off the shelves. So when this young woman came in and asked to buy some,

the clerk, Eli, told her that he wasn't going to give it to her without a doctor's note. And with that, she left. After hearing this story, the investigators take him to the Borden home. At about 10 p.m. on the night of the murders, to see if he could get a glimpse of the house. of Lizzie. And when he did, Eli confirms that Lizzie was the woman who had come into the pharmacy to purchase the acid. And this was the first clue police had in tying Lizzie to the murder of her parents. Soon enough, the headlines of the newspapers in town all read things like horrible butchery and mutilated beyond recognition. Also, suspecting the daughter Lizzie

and members of the family are shadowed. The city of Fall River was closely following the once private lives of the Borden sisters. And it wasn't just the town they called home. The news had spread to nearby New York City and Boston. On Friday evening, the papers had a reward out for information regarding the murders of Andrew and Abbey. It read, $5,000 reward. The above award will be paid to anyone who may secure the arrest and conviction of the person or persons, who occasioned the death of Andrew J. Borden and his wife,

signed Emma L. Borden and Lizzie A. Borden. During this time, the Borden sisters kept to themselves and prepared Abby and Andrew's funerals, which would be held inside of the Borden home that Saturday, two days after the murders. But the night before the funeral, Lizzie was not doing very well, so much so that Dr. Bowen went to the Borden home to check on her around midnight, and she seemed to be in rough shape,

so he prescribed her a small amount of morphine to help calm her nerves. The next morning, August 6th, Lizzie woke up and started getting ready for her parents' funerals. She put on a form-fitting black lace dress and a dark bonnet and walked downstairs to the sitting room where the bodies were laid out. Despite the horrible deaths of Andrew and Abby, the coffins were open for viewing. The undertaker who prepared the bodies turned the head of Andrew Borden so his mutilated side wouldn't show. Lizzie cried beside the casket of her father and gently kissed his cheek. Outside the home, a growing number of people were lining the street to get a view of the caskets in the Borden home.

According to the Borden murders, there were roughly 3,000 people outside of the Borden. house that morning. The reporters were quick to know that Lizzie's appearance was considered inappropriate. What she chose to wear that day did not constitute a lady in mourning, according to them. The Victorian era had certain customs when it came to death and mourning. The dresses had to be a certain type of fabric and had certain trimming. Often veils would be worn with a dress. The idea was to use clothing and jewelry as a way to display grief. There were manuals for Victorian housewives on what to wear and for how long, depending on who died. There were also stages of grief and specifics on how to dress for each one.

The deepest stage was black clothing, which symbolized spiritual darkness. These dresses were usually made of silk or bombazine, which was cheaper and lined with crape. After a period of morning, the crape would be removed. This stage was called sliding the morning. As time passed, the color of the clothing could be changed to, reflect the stage of grief. It usually went from gray to mauve to eventually white. The jewelry worn during the morning phase was dark, coal-like material. If you lost your spouse, you were expected to wear full morning attire for two years. And if you lost your parents,

you were expected to wear full morning attire for one year. So when spectators saw that Lizzie was wearing a fitted lace dress, their suspicions of her grew even further. This was not how women of grief were supposed to dress, which is dumb, but that's just what they thought back then. But after the funeral was over, Lizzie and her family stepped out of the home to the carriage outside, and it was noted that she seemed so upset that she had to lean on the undertaker for support. According to the New York Times in the book The Borden Murders, quote, her nerves were completely unstrung, as was shown by the trembling of her body in the manner in which she bore down on her supporter. The carriages then took the family, clergy, and the pallbearers to the boarden lot at Oak Grove Cemetery.

And in Victorian fashion, Emma and Lizzie did not exit the carriage to watch their father and stepmother be lowered into the ground. Back then, it was believed that women could not handle such grief during their time of mourning. But when the carriages pulled away with Lizzie and Emma, the caskets weren't actually lowered into the ground. You see, the medical examiner William Dolan had ordered the bodies to be placed in a receiving fault, which is often used to hold the bodies in the wintertime when the ground is too frozen to bury them. and the reason he did this was because he wanted to do a more thorough autopsy on the bodies. Lizzie and Emma did not know about this, and shortly after their carriage rode away. The caskets of Andrew and Abby Borden were placed into the vault for almost two weeks.

During this time, there were theories circulating around about who could have committed this brutal act. The Sunday after the murders, police followed up on clues they received. One tip led them to a man named Thomas Walker, who rented a property owned by Mr. Borden. It was said that Mr. Borden had gone to Walker's place of work and demanded his rent money that Walker had fallen behind on. Words had been exchanged, and Mr. Walker agreed to move out, which he did. Mr. Walker gave police a tight alibi for the day of the murders, though, which was corroborated with his employer, Mr. Carey, who owned the tailor shop where he worked.

So he was quickly crossed off as a possible subject. Another clue led to a Portuguese man who was who was a laborer on Mr. Borden's farm. Witnesses said they had seen the man burying a bloody hatchet on the farmland. Police came and searched the land but could not find the hatchet. And when they spoke with a man, he told police that he had been on the farm all day, and after slaughtering chickens, he had taken them to the market to be sold. In 1892, Portuguese immigrants were seen as criminals, and residents were always suspicious of them. According to Miller, as far as the upper and middle class citizens were concerned,

members of the swarthy-skinned Roman Catholic immigrant population were the first to blame for any unsavory goings on, and August 4th was no different. Another Portuguese man had been brought to the police station on the day of the murders. Suspitions had been raised when he had gone to the bank to drain his savings of $60. These clues would lead police to a dead end. The last clue police had was the eyewitness account of a strange man seen walking 2nd Street on the day of the murders. Dr. Handy, one of the best physicians in Fall River, had seen the man himself. He described him as pale, 30 years old, wearing light gray clothing and having the appearance of being nervous.

