Lizzie Borden: The Mystery of the Axe Murders of Abby and Andrew Borden - Page 2
© MIchelle Munro
Alibis and Lizzie's Arrest
Bridget told the investigators that she had been washing windows most of the morning and had gone up to her room to lie down. Her story never waivered.
Lizzie, on the other hand, continuously gave conflicting statements as to her whereabouts. She told police, for example, that she had been in the barn loft; however, when they searched the loft, they found the floor thick with undisturbed dust.
Police recovered 4 hatchets from the basement, 1 without a handle and covered in ashes. This hatchet would later be submitted as the murder weapon. Five days later, Lizzie was arrested on the charge of murder after a secret inquest. She was arraigned the next day, where she pleaded not guilty.
The Lizzie Borden Trial
The Grand Jury trial began on November 7th. Alice Russell, a friend of the Borden's, testified to seeing Lizzie burn a dress in the oven 3 days after the murders. Lizzie claimed the dress was stained with paint. On December 2, Lizzie was formally charged with 3 counts of murder: the murder of Andrew, the murder of Abby, and the murder of them both.
The trial lasted 14 days. The prosecution called witnesses to testify that Andrew was about to draw up a new will, leaving half his estate to Abby; another witness claimed that Lizzie had attempted to buy prussic acid, a potential poison, from a local drug store.
Lizzie's Acquittal and Last Years
On June 20, 1893, a jury found Lizzie not guilty on all 3 counts, after only an hour of deliberation. Five weeks after the trial, Emma and an ostracized Lizzie bought a house in a fashionable area of Fall River named Maplecroft.
Two rulings of the court proved crucial to Lizzie's acquittal: the justices disallowed entry of Lizzie's inquest testimony, the only testimony she would ever give, on the grounds that she had not yet been formally charged when the statement was given; they also proclaimed that the drug store clerk could not testify, because the prussic acid was irrelevant.
Lizzie died on June 1, 1927, following complications from gall bladder surgery. Nine days later, Emma died from a fall down stairs. To this day the Borden case remains unsolved.
Go To Page: 1 2
