2. 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
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