The newspapers ran with his theory, and the man became known as Dr. Handy's wild-eyed man. When police searched for the stranger, they came up empty-handed, and it was concluded that the man must be a myth. Now a word from our sponsor, Better Help. Oftentimes for me, I focus on the problems in my life, instead of the way. of the solutions. And it's really my mindset. It's something that's hard to break because it can be tough to train your brain to stay in problem solving mode when faced with a challenge in life. But when you can learn how to find your own solutions, I'm telling you guys there is no better

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You don't have to drive to the actual office or the clinic. You can actually see a therapist from the comfort of your own home sitting on your couch at any time. That's why I love BetterHelp because it's so easy to get mental health help that a lot of people really need and I don't think they realize that they need it. So when you want to become a better problem solver, therapy can get you there. Visit betterhelp.com slash mIA to get 10% off your first month of therapy with better help. That's better help.com slash mIA to get 10% off your first month of therapy. And now let's get back to today's story. Now there were some people

that were suspicious of Lizzie and Emma's uncle John Moore's. The fact that he was there before the murders and left shortly before the murders seemed pretty convenient. And he and Andrew actually had a livestock business together that allegedly wasn't doing that well at the time, so there could be motive there. It's also interesting to know that John was a butcher, so he would have known how to use sharp instruments like the one used in the murders. Now, like we mentioned, John did have an alibi. He was outrunning errands and visiting family. But for some people, it almost seemed like his alibi was a little too precise.

And he was even harassed by some people within Fall River the day after the murders. According to Sarah Miller in her book on this case, John left the home to go to the post office the next day, a mob of people started following him, shouting, lynch him. But John would ultimately be dropped from the suspect list. Mama Lizzie's sister was out of town so it couldn't have been her. And as far as their live-in-maid Bridget, she had a deep loyalty to Mrs. Borden, and she didn't have a motive to kill them. I mean, they gave her a roof over her head, money, food.

So she wasn't considered a likely suspect either. Police also looked into the man that Andrew had allegedly been arguing with on the front porch of their home weeks before the murders, but no one seemed to be able to find him. So they had to move on to their next and more likely suspect, Lizzie Borden. But before we get into all of that, we want to take you back a little over a year before the murders. It was June 24, 1891, and Andrew and Abby had left the board in residence, leaving Lizzie, Emma, and Bridgett at home. Now, I don't know why they left that day, but when they came back, they discovered that someone had robbed them in broad daylight. There was $80 in cash missing, $30 in gold, some jewelry, and horse car tickets that had all vanished.

And this robbery was strange to begin with because Lizzie, Emma, and Bridget had all been home that day. So how did they not notice someone coming in and robbing them? It was strange. And Andrew Borden would later go into the police station to file a report. But according to the Borden murders, Andrew Borden had special horse car tickets that were a perk he received when he had been a director of the Globe Street Railway Company. The tickets were said to be easily identifiable. So if anyone tried to use one, they would be tied to the robbery. Rumor has it that one of the horse car tickets was used by none other than Lizzie Borden.

When Mr. Borden found out, he canceled the report and there was no further discussion of the crime. There were also rumors circulating that this wasn't Lizzie's only time stealing. It's also been said that Lizzie one-time shoplifted from a store in town, but it isn't confirmed, so we will just leave it at that. But fast forward about a year later in July of 1892, It's about two weeks before the murders, and Lizzie and Emma get into a fight with Andrew and Abby. Again, I don't know exactly what the fight was about, but it was so bad that the girls actually left town to go stay with some friends. And strangely enough, shortly after Lizzie comes back, Andrew and Abby start to get sick.

Now, many theories believe that Lizzie decided to kill her parents because she had her parents. and Emma were set to inherit all of their money if both Abby and Andrew were dead. And that inheritance was worth millions in today's time. So she definitely had motive. It's believed that when Lizzie came home from this trip, she decided she was going to kill her family. She tried to poison them, but instead of dying, they just became ill. And this is where she went to the pharmacy in town where the clerk confirmed, Lizzie tried to buy poison. But when he wouldn't sell it to her, her plan fell through. So she just decides to ax them to death instead.

In addition, the police were suspicious of Lizzie because, according to her friend Alice Russell, the night before the murders, Lizzie came over to her house and made some weird comment. She told Alice that her family was sick and that she feared that someone had poisoned them. Lizzie told her. Remember that break-in last year?

Maybe that has something to do with this. My father also had a lot of enemies. In fact, just a few weeks ago, he was arguing with this man at our house. It almost seemed like Lizzie was planting a seed in her friend's mind, reminding her of all the strange happenings, so she wouldn't think of Lizzie as a suspect the next day when they were found murdered. In fact, she even told Alice the night before the murders. I'm afraid that someone will do something.

Now, three days after the murders, something else happened that raised a lot of eyebrows. It was Sunday, August 7, 1892. And Lizzie stood at the dining room door while Emma washed dishes in the sink. Alice Russell was over and she had just come downstairs and noticed that Lizzie had a skirt hanging in her arm. Emma asked her what she was doing and Lizzie said she was going to burn the skirt because it was covered in pain. Alice looked and she was right.

The skirt was plastered with greenhouse paint. Emma took no notice and returned to washing dishes while Lizzie made her way over to the wood stove in the kitchen. Alice would later recall she wasn't sure if Lizzie was ripping up the skirt into pieces and burning it, but she knew she didn't like what she saw. Alice even told her, I won't let anyone see me do that, Lizzie. Apparently, Lizzie wasn't trying to hide anything because where the stove was located in the kitchen. There were big windows for any passerby or policeman to see her burning the skirt. The next day, Monday, August 8, 1892, the police were back at the board in residence for yet another search. They were going to focus on dismantling the base of the chimney in the cellar.

While a mason worked on removing the bricks, police sorted through the boxes of ash and coal bins. The barn was searched again top to bottom. Wood plank sitting against the fence in the backyard were moved and searched. The well behind the barn was thoroughly searched and police focused on any saw that looked disturbed in the yard. And there was one thing that was found inside of the board and home that police overlooked. On one of Lizzie's skirts, there was evidence of blood. But Lizzie was quick to tell them that that was just menstrual blood. Now, back then, bringing up a woman's menstrual cycle to a man was very inappropriate.

They didn't want to talk about that. So once Lizzie offered up that explanation, they dropped it and didn't take it in as evidence. Many people wonder if it was evidence and Lizzie just knew how to play her cards right. But I don't know about that theory. Apparently, it wasn't a lot of blood. And based on the brutality of the crime, it's believed that whoever killed them would have had a considerable amount on their clothing. But anyways, upstairs in the board and home, three women, Emma, Lizzie, and Alice were being questioned again, this time by Detective Hanscombe. And during this questioning, Alice was being eaten alive with guilt.

