Unsolved: The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House

Some murder investigations have the craziest endings, with finales that offer a cathartic resolution proving the existence of justice beyond a reasonable doubt. Others are left more or less tied up in a bow from their initial opening, closed at the onset of an abrupt confession, or the inevitable discovery of a specific piece of evidence.

There's also those select few that dig deeper into the human psyche, the ones that not only challenge our ability to believe in the supernatural, but make us question our own knowledge on the afterlife and beyond.

Enter 92 Second Street, Fall River, Massachusetts.

Here, onlookers can find a lovely plot of land occupied by an eerie two and a half story home, which sits accompanied by the barn loft to its rear, both of which stand within a shroud of old age and, as many have claimed over the years, a temple of paranormal activity.

The Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast Museum has been a staple within the small seaport and mill town ever since the discovery and subsequent trial following one of the most entrancing American crime stories ever told, what many call the hatchet murders of Abba and Andrew Borden.

Still unsolved to this very day, the mysterious murders that haunt the Lizzie Borden house have given criminalists, historians, and everyday people alike a chance to gawk, scratch their heads, and wonder: Who killed Lizzie Borden's parents?

There are literally dictionaries worth of information surrounding the Borden family, their famous home, and the hereafter of the murder case, the family's most prominent insurrection that seems, on its own accord, to haunt their valued name. Of the many inquiries and questions that will follow this unsolved case far into the future, the only one that seems most valid in answering is to reason the unfathomable: Did Lizzie Borden murder her parents, or was it something far more sinister?

Before we even attempt to answer that question, let's illuminate the facts.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Meet the Cast

Andrew J. Borden, a 70-year-old director of several banks and commercial landlord, was a leading citizen in the town of Fall River. Married to Abby D. Gray, his second wife, Andrew was well-known for his frugal, dour, and conservative nature, but was oftentimes considered unlikable and anti-comical.

Despite having strong roots in Fall River, the Borden family lived in an unfashionable part of town, which was close to Andrew's business interests. This was held much to the chagrin of his two daughters, Lizzie and Emma Borden, both of whom were the offsprings of his first wife. The townsfolk considered him rather generous to them, plus it's important to note that neither Lizzie nor Emma held a particular fancy for Abby Gray. Their relationship with their stepmom was, in fact, riddled with strain.

Bridget Sullivan, 26 at the time of the murders, was the Borden family maid. She was originally from Ireland, moved to the US in 1886, then started working for the Borden family home in 1889. As a form of rudeness or superiority, Andrew's daughters called her "Maggie," which was the name of their previous servant.

In attendance around the time of the murders was also their uncle, John V. Morse, the brother of Andrew's first wife, who had randomly dropped by on account of visiting his niece and nephew the day following his arrival. The same day Andrew and Abby Borden were brutally hacked to death with an ax.

Though a string of evidences seemed to impress upon the town of Lizzie's immediate suspicion, over the following years not one person of close relation to Andrew and Abby Borden would be overlooked in their untimely deaths. Years later, we are left with the only innate ability of speculation: What happened to Andrew and Abby Borden?

The basic timeline proceeds as follows...

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Morning Of

It was a particularly hot day on Thursday of August 4th, 1892. In fact, the 100 degrees Fahrenheit morning was especially scalding for River Fall, yet no one was complaining. Not yet, at least.

At six in the morning, Bridget Sullivan was the first in the house to wake. She made a fire and cooked breakfast for the family. About one hour later, at seven, both Borden's parents and John Morse went downstairs for their morning meal, lingering there for as long as an hour. Lizzie, on account of being up late the night before, did not make an appearance at breakfast. Her sister, Emma, was 15 miles away at her friend's house in Fairhaven.

A few minutes before eight that morning, John Morse left the Borden home to visit his niece and nephew. Andrew Borden locked the screen door behind him, a habit since the burglary of his desk in 1991, which occurred upstairs in the same home. His watch, chain, streetcar tickets, and $100 cash were stolen from within, giving rise to Mr. Borden's continued obsession with locking doors. For this, some of the upstairs doors, like the one separating his and Lizzie's rooms, remained locked at all times.

Once John Morse had left the family home, Lizzie trotted downstairs and explained that she was not hungry. A possible stomach virus had been jumping between the Borden family; two nights prior to August 4th, Andrew and Abby had been up all night, vomiting several times. Sharing this claim, Lizzie said she had likewise been sick, deciding to have a cookie and some coffee instead of breakfast. Bridget, the maid herself, even had to go outside and throw up after this seemingly minute conversation.

