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Lizzie Borden Facts

Lizzie Borden Facts
Lizzie Borden was an American woman who became infamous for the 1892 axe murders of her step mother and father, a charge for which she was acquitted for at trial. She was born Lizzie Andrew Borden on July 19th, 1860, in Fall River, Massachusetts, to Andrew Jack Borden and Sarah Borden. Her mother died shortly after Lizzie's birth, leaving Lizzie and her sister Emma to be raised by their father and their step mother Abby Durfee Gray, whom Andrew married three years after Sarah's death. Lizzie and her sister were concerned that Abby was after their father's substantial wealth and helped their father manage his property. In 1892, while Emma was out of town, Abby and Andrew Borden were attacked with an axe and Lizzie became the suspect in the two murders.
Interesting Lizzie Borden Facts:
Lizzie and her father may have had a falling out over pigeons that he killed the May prior to the murders.
In July both Lizzie and her sister Emma took extended vacations, but Lizzie returned first.
Lizzie's father and step mother were murdered on August 4, 1892 but Lizzie was not indicted for the murders until December 2nd, 1892.
Lizzie burned a dress on August 7th, claiming it had been covered in paint.
When the police searched the house following the murders they did not take the axes they found in the basement and they did not check Lizzie for blood splatter.
The police were criticized for lack of diligence during the investigation.
A pharmacist reported that Lizzie tried to buy poison on August 3rd, one day before the murders.
On August 8th there was in inquest but Lizzie had been given morphine to calm her and her erratic behavior and inconsistent testimony may have been to blame.
Lizzie Borden's trial began on June 6th, 1893 in New Bedford.
During the trial it was revealed that a similar axe murder had occurred in the area but the murderer in that case was out of the country when Andrew and Abby Borden were murdered.
Lizzie is still considered the prime suspect, however others have been considered including Bridget Sullivan (the maid), William Borden (Andrew's illegitimate son), Emma Borden (Lizzie's sister), and John Morse (Lizzie's uncle on her mother's side).
On June 20th, the jury acquitted Lizzie Borden. The publicity surrounding the trial is similar to that which occurred in Bruno Hauptmann, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and OJ Simpson's trials.
Nobody else was ever charged with the murders.
Lizzie and her sister Emma bought a house together with money from their father's estate.
Lizzie's sister moved out of the house in 1905 and never spoke to Lizzie again, possibly because Lizzie had a close friendship with a woman, or possibly because she learned details of the murders.
On June 1st, 1927, Lizzie Borden died of pneumonia in Fall River, Massachusetts. Her sister Emma died a few days later in New Hampshire.


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