The Lizzie Borden Murder Case

• Lizzie Borden was accused of murdering her stepmother Abby and father Andrew on August 4, 1892, in Fall River, Massachusetts, when only she and the maid Bridget were home.

• Lizzie was 32 years old at the time of the murders, and her sister Emma was 10 years older; they lived with their father Andrew and stepmother Abby.

• Lizzie taught Sunday school, did volunteer work for charities, and loved animals; she and Emma called the maid Bridget "Maggie," possibly to avoid using a derogatory term.

• The family lived in a modest home on 92nd Street in Fall River, which had running water in the cellar, washroom, and kitchen, as well as a flush toilet in the cellar; Andrew had installed steam radiators and remodeled the home to make it more livable.

• Andrew Borden was a wealthy man who was described as frugal but generous with his money; he gave his daughters allowances, paid for their education and travel, and bought them handmade clothes.

• Lizzie and Emma wanted to be part of the high society crowd and experience arts and culture, but their father did not want to spend money on what he thought was unnecessary.

• Andrew's first wife, Sarah, died when Lizzie was 2 years old, and he married Abby 3 years later; Lizzie called Abby "mother" until 5 years before the murder, when she started calling her "Mrs. Borden."

• The family dynamic was strained, with Emma and Lizzie not being overly friendly with each other or their parents.

• On the day of the murders, Emma was away in Fair Haven, and the family had been sick possibly from food poisoning on Tuesday, two days before.

• Abby went to Dr. Bowen, worried that she had been poisoned, and the doctor visited the house but was rebuffed by Andrew.

• Eli B claimed to have refused the sale of pric acid to a lady who fit Lizzie's description, and he identified her as the poison shopper; however, defenders of Lizzie argue that the woman might have been one of John F. McCaffrey's spotters.

• John F. McCaffrey was the state inspector of milk and adulterated food, and he had several female agents working in Fall River, including Christina Stald, who was known as a spotter.

• Christina Stald was described as a small, neat-looking lady with small features, a sharp nose, and dark eyes, and did not resemble Lizzie.

• On the day before the murders, Lizzie, Abby, and Andrew had lunch in the dining room at 1:30 p.m.• John Mor, Lizzie and Emma's maternal uncle, arrives at the Borden house, where he had been living for the past year in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, with the Davis family.

• John Mor had been in regular contact with Emma Borden and occasionally received letters from Andrew Borden.

• John Mor claims he did not see Lizzie on his previous visits, including July 10th and August 3rd, and did not see her on the day of the murder, August 3rd.

• John Mor arrived at the Borden house unannounced, and he and Andrew talked about a farm Andrew had, discussing a potential person to take care of it.

• At 4:00 p.m. on August 3rd, John Mor leaves the Borden house to go to Swansea, and Andrew declines to join him, citing poor health.

• At 7:00 p.m., Lizzie goes to Alice Russell's house, a close friend, and confides in her about her fears of something bad happening, mentioning her father and stepmother's illness and concerns about poisoning.

• Lizzie also tells Alice about a man lurking around the house at night and a previous break-in during the day.

• Bridget also goes out that evening to visit her friends on Third Street, leaving the house around 7:00 p.m.

• John Mor returns to the Borden house around 8:30 p.m. and chats briefly with Abby and Andrew.

• Around 9:00 p.m., Lizzie arrives home but goes straight upstairs without speaking to her father or uncle.

• At 10:00 p.m., Andrew and John Mor go to bed, with Andrew staying in the guest room where Abby would be killed the next day.

• On the morning of August 4th, Bridget is the first to wake up, around 6:50 a.m., and starts her morning duties.

• At 7:00 a.m., Andrew goes downstairs, and he, John Mor, and Abby have breakfast together.

• After breakfast, John Mor and Andrew discuss cattle, and Abby does some dusting and chores.

• At 8:45 a.m., John Mor leaves the house to go to the Post Office and then visit his niece and nephew at Daniel Emory's place.

• At 9:00 a.m., Lizzie comes downstairs and goes to the kitchen, where Bridget is still cleaning.

• At 9:30 a.m., Andrew leaves the house to run errands, and Lizzie claims she was ironing or waiting for her irons to get hot.

