Did Lizzie Borden Commit Murder

A little over a century ago an atrocious reiterate eat up was committed, in the twain- half(a) story stand at 92 abet Street, in Fall River, Massachusetts. This hatred shocked the city of Fall River, as well as the nation, as Lizzie Borden, a 32-year-old Sunday school teacher, went on runnel for the murder of her father and her stepmother. (Augustine). An all male dialog box at last acquitted her on the accusations. (Aiuto). To this day, the murderer of Andrew J. Borden and Abby Gray Borden is still unknown, but in the public mind every one(a) believes it was Lizzie Borden.Lizzie was born and grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts. She was the youngest little girl of Andrew Jackson Borden, who was a very successful Banker and Sarah Borden. Sarah died when Lizzie was very young and Andrew thence married Abby Durfee Gray. Lizzie grew up with an sr. sister, Emma. Neither of them ever married. It is said the sisters detested their stepmother, mainly because of the familys infer ior social position. ( level Channel). Many of the wealthier houses at the period had electricity and running water, the Borden house did not, making Andrews reputation a penny pincher. Clark). On the day of August 4, 1892, the bodies of Andrew Borden and his wife were gear up mutilated. (History Channel). As opposed to 40 whacks, in the popular rhyme, 19 blows struck Abby Borden by a hatchet or axe to the back of her manoeuvre and neck. (History Channel). At the m she was cleaning the guestroom of the family home, at 930 am. Andrew Borden, who had returned home or so 1030 am, after his daily business had been attended to, was napping on a couch in the parlor, when he was attacked. (Lizzie). 11 blows were struck upon Mr.Bordens head and face, to the point that one eye hung from its socket, making him unrecognizable. (History Channel). There were only two stack in or about the house at the time of the killings, Lizzie Andrew Borden and Bridget Sullivan, the Bordens maid. (Clark ) There is approximately speculation as to others that may have been obligated for these evil acts. Among the other alleged killers is canful Morse, the brother of Andrews outgrowth wife, Emma Borden, Lizzies elder sister. Soon after the murders, Lizzie emerged as the prime suspect after John Morses alibi checked out. Clark). She then was arrested and tried on three counts, the murder of Abbey, of Andrew, and of them both(prenominal) and, if found guilty, faced death by hanging. (Clark). What makes the Fall River murders so perplexing is that the motive, the weapon and the opportunity for such(prenominal) a crime are all ab displace. When the Fall River constabulary investigated the murders, they found no money or jewelry missing, not even small amounts of replace or the packet of bus tickets as were taken in the sidereal day break-in at the Borden home twelve months earlier. (History Channel).There was some speculation on Andrew having a will, but no will was ever found, lea ving the good estate to Lizzie and Emma. (Clark). A local pharmacist reported Lizzie coming into his interpose and asking for prussic acid or hydrogen cyanide on some(prenominal) different occasions two weeks prior to the murders. (Augustine). Lizzie insisted that she needed it to clean an tip of clothing, but the pharmacist refused to sell it to her without a prescription. (Augustine). Also, when the bodies had been discovered many masses from throughout the neighborhood were entering and exiting the crime scene and could have considerably moved evidence to protect Lizzie. Clark). Besides the lack of a bear motive for the murders, there was also the perplexing lack of opportunity. Fall River found the entire Borden house locked up as usual, and during the two-and-a-half-hour period in which both murders were completed, the maid Bridget was outside the house washing windows and daughter Lizzie was inside the house reading a magazine. (History Channel). Even if one of the two committed the crime, the angry and bloody act should have been noisy enough to attract the care of the other. There was also not a lot of blood tap at the crime scene. (Clark).If Lizzie were to have murdered her parents there should have been some sort of blood on Lizzies clothes. (Clark). The prosecution used this as a key part of their trial. They had a witness that said she byword Lizzie burning a blue lay in her kitchen and the prosecution insisted that it was the rig Lizzie killed her parents in. (Clark). Lizzie did in fact burn a dress and was seen doing so, but she was burning it because she had no use for it anymore because it was soiled with paint. (Clark). June 1893, Lizzie was arrested and sent to trial. The all-male jury was put into a difficult position. (Lizzie).It was the Victorian Era where women were considered slender flowers and not capable of killing someone and it was not a habitual issue to deal with in those times. (History Channel). After only an hour of deliberating, the jury declared Lizzie to be not guilty. It is said it only took them 15 minutes to decide, but out of respect for the prosecution, they waited another 45 minutes forward they informed the court of their decision. (Lizzie). Shortly after the trial, Emma and Lizzie each inherited half of their fathers estate, about $200,000. 00 each, which was a large amount of money in those days. (History Channel).Their first purchase was a home on The Hill, at 7 cut Street, which Lizzie named Maplecroft. (Clark). Lizzie also changed her name to Lizbeth. (Clark) Lizzie became a social outcast after the trial, with hardly a(prenominal) friends remaining loyal. (History Channel). Her every move was criticized if she appeared solemn in public, it was because she was guilt-ridden because of her crime if she was happy, it proved she was a heartless monster. Lizzie soon had to travel farther to do her shopping, but she was not left along by reporters. (Clark). Reports after the tri al of Lizzie usually were rumors, from engagements to causal agencys of shoplifting.These papers never seemed willing to print tales of her good deeds, such as her many charitable donations, her aide to deserving young people who could not afford a college education. (Clark). Nor did they print stories of her love of animals, or of the arts. (Clark). The murder of Andrew and Abby Borden will forever be a cold case and one of the most gruesome crimes that could have been committed by a woman. sight will always have some sort of curiosity towards this case because of the lack of evidence, the opportunity and motive that could have possibly been.Works Cited Aiuto, Russell. Lizzie Borden Took An Ax. TruTv. Turner bare System, 2010. Web. 27 Oct 2010Augustine, Megan. Dusting off a Cold Case with Modern Forensics Lizzie Bordenfortyone. The Forensics Examiner. 14. 4 (2005) 52+ Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Oct 2010.Clark, Denise M. How Lizzie Got Away With Murder. Crimemagazine. com. Crim e Magazine,2010. Web. 25 Oct 2010. The History Channel The Strange Case Of Lizzie Borden. New Video, 2005. DVD. Lizzie Andrew Borden. Karisable. com. Karisable Burns. 26 Apr. 2004. Web. 27 Oct 2010.