The Mystery Behind Criminal Minds : Guilty? or Not Guilty?

Lizzie Borden took an ax

and gave her mother forty whacks,

when she saw what she had done

she gave her father forty-one.

Happy True Crime Thursday. Hope you all have had a good week so far. I came to the conclusion this week that quite a few people don't know about this lady. So I thought I would spread the word. For this weeks story I'm going to talk about Lizzie Borden.

Lizzie Borden was born July 19th, 1860 in Fall River, Massachusetts. Her parents were Andrew and Sarah Borden, she had an older sister named Emma. Unfortunately Sarah passed away in 1863 of uterine congestion and a spinal disease. 3 years after Sarah's passing Andrew remarried to Abby Gray. Andrew was a very successful business man in the fields of manufacturing and real estate development. Most of Andrews family lived in a more fashionable neighborhood (The Hill) than they did. He was very frugal and content with their home, he was never bothered to upgrade his house with indoor plumbing or electricity even though he easily could have afforded to. His net worth was around 10 million dollars in today's money.

The household was a religious one and the family would regularly attend service at the Central Congregational Church. Lizzie was very involved in church activities, organizations and taught Sunday school. She was very outgoing. Her sister Emma was the opposite, she would rarely leave the house and was described as "prim, confident, reliable." When old enough, the girls helped their father manage his rental properties. The relationship between Abby and the girls wasn't a good one, Lizzie was convinced that she was only after her fathers money, they rarely would eat meals together and would address her as Mrs. Borden.

Fast forward to July 1892 the family had a huge argument, Lizzie and Emma left the house to go on vacation to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Lizzie upon returning stayed in a rooming house for 4 days rather than going home. Tensions had been growing within the family for months prior, mostly over Andrew gifting real estate to different members of Abby's family among other things we will get to later.

On August 3rd Abby called Dr. Seabury Bowen for a house visit, the entire household had become violently ill, she feared it was poisoning. The doctor said most likely it was due to bad food, but offered to take a look anyways, Andrew angry as Abby for wasting money ordered him to leave. That evening the girls uncle John (Sarah's brother) arrived for an unannounced visit, he allegedly was there to discuss business with Andrew. He stayed in the upstairs guest room.

The next morning after breakfast was served; Andrew left for his morning walk around 9 am, John left shortly before that to run a few errands, but stated he would be back by the noon hour, Emma wasn't in town so this left Lizzie, Abby and Bridget also known as Maggie (their maid) in the home. The morning of August 4th was also the day that Andrew and Abby Borden were found brutally murdered in their home.

Image result for Lizzie borden crime scene

Crime Scene photo

Lizzie was the first to find her father's dead body, it appeared that he had been bludgeoned to death while he was lying on the sofa sleeping, his face was almost beyond recognition. She screamed for Bridget, when Bridget saw the gruesome scene she ran to fetch Dr. Bowen who lived nearby. A neighbor named Adelaide Churchill saw all the commotion and came over, it was then that her and Bridget discovered Abby in the upstairs guest bedroom. She was also dead, her head badly beaten.

The police were soon summoned to the scene, they searched for evidence of an intruder and found none. They also looked around for a murder weapon, they discovered a hatchet-head with a broken handle. They suspected this of being the murder weapon as the break in the handle appeared fresh, strangely they didn't find blood anywhere except on the bodies of the victims. The crime scene was quickly contaminated as it was filled with people other than the police and the family was given a lot of leeway in cleaning up the house. The autopsy's were performed right there on the kitchen table.

Photos and skull replicas of Abby and Andrew

Abby's body was cold, indicating that she was attacked first, the coroner estimated sometime between 9 am and 10:30 am. She was struck multiple times first while facing her killer, one of the strikes to the side of her her head caused her to turn around and fall face down on the floor, she received about 18 blows. Andrews body was warm indicating that he was killed between 10:30 am when he arrived back home after his walk and 11:10 am. He was struck in the face 10-11 times.

