7.

L IZ Z IE BORDEN
did she murder her parents
On Thursday, 4 August, 1892,
Andrew Borden and his wife were found dead
in their home in the quiet, provincial mill town of
Fall River, Massachusetts, USA.
Some people said their daughter Lizzie had murdered them.
Others believed it was someone else.
Was it Lizzie?
Or could it have been someone else?
W hat do you think?
 The mystery

» W hat was one of the reasons

M Lizzie hated her stepmother?

A t 8.00 am , 4 A ugust, the d ay was already the hottest o f the year. In the d in in g
room o f their big w hite house on Second Street, m em bers of the B o rden family
w ere having breakfast. A t the table sat p ro m in e n t 70-year-old bu sin essm an
A n d re w Borden, his second wife, A b by a n d a b ro th e r-in -law of A n d re w ’s, J o h n
M orse. J o h n was m a n a g e r of one of the B o rd en farm s. A n d re w ’s two d a u g h te rs by
his first m arriag e, E m m a a n d Lizzie, were ab sent. E m m a was visiting friends in a
n e a rb y town.
Lizzie, a ra th e r u n a ttra c tiv e , inhibited, u n m a rrie d w o m a n of 32 h a d not yet
com e dow nstairs. Except for h er hobby, fishing, a n d h er p a rtic ip a tio n in chu rch
activities, Lizzie sp en t a lot of tim e alone, often up in h er room . A b o u t every four
m on ths she h ad w h a t h er family called ‘funny tu r n s ’. A t such times she did
peculiar, inexplicable things; she never re m e m b e re d these incidents afterw ards.
W e now realise th a t h er ‘funny tu r n s ’ w ere attack s o f epilepsy.
Lizzie disliked h er s te p m o th e r intensely, especially after A n d re w signed some
p ro p e rty over to his wife’s sister th a t his d a u g h te rs felt should be theirs.
A n d rew B orden was a person w ho enjoyed m ak in g m o ney b u t h a te d sp en din g
it. W h e n his d a u g h te rs asked him for m oney he alm o st alw ays tu rn e d th em down.
T h e B ordens were rich b u t they certainly did n o t live like people w ith money.
A n d re w also h ad the re p u ta tio n in Fall R iver o f being a very h a rd m a n in business
dealings; as a result, he h a d m a n y enemies.

P Why did the Bordens

B keep their doors locked?

T h e re was one o th er person in the house th a t torrid A u g u st m orning: Bridget, the

Irish m aid. Bridget was in the kitchen p re p a rin g to go o utsid e a n d w ash the
windows. She was q uite u n h a p p y a b o u t it. She did not feel well an d resented M rs
B o rd e n ’s orders to w ash the w indows. B ridget was not the only one w ho felt ill.
W ith the exception of Lizzie, everyone in the house h ad sto m ach trouble. T h e y
decided it was so m eth in g they h ad eaten the n igh t before.
T h e tim e was now 8.45 am J o h n M orse left the house to visit o th er relatives in
Fall River. A n d rew also d e p a rte d , h ead in g for the financial district.
Lizzie descended the stairs j u s t as her fath er w as going out of the front door. She
greeted B ridget b u t said n o th in g to h er step m o th er. A b b y clim bed the stairs to the
second floor bedro om s to m ak e the beds. B ridget w en t outside to w ash the
windows. She took the key to the kitchen d o o r w ith her. Since a ro b b ery two
m o n th s before the Bordens were extrem ely cautious a b o u t locking their doors.
Lizzie began ironing som e clothes. It was now 9.30 am .

According to Lizzie,
where was she when her father was killed?