Something about Lizzie burning that dress the day before just didn't sit right with her. So she ended up telling the detective about it. Is it possible that Lizzie's skirt was covered in her parents' blood so she soaked it with green paint to cover it up? It seemed likely to the detectives. And with that, the handless hatchet that was found in the home and the sighting of Lizzie trying to buy poison the day before the murders. was enough for them to start their warrant for her arrest. But they were still trying to pull witnesses for their case.

On the next day, Tuesday, August 9, 1892, police summoned Bridget Sullivan to the police station for questioning. Bridget had become accustomed to the police presence at the Bordenhouse, but today felt different. After the murders, Bridget had tried to leave because she no longer felt safe, but police wouldn't let her. Bridget was young, 25 years old, so the police asking her to come to the station made her feel uneasy.

When she arrived at the station, she was crying because she thought she was going to be arrested. Police assured her that they only wanted her to talk to the district attorney. They asked about her whereabouts on the day of the murder, and she told them once again that she had done her normal chores in the kitchen. She told police that she saw Lizzie pass through the kitchen once while she was washing dishes. Mr. Borden had already left the house when she was asked by Mrs. Borden to wash the windows on the outside of the home. She heard no unusual noises in the house during the time of the murders.

She explained to police that during the last two years as the housemaid, she had threatened to leave, but she continued. Mrs. Borden was a lovely woman, and I remained there because she wanted me to. Now that she is gone, however, I will stay there no longer than I have to, and will leave just as soon as police will allow me. Bridget finished her questioning around noon, and the police were now on their way to gather Lizzie for her inquest. Sarah Miller said in her book on the case,

By law, the police were permitted, even encouraged to conduct inquest proceedings in absolute secrecy to prevent pretrial publicity from tainting potential jurors' opinions. But news had also leaked out after witnesses had spotted District Attorney Jose Nolton in town. And also, medical examiner Dolan was spotted at the police station unloading a box from his horse-drawn carriage. Police hurried to 92 Second Street in hopes of catching a glimpse of the action, as Lizzie was escorted by police into the carriage on the way back to the police. police station. News reporters were quick to notice her appearance and reported back to the papers. The Borden murders stated that the Fall River Herald reported that day. In the past few days,

Lizzie has terribly aged. The full-around cheeks that friends of her former days remember have entirely disappeared, although the bright eyes and howdy expression are still retained. There was not a falter in the step as she came down the stairs. The witnesses who stood outside Lizzie's home also took note that she was still not wearing proper morning attire. Crowd of spectators beat Lizzie to the police station and watched an anticipation as she was taken inside for questioning. Lizzie stood at the witness stand in the empty courtroom with District Attorney Knowlton and Judge Josiah Blaisdell. They began by asking her about her relationship with her stepmother. Lizzie informed the police that she had a cordial relationship with Abby when they mentioned the fact that Lizzie was upset about her father.

buying Abby's sister a house, Lizzie was quick to respond that that was only a, quote, difference of opinion. The questions were coming like hot daggers, and Lizzie answered them to the best of her ability. When asked about the day of the murders, she told them she had not come downstairs for breakfast because she had been sick the night before.

She said that after her dad left, Mrs. Borden and Bridget were downstairs, attending to chores. When Lizzie came down, she told them she was going to iron handkerchiefs, but she didn't complete the chore because her iron flats were not hot enough. Then the judge asked her, where were you when your stepmother was killed? But Lizzie didn't know. Now, keep in mind, Lizzie was still taking morphine at the time, so it's possible that this clouded her judgment. After this, they asked her another question. Where were you when your father returned home?

And this is where Lizzie's testimony started to unravel. She told the police she had been in the kitchen reading a magazine, but it said that her answer contradicted what Bridget told police. According to Bridget, when Mr. Borden arrived home that morning, she heard Lizzie upstairs laughing. And who else was also upstairs during that time? Mrs. Abby Borden. District Attorney Knowlton, armed with information that Lizzie was at the opposite end of the house

than what the housemate had told him, knew someone was lying. They continued to probe her about her whereabouts when Mr. Borden came home. Are you sure you were in the kitchen? I'm not sure whether I was there or in the dining room. You were not upstairs when he came. home? He came home after I came downstairs. What were you doing when the bell rang?

I think in my room upstairs. Then you were upstairs when your father came home? I don't know, sure, but I think I was. What were you doing? As I say, I took up these clean clothes and stopped and basted a little piece of tape on a garment. Did you come down before your father was let in? I was on the stairs coming down when she let him in.

Then you were upstairs when your father came to the house on his return. I think I was. Lizzie's story was falling apart. Police were already certain that Bridget's testimony was credible, and she was ruled out as a suspect. But Lizzie couldn't recall where she was when her father came home, and police were now certain she was the killer. And here is how the rest of that questioning unfolded. remember, Miss Borden, I will call your attention to it so as to see if I have a misunderstanding, not for the purpose of confusing you. You remember that you told me several times that you were

downstairs and not upstairs. When your father came home, you have forgotten, perhaps? I don't know what I have said. I've answered so many questions and I'm so confused. I don't know one thing from another. The inquest took three days and the police were were not satisfied with Lizzie's answers and the little amount of information she had given them. The reporters and citizens of Fall River were on pins and needles waiting for information on who was going to be arrested for the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Borden. The crowd of people gathered outside the police station waited in anticipation, watching every person emerge with curiosity.

District Attorney Knowlton and Marshall Hilliard left the station around 6 p.m. in a carriage and the crowd wondered if they were leaving for good. But at around 7 p.m., the men returned. turned with another man, Attorney Andrew Jennings. Marshall Hilliard returned to the room where Lizzie and Emma were sitting after her final questioning by police. He held a piece of paper in his hand that was the second warrant for her arrest. He looked at Lizzie and said, I have here a warrant for your arrest issued by the judge of the district court. Emma Borden couldn't believe the words she was hearing as she sat beside her sister.

