THE CASE OF LIZZIE BORDEN

THE CRIME

The victims were Andrew Borden (Lizzie Borden’s

father) and Abby Borden (Lizzie’s step-mother)

They were both murdered with an axe in their

home on the morning of August 4, 1892

THE INVESTIGATION

One likely suspect was Lizzie Borden, who was

Andrew Borden’s daughter and Abby Borden’s step-

mother. Another suspect was Bridget Sullivan, who

was a servant to the Borden family. Emma Borden

was also a suspect, she was Lizzie Borden’s sister.

Lizzie Borden was arrested for the murders of

Andrew and Abby Borden 13 days later.

THE TRIAL

One piece of evidence that was presented in court

was the suspected murder weapon, which was a

hatchet that had a broken handle. Another thing was

actually the skulls of the Borden’s, that showed the

marks from where they had been hit with the

hatchet.

Lizzie’s defense was that she went out to their

barn to get some things and when she came back

she found Andrew and Abby dead.

The verdict turned out that she was not guilty.

THE AFTERMATH

After the trial ended, Lizzie bought a big house in a

richer neighborhood with the money left from her

father. She spent a lot of her free time travelling to

different places, like New York and Boston. She

never moved from the town that her and her family

lived in (Fall River) and a lot of people talked about

how she was likely guilty, so she lived as somewhat

of a recluse.

MY OPINION

I personally think that the verdict was wrong. I thought that it

was hard to tell if she was guilty or not based on the evidence.

Since this case took place a long time ago they did not have all the

technologies we had today, so they couldn’t do testing on the

hatchet that was found to prove if Lizzie was guilty. Her story was

not consistent (she changed her story on where she was during

the time of the murder many times). Also there were not that

many other suspects that were around during the time of the

murders, expect the servant and the other Borden daughter.