• Between 9:30 and 10:20 a.m., Abby Borden is killed upstairs in the guest room.

• At 10:20 a.m., Bridget goes inside the house through the side door and begins washing the inside windows.

• At 10:40 a.m., Andrew arrives home but can't get in the front door, which has three locks and has been bolted.

• At 10:55 a.m., Bridget goes upstairs to fix her room and lie down.

• Lizzie tells the police that she left her father in the sitting room and went to the kitchen and then to the barn, where she picked up three pears and looked for lead sinkers for her upcoming fishing trip.

• At 11:15 a.m., Officer Allen is ordered to go to the Borden house, and he takes Mr. Sawyer with him.

• At 11:20 a.m., Dr. Bowen arrives at the house and finds Andrew's body.

• At 11:30 a.m., Dr. Bowen goes home to check the rail timetable and then leaves to telegram Emma to get her to come home.

• Mrs. Churchill and Bridget find Abby's body upstairs in the guest room.

• The police eventually arrive, and Dr. Bowen shows them Andrew's body.

• Officer Doty also heads to the Borden house.

• At 11:40 a.m., John Mor arrives back at the Borden house after visiting his relatives.

• He finds several policemen inside the house and estimates about seven or eight people in total.

• John Mor sees Lizzie in the dining room, who only then realizes that the Bordens had been murdered.

• Dr. Bowen suggests to Lizzie that she go up to her room to lie down, so she and Alice go upstairs.- Officers Harrington and Doy talk to Lizzy in her bedroom, where she mentions overhearing her father arguing with a man a few weeks prior, and again on the day of the murder.

Lizzy reveals that her father said, "I will not let my store be used for any such business" during the argument, but she did not see the man.
Officers find Dr. Bowen in the kitchen with scraps of paper, which he claims are nothing and relate to his daughter, but Officer Doy suspects they were addressed to Emma.
Dr. Bowen burns the papers, and Officer Doy notices Ash in the pot, suggesting more papers may have been burned.
Officer Hyde sees Lizzy and Alice go into the cellar, where Lizzy empties a pail, and then they go back upstairs; Lizzy returns to the cellar 15 minutes later, carrying a lamp.
Officer Hyde speaks to Alice about what he saw, but she claims she didn't know Lizzy went back to the cellar; Alice then shows Hyde a club she found under her bed, which may have belonged to a police officer.
Despite being a suspect, no blood is found on Lizzy, making it a perplexing aspect of the case.
Blood is found in several areas of the house, including on a marble slat, molding, and plaster with wallpaper.
A piece of wood from the West casing of the door leading from the dining room to the sitting room has a spatter of blood on it.
Officer John Riley arrives at the boarding house around 12:35 pm and sees Mr. Borden on the sofa with blood spots on the door leading to the parlor.
George Petty, who accompanied Dr. Bowen on his second visit, notes that Mr. Borden had been killed recently, as the blood was fresh and flowing.
Lizzy does not have any blood on her except for a small dot on her petticoat, which she claims is from a flea bite.
Andrew's prized Prince Albert coat is found under his head on the sofa, despite him typically hanging it up when he came home.
A letter to a local newspaper suggests that the coat may have been used as an apron to protect the killer's clothes, but it's unclear if Andrew was wearing it that day.
The coat was never entered into evidence and its whereabouts are unknown.
F. Edson finds wet towels with blood on them in the cellar, and Officer Medley finds blood-covered towels in a pail of water.
Lizzy claims the towels are from her menstrual cycle, but Bridget says she had never seen them before that day.
Two axes and two hatchets are found in the cellar, one of which has spots on the handle and appears to have been cleaned; however, none of the hatchets or axes test positive for blood.
Officer Fleet finds a hatchet with a missing handle in a box of tools in the cellar; the handle was broken off, and the blade was rusty.
The police believe this hatchet could have been the one used in the murders, but there are contradictions in their testimonies regarding the handle.
Alfred A. Smith, a 16-year-old boy, makes a statement about seeing a pair of bloody gloves and a hatchet outside the boarding house near the fence, which he stole and washed.