At around 9:25 AM, Andrew Borden left the house for a trip downtown. His wife tended to the guest room bed, where John Morse had been staying that night, and also instructed Bridget to clean the windows. As the maid went out to the barn for the water pale, Abby climbed downstairs at about 9:30 AM, only to return to the guest room with fresh pillowcases.

A sudden, yet eerie silence fell over the house...

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: A Father Returns

One hour later, Bridget was finished cleaning the outside windows, after which she proceeded back inside. Mr. Borden arrived at 10:45 AM, which had prompted Bridget's immediate attention to unlock the screen door. Lizzie came downstairs and told them both, "Mrs. Borden has gone out — she had a note from someone who was sick." After retrieving his key from the kitchen, her father had ambled up the back staircase, since Lizzie's and the guest rooms were the only ones that could be reached from the front steps.

No less than a few minutes go by before Mr. Borden returned to the first floor, discovering Lizzie pressing handkerchiefs wth a heated iron. Due to the illnesses associated with Bridget's stomach, plus the energy exerted on the morning chores, on top of the extreme heat of that morning, the maid had proceeded up the back staircase to her attic room feeling ill and in need of a nap.

Everything, besides that boiling weather and the mingling flu, seemed normal on the Borden residency. Almost too normal...

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: "Run!"

"Maggie, come down!"

This hollering commotion from the first floor had jarred Bridget into wakefulness. Upon standing and slipping her shoes on, Bridget asked in reply to Lizzie's scream, "What is the matter?" As she descended the back staircase, a chilling reply reverberated in response: "Come down quick. Father's dead! Somebody came in and killed him!"

Bridget rounded on Lizzie, who was pale as a ghost standing by the back door. Disallowing the maid entry into the sitting room, where Mr. Borden's body would later be identified, Lizzie demanded, "Don't go in there. Go and get a doctor. Run!" Bridget obeyed. She ran to the nearest neighbor's house, the Bowen's family, yet the doctor's wife had explained, upon the maid's arrival, that her husband was not present.

After returning to the Borden house, Bridget asked Lizzie, "Where were you when this happened?" The Borden daughter claimed she was outside in the yard when she heard a strange sound from within the house, adding: "The screen door was wide open." Her next task for Bridget was to reach the house of Miss Alice Russel's, which was only a few blocks away, and she of course complied.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Media Frenzy

As the Borden house lawn grew steadily with the foot traffic of nearby neighbors, a call was dispatched to the police by 11:15 AM. Coincidentally, Fall River Police Department's annual picnic was taking place at Rocky Point that same day, which left the murder crisis into the hands of only acting responder, George W. Allen, who ran 400 yards to reach the house.

Meanwhile, Lizzie was approached by one of their neighbors, Mrs. Adelaide Churchill, at the back entrance of the Borden household. The following conversation took place:

LB: "Oh, someone has killed father!" AC: "Where is your father?" LB: "In the sitting room." AC: "Where is your mother?" Lizzie explained how her stepmom had left on account of some note from a sick person, even hypothesized that she could have possibly be killed, too. She also added: "...Father must have an enemy, for we have all been sick, and we think the milk has been poisoned."

When officer George Allen had arrived at the scene, he merely checked on Andrew Borden's body, then rushed back for the station to alert the city marshal. He left the crime scene without any form of supervision, which led neighbors to overrun the house in trying to comfort Lizzie, as well as get a look at the mangled corpse of the once so popular business tycoon. This swarm of mingled foot traffic led to the destruction of most evidence and leads that quite possibly still could have been found at the house upon the body's discovery.

Unfortunately, we'll never know. The following events may give us enough clues, or at least a direction of where this murder investigation was headed.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Medical Examinations

Around 11:40 AM, Dr. Bowen had finally appeared with Bridget in tow. He immediately went to work examining the gruesome remains of Andrew Borden. He asked for a sheet to cover the body with, because Mr. Borden's injuries were so extensive that even Dr. Bowen, one of Andrew's closest friends, could barely identify him. The doctor noted that the damage was dolled out with a sharp object, most likely a hatchet, for a total of 11 blows to the homeowner's face. One eye had been cut in half and his nose was severed. Blood had coated the picture hanging over the couch where his body was found, in addition to the accompanying floor and walls. The hypothesis first held by Dr. Bowen, upon these initial discoveries, was that the attack had come from above and from behind as he was sleeping.