She began to cry as Hillard asked if Lizzie wanted him to read the warrant. allowed. Lizzie's attorney, Andrew Jennings, stepped up and told Hiller not to read the warrant. Attorney Jennings spoke to Lizzie giving her words of encouragement, but she was falling apart. Her eyes became glossy as she tried to hold back tears. She couldn't believe she was being charged with the murder of her father and stepmother. Emma was led down the stairs to the waiting carriage, not saying goodbye to Lizzie because she was too distraught with the news. Lizzie was taken away to be booked and searched and eventually led to where she would wait for the trial to start. It is said that Lizzie became so emotional over the arrest that

she began to violently vomit and Dr. Bowen was called to relieve her suffering. Outside in the streets, the news of Lizzie's arrest swept through the town of Fall River Massachusetts. No longer would the residents need to watch their backs for a crazed hatchet-wielding murderer lurking in the shadows. The next morning, the crowded once again gathered outside of the police station to get a glimpse of the killer Lizzie Borden as they took her to be arraigned by the 2nd District Court. When the court doors open, people filed in quickly to get a seat, but officers stood by to make sure the courtroom didn't overflow with people. In the crowd was Lizzie's sister Emma and her uncle Morris, accompanied by Reverend Buck.

When Lizzie was brought in, all eyes were on her to decipher if she was innocent or guilty. Lizzie stared straight ahead when brought in, once again trying to maintain her composure. The case of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts versus Lizzie. A. Borden was about to be in full swing. Augustus Leonard, the clerk of the court, addressed Lizzie and told her to stand up, saying, this is a complaint charging you with homicide. What say you? Are you guilty or not guilty? Not guilty. Lizzie's attorney, Andrew Jennings, asked to speak to the court. He wanted the trial to start as soon as possible because he was sure of Lizzie's innocence. The judge granted 10 days for Knowlton to gather as much evidence as he could

for the preliminary hearing when it was organized what was going to happen going forward. Leonard asked Lizzie to stand up once again, telling her, by order of this court, this case has continued until August 22nd, and you're ordered to stand committed without bail. Lizzie was escorted out of the courthouse to a waiting carriage outside. The streets were swarming with reporters and spectators outside. Once Lizzie was inside of the carriage, the swarm of people gathered close enough that police had to intervene and ask people to step away.

Carriages full of reporters closely followed her as she made her way back to the jail. The carriage took her to the local train station where she would depart. It is said that the train was actually late and Lizzie waited in the carriage because the reporters had beaten her there and were waiting for her to exit. It was a 16-mile trip to the jail, and every stop housed a crowd of people waiting in anticipation to get a glimpse of Lizzie Borden. Around 4.20 p.m., Lizzie's train arrived in Taunton. There was a carriage waiting for her, but she had to get around another crowd of people who had gathered to watch her arrive. It seemed like every person in town was in there watching. She was escorted to the women's cells where she would wait for the preliminary hearing in 10 days. the room was small and white.

There was enough room for a bed, washbowl, and chair. It wasn't a cozy place to be, but at least she brought a box of books for herself to read and pass the time. Her cell had a window that looked out into a garden. Because of her status and wealth, her meals were brought in from the city hotel. It was, as Miller says,

a luxury permitted to any prisoner who could afford it. Lizzie's newspaper subscriptions would also be brought to herself, but she wasn't interested in reading because plastered all over the papers were stories about herself and the crime. It was normal for crowds of people to walk past the jail daily in hopes of catching Lizzie looking out the window. Reporters would show up at the jail and ask for information regarding Lizzie's life in prison, but the sheriff wanted none of that.

In fact, it made him sick to think that so many people were obsessing over Lizzie. But someone in the jail was talking to the press, giving them details on what Lizzie did day-to-day inside of the jail walls. She woke up early and made her bed, but she didn't eat breakfast with the other prisoners. She would only drink coffee and maybe a piece of bread until her dinner was brought from the hotel. The sheriff's wife, Mrs. Wright, may have been the person talking to the press because when they arrived one afternoon, she told them that she had brought certain items for Lizzie to keep in her cell. Lizzie now had a feather pillow, a white bedspread, and a rocking chair.

There were also gifts of fruit and flowers that were given to her. Mrs. Wright did not think Lizzie was guilty of the crime, and neither did her sister Emma. In a brief statement, Emma said, quote, I firmly believe in my sister's innocence. She will have my full support and cooperation because I am certain she does. deserves it. In the meantime, the rumor mill was at work outside of the jail walls. People talking and whispering about Lizzie in her relationship with her father. One source said that Mr. Borden had talked to them about how unpleasant Lizzie had been at home, not eating meals with the family

and telling her father about how she hoped he died. Of course, these were all rumors, but everyone in town wanted to talk and gossip. And I know not everyone is interested in the details of the trial, but you will want to stick around for Lizzie's because it is very interesting. And keep in mind, this upcoming part is about the preliminary hearing, where they're presenting the evidence and deciding whether or not they will move forward with a trial. But it's very interesting, so just stick with me. Here at this podcast, we love Hello Fresh.

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Emma Borden was permitted to see her sister Lizzie before the hearing began. When she arrived, she kissed her sister and the two sat and talked about everyday things. And once the trial started, there were many things they discussed, like the victim's wounds, blood spatter, the autopsies. But something that shocked everyone was when Dr. Dolan spoke to the court. After the murders, Dr. Dolan ordered their bodies to sit in a vault for a few weeks. And this was during the month of August. and because of the high temperatures, Andrew and Abby's bodies were severely decayed by the time the second autopsy was performed.

And during that autopsy, Dr. Dolan told the court that he had actually removed the victim's heads from their bodies. Afterwards, he boiled them in water so he could remove the flesh and get a better look at their wounds. and then they actually buried the bodies and they had the skulls in court. So Andrew and Abby were literally buried without their heads. Upon saying this, there was an audible gasp among the crowd. People were disgusted that Dr. Dolan went to those measures. Some newspapers even wrote that what they did with the Borden's heads was worse than the crime itself. And Lizzie and Emma had no idea that they had removed their heads, so upon hearing this,

they were obviously very upset. Lizzie's uncle Morse gave his testimony to the court, and although it was detailed and thorough, it didn't reveal any juicy secrets about the family dynamic in the Borden household. The public wasn't satisfied with his testimony. The same was true when Bridget took the stand and revealed the goings on during the day of the murder and her experience working with the Borden family. But her testimony would be more detrimental to Lizzie because the public and court now understood how difficult and far-fetched it was

that a stranger broke into the Borden home while Lizzie and Bridget were there, not to mention the one to two-hour window between Mrs. Bordons and Mr. Borden's murders. According to the Borden murders, the logic was simple. If no one from the outside could get in, that left no one but Lizzie Borden to do it. After the testimony of Bridgett was heard, the newspapers and public started to feel differently towards Lizzie. Before, the newspapers described her as calm, which made her dignified. Now she was seen as strange and abnormal.

