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How Lizzie Borden Got Away With Murder · Murder Files Unsealed

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  The Lizzie Borden murder case remains one of the most well known in American criminal
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  history, capturing the attention of the national press due to its brutality. Despite
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  popular belief, the details of the crime differ slightly from the famous rhyme associated
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  with it. The victims were Bordon's stepmother and father, not her parents,
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  and the weapon used was a hatchet, not an axe. The number of
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  blows inflicted on the victims was also different from what the rhyme suggests. The
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  murders, which occurred in quick succession on August fourth, eighteen ninety two,
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  shed light on the societal divisions in Fall River, Massachusetts, where the crime
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  took place. The case drew national interest due to the cultural, religious,
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  class, ethnic, and gender dynamics at play in the town. The lack
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  of a clear motive, the victim's social status, and the absence of witnesses
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  added to the mystery surrounding the murders. Andrew Borden, Lizzie's father, was
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  a prominent figure in Fall River, known for his wealth and investments in various
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  industries. Despite his financial success, he lived modestly, which was unusual for
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  someone of his stature. In the town. The police initially suspected that the
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  murders were committed by a man, likely a foreigner. However, shortly after
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  the crime, they apprehended a suspect, an innocent Portuguese immigrant from the town's
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  growing community of European laborers. Borden had internalized some of the city's prevalent nativism.
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  On the day of the killings, she stated that she had entered the
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  house from the barn and found her father's lifeless body. She called for the
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  Bordon's twenty six year old Irish maid, Bridget Maggie Sullivan, who was resting
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  in her room on the third floor. Bordon informed Sullivan that she required a
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  doctor and instructed her to go to the family physician's residence across the street.
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  Unfortunately, the doctor was not there. Borden then directed Sullivan to seek assistance
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  from a friend down the street. However, Borden did not send the maid
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  to the Irish immigrant doctor who resided next door. This doctor had an impressive
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  educational background and was the city physician of Fall River. Borden also did not
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  seek help from the French Canadian doctor who lived behind the Bordon's house. Only
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  a doctor of Yankee descent was acceptable. These social divisions initially shielded Borden from
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  suspicion. She was, after all, a Sunday school teacher at the affluent
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  Central Congregational Church. Individuals from her social circle could not fathom that someone like
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  bordon could be capable of murdering her parents. However, Borden's responses to different
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  police officers changed during the interrogation, and her failure to produce a single tear
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  raised suspicions among the police. It was then discovered that Borden had attempted to
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  buy deadly prussic acid from a nearby drug store a day before the murders.
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  Five days following the homicides, a formal inquiry was held by the authorities.
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  Borden appeared as a witness during all three days of the inquest. This was
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  the sole occasion where she provided testimony in court under oath. In addition to
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  the numerous discrepancies gathered by the police, Borden's statements seemed to implicate herself further.
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  She did not have legal representation during the closed investigation. However, there
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  were individuals who who supported her. The family physician, a firm believer in
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  Borden's innocence testified that he had prescribed a double dose of morphine to aid her
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  sleep after the murders. He argued that the side effects could explain her confusion.
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  Emma Borden, her forty one year old sister, who resided in the
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  same household, stated that there was no animosity between the sisters and their stepmother.
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  Despite these claims, the police inquiry and statements from family and neighbours to
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  the press suggested otherwise. On the day of the killings, with Emma away
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  on a trip fifteen miles from home, Borden and the maid Sullivan were the
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  only individuals present with Abby after Andrew departed for his morning errands. Sullivan was
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  outside cleaning windows when Abby was murdered in the guest room on the second floor.
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  Andrew was attacked in the sitting room on the first flaw upon his return,
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  while the maid was resting in her attic quarters. Due to inconsistencies in
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  Borden's alibi, the judge, district attorney, and police chief concluded that she
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  was likely guilty. Borden was apprehended by authorities on August eleventh, a week
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  after the murders. She was remanded to the county jail by the judge.
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  This affluent suspect found herself confined to a blique nine point five by seven point
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  five foot cell for the subsequent nine months. Furthermore, armed with her father's
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  wealth, Borden was able to enlist the services of a top notch legal team
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  to defend her, which included a former Massachusetts governor who had appointed one of
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  the three justices presiding over the case. This justice delivered a bias charge to
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  the jury, described by a major newspaper as a plea for the innocent.
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  The justice took other actions that hindered the prosecution.