Sometime after this, Lizzie told the group she was "positive" that the noise she heard from upstairs belonged to Mrs. Borden. No one had seen her that day, besides Bridget and Lizzie. The Borden daughter then demanded of Bridget to go upstairs and check on her stepmom, however their now petrified maid was too fearful to go alone, so Mrs. Churchill volunteered to tail her. They discovered Abby Borden in the upstairs guest room, facedown, surrounded by a dark pool of her own blood.

Dr. Bowen's proceeding examination of Mrs. Borden's body uncovered that she had been struck 19 times in the face. Abby's blood, he later explained, was too congealed and dark to have happened following Mr. Borden's attack, which meant she was killed prior to his arrival from downtown. Officer George Allen had already came and went by this time, and in the following 30 minute span with no authorities, county medical examiner Dr. Dolan happened upon the Borden house by chance. He assisted with the autopsies, gave Lizzie a tranquilizer, and even sent the milk to Harvard Medical School to a test for any poisons. Dr. Bowen sent a telegraph to Fairhaven in the meantime, alerting Emma Borden of the current situation underway at her home.

For Dr. Bowen's extremely close ties with the family, in addition to his continued assistances on the day of the murders, many theorists aimed their fingers of suspicion his way, though no evidence has ever proven these ranging ideas to wield any truth. No investigation was ever put forth by authorities into the context of Dr. Bowen's assistances or actions on the day of August 4th, yet one interesting piece of note did come upon Dr. Dolan's inquest:

The milk came back with zero traces of poison.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: An Open-Shut Investigation

The investigation that proceeded after the discovery of the bodies was anything but a slam dunk. It had been riddled with not only a litany of errors, an example of which can be extrapolated from officer Allen's incompetence in leaving the crime scene unsupervised, but was also plagued by a string of inadequacies and unanswerable questions. What had remained by the third day of the the unfolding investigation was an uncharacteristic suspect, Lizzie Borden, whose mere suspicion went against the very social standards of the era.

Though, and this is the kicker, enough of the clues that were discovered in those following days were indistinguishable in displaying Lizzie Borden as the killer. Most clues pointed out something that authorities could not aptly investigate, like one boy's eye witness account of an unidentifiable man hanging around the Borden property. He was subsequently found and questioned, only to have a rock solid alibi. Another such clue that led nowhere was the discovery of a bloody hatchet on the Sylvia Farm, which ended up being merely chicken remains. Over the years, Lizzie's gnawing suspicion was evidenced through the additional weight of the possible assistances she could have had from other characters, such as Bridget Sullivan or even her uncle, John Morse.

For these reasons, and many more, a circumstantial investigation into the possibility of Lizzie Borden's guilt was taken into effect by the 7th of August, rendered possible by the following bits of discovered and uncovered information...

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Day Prior

On August 3rd, in the morning of the day before the murders took place, Abby approached Dr. Bowen at his home to discuss her and her husband's violent strike of illness the prior evening. Bowen dismissed it as nothing too serious, and he would even check on Andrew later that same day, however Mr. Borden was rather ungrateful and lacked any niceties, telling Dr. Bowen that no payment would be met for his unsolicited drop-in. Remember that the following autopsy reports showed no evidence of poison being in either body, plus the milk that Dr. Dolan sent to Harvard Medical School was analyzed as being free of poison, too.

An interesting piece of information to note in accordance with these findings is how Lizzie had tried to buy $10 worth of prussic acid from Eli Bence at Smith's Drug Store. Her reasoning for this particular purchase, as she explained to Bence, was "to kill moths in a sealskin cape," but the storeowner would not sell her the poison without a prescription. Others would later attest to having seen her, but Lizzie forever would deny these accusations and claimed that she was not at Smith's that day.

John Morse arrived early that same afternoon. Though he planned on staying the night, Lizzie's uncle had no form of luggage whatsoever, and when later questioned about the ordeal, both John and Lizzie had denied ever seeing each other despite being in the same home for well over twenty hours together.

That evening, Lizzie went to visit her neighbor Alice Russel, who later testified that her friend was agitated and concerned over some threat to her father. Alice relayed this one statement apparently made by Lizzie, "I feel as if something were hanging over me and I cannot throw it off."