The newspapers also changed the way they talked about her. Before, it was always Miss Lizzie. Now it was just plain Lizzie. The newspapers were retrieving every bit of information from the hearing to report back to the public. Without the press, the public would have never known the emotions displayed inside the courtroom. When it was time for Professor Edward Stickney Wood of Harvard University to take the stand, the courtroom was eerily silent. Professor Wood was the chemist who had been given the stomachs of the victims after the first autopsy.

He was also the man who inspected the hatchet head for blood and tissue. District Attorney Knowlton was hoping to get the answers he wanted in regards to the hydrosyanic acid evidence, Professor Wood told the court that there were no signs of poison in the stomachs of Mr. and Mrs. Borden. Specifically, he said, quote, there was no evidence of any irritant poison having been in the stomachs at all. End quote. Next was the question of the hatchet head that was retrieved from the cellar. Professor Wood took out the hatchet for the court to see.

Many spectators were on edge to see the possible murder weapon. that had done such extensive damage to the heads of the victims. But again, the professor found no trace of blood or tissue on the hatchet. There was a hair found on it, but it had been thoroughly examined and it was determined to be the hair of an animal, not a human. The only piece of evidence that the professor had to incriminate Lizzie was the contents of the stomach in regards to digestion. The digestion of the food in the stomach determined the time of death for each victim.

It was determined that Mrs. Borden was murdered about 90 minutes to two hours before her husband. The timing fit perfectly with what the police discovered on the day of the murders. Mrs. Borden's blood had started to congeal while Mr. Borden's blood was still oozing. The time frame also cooperated the stories told by Bridget and Uncle Moors. The only person in the house, the entire time during the murders, was of course Lizzie Borden. Lizzie's attorney, Andrew Jennings, was clearly upset. He felt the police and media had already decided Lizzie was guilty, so they were only focusing on her and not looking for anyone on the outside.

He shouted in the courtroom, Lizzie Borden did not do this crime. It was the work of an insane man or of a person whose heart was black as hell itself. He talked about the burglarized house before the murders and how a person could easily come into the home undetected. He also talked about the strange man seen lurking on 2nd Street the day of the murder. He continued, I demand her release. Don't, Your Honor, when they don't show an incriminating circumstance. Don't put the stigma of guilt upon this woman,

Reared as she has been and with a past character beyond reproach. God grant your honor, wisdom to decide. Attorney Jennings' plea had created an emotional response in the courtroom. Many spectators cried as he begged for mercy upon his client. District Attorney Knowlton was made to look like the villain, but he maintained his composure because he knew there was enough evidence to link Lizzie to the crime. She didn't have an alibi on the day of the murder. Her only defense was that she had been in the barn while the murders took place.

the judge was to decide her fate. Would she be allowed to go home, or would the case go to trial? The judge had weighed the options, and when he addressed the court, he determined that Lizzie was most likely guilty of the crime. If the tables were turned and a man was standing before him, the man would surely be guilty in the eyes of the court. He continued, You are ordered, committed to await the action of the superior court. Lizzie sat stunned as she listened to the words coming from Judge Blaisdell.

The spectators gasped as Lizzie was ordered. order to stand up and be escorted back to Taunton jail where she would wait for the trial. Reverend Buck wanted to console Lizzie, but she wouldn't allow it. She told him, it's for the best, I think. It is better than I should get my exoneration in a higher court, for then it will be complete. As Lizzie was escorted out of the courtroom, she started to cry. Lizzie Borden's trial began on June 5, 1893. In the months after the preliminary hearing, Lizzie had waited in her small cell at the jail. She had refused interviews, but she did start a correspondence with an old friend she knew through her charity work.

The woman was Mrs. Kate McGirk, who wrote Lizzie a letter, and surprisingly, she responded. Lizzie talked about her sleepless nights in jail and how she wished for fresh air. She talked about how she hated that people said she didn't show any emotion, telling her friend, quote, They say I don't cry, they should see me when I'm alone, or sometimes with my friends. It hurts me to think people say so about me. I have tried hard to be brave and womanly throughout it all. I know I am innocent, and I have made up my mind that no matter what happens, I will try to bear it bravely, and make the best out of it."

Outside of the jail, the newspapers were printing absurd headlines at Lizzie's expense. One such headline read from the Boston Globe, quote, Lizzie Borden's secret, Mr. Borden discovered it, and hot words followed. The story was that Lizzie had discovered she was pregnant, and she had confided in Bridget that the father was her uncle Morse. More stories popped up regarding Lizzie's inquiring about her father's will before the murders, specifically asking about inheritance. Of course, these headlines were false.

The newspapers were trying to ruin her reputation with outlandish scandals from disreputable sources. The Boston Globe had to issue an apology to Lizzie, and it was plastered on the front page of the news. They read, We apologize to Lizzie and our readers for the inhuman reflection upon her honor as a woman. When the trial started, no spectators were allowed in the courtroom because there weren't enough seats. The seats were given to reporters from select newspapers and 150 potential male jurors took the remaining seats. All of the male jurors were not from Fall River. When Lizzie walked into the courtroom, most of the jurors were astonished at the way she looked. They

expected a monster after reading the newspaper articles, but what they saw was a small woman, not very tall. And one newspaper described her, lady-like hands. But of course, the reporters were adamant on describing every detail of her clothing, her facial expressions, and her demeanor. Depending on which newspaper you read, you got a different story. Some newspapers wanted to portray Lizzie as guilty, while others aimed to paint her as innocent. The jury for Lizzie's trial was picked on Tuesday, June 6, 1893. And of course, all 12 were middle aged white men, ranging from 35 to 59 years old. The prosecutor, district attorney William Moody, was a young man. And this was actually his first murder case, but he was determined to give it

as all because this was the trial of the century. I'm talking O.J. Simpson, Casey Anthony type trial. Mr. Moody presented information to the courtroom that many had already heard before. Lizzie's disdain for her stepmother, the poisoning of the family the night before the murders, and Alice Russell's account of Lizzie Burning Address. The skulls of Mr. and Mrs. Borden were in the courtroom as well, to really give the jury a sense of how depraved the murders were. It was also hot in the courtroom that day, almost 93 degrees. But Mr. Moody continued to talk to the jury about Lizzie's testimony after 3. murders and he emphasized how she changed her answer many times as to where she was when Andrew

Borden returned home. Mr. Moody emphasized that nothing of value had been taken from the home and there wasn't a struggle. He said, quote, the assailant, whoever she or he may have been, was able to approach each victim in broad daylight and without a struggle and without a murmur to lay them low before him. End quote. When he was finished with his presentation of the facts, someone noticed that Lizzie's fan that she was holding dropped to her lap. And her head fell backwards.

