Lizzie Borden took an ax
And gave her father forty whacks
And when she saw what she had done
She gave her mother forty-one
That poem is one that almost every school child in the US has heard. Who hasn’t heard of the infamous Lizzie Borden, the cruel young girl who murdered both her parents in cold blood? At least that’s what the little poem would lead us to believe. What many of us don’t know is the true story of Lizzie Borden, and what actually happened.
Andrew J. Borden was a quiet man who purchased a rather large two family home in the town of Fall River. Borden was a relatively wealthy man who owned a number of businesses, including a bank, in the small town. He ripped down walls to turn the building into one larger home, and moved in with his family. His two older daughters moved into the home: Emma and Lizzie, as well as his second wife Abby.
By all accounts the family was quite happy, though the two girls were never very fond of their home. Borden was a wealthy man, but the house he bought was in a less than desirable location and they hoped to move to one of the nicer areas. Despite their constant begging, he denied their requests. It seems as though Borden was something of a miser, and didn’t want to waste money on a second home. Also living in the house was a maid named Bridget, who the girls called Maggie. Oddly enough, she left a few days after the murders and the remaining Borden’s never saw her again.
On the day of the murders, Andrew and Abby ate breakfast with their friend John Morse, while their daughters stayed in bed. After Morse left, Lizzie made an appearance. Complaining of feeling ill, she skipped the food and chose a cup of coffee. The entire family had been sick from what they assumed was a stomach flu, and even Bridget had been sick in the previous days.
The last time anyone saw Abby on that fateful day was around 9:30 when she was cleaning the guest room. Andrew left to attend some business, but returned a little before 11 am.
Lizzie told him that her stepmother had left, and he wandered around the house for a few minutes. At around 11 am, Lizzie found her father’s body, and shouted for Bridget to help her. It’s worth noting that she assumed someone had murdered her father, while the other women in the house were doing some housecleaning. Lizzie also prevented the woman from seeing the body, instead urging her to run for help.
Lizzie further implicated herself by changing her story several times when asked what she had been doing prior to her father’s death. She also told neighbors that she believed someone had poisoned the milk in an attempt to get back at her father for some ill deed. When a doctor finally arrived, he found that someone had hit him repeatedly with something resembling an ax. Andrew had been hit so savagely that parts of his face were missing.
Only after the doctor examined Andrew’s body did someone finally ask about Abby. Bridget and a neighbor headed upstairs, where they found the woman looking very similar to her husband. Experts found that she had been struck at least nineteen times, and it appeared as if she was killed first. The same doctor who tended to the bodies was also forced to administer a tranquilizer to Lizzie. The poor woman was so distraught that she could barely function.
By the time the police were called, any evidence in the house had been destroyed. Neighbors walked through the house, staring at the bodies, and even taking home a few souvenirs. Without any real evidence, the police followed countless false leads and false evidence. With nothing left to loose, they began focusing on Lizzie.
Many people don’t realize that Lizzie was actually acquitted of the two murders. All of the so-called evidence against her was mainly hearsay and conjecture provided by some of her closest friends. One friend even told police that she saw Lizzie burning a bloody dress after the murders. No trace of that dress was ever found.
One of the largest pieces of “evidence” the police used was Lizzie’s claims of poisoning. The family had indeed been sick in the days before the murders, but no proof of this was ever uncovered. There were also claims that she attempted to buy a type of poison from a local pharmacist, though Borden denied those claims. A friend also testified that Lizzie was worried about something terrible happening the night before the murders.
Lizzie also shot herself in the foot by telling people that her stepmother had left the day of the murders. She claimed the woman left behind a note, but no one ever found that note. Police also pointed out that no stranger could enter the house to commit the murder, as the front door was locked. Police would also find flaws in Bridget’s story, though she was disregarded as a suspect.
Lizzie was officially charged with the two murders, as well as a third charge of double homicide, following the testimony of a friend regarding the burned dress. During her arraignment she argued that she wasn’t guilty of the crimes, but was taken to a nearby jail.
During the two week trial, all of the previous evidence was called into play. Nationwide woman’s organizations and religious groups protested the spectacle, calling for the case to be thrown out. Despite that, the trial continued. In Lizzie’s defense, her attorneys brought together several people who could verify that she was not in the house during the murders. They also found witnesses ready to testify that they saw a strange man in the area on that day. In less than three hours the jury found her not guilty.
Following the trial, Lizzie and her sister moved into a new house and she changed her name to Lizbeth. The two died in 1927, just a few days apart. They are buried in a family plot, right next to their father, mother, and stepmother. Even today, the true murderer has never been found, and it appears as if he, or she never will be.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Borden
http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/borden/index_1.html