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Day Of

On the day of the murders, Abby Borden was supposedly murdered around 9:30 AM, meaning that if the killer was anyone but Lizzie or Bridget, than he or she would have had to be concealed within the Borden home for at least an hour. Lizzie's supposed note, for which she gave as reason for her stepmother's initial absence, was never found and Lizzie later claimed to have "inadvertently burned it."

Upon arrival, Andrew Borden was let in by Bridget, on account of the front screen entrance being fastened from the inside by three locks. As she was letting Mr. Borden back into the house, Bridget testified to have heard Lizzie laughing from upstairs. Lizzie, of course, denies these allegations and insists that she was in the kitchen, where her father would have gone anyway to retrieve his keys.

Later into the day of the murders, four individual hatchets had been discovered in the Borden home basement. One of them had blood and hair, however this was only the remains of a cow, and the other three were rusted and dusty. There was a single ax that was covered in ash and missing its handle, taken into evidence, though no other information is added in reference to the weapon.

Officers asked Lizzie where she had been during the murders, and her alibi was that she had been in the barn loft outside. When the officers investigated this lead, they found the barn in a state of disuse — the floors were covered in thick dust, meaning no one had been within for quite some time, let alone that same day. Deputy John Fleet questioned Lizzie about who may have committed the attacks, yet her only answer was that it could have been a man her father had gotten into an argument with a few weeks prior. The deputy went on to ask if either Bridget Sullivan or John Morse could have been the murderer, however Lizzie said no (since John had left before 9 AM and Bridget had been asleep), adding with both emphasis and sustain that Abby had been her stepmom.

This seemingly mundane exposition, on top of her lies and sequestered actions, gave authorities a display of her premised involvement. Though police may not have had any foolproof evidence or an immediate clue of any kind, specific rumors and compiled accusations surrounding Lizzie eventually made Fall River police department revamp how they went about this unusual murder case.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: A Town in Flames

As the investigation continued into August 5th, local newspapers printed up the article and created a mass stir within the town. On top of the fact that Mr. Borden was a wealthy and popular citizen, the creepiness of their murders was enough to make anyone freak out, plus the killer (or killers) was still out there. That same day, as Eli Bence was questioned by police at Smith's Drug Store, Emma and Lizzie hired their father's attorney, Andrew Jennings, to assist them in the aftermath of their parents' deaths.

Saturday, August 6th, was meant to be the day of the Borden's funeral. However, police appeared at the burial site and informed the reverends that Mr. and Mrs. Borden's bodies were needed for another autopsy. For that reason, their skin and heads were removed, of which a plaster casts were made of their skulls. Interestingly, Mr. Borden's head never made it back to his coffin, and to this day his body remains headless in eternal sleep.

On the morning of August 7th, Alice Russel caught Lizzie burning a dress in the kitchen stove. Alice told her, "I wouldn't let anybody see me do that, Lizzie," but Lizzie claimed there was dried paint all over it and the dress had no value.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: In Chains

This testimony by Alice Russel alone allowed for Judge Blaisdell of the Second District Court to charge Lizzie with murder. The only testimony ever given by Lizzie was at her inquest hearing, and because of these records having been lost, no one will ever know what she had to say. Lizzie was arraigned the following day, relaying the fact that she was "not guilty" of the charge, and was escorted to a secure female facility, Taunton Jail.

The preliminary hearing was held before Blaisdell. Lizzie did not testify, however Andrew Jennings did enter her words from the inquest into evidence. Judge Blaisdell, without much else but a fine sense of conviction, declared her probable guilt and sent the case to the Grand Jury. Led by persecutor Hosea Knowlton, a reluctantly-garnered position handed down to him by his superior, led the Commonwealth with their presentation to the Grand Jury. Never performed in the history of Massachusetts law, Knowlton invited Andrew Jennings to present a case for the defense, in effect setting in motion an actual trial before the three paneled Grand Jury.

This form of trial is oftentimes represented by future theorists and historians as a chance for a dismissal of the case. By December 1st, 1892, Lizzie Borden was charged with three counts of murder: an individual charge for each killing, plus a combined one in totality of the event. The trial, which would span over the course of 14 days, was set to begin on June 5th, 1893.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Trial & Tribulation

News filled the papers all over the country, creating a widespread media frenzy under the title of the hatchet murders of Andrew and Abby Borden. More so for the fact that the accused was a woman and one of the victim's own daughters, the Borden family murder grew like wildfire in both popularity and attention. Everyone, far and wide, wanted to know the horrid secrets still withheld beneath the surface of this mesmerizing case. After one day of jury selection, which had garnered a set of 12 middle aged farmers and tradesmen for the trial, the prosecution spent the next seven days slowly revealing their case evidence and subsequent witnesses.

