Lizzie Borden

Discreet Woman on Trial in 1893 On the day of April fourth, 1892, a husband and wife were murdered with an axe in Fall Rivers, Massachusetts. With no witnesses to the murder, it is hard to find who the murderer of this case was. With some suspicion, circumstantial evidence, and inconsistent answers this case could have been overcome to figure out who the killer really is. Lizzie Borden, the Daughter of Andrew Jackson Borden, was accused of murdering her father and step-mother, Abby Durfee Gray Borden. Without any direct evidence, meaning evidence that can be shown and is not just inferred, pointing to Lizzie for this murder, she was found not guilty by the jury. This case came down to only the circumstantial evidence, meaning evidence that can be inferred, which in my eyes is enough to prove that Lizzie was indeed the murderer. With all of the odd happenings that in some way linked to Lizzie, this case should have ended with her behind bars. This trial lasted from June fifth to June twentieth of 1893 and still to this day this “miscarriage of justice” is looked upon as a great historical trial (Dershowitz 187). To this day people are convinced that Lizzie is the murderer of her father and her step-mother and that she got away clean with nothing but a little song written about her. “Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.” A look at the circumstantial evidence will show you, that Lizzie Borden is guilty of murdering her father and step-mother but “the sheer brutality of the murders was enough to convince most people that no woman could have been responsible for such crimes” (Hixson 8). First of all, we will look at the Borden’s household. “The Borden’s household consists of Mr. and Mrs. Borden, Emma, who is Lizzie’s older sister, Lizzie, and the servant girl, Bridget Sullivan” (Aymar and Sagarin 178). “Bridget was referred to as Maggie by the two sisters and has been with the family for two years and nine months” (Aymar and Sagarin 178). Emma and Lizzie were considered “spinsters” seeing as they were both over the age of 30, were not married, and still living in the home of their father. (Knappman 204). Lizzie was said to be a very quiet woman that attended many church seminars. “After not completing high school, Lizzie joined a Women’s Christian Temperance Union at the Central Congregational Church” (Hixson 9). Lizzie and Emma’s real mother passed away when they were young, and only a couple years later their father was re-married to Abby Durfee Gray Borden. Apparently there was said to be some issues between Lizzie and Abby, her step-mother. Emma, the oldest sister, told the court room that the relationship in the house between Lizzie and Abby was “cordial” (Williams and Smithburn and Peterson 35). A relationship in a house between a daughter and a step-mother that have been living with each other for years now should be described in a more loving way than just the word “cordial” (Williams and Smithburn and Peterson 35). You can tell just from the way that sounds that there must have been some problems between those two women. “When ask in court about her mother, referring to Abby, Lizzie quickly replied “she is not my mother” (Aymar and Sagarin 179). This right here shows how Lizzie was not fond of her step-mother. Also, when Lizzie was asked the last time she spoke to Abby she stated it had been “about five years ago” (Williams and Smithburn and Peterson 66). How can you live with someone you have not talked to in about 5 years and say that it has been a “cordial” relationship (Williams and Smithburn and Peterson 35)? It does not make sense, just like all of Lizzie’s answers did not make sense. Clearly there were problems in the Borden’s home. Next, I would like to bring up the inconsistency of Lizzie’s answers when she was questioned. Lizzie, when asked where she was at the time of the murders, could not give a straight answer. She replied in three different answers each time she was asked where she was at the time of the murder. “Lizzie at various times told the police she had been getting a piece of fishing equipment from the family barn, or that she had been in the yard, or that she had been picking pears” (Knappman 205). These inconsistent answers make me believe that she is guilty. Lizzie also gave answers that were very short and simple, never explaining herself to anyone. There was no alibi for Lizzie Borden because she was at home during the time of the murder, but where exactly in the house during the time of the murder is still a pondering question. How can you be present, somewhere around the house, at the time of a murder but not hear or see anyone coming into your house with an axe? That is my question. Also, not one person was spotted going into the house besides Andrew and Abby Borden. When asked questions about what her father and step-mother were worth in respects of their written will and what they owned, Lizzie played like she knew nothing. “Mr. Borden was one of the wealthiest men in Fall Rivers, Massachusetts.” (Aymar and Sagarin 178). “When Lizzie was questioned about the real estate that Andrew Borden owned she asked what real estate” (Williams and Smithburn and Peterson 63). There were many questions Lizzie declined to answer or tried to not answer completely. This raises high suspicion for me because if she did not do it, then why is she so scared to answer some of the questions that were asked.
In spite of her pretending as if she did not know what her father was worth, Lizzie Borden often fought with her father about money before he was killed. This brings us to her motive to murder her father. I believe that her motive was to gain the money that her father had in his possession. “President of one bank and director of others, as well as many manufacturing companies, Andrew Borden was one of the most influential men in Fall River, making his initial fortune in the undertaking business” (Aymar and Sagarin 178). At the time of the murder, “Andrew was worth well over a quarter of a million dollars” and Lizzie knew that (Aymar and Sagarin 178). She tried pretending as if she knew nothing of his worth but yet she was always asking for money.” When Lizzie was asked about the money her father gave her and her sister one time, she said he owed it to us” (Williams and Smithburn and Peterson 64). Andrew gave them both five thousand dollars and she is trying to say that she did not know her father was wealthy. Right there you can tell she is lying. “A woman by the name of Victoria once stated that Lizzie Loved money to spend as much as her father loved money to keep” (Hixon 11). Lizzie obviously liked money and wanted the money her father had. So of course she would try to murder her father and gain the wealth he had. She knew what he father was worth and she knew once him and his wife was out of the way that it would be split between her and her sister. Lizzie Borden was also always fighting with her father about money. When she found out that Andrew bought a house for his wife’s sister, Lizzie was not pleased. “A jealousy rage occurred in 1887, when the daughters learned that their father purchased a dwelling for Abby’s sister and her husband, who had fallen in hard times. When the Borden sisters discovered this deed by their father, they were livid” (Hixon 13). Since that happening, the word mother stopped coming from Lizzie’s mouth. Clearly, there was jealousy that Lizzie felt towards Abby. “When an acquaintance made a reference to her mother, Lizzie projected that Abby was not her mother, but just her step-mother, and a mean old thing” (Hixon 14). This right here shows the money that Andrew Borden possessed and that his jealous daughter, Lizzie, knew of the money he had. To Lizzie, this was a good enough reason to kill her father and step-mother, just over the greed of money.