Lizzie Borden had fainted. According to Sarah Miller, the Fall River Globe reported... Lizzie Borden, the Sphinx of Coolness, who has so often been accused of never manifesting a feminine feeling, had fainted. Lizzie had done exactly what a woman should do under such circumstances. People started looking at her as a lady. Another newspaper reported that she, quote,

fell into a faint that lasted for several minutes, sending a thrill of excitement through awestruck spectators and causing unfeigned embarrassment in disconfuture to penetrate the ranks of counsel. end quote. Wednesday, June 7th, 1893 was the third day of the trial and one that would focus on testimony. James Walsh was called upon to speak about the pictures he took of the victims and the home after the murders. A few men who came into contact with Mr. Borden on the morning of the murders spoke about their interactions with him, but the testimony of housemaid Bridget was the main focus.

She repeated what she had many times before about her interactions with the Bordons that morning. George Robinson, another of Lizzie's attorneys, asked Bridget about her experience with the family, and she responded that the family was pleasant. She did tell the jury, though, that Lizzie and Emma often took their meals separate from Mr. and Mrs. Borden. But sometimes they did eat together as a family. The hiring of attorney George Robinson was a smart decision. Robinson was a prominent political figure in Massachusetts during the time, as he had once served as governor of the state.

He didn't come cheap. It is said that he charged the family $25,000 to lead the defense team, but he seemed to be worth it. Robinson was trying to find a hole in Bridget's story and questioned her about the locked screen door. Bridget said during the time she was washing the windows for Mrs. Borden, she had left the screen door unlocked. She also went to get water from the barn about seven times, and all while the door was unlocked. Bridget even stopped to talk to a neighbor's daughter. Mr. Robinson responded, Well, the coast was clear while you stood talking to the Kelly girl.

Bridget responded, Yes, I could see the front door, but I could not see the side door. Robinson was trying to set up a theory that it was possible. A mysterious person snuck in while Bridget wasn't looking. Attorney Robinson knew that the prosecution's case rested solely on Lizzie's testimony during her inquest, the one where she kept telling different stories. But Robinson discovered that during this inquest, Lizzie was not allowed legal representation during her questioning.

A panel of judges deliberated on whether or not the inquest questioning would be admissible in court. They re-entered the courtroom and read aloud from a piece of paper that stated Lizzie's inquest questioning was not allowed to be used as evidence. And this was a huge win on her part. the prosecution's defense was now shattered, and all that was left with circumstantial evidence. On the fourth day of the trial, Dr. Bowen testified in court, followed by Lizzie's neighbor, Mrs. Churchill. When Alice Russell was called to the stand, Lizzie bolted upright in her chair to look at her friend. Alice didn't look in Lizzie's direction as she walked down the aisle to take her seat. The prosecution asked Alice a number of questions.

He started with Lizzie's visit to her house the night before the murders. Then he went on to ask a more important question regarding the dress burning. Alice recalled Lizzie showing her the dress with the green paint stains. She emphasized that the dress was not covered in blood, nor did she see any blood on the dress at all. When Alice told Lizzie, quote, I wouldn't let anyone see me doing that. Lizzie stepped back after ripping a strip of the dress to throw in the stove. There were police outside of the home during that time, and at any moment they could have witnessed her burning the dress. After police questioned Alice about the dress before Lizzie's arrest, she told her friend,

quote, I'm afraid the worst thing you could have done was burn that dress. Lizzie's response was, then why did you let me do it? Alice also told the jury that on the day of the murder, Lizzie kept going to her closet and once she was finished, she would lock it with a key. Assistant Marshal John Fleet took the stand and Mr. Moody questioned him about his examination of Lizzie's garments.

Marshall Fleet admitted that the police had been more focused on finding a murder weapon and only looked over the clothing in Lizzie's closet. When it was Attorney Robinson's turn to cross-examine Marshall Fleet, his intention was to make the jury see the incompetence of the police during the search. He reminded Fleet that Bridget's alibi was the same as Lizzie's on that fateful day. And the police had failed to search Bridget's closet for bloodied clothing. Since many police officers were of Irish descent in Massachusetts at the time, Lizzie's attorneys were trying to show the jurors that the policemen might have favored Bridget more

because she was also Irish. and they did a great job at ruining the credibility of the Fall River Police Department. It was starting to become obvious that District Attorney Moody was young and still not well-trained in trial cases. Meanwhile, Attorney Robinson was ready with whatever was thrown his way. Reporters were impressed with Lizzie's attorney and said that the prosecution was like, a pigeon-shooting match in which District Attorney Moody kept flinging up the birds and defying his antagonist to hit them, while the ex-governor, defense attorney Robinson, constantly fired and often, but by by no means always, wounded or brought them down.