It's important to note that Hosea Knowlton had been pressured into his position by Arthur Pillsbury, who's race in the following election could very well have been jeopardized by Lizzie's string of supporters, which were women's groups and religious organizations from around the country. Pillsbury assigned District Attorney of Essex County, William Moody, to assist Knowlton in the suddenly notorious murder trial. It was Moody who gave the opening statements to the prosecution, basing them around three ulterior concepts of Lizzie:

First, he gave mention of her predisposition in murdering the father and stepmom, of whom had shared a relationship with the daughters that was anything but close and loving. Next, Moody gave precise outlines on how Lizzie had not only planned these murders, but had carried them out without restraint. Finally, by of way of exemplifying Lizzie's lack of truthfulness, inconsistent statements, and contradictory behavior, Moody alluded to her involvement, from the onset of the bodies' discovery, as being one that had not emulated the likes of an innocent mourner.

From a compilation of eye witness testimonies, which had given hard proof of Lizzie's detest for both her stepmom and father's frugality, the prosecution had lived and breathed within the fire of Lizzie's supposed intent. Though no singular force or form of evidence illuminated, for a fact, that Lizzie had actually committed the murders, a string of rumors and confided sentiments were strung together in the hopes of creating a guilty verdict in the jury's eyes. As such, John Morse himself was called to testify for the prosecution, in which he hinted at a conversation shared in confidence between him and Mr. Borden on adapting his will so as to accommodate Abby.

Suspiciously, though, this statement had later been rescinded. Any direct quote, reference, or indication into the concept of Mr. Borden's changing of estate is now left solely to the imagination. And, quite possibly, with the ill-tempered spirits that still roam this plain of reality.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Blind Witnesses

Though the eyewitness testimony of Alice Russel led to the plausibility of Lizzie's guilt, specifically in clarifying how the Borden daughter did not have a single drop of blood on her at any given point during the day of the murders, the fact had still remained that Alice merely saw here burning a dress in the oven. As suspicious and odd as this may have at first seemed, no more than speculation could have been wrought from the seemingly blatant clue. Why? Because the 'burning dress' suggested that Lizzie had changed clothes amid the murders, but two objections arise from this development: one, what was she wearing in the hours between the murders, and two, wouldn't someone have noticed not only a dress covered in blood, but that Lizzie had sometime recently changed clothes?

A coalescence of theories on these supposed 'missing' bloodied rags have since been expounded upon in the years following her trial. Some of the ideas have gained traction more than others, though no solidified proof has ever been rendered. One such concept centered on the fact that Lizzie could have worn a smock at the time of the murders. This seems unlikely, given the fact that neither a discarded dress nor smock was ever found by the authorities. A second theory suggests that Lizzie could have been naked, yet this has been widely disapproved, since Victorian women would have never appeared before their father in a state of nudity — even if they were to murder him. Plus, Lizzie had zero time to bathe and change in the small excess of time between Abby and Andrew's individual attacks.

On June 10th, the prosecution attempted to enter into evidence Lizzie's initial testimony from the inquest meeting back in mid-August, 1892, however the defense claimed that she had not been formally charged at that time. As such, following a weekend-long debate between both legal teams, Lizzie's contradictory inquest testimony was excluded from the three panels of judges. Eli Bence, Smith's Drug Store clerk, was next for the prosecution, taking the stand on June 14th. His words, however, were no sooner thrown into the ether when the defense had objected to his testimony on the grounds of it being prejudicial and irrelevant. This ruling was subsequently sustained by the judges and passed into order. Lizzie's attempt to buy poison, plus her possible cover-up of evidence in the burning dress incident, were both erased from the proceedings, as if never having happened in the first place.

The prosecution called the medical examiners as witnesses, and Dr. Dolan had produced Mr. Borden's head to show what damage had been inflicted upon the corpse at the time of the attacks. These proceedings, of course, would have adverse effects on the jury, as the defense simply used these testimonies as points of major interest in Lizzie's favor. The most essential of these testimonial redistributions was the fact that whoever committed the murders would have had to be dowsed in blood.