Now, not only was it that Lizzie’s answers were bad, and that there was a spot on motive to killing her father, but also she had little lies she told to people that were overheard by others. For example, after killing her step-mother, the father returned home and was having some trouble unlocking the front door. According to Bridget Sullivan, the maid, Lizzie told her father that Abby had left the house to go out and seek a friend that was sick. “Bridget Sullivan, who had been washing the windows on the north side of the house, heard Mr. Borden trying to unlock the door and went to his aid. Bridget then heard Lizzie tell her father that Mrs. Borden received a note saying someone was ill, and had gone out”(Aymar and Sagarin 173). This was a lie that Lizzie told her father straight to his face in order for him to not find out that she had killed her step-mother in the guest bedroom with an axe. When Bridget was asked about this mysterious note, she did not know what Lizzie was talking about. The reason why no one knew what she was talking about is because there was no note that said Abby’s friend was ill. Therefore, Lizzie was lying the whole time about it and we now recognize that we have a woman with a criminal mind. Not only is Lizzie a criminal for the murder of her father and step-mother, but also there had been some burglary reports coming from the Borden’s house. Lizzie was caught stealing from stores but was thought to be handled by her father, Andrew. Soon after, things started to go missing inside the Borden’s house and no one could understand how or why. “Some money, streetcar tickets, and jewelry belongings to Abby, increasing the target of Lizzie’s wrath, disappeared, but no one saw anything or had a clue as to how a burglar could have entered into a notoriously well-fortified home in the daylight, penetrating a serious of double and triple locked and barrel doors” (Hixon 15). This shows that there was something very wrong with Lizzie Borden. How can you go and steal, especially from your family that gives you everything. She was clearly an unhappy and disorientated woman. Jealousy has got to Lizzie and she has become a theft to her own family. “Andrew Borden at first summoned the police, but discontinued the investigation when he realized that only his youngest daughter could have been committing the crimes inside the home” (Hixon 15). Lizzie has lost it. After the fact of her becoming a theft, she then was found looking for poison. She wanted to poison her parents but could not seem to get her hands on it. The morning before the deaths of Andrew and Abby Borden, they were complaining that their stomachs were bothering them. “Both Mr. Borden and Mrs. Borden suffered from server cramps and vomiting two days before their murder” (Hixon 17). Apparently, Lizzie was found to be asking the local drug stores for some type of poison. “There were witnesses to the fact that shortly before the axe murders, Lizzie Borden went to a pharmacy in an adjoining town in an unsuccessful effort to purchase prussic acid, ostensibly to clean a sealskin fur. But despite the expert testimony, this acid does not clean furs, but it does kill people” (Dershowitz 188). She was going to try and kill them with poison to keep the blood off her hands, but she just couldn’t get her hands on any poison so she had to take the axe and hatch them up a couple days later. It was stated that the Monday before the murder she was looking to buy arsenic from a drug store. “A young lady approached a clerk at a drug store on Pleasant Street, who was looking to buy arsenic and was willing to give any price for it” (Williams and Smithburn and Peterson 48). This clearly shows she was really willing to pay any amount to get her hands on poison just to kill her father and step-mother. Lizzie Borden is a completely crazy. My final reason to figuring out that Lizzie was indeed guilty of killing Andrew and Abby Borden, is that her sister, Emma, found her burning her dress over a kitchen fire. “Emma Borden had seen Lizzie burning a dress after the murders” (Knappman 206). The lingering question to this case asks; where are the clothes Lizzie Borden was wearing when she murdered her father and step-mother? “The clothes worn by the prisoner [Lizzie Borden] at the time of the murders which she turned over to the police, were not the actual ones she had worn and that the true dress she had on, which must have been covered with blood-stains, she burned several days later in the presence of her sister” (Aymar and Sagarin 185). This states that she turned in false evidence to the police and destroyed the dress covered with blood on it before the police could find it. She was trying to get rid of the evidence proving that she had killed her father. When her sister, Emma, asked why she was burning the dress she said that it was old and had paint on it. Especially, the fact that she decided to burn the old dress right after the murders cause great suspicion to my mind. She definitely is the guilty one. To conclude this murder case, Lizzie Borden, “the Fall River axe murder,” is to me guilty of all charges to murdering her father, Andrew J. Borden, and his wife, Abby Durfee Borden (Berni 1). Lizzie was a jealous, greedy, and money loving woman who thought she deserved more. In reality, she had it going for her, being a thirty-two year old woman still living off of her father, Andrew. After her jealousy of his new wife, Abby, Lizzie just couldn’t stand for it anymore and had to cut them out of the equation. She murdered her father and step-mother with an axe, repeatedly hacking away at them as she took no mercy. This woman goes down in history as she was proven not guilty, by the jury but in my eyes and many others, she should have been locked away for a very long time. Lizzie Borden is one woman that got away with the murder of Andrew Borden and his wife Abby Borden.