[The following is in relation to the double axe-murders of Lizzie Borden in 1892. Context of Miss Borden, courtesy of Wikipedia: “Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman who garnered notoriety as the main suspect in the August 4, 1892, axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. Borden was tried and acquitted of the murders.” Here, we can see the moment where Lizzie ‘found’ the bodies.]
What is not in dispute is that on her [Lizzie’s] return she discovered what her principal defence lawyer, Mr George D. Robinson, would later describe as ‘one of the most dastardly and diabolical crimes that was ever committed in Massachusetts’. He went on to say: ‘inspection of the victims disclosed that Mrs Borden had been slain by the use of some sharp and terrible instrument, inflicting upon her head eighteen blows, thirteen of them crushing through the skull; and below stairs, lying upon the sofa, was Mr Borden’s dead and mutilated body, with eleven strokes upon the head, four of them crushing the skull.’
According to her testimony it was Andrew Borden’s body that Lizzie first ‘discovered’. He was still lying on the couch, his right cheek resting on a cushion, but due to his injuries he was virtually unrecognizable. Blood ran down his face, one eye was split almost in two and protruded from its socket, his nose was severed and there were in the region of eleven wounds to his face. His skull was mashed as if it were no stronger than the shell of an egg.
Confusion ruled. Lizzie started shouting for Bridget to come downstairs, after which she sent the servant rushing out to fetch the family doctor. There was blood on the walls of the sitting room and spots of it could be clearly seen on the carpet and on the sofa.
Source:
Klein, Shelley. “Lizzie Borden.” The Most Evil Women in History. Barnes & Noble Books, 2003. 15. Print.
Original Source Listed:
From transcripts of the closing arguments for the defence of Lizzie Borden.
Further Reading:
No comments, yet...