No one could prove whether Lizzie had or had not been covered with blood, which basically led the prosecution into a wall of pilfered, unaccountable nonsense, leaving Lizzie's future in the sole hands of her legal defense.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Two Day Defense

By this time in the trial, the prosecution's initial sense of victory had been fading, and fast. The knockout testimonies of Alice Russel, Eli Bence and John Morse were all, in more ways than one, tarnished by legal maneuvers of the defense, as well as the prosecution's misappropriation of facts to the jury panel. The rumor of Andrew's change in will, plus Lizzie's attempt to buy poison from Eli Bence and her 'burning dress' incident, had faded from the jury's minds. The 12 person panel had few illuminating examples of hostility to maintain Lizzie as the primary suspect.

The defense had successfully loosened the prosecution's grip over the murder trial. In only two days, Andrew Jennings and George Robinson, who had little legal expertise yet was still beneficial to the case, offered a slew of witnesses who either corroborated Lizzie's story or provided alternative possibilities to the identity of the true killer. One such example includes the testimony of a passing ice cream peddler who saw a woman leaving the barn, presumedly Lizzie. Another passerby testified to having seen a "wild-eyed man" about the house at the time of the murders. The defense had called upon innumerable witnesses who all mostly pointed out or suggested the sight of a mysterious young man in the vicinity of the Borden home, however these claims were never properly explained.

One of the most interesting of testimonies belongs to Mr. Joseph Lemay, who had claimed to be walking through the woods 12 days after the murders. He explained he had heard someone crying, "Poor Mr. Borden! Poor Mrs. Borden! Poor Mrs. Borden!" When Mr. Lemay had peered over the wall that was separating him from these sounds, he saw a man sitting in the dirt with blood stains on his shirt. According to the eyewitness, the man picked up a hatchet and proceeded to shake it at Mr. Lemay, before he darted off into the woods and disappeared forever. Not much in the form of credibility has ever been associated to this recounted tale, though it does beg the question of a possible outside force as being the murderer, which is exactly what the defense needed.

Emma, too, had been called upon as a witness to dispute the charges wrought against her sister. She cited the facts, consenting that there were no motives to back up Lizzie's profile as murderer of her father and stepmother. Lizzie and Emma remained side by side for the entirety of the case and trial period, though a prison matron did testify that the sisters had engaged in an argument during one of Emma's in-house jail visits. Nothing more was added in reference to the Borden sisters or their relationship during the trial, yet a rift would sever their ties in the years following the trial's wake.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Aftermath

George Robinson delivered a spellbinding closing argument on June 19th, 1893. Knowlton followed him for the prosecution, and when he finished his statements on the following day, Lizzie was given permission to speak on her behalf. It was the only time throughout the entire trial period wherein she had been given a voice of her own and she merely told the court, "I am innocent. I leave it to my counsel to speak for me." That same day, on June 20th, the panel of jurors needed only an hour of discussion before they finalized their verdict of "not guilty" on all three charges.

Personal opinion by this point in time held an accord that both the police and the courts had persecuted Lizzie Borden for long enough. Five weeks after being cleared of all three murder charges, Lizzie moved into a 13 room home with her sister, the both of whom had purchased with the massive turnout from their father's estate. Situated on "the Hill," Fall River's most fashionable area of residency, 306 French Street became known as "Maplecroft," which Lizzie had herself etched into the top step leading into the massive home.

Though things had grown eerily silent and questionably stagnant after Lizzie's acquittal, nothing more had surfaced in reference to the identity of Mr. and Mrs. Borden's ax-wielding murderer. A string of occurrences in the years following the trial's end did, however, strike some illumination into the matter of this vacancy. In 1897, Lizzie had been suspected in the theft of two paintings from the Tilden-Thurber store in Fall River, but no subsequent charges were ever filed, leading most to believe the case had been settled privately.

In 1904, Lizzie — going by the refashioned name of 'Lizbeth' — met Nance O'Neil, who was an extremely attractive and well-known actress. The two had grown inseparable and an affair had soon sprouted, lasting nearly two years. Around the same time, Lizzie and Emma had stopped talking. Why? No one knows, and no one will ever know, but chances are the two sisters had a falling out in the news of Lizzie's affair with Nance O'Neil. Emma had moved to Fairhaven, where she stayed with the family of Reverend Buck for some time, before saddling off to Newmarket, New Hampshire, in 1915.