A t 10.40 som eone knocked at the front door. B ridget, now w orking inside the
house, h u rried to see who it was. She h e a rd som eone lau g h b eh in d h er as she
struggled w ith the key. It was Lizzie, s ta n d in g on the stairs. A t last the m aid got
the d oo r open. T h e person on the o th er side was A n d re w Borden; he h a d forgotten
his keys.
As B ridget re tu rn e d to the kitchen, Lizzie cam e d ow n to the sitting room an d
told h er father, ‘Y o u r wife has gone out. She h ad a note from som eone w ho was
sick.’ A n d rew said th a t he, too, felt r a th e r weak a n d decided to stretch out on the
sofa an d take a n a p before lunch.
Lizzie w ent back to h er ironing. Bridget, w ho h a d finished w ash ing the
window s inside an d out, said she still felt ill. Lizzie told h er to go u p to h er room
an d rest until it was tim e to m ake lunch. As the girl clim bed to her small, hot,
third-floor room, she h e a rd the clock strike 11.00.
T e n m inutes later Lizzie called out from dow nstairs: ‘Bridget! C om e quick!
F a th e r ’s dead . Som ebody cam e in an d killed h im !’
T h e astonished m aid rushed dow n the stairs a n d found Lizzie s tan d in g by the
kitchen door. ‘Go across the street an d get D r B o w en ,’ she said. ‘R u n !’

pv Where was
Abby Borden?

W h en the do ctor arrived, Lizzie explained, ‘J u s t as I was re tu rn in g to the house

from the b a rn I h eard a loud groan. T h e kitchen d oo r was wide o p e n .’
T h e do cto r quickly exam ined A n d re w ’s body a n d discovered th a t the m a n had
been struck in the h ead eleven times w ith an axe. Being asleep, he never knew
w h at hit him.
Lizzie told Bridget to go to ask her friend Alice Russell to com e an d stay w ith
her. M eanw h ile, a n o th e r neig hb o ur, A d elaide C hurchill, h a d seen D r Bowen
en ter the house next do or a n d rushed over to find o u t w h a t h a d h a p p en ed . W h en
she asked w here A bb y was, Lizzie replied th a t she did not know. T h e n she ad d ed ,
‘B ut I believe I h eard h er com e in a sh o rt while ag o.’ She tu rn e d to Bridget, ‘Go
upstairs an d see.’
M rs C h urchill acco m p an ied the Irish girl. T h e y found A b b y B orden lying face
dow n on the guest room floor. She h a d been hit on the back of the h ead nineteen
times w ith an axe.
It was now 11.40, h a lf an h o u r after A n d re w B o rd e n ’s bloody, lifeless body h ad
been discovered in the sitting room. Policem en were alread y su rro u n d in g the
house and a crowd o f curious people h ad g a th e re d in the street. T h e news had
travelled fast.

p Why did Lizzie

t want to buy poison?

A b o u t this tim e J o h n M orse re tu rn e d from his visit across town. H e did a very
strang e th ing w hen he saw the crowd in the street: he w ent ro u n d to the back o f the
house an d b eg an eating pears from one o f the trees. As soon as he was told w h at
had h ap p e n e d , however, he w ent into the house. H e explained w here he h ad been
to the police, b u t they were not fully convinced. F or one thing, his m a n n e r was too
casual.
 T h e police m a d e a com plete search of the house b u t found n o th in g suspicious.
N o r d id they find a note asking M rs B orden to go to a sick friend. L a te r someone
rep o rted th a t a s tra n g e r h a d been seen n e a r the house earlier th a t m orning; he was
never seen again.
Lizzie was able to a cco u n t for every move she h ad m a d e th a t m orning; however,
the police considered h er to be their n u m b e r one suspect. Lizzie’s calm cool
m a n n e r u n d e r the horrib le circu m stances caused th em to be suspicious. In
add ition, she kept c o n tra d ic tin g herself.
T h e re was a n o th e r m a tte r th a t caused the police to suspect Lizzie. T h e day
before the m u rd e r she h a d gone to several shops trying to buy prussic acid, a
d eadly poison. She w a n te d it, she said, to kill m oth s in her fur coat. T h e shop
owners refused to sell it to her.
A ccording to Lizzie, she h a d been in the house all m ornin g, except w hen,
shortly after her fa th e r’s re tu rn hom e, she w en t to the b a r n to get some things she
needed for a fishing trip. T h e n , w h en she r e tu rn e d to the house, she discovered h er
fa th e r’s body.

p How long did it take

the jury to reach a verdict?