The next phase of the trial would be the questioning of the medical examiners, which would prove to be beneficial for the prosecution. The skull of Andrew Borden was presented to the jury. Lizzie became emotional at the sight of her father's skull, and she was taken out of the courtroom until the medical examiner's questioning was completed. Dr. Frank Dapper, a Harvard Medical School professor, presented the skull and the possible murder weapon used in Lizzie's home. He told the jury that the hatchet head fit perfectly intact,

Andrew's wounds in his skull. All of the medical examiners agreed that the hatchet retrieved from the cellar could be the murder weapon. The question of blood splatter was explained by Dr. David Cheever. There were many questions regarding the lack of blood splatter at the crime scene, and the doctor quickly explained that there would be no blood splatter once the heart stopped beating. If it was true that Lizzie used enough force on the first hit to kill her father and Abby Borden, that would explain the lack of splatter at the scene, as well as on Lizzie's clothing. This was a win for the prosecution. When it was time to cross-examine the doctors,

a store-bought axe was brought in to see if it was possible that it also fit into Andrew's skull wound. But it did not. The prosecution wanted to bring the owner of the pharmacy, Eli Benson, for questioning regarding Lizzie coming in to buy the hydrosyanic acid. But Lizzie's lawyers argued that his testimony shouldn't be allowed because there wasn't anything suspicious.

about buying it. Hydrosyanic acid was often used as a way to put down an ill animal. Not to mention, there was no real proof that Lizzie had gone into the pharmacy that day, looking for the chemical. And ultimately, they decided not to let him testify, which was a huge loss for the prosecution. When it was time for the defense to speak, the board and family attorney Andrew Jennings spoke directly to the jury. He began by talking about his close relationship with Mr. Borden and his daughter Lizzie. He told the jury that there was no way Lizzie could have murdered Mr. Borden. She loved her father and during the prosecution's questioning of witnesses, they all agreed on that as well. Lizzie and Mr. Andrew Borden had a close relationship.

As Lizzie sat and listened to her attorney talk about her father, she started to cry. She showed the jury that she was a grieving daughter who lost her father. The defense focused on two points during the trial. The first was the theory of a stranger and spoke about the mysterious person who was seen around 2nd Street on the day of the murders. Dr. Benjamin Handy took the stand and told the jury about the pale man he had seen hurriedly walking down the sidewalk on the day of the murders. A neighbor of the Bordons was called to the stand about his eyewitness account of another mysterious man he saw leaning against the house. When the neighbor was cross-examined by the prosecution, he couldn't recall what the mysterious

man looked like. Although these witnesses weren't the most credible, the jury got a sense that there were mysterious people and Fall River. The defense's best tactic to win the case was to bring Emma Borden to the stand. Emma was on the witness stand longer than any other person during the trial. She told the jury about Lizzie's loving relationship with her father and how he always wore a gold ring she had given him. Emma also disputed the rumor that Lizzie and Abby didn't have a good relationship. Nolton prodded Emma about the incident when Mr. Borden bought

Abby's half-sister her home. Emma admitted that there had been an issue, but the aftermath between Abby and Lizzie had been civil. Nolton continued his questioning of Emma, although he didn't want to push too hard because she was a fragile woman who had lost her father and stepmother in a horrific way, and her only sister was now being tried for the crime of murder. He asked about Lizzie burning her dress, and she agreed that, yes, Lizzie did burn the dress because she had told her to do so. Lizzie had made a mess of the dress earlier in the summer with house paint. And to occupy her time and get her mind off the murders, Emma thought it was a good idea to go ahead and burn it. Lizzie had nothing to hide, she said.

Knowlton wasn't sure he believed Emma's story, and no matter how many times he asked, she wasn't budging. During those closing remarks, Attorney Robinson spoke to the jury about Miss Lizzie's, innocence. He often referred to her as Miss Lizzie or as the girl. To let the jury know, Lizzie was just a woman who wouldn't have had the strength or capability to commit such a heinous crime. He reiterated that there was no motive in the killings and that all of the evidence against her was purely circumstantial. When the prosecution, District Attorney Moody, spoke his final words, he reminded the jury that Lizzie's greed is what caused her to murder her father and stepmom. The evidence was in plain sight, trying to buy the acid, burning the dress,

hiding the murder weapon in the cellar, and that she killed them both because she wanted their inheritance. According to Ford, quote, when Moody was finished, Judge Dewey gave a 90-minute speech where he explained legal rules and summarized the case. In essence, Dewey gave a speech that seemed to say Lizzie was innocent. Moody objected at one point. Nevertheless, Lizzie was now in the hands of the jury, end quote. It was around 3.24 p.m. on Tuesday, June 20, 1893, when the 12 white male jurors left the courtroom to deliberate Lizzie's fate. For almost a year, the public and newspapers had surrounded themselves with every aspect of the crime. The wealthy Borden family, Lizzie's inheritance, a family in turmoil,

Mr. and Mrs. Borden's heads hacked to pieces. Now Lizzie waited nervously for the men to return, as did the rest of the city. And it took roughly one hour for the men to return with their verdict. As they entered, Lizzie's face turned pale as the reporters turned to their seats. The clerk asked Lizzie to stand up. The jury announced that they had reached a verdict in the case. The clerk asked Lizzie to raise her right hand, and the jury turned to face her. Juror Foreman, Charles Richards, read the verdict aloud for the court.

Not guilty. Lizzie collapsed in her chair and put her head down, releasing nine months of pent-up emotion. It was over, and she could finally go home. As for the people of Fall River, there were many people excited about the verdict, and many people that weren't. This was a very divisive case, and not everyone believed that the jury made the right decision. but it didn't matter. Lizzie Borden had been acquitted. Lizzie returned to her home on 2nd Street after becoming a free woman. Her sister Emma would remain in the home for a short time, but eventually the girls purchased a 14-bedroom home in the prestigious Hill neighborhood

after inheriting their father's fortune. If you remember, the two sisters always wanted to live there. It was said that they splurged on things that their father would never allow in their home, such as modern plumbing and a telephone. The Borden sisters also had servants in their new home, and it's reported that they were paid a good salary. Their new home was called Mabelcroft, and Lizzie even started going by the name Lisbeth Andrews instead of Lizzie. She wanted a fresh start in life,

but the people in Fall River weren't quick, to forget what had happened. Lizzie's friends all abandoned her, and people refused to sit near her at church. The children in town were known to throw eggs and other objects at the house when they walked by. They even created the little poem that we read in the beginning, and they would walk by her house, screaming it. Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother 40 wax, and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41. But despite the backlash Lizzie faced, she was dedicated to Fall River, Massachusetts. And although the townspeople shunned her, she would remain there until her death.

Lizzie, or Lisbeth, lived a mostly reclusive life after the acquittal, spending most of her time feeding wildlife in her backyard and keeping up with her charity work. Lizzie loved the theater and often traveled to nearby cities to see shows. She was also known to throw grand parties at Maplecroft. In 1904, Lizzie met an actress named Nancy O'Neill in Boston. Nance was one of Lizzie's friends that loved to attend her parties, but gossip soon spread that the two women had a sexual relationship. Other people thought Nance used Lizzie for her money.