From there, the case spirals off into an abyss of uncertainty, given life still to this very day through the powers of debate, theoretical investigation, and the timeless expanse of truth. When all the black tape and misinformation is finally removed from this case, it becomes clear that something much more foul and sinister lurks beneath the unknown. And, what makes this case such a whirlpool of sadness and curiosity, is the indefinable feeling one receives when reading about these seemingly conspicuous clues all pointing to what, I'm afraid, we may never quite know for sure.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Theoretical Disclosures

Left solely to the imagination of a century's worth in thought, Lizzie Borden's story remains an unsolved investigation and an instant classic among the annals of American crime. Diving right in, let's take that aforementioned question for a run of its money: Did Lizzie murder her parents and get away with it?

Let's look at it this way, the plausibility of Lizzie having committed the murders is, in all actuality, both high and low. On one side of the debate, Lizzie is by far the only acceptable culprit, for a myriad of reasons that can be listed as follows; strain toward her stepmom, father's frugality with personal finances, possible changes in his will, likewise consumption of that unabridged will's relinquishing estate, disliking of Borden family home, miscellaneous family secrets (which will be revealed shortly), and even the appropriation of state-wide fame.

Most probable, or at least admittedly speculative, is that Lizzie did in fact kill her parents and got away with it. This concept is the most popular frame of reference taken in the innumerable list of works that were published before 1940. These detailed accounts debate the facts and call into question the nature of poor court proceedings preceded by an even more lackadaisical police investigation. However, despite what many want to believe and the evidence that had been compiled against her, Lizzie's classification as the murderer is extremely difficult to prove. For Lizzie to have murdered her parents, she would have had to carefully plan Abby's attack in the guest room, then wait patiently for the opportune moment to strike her father in the downstairs sitting room, all while interacting with Bridget and maintaining a somewhat sensible nature, which can be tested to an extreme point if pitted with the recent demise of a loved one, doubled if it's attributed to your own doing.

These facts also give heed to the inconsistencies with Lizzie's speculation, in that the 'blitz' style of the murders associates some sort of a wild frenzy as portrayed by the killer. It is highly improbable that Lizzie, after being in such an angry rush at the time of each attack, would have been able to so easily iron handkerchiefs, attend to household duties, and carry on a conversation with the maid even during the 'cool down period' between murders. There's also that unquestionable nonexistence of a bloody dress. If Lizzie had actually committed the murders, then what happened to her bloody clothes? Yes, Alice Russel did catch her burning a dress in the kitchen stove, but this proves little with none of its remains to go by. Even so, wouldn't Bridget have noticed Lizzie's change of clothes, which would have happened twice in the same day?

Others have suggested that Lizzie went to the barn between murders, so as to wash off blood and to solidify an alibi. Though, the question remains, how did Lizzie clean the blood off her after Mr. Borden's subsequent murder? There are even those who feel that Lizzie, despite being the innocent and wrongly accused school teacher, may have still known the killer, or at least had some inkling of his/her true identity. From this grows more theories, newer concepts, and a whole long list of overarching considerations still left to explore, all of which out a myriad of varied combinations between the different characters involved among this case.

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Yawning Guilt

More than a century later and not one single clue has been overturned so as to put this haunting case to bed. What makes this unsolved mystery so eerie and interesting is the fact of its multiplicity in plausible theories, all of which neither have a foolproof answer, nor an accompanied piece of evidence to prove of even half its proposed hypothesis. Writers have given premises to a vast majority of possible players in this American crime story, some of which include Bridget Sullivan, Emma Borden, Dr. Bowen, John Morse, and even Lizzie's Sunday school students!

Over the past few years, writers have proposed that Lizzie and Bridget had planned the killings together. These concepts are pulsed by the possibility that Bridget, when running frantically off to Alice Russel's house upon Lizzie's instruction, had carted away both the bloody dress and hatchet, never to be seen again. This theory would also shed some light on the fact that both Lizzie and Bridget never once implicated the other in their testimonies concerning the day of the murders — as if their answers had oddly been prearranged. Lizzie may have even opted to pay Sullivan from the appropriation of her father's estate, yet no evidence of this has ever surfaced. Bridget Sullivan never worked for the Bordens again. She disappeared to Butte, Main, during Lizzie's trial and ended up dying there in 1948, leaving not one single clue as to the identity or whereabouts of the ax murderer.

