Lizzie Borden: Murderess or Media Sensation?

Few unsolved crimes have loomed as large in the American imagination as the 1892 axe murders of Andrew and Abby Borden. Although Lizzie Borden was acquitted of killing her father and stepmother, the sensational case spawned a famous nursery rhyme, inspired books and films and continues to fuel debate more than a century later. Beyond the enduring mystery, here are nine surprising facts about the woman—and the case—that became one of America’s most enduring true-crime legends.

The gruesome murders shocked the community, but many in Fall River were perhaps not entirely surprised that Andrew Borden had met an untimely end. With a net worth of almost $10 million in today’s money, Borden was one of the wealthiest and most unpopular men in town. Frugal to a fault, he was a self-made man who became the head of one of the town’s largest banks and a substantial property owner. The dour businessman had also made many enemies on his rise to the top, and rumors swirled that Andrew and Abby had perhaps been killed as revenge for Andrew’s shady business dealings.

The initial investigation focused outside of the immediate family and included local businessmen, neighbors and even the family maid, an Irish immigrant named Bridget Sullivan. Police soon realized that Andrew’s daughter Lizzie had as much to gain from her father’s death as anyone.

Andrew’s tightfistedness extended to his own family—despite his wealth, the Borden home lacked even the most basic conveniences, including indoor plumbing. Andrew’s remarriage to Abby Gray after the death of his first wife had soured his relationship with Lizzie and her older sister, Emma. The women, already in their 30s and considered spinsters by society, grew increasingly frustrated and resentful, with Lizzie in particular often exhibiting signs of mental instability.

Lizzie’s actions in the days after the murders also raised eyebrows: She gave contradictory answers to questions and burned a dress that she claimed had been stained while doing housework, which police considered the destruction of evidence. On August 11, 1892, Lizzie was arrested for the murders.

There was no physical evidence linking Lizzie Borden to the murders. A hatchet was discovered in the basement of the Borden home, but its blade was clean and the handle had been broken off—something police alleged Lizzie had done. The investigators’ reluctance to use forensic techniques also hampered the investigation. Fingerprint analysis was still in its infancy and was never conducted as part of the investigation. They did, however, establish that Lizzie had unsuccessfully attempted to purchase prussic acid, a highly poisonous liquid, in the days before the murders. Though investigators regarded this as evidence of an earlier failed attempt to kill her father and stepmother, they were unable to present it at trial.

The gruesome nature of the crimes, combined with the wealth of the Borden family, proved irresistible to newspaper publishers. Miles of ink were spilled as papers around the world printed hundreds of stories describing the deaths in lurid detail, speculating on possible motives and even alternative perpetrators. By the time the trial began in June 1893, Lizzie Borden had become a media sensation and the proceedings themselves had taken on a circus-like atmosphere.

The prosecution, faced with a lack of forensic evidence tying Lizzie to the murders, argued that she might have committed the crime while naked to avoid leaving behind physical evidence. The presence of the hatchet-struck skulls of Andrew and Abby Borden shocked those in the courtroom, leading to a dramatic—and perhaps conveniently timed—swoon by Lizzie. In what turned out to be a key moment, Lizzie’s defense team successfully argued that her contradictory testimony at the original inquest should be ruled inadmissible. Lizzie herself never took the stand, and the jury of 12 men deliberated for just about 90 minutes before returning a verdict of not guilty.

Children who learn the chant may believe that it took 40 blows to kill Abby Borden and another 41 to kill Andrew. Well, that’s not quite true. The coroner concluded that Abby was killed first, but received about 18 or 19 blows—not the 40 popularized in the rhyme. Andrew Borden received even fewer blows, but the roughly 10 or 11 that killed him were devastating, striking mainly his head and destroying much of his face. So it turns out the nursery rhyme nearly doubles the total number of “whacks” it took to carry out the killings. In another departure from the facts, no axe was ever found. It seems more likely that the hatchet presented by the prosecution at trial was the true murder weapon, but “hatchet” and “whacks” simply don’t rhyme.

Despite her newfound notoriety—and her neighbors’ whispers about her likely guilt—Lizzie remained in Fall River for the rest of her life. She and Emma inherited their father’s estate, gaining the financial freedom they had long craved. Lizzie bought a large house in one of the city’s most fashionable neighborhoods and spent much of her time traveling to Boston and New York to indulge her love of theater.

Just five years after the murders, Lizzie was briefly in the headlines again when she was accused of—but not tried for—shoplifting. In 1905, the sisters became estranged over Lizzie’s relationship with actress Nance O’Neill, which Emma allegedly disapproved of. They rarely spoke in their later years but died within days of each other in June 1927. Both sisters were buried beside their murdered parents in the family plot at Oak Grove Cemetery.

A media sensation in its own day, the Borden murders continue to fascinate the public more than a century after they occurred. Lizzie and her family have been the focus of dozens of books, plays films and television productions. In 1975, actress Elizabeth Montgomery, star of television’s “Bewitched” and a distant relative of Lizzie, portrayed her in the television movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden. Famed choreographer Agnes de Mille created a ballet about the case, and Lizzie has also appeared in operas, stage productions and popular culture. She even made a cameo on “The Simpsons,” where she—along with other notorious figures such as Benedict Arnold, Richard Nixon and John Wilkes Booth—served on the jury during a trial over Homer Simpson’s soul.

In March 2012, the Borden case was back in the headlines when researchers at the Fall River Historical Society announced the discovery of the handwritten journals of Andrew Jennings, Lizzie’s defense attorney. The journals, which contain newspaper clippings as well as interview notes Jennings made during his pre-trial preparation, may yield new insight into the crimes. The extremely fragile material is currently being preserved by the museum before its contents are made available to the public.

More than a century after the murders, Fall River, Massachusetts, continues to be a hot spot for those fascinated by the case. For the most daring aficionados, a night at the a night at the Lizzie Borden House provides the ultimate Borden experience. Guests can tour the property at 92 Second Street, watch an annual dramatization of the events, stay overnight in the bedrooms originally occupied by Lizzie, Emma and their parents, and even enjoy the same breakfast the family shared on the morning of August 4, 1892.