Authorities soon came to the conclusion that the murders had been committed by someone within the Borden home. They seemingly never focused on Bridget, their suspicions were fully turned to Lizzie.

Lizzie was arrested on August 11th and she entered a plea of "not guilty," she was transported to the Taunton Massachusetts jail, 8 miles north of Fall River. Her trial began in New Bedford, Massachusetts on June 5th, 1893. At this point in time the jury was made up of all men, women weren't allowed to be on a jury. By the time the trial began, Lizzie was already a media sensation.

During the investigation, inquest and trial, a number of suspicious occurrences were found. I'm going to tell you some of the major ones.

1.) Remember Abby having the suspicious of the family being poisoned? Well, it was discovered that Lizzie had tried to buy cyanide from a drug store, but was denied because a prescription was required. What was it for? Was she able to get it somewhere else?

2.) On the morning of the murders, after Andrew had returned from his walk he discovered he wasn't able to enter the front door. The lock was jammed and Bridget had to let him in. During this time Bridget testified that she heard Lizzie laughing from the top of the stairs (where Abby was found later.) Lizzie denied this happened.

3.) After coming home Andrew asked Lizzie where Abby was, Lizzie told him that she had received a letter to visit a sick friend. They never discovered such a letter or a known sick friend.

4.) Andrew told Lizzie he still wasn't feeling very well and that he wanted to rest on the sofa and take a nap. Lizzie stated that she had removed his boots before he laid down. When police discovered his body, he was wearing his shoes.

5.) During questioning Lizzie kept giving different answers as to where she was when the murders occurred. She claimed to have been in various places. She also appeared both calm and erratic. Later it was explained that she had taken morphine to calm her nerves.

6.) There were rumors that Lizzie was a Kleptomaniac, it was even said that she had stolen from Andrew and Abby and that they knew about it.

7.) The wills were missing. Andrew's will most likely would have left his estate to his wife, leaving little to nothing to Lizzie and Emma. If Abby died first Andrews estate would automatically be left to his daughters.

During trial Lizzie's attorney emphasized she was very close with her father, was a good girl and was very involved with the church. That she could never commit such a terrible crime. Her sister Emma showed strong support for her and testified on her behalf. June 20th, 1893 it took only 90 minutes of deliberation to acquit Lizzie of murder, due to lack of forensic evidence.

Lizzie and Emma received a significant portion of the estate. Lizzie changed her name to Lizbeth after being bullied around town. A song was made up about her (Opening paragraph above), her home would be egged and rumors were spread all over town. The sisters lived together until around 1904. Lizzie met a woman by the name of Nance O'Neill. They developed a strong bond, some even speculated that they were lovers. Emma didn't approve and abruptly moved out and the 2 never spoke again. Lizzie flaunted her money while alive buying lavish items.

In 1926 Lizzie had her gallbladder removed, afterwards she became chronically ill. She died of pneumonia in Fall River. Emma died 9 days later of kidney problems in Newmarket, New Hampshire. The sisters were buried side by side near their father in the family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery. After Lizzie's death she left $30,000 to the Fall River Animal Rescue, $500 in trust for care of her father's grave and $6,000 to her closet friend, and to her cousin.

There are many that speculate whether Lizzie was actually the murderer, due to the lack of evidence and her good girl persona. Many other suspects have been named, but the 3 main ones that I have heard about are Bridget, Uncle John and an illegitimate son that was discovered of Andrews. If you are interested in hearing these theories I would do some research of your own. This blog would turn into a novel if I listed all of the conspiracy theories!

No one else was ever investigated for the crime and to this day the case is unsolved.

Below I posted some pictures for you (taken myself). Some are of the infamous house, today It's a bed and breakfast, they also host tours during the day. The others are of the family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery.

I visited both of these locations this last April and I have to tell you it was such a strange feeling being in a home knowing 2 people had been murdered there. Leaving me even more curious about the events that took place that day. Enjoy and I'll see you guys next week!