Emma Borden, say a few conspiracy theorists, had crafted her own alibi with her claim of being 15 miles away in the town of Fairhaven. The theory posits that Emma arranged to be at her friend's place the night before the murders, but had unexpectedly returned to Fall River that same night, hiding upstairs to commit the murders herself, before escaping back to Fairhaven to receive Dr. Bowen's telegraph in time. Once Lizzie had been accused and put on trial, the Borden sisters worked together in protecting themselves from this plot set against them. However, years following the trial, Lizzie and Emma had a falling out concerning their father's estate, in addition to Lizzie's affair with Nance O'Neil. Neither one of them spoke to one another, or of the murders, ever again.

A final, more conspicuous theory can be pulled out of that impenetrable darkness and brought to serve in the light for some justice. This is one of the most contemplative and extensive conspiracy theories dealing with the Borden murders, and it considers a host of people that involved in the entire affair. It suggests that Andrew's illegitimate and slightly retarded son, named William Borden, was making aggressive demands of his father for an inclusion into the will. This could explain John Morse's rescinded testimony involving the conversation he shared with Andrew about the estate.

According to the hypothesis, Andrew had rejected William as family, and his illegitimate son angrily threatened him in return. The theory goes deeper in identifying key characters who may have manipulated the murder investigation to protect Andrew's dark secret. Plus, William could have made a claim against the family estate if his relation had ever been discovered. Thus, William's kinship, and possible suspicion, was then covered up by the likes of Lizzie, Emma, John Morse, Dr. Bowen, and even Andrew Jennings.

Unfortunately, as speculative as that theory may have at first seemed, whatever these truths may have offered, died with William Borden. Andrew's illegitimate son committed suicide only a few years following Lizzie's acquittal. Similarly, Lizzie's court case files and papers from the defense remain sealed within the hands of an appropriated law firm in Springfield, Massachusetts, never to see the light of day again.

The unlikelihood of this murderer's discovery appears extremely high, though it seems that his or her identity continues to strike into our imaginations still to this very day...

The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House: Paranormal Dreams

Seems lovely and quaint, right? Not this house.

A far more dramatic and sinister interpretation of the ax murders lives on in the form of this haunted home. Generations of stories surrounding the spiritual occupants of the house has long given insight into the ways in which the supernatural still lingers over the property. 92 Second Street, Fall River, Massachusetts. It is here where this split between reality and the ether reigns free. Years after the murder investigation and trial, the home itself had been converted into the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast Museum, wherein patrons could have the once in a lifetime experience of sleeping no more than a few feet from where Abby Borden had been axed to death.

Unsurprisingly, guests and staff have relayed some eerie and unexplained occurrences, most of which have taken place throughout the interior of the home. Past patrons have claimed hearing the sound of a woman crying in the hallways or upstairs. Meanwhile, others have witnessed a Victorian-dressed woman dusting furniture and straightening the bedcovers. This has oftentimes happened even with guests still in their beds. Even more claim to have heard footsteps up and down the staircase, or movement crossing back and forth in the hall. Doors spontaneously open and close. Muffled conversations can be heard within rooms known to be completely empty.

One lucky guest had an experience he will never forget. With his wife mulling about downstairs, this gentleman brought their luggage to the room. He claimed to have felt a strange presence from the moment he walked in, as if someone — or something — still lurked there. The room was especially clean; the bed was expertly smoothed out and everything else was put in their appropriate place. Despite the fact that he was alone and had gone nowhere near the bed, he noticed the sheets were rumpled in the time since he entered the room. The indents in the bed, plus the one pressed into the pillow, matched the shape of a human body. His wife would later find him pale faced in the downstairs sitting room, where he explained what had happened. Upon returning back to the room with her, both wife and husband found the bed remade and pillow fluffed.

It was the same room where Abby Borden had been found the morning of August 4th, 1892. Some might believe the house is certainly haunted by the aftershock of the Borden murders, though others will obviously disagree. It's hard facing these facts for most, and when it comes to the Fall River ax murders, it doesn't get any easier. With so little in the form of reputable facts, not much can be added to clarify what had happened here in this small Massachusetts town. Some will say it was a cover up, others a crime of financial means, and still fewer may contend with the fact of its eternal mystery.

Maybe it's a case of the living ghost?

This is what makes it so irresistible, imaginative, and thought provoking. Without unsolved mysteries, like the haunted Lizzie Borden house, there would be nothing quite as dark and twisted to craft on its own. The murders that haunt the Lizzie Borden house may still swirl within the confines of the home still to this day, though the answers to their unsolved case may never see the light, but for the aspirations still presiding among us.

Maybe we should ask those spirits for the answers.