“Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks…” You’ve likely heard this famous American nursery rhyme. It tells the story of a cold-blooded daughter who brutally struck her stepmother 40 times with an axe and gave her father 41.
However, pop culture often strays far from reality. Authentic autopsy reports and 19th-century police files reveal a very different story: there were far fewer blows, the family tension ran much deeper, and the identity of the true killer continues to puzzle investigators more than 130 years later.
Image source: The Illustrated Police News (July 1, 1893) / Public Domain
A Sweltering August Morning: What Really Happened in the Borden Home?
On Thursday, August 4, 1892, an oppressive heatwave blanketed the town of Fall River, Massachusetts. Inside a modest home on Second Street lived Andrew Borden, a wealthy yet notoriously miserly banker, his second wife Abby, his 32-year-old unmarried daughter Lizzie, and their housemaid Bridget. Andrew’s other daughter, Emma, was out of town at the time.
The events of that morning were anything but peaceful:
- The First Victim (approx. 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM): Stepmother Abby Borden went upstairs to make the bed in the guest room. The intruder caught her from behind, inflicting 19 strikes with a sharp hatchet-like weapon.
- The Second Victim (approx. 11:00 AM): Andrew Borden returned from town and lay down for a nap on the living room sofa. The killer ambushed him while he slept—striking him 10 to 11 times across his face and head.
When Lizzie raised the alarm and called for Bridget, shouting that someone had killed her father, they were apparently the only two people inside the home.
Suspicious Behavior and a Burned Dress: The Evidence Against Lizzie
From the outset, investigators encountered a string of unusual circumstances that pointed directly at Lizzie:
- Motive and Family Strife: Neither Lizzie nor her sister Emma addressed Abby as “mother,” coldly calling her “Mrs. Borden” instead. The household was rife with constant arguments over property and Andrew’s tightfisted nature.
- Attempting to Buy Poison: A local pharmacist later testified that just a day before the murders, Lizzie tried to purchase prussic acid (a lethal poison), claiming she needed it to clean a fur coat. He refused to sell it to her.
- Destroyed Evidence: Two days after the murders—while under police surveillance—Lizzie burned her blue cotton dress in the kitchen stove. She claimed she destroyed it because it was stained with paint, but investigators believed it was stained with blood.
Why Was Lizzie Borden Acquitted?
Despite a heavy trail of circumstantial evidence, Lizzie was found not guilty in June 1893 after a brief trial. The all-male jury deliberated for less than an hour. How was this possible?
- Victorian Gender Bias: In the late 19th century, an all-male jury could not fathom that a devout, upper-class Sunday school teacher was capable of such horrifying physical violence.
- Lack of Direct Forensics: Criminology at the time had no concept of DNA testing or fingerprint analysis. When first examined, no obvious blood spatters were noted on Lizzie’s skin, and police failed to conclusively identify a murder weapon (they only retrieved a dust-covered hatchet head missing its handle).
Image source: Wikimedia Commons (Borden House, 1892) / Public Domain
Life After the Trial: Wealth in Isolation
Following her acquittal, Lizzie and her sister inherited their father’s substantial fortune. Lizzie purchased a luxurious home in Fall River’s most exclusive neighborhood, changed her name to Lizbeth, and lived out her days in comfort.
Yet, local society never accepted her back. Neighbors shunned her, and she lived a reclusive life until her death in 1927. Today, the original house on Second Street operates as a popular museum and Bed & Breakfast, where brave visitors can spend the night at the crime scene itself.
Verdict: Was She Really Guilty?
Officially, the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden remain an unsolved cold case. While most modern historians lean toward Lizzie’s guilt, alternative theories suggest the involvement of the maid Bridget or an illegitimate son. More than a century later, the story endures as a chilling window into the secrets hidden behind the doors of a respectable Victorian household.
Sources and Literature
- Fall River Historical Society Archives – Official archives, contemporary reports, and original artifacts from the crime scene.
- Famous Trials Project (UMKC School of Law) – Transcript of the Commonwealth vs. Lizzie A. Borden (1893) trial, including witness testimony and autopsy reports.
- Lizzie Andrew Borden Virtual Museum & Library – Database of primary historical documents, newspaper articles from 1892, and police records.
- Kent, David. The Lizzie Borden Sourcebook – Collection of primary documents, newspaper clippings, and trial evidence.
- Conforti, Joseph. Lizzie Borden on Trial: Murder, Ethnicity, and Gender – Academic study examining the influence of Victorian gender biases on the acquittal verdict.
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