Despite what happened between Nance and Lizzie, whether sexual or not, Emma, her sister, eventually moved out of their home on the hill in 1905. According to Biography.com, Emma spoke with a Boston newspaper about about moving out. The happenings at the French Street house that caused me to leave I must refuse to talk about. I did not go until conditions became absolutely unbearable. Emma Borden moved away to New Hampshire, where she would remain for the remainder of her life. Her relationship with her sister, Lizzie, would never be repaired. Of course, rumors would spread and people would talk about why Emma left. Whatever happened between Emma and Lizzie will forever remain a secret. And on June 1st,

1927, Lizzie Andrew Borden died in her Mabelcroft home from myocarditis, which is often caused by a viral infection that inflames the heart muscles. Lizzie was 66 years old at the time of her death. The residents of Fall River had no idea that Lizzie had been sick, but her close friends knew that her health was declining. Her funeral was private, no information was given out by the undertaker or the cemetery because even in death, Lizzie didn't want the press at her doorstep. She was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery and according to Sarah Miller in the Borden Murders, Lizzie requested she be buried at her father's feet. Her headstone reads, Lisbeth Andrews. In her last will and testament, Lizzie was generous with her estate

that was estimated to be worth around $265,000. She left money for her close friends and even donated $30,000 to the Fall River Animal Rescue League. And strangely enough, her sister, Emma Borden, died just 10 days after her. Her cause of death was chronic nephritis. Even though the sisters didn't keep in contact anymore, they were buried next to each other, right along with their father, Andrew, and stepmother. Abby. Emma was 76 years old. The story of Lizzie Borden still fascinates many people today. Fall River has businesses dedicated to their dark past. Lizzie's home on 92 Second Street is now a popular

bed and breakfast where people can sleep in the same room Abby Borden was found murdered in. In September of 2022, the Lizzie Borden bed and breakfast was actually in the running for a top 10 spot as America's favorite haunted hotel. In the past, it's also been rated the number two most haunted hotel in America. People from all over the world traveled a Fall River to stay in the house because of its gruesome history. The hotel offers tours of the home, as well as ghost tours at night, that also take you to other Fall River haunts. And me personally, I've actually been to the Lizzie Borden house before in the past. It's a very, very spooky place. All sorts of paranormal activity is reported to occur there, from people hearing phantom voices to door slamming shut on their own. People have even

claimed to see the spirits of Andrew and Abby Borden wandering the halls, and on occasion, even the spirit of Lizzie herself. It's pretty easy to see why paranormal investigators would consider this place to be an unholy grail of a location for a ghost hunt, an extremely gruesome double murder that to this day remains unsolved. If there is such a thing as ghosts, it seems that those spirits would be highly restless. It's also been stated that the house may be haunted by the victims of another grisly crime related to the Borden family that occurred literally next door decades earlier. Yeah, you heard that right.

Next door. Now, I was extremely shocked when I first heard this story because it isn't often discussed when Lizzie Borden is brought up. I simply just don't think that many people know this story. It was in the year 1848 when Lizzie's great-uncle, Lodwick Borden, suffered. a great tragedy. On one particularly dreary day in 1848, Lodwick's wife, Eliza Borden, snapped. She threw all three of Shee and Lodwick's children into a well or a cistern in the basement of their home, then left the room and slashed her throat with a straight razor. Only one child survived,

but this is another dark footnote in the Borden family tragedy. Two children murdered before a suicide, all under the Borden name. And yes, this took place to be a board in the Borden family. And yes, this took place directly next door to what is now known as the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast, where decades later, two more Bordons would lose their lives as victims of murder. It has been 130 years since the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden, and the brutality of the crime still captivates people. Is it because the Bordons were a quiet family with no known enemies? Or is it because they were butchered so brutally with the hatchet? It could also be the fact that, since Lizzie Borden was acquitted for the crime, then the real killer was never caught.

These murders will continue to haunt the town of Fall River forever. It seems that with the strokes of the axe, a permanent scar was left forever on that sleepy little Massachusetts town. But still, there is one burning question that even we don't have an answer to here at the podcast. Did Lizzie do it? I guess for now. That's a question that will.

never have an answer to. And in Fall River, Massachusetts, the Borden murders are a mystery that will live on forever. Hey, everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you again for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. We have gained so many new followers and listeners this year. We are so happy to have so many people out there listening every week and tuning on in. We are moving like a machine now that we have a manager and a whole team now. It's crazy. We have lots of people working on the show behind the scenes. So it's really, really exciting. The Lizzie Borden story has always been a story that's interested Courtney and I,

probably because Courtney... Growing up, my mom was always the best at handling sticky, stressful situations. I mean, we have so many crazy family memories, so many things that stick out to me, so many trips that we took and just funny moments. I mean, I remember specifically one just crazy time when we had jet skis and we took them out. We had rented them for the day and we took them out on this lake and somehow something got on the engine of the jet ski. Mine stalled, my dad stalled, and my mom and sister had to come rescue us because we floated to shore on the other side of the lake. We've got some hilarious pictures from that day. But it's just one of those memories that I don't want to let die. And aura frames can help keep those moments alive. So basically an aura frame

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has a similar story in her own family that we've talked about on the show in the past. But anyways, I want to give a shout out to our new patrons this week. Zul Gatekeeper, Logan Tunnell, Romsey Salazar, Daniel Jones, Shelby, Sandra B, Sophia, Marika Mellish, Merriam Cullen, and Morgan Ball. So if you want to become a patron, you want to have your name read at the end of an episode, all you have to do is go to patreon.com and look up Murder in America. Our manager is helping us get all of our content on Patreon up to date too, but we release the ad-free version of every single episode on Patreon as soon as it drops on all streaming platforms.

And we have an RSS feed there now, so everything should be golden. But we have some incredible episodes coming up in the next few weeks. Obviously, for the end of October and Halloween. We're really excited in this household for Halloween. We have all of our Halloween costumes and everything ready. But John Wayne Gacy, he's coming up. That's going to be our Halloween two-part special is the John Wayne Gacy story. And wow.

is that one still crazy even to this day. But as always, everybody, it is great having you here. Thanks for stopping by. We'll catch you next week and have a great weekend.