Lizzie Borden:Murderer or Misunderstood?

August 4, 1892

The house on Second Street in Fall River with the barn in back.This is exactly how the house would’ve looked like from the street on this date.

Lizzie Borden

Andrew Borden

Abby Borden

Emma Borden

John V. Morse

Bridget Sullivan

The “Mystery” Man

The Autopsy

The Autopsy

Motives

• Potential abuse in the past

• Caught in affair with Bridget

• Money

• Residual anger and resentment

Argument: Lizzie would’ve been covered in blood when police arrived

Argument: Lizzie had an alibi

Argument: Fearing the unknown assailant, Lizzie barred her

windows in the years following the murders

So, why the innocent verdict?

• The omission of the prussic acid evidence

• The omission of the inconsistent alibis

• The Victorian jury could not believe that a gentlewoman committed such a crime.

• Regardless, the people of Fall River considered her guilty, and she was shunned from most activities for the rest of her life.

List of sources

• http://www.lizzieandrewborden.com/CrimeLibrary/SequenceofEvents.htm

• http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlizzieborden.html

• http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/borden/index_1.html

• http://www.lizzie-borden.com/• http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/

ftrials/LizzieBorden/bordenhome.html

Good Books for Further Reading

• Lizzie: The Story of Lizzie Borden by Frank Spiering

• Forty Whacks: New Evidence in the Life and Legend of Lizzie Borden by David Kent

• Lizzie Borden: The Legend, the Truth, and the Final Chapter by A.R. Brown