1892 : Borden parents found dead
On this day in 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden are found hacked to death
in their Fall River, Massachusetts, home. Andrew was discovered in a
pool of blood on the living room couch, his face nearly split in two.
Abby was upstairs, her head smashed to pieces; it was later determined
that she was killed first. Suspicion soon fell on one of the Bordens'
two daughters, Lizzie, age 32 and single, who lived with her wealthy
father and stepmother and was the only other person besides their
maid, Bridget Sullivan, who was home when the bodies were found.
Lizzie Borden was arrested and charged with the double homicide. As a
result of the crime's sensational nature, her trial attracted national
attention.
Lizzie Andrew Borden was born on July 19, 1860. Her mother died when
Lizzie was a young girl and her father, who became a bank president
and successful businessman, married Abby Gray, who helped raise Lizzie
and her older sister Emma. The sisters reportedly despised their
stepmother and, as adults, argued with their father over money
matters. Lizzie claimed she was in the barn at the time of the murders
and entered the house later that morning to find her father dead in
the living room.
The evidence that the prosecution presented against Borden was
circumstantial. It was alleged that she tried to buy poison the day
before the murders and that she burned one of her dresses several days
afterward. And, although fingerprint testing was becoming commonplace
in Europe at the time, the Fall River police were wary of its
reliability, and refused to test for prints on the potential murder
weapon--a hatchet--found in the Bordens' basement. The fact that no
blood was found on Lizzie coupled with her well-bred Christian persona
convinced the all-male jury that she was incapable of the gruesome
crime and they quickly acquitted her.
Lizzie, who inherited a substantial sum after her father's death,
moved from the murder site into a different home, where she lived
until her death on June 1, 1927. Today, the house where the Borden
murders occurred is a bed and breakfast. Despite Lizzie Borden's
acquittal, the cloud of suspicion that hung over her never
disappeared. She is immortalized in a famous rhyme:
Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother forty whacks; When she
saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one.
history.com/tdih.do
1753 : Washington becomes Master Mason
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5232
1914 : U.S. proclaims neutrality in World War I
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5233
1944 : Anne Frank Captured
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6979
1964 : Slain civil rights workers found
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5234
#########################################
On this day in 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden are found hacked to death
in their Fall River, Massachusetts, home. Andrew was discovered in a
pool of blood on the living room couch, his face nearly split in two.
Abby was upstairs, her head smashed to pieces; it was later determined
that she was killed first. Suspicion soon fell on one of the Bordens'
two daughters, Lizzie, age 32 and single, who lived with her wealthy
father and stepmother and was the only other person besides their
maid, Bridget Sullivan, who was home when the bodies were found.
Lizzie Borden was arrested and charged with the double homicide. As a
result of the crime's sensational nature, her trial attracted national
attention.
Lizzie Andrew Borden was born on July 19, 1860. Her mother died when
Lizzie was a young girl and her father, who became a bank president
and successful businessman, married Abby Gray, who helped raise Lizzie
and her older sister Emma. The sisters reportedly despised their
stepmother and, as adults, argued with their father over money
matters. Lizzie claimed she was in the barn at the time of the murders
and entered the house later that morning to find her father dead in
the living room.
The evidence that the prosecution presented against Borden was
circumstantial. It was alleged that she tried to buy poison the day
before the murders and that she burned one of her dresses several days
afterward. And, although fingerprint testing was becoming commonplace
in Europe at the time, the Fall River police were wary of its
reliability, and refused to test for prints on the potential murder
weapon--a hatchet--found in the Bordens' basement. The fact that no
blood was found on Lizzie coupled with her well-bred Christian persona
convinced the all-male jury that she was incapable of the gruesome
crime and they quickly acquitted her.
Lizzie, who inherited a substantial sum after her father's death,
moved from the murder site into a different home, where she lived
until her death on June 1, 1927. Today, the house where the Borden
murders occurred is a bed and breakfast. Despite Lizzie Borden's
acquittal, the cloud of suspicion that hung over her never
disappeared. She is immortalized in a famous rhyme:
Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother forty whacks; When she
saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one.
history.com/tdih.do
1753 : Washington becomes Master Mason
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5232
1914 : U.S. proclaims neutrality in World War I
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5233
1944 : Anne Frank Captured
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6979
1964 : Slain civil rights workers found
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5234
#########################################
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