O n e week later Lizzie was arrested. T h e re was, how ever, no real evidence against
her. W h a t m otive did she have? She h ated her s tep m o th er, it is true, b u t not
enough to kill her. She ad o re d her father, so w hy w ould she kill him? F or his
money? She a n d h er sister E m m a w ould becom e rich the m o m e n t he died. W h a t
a b o u t Bridget, the m aid, a n d J o h n M orse, A n d r e w ’s b rother-in-law ? C o u ld n ’t
one o f th em have co m m itted the m urder?
T h e trial began on 5 J u n e , 1892, an d lasted ten days. A t first the public an d
press were anti-Lizzie B orden, b u t little by little they cam e ro un d. H o w could a
quiet, respectable, m a tu re w o m a n like Lizzie co m m it such a h orrible crime?
Finally the j u r y left the co u rtro o m b u t was out only one hour. W h e n they
re tu rn e d they delivered a v erdict of n o t guilty. T h e c o u rtro o m sud denly becam e
wild w ith cheers an d app lau se.
O n ce m ore life in Fall River becam e no rm al. T h e two B orden sisters, now th a t
they h ad th eir fa th e r’s m oney, b o u g h t a lovely big new house in the m ost
fashionable section o f Fall River. T h e y lived tog eth er in this beautiful, spacious
m ansio n for several years. T h e n they q u arrelled a n d E m m a m oved out, leaving
Lizzie all by herself in the e m p ty house. In 1927, Lizzie passed aw ay at the age of
67, alone a n d unloved.
T o d a y visitors to Fall R iver alm ost alw ays ask to see the old B orden house on
Second Street. ‘Did Lizzie B orden really m u rd e r her p a re n ts? ’ they ask. T h e
people of Fall R iver sim ply shake their h eads a n d say, ‘N o one will ever k n o w .’
P ro bably not, b u t on the o th e r h a n d , if Lizzie did n o t co m m it the m u rd e r, who
did?
 Comprehension check

Look back at the reading and find the information to fill the gaps in this paragraph.
Lizzie Borden’s father, a very rich man, h a te d __________ money. Lizzie thought
that h e r----------------- , Abby, had too much influence on Andrew Borden. That was
one of the reasons s h e _________ Abby. Once Lizzie asked her father for money
to entertain some church friends but A n d re w __________ her request. Lizzie
became furious when her fa th e r__________ some property to Abby’s sister; it
was supposed to go to Lizzie and her s is te r,___________ It is possible that when
this happened Lizzie had one of her attacks o f ___________ As a result, she may
have murdered her parents with a n ___________ T h e ___________ , during the trial,
brought in a __________ of not guilty, but was she really innocent? W e’ll never
know.

Language practice

1 Vocabulary
Here is some vocabulary from the text. You can deduce the meanings of these
words from their context in the reading. In the left-hand column are the words
from the reading; on the right are their definitions. Match the words with the
definitions. The first one has been done for you.

1 inhibited (/. 8) b a short sleep

2 stepmother (/. 14) b unable to express true feelings
3 torrid (/. 21) c sharp tool to cut wood
4 resented (/. 23) d twelve people who decide a law
5 nap (/. 43) case in court
6 barn (/. 53) e saying the opposite of something
7 groan (/. 53) said before
8 axe (/. 55) f decision made in a law case
9 contradicting (/. 83) g extremely hot
10 motive (/. 93) h deep sound made by someone in pain
11 jury (/. 101) i reason for committing a crime
12 verdict (/. 102) j later wife of one’s father
k farm building for storing things in
I disliked someone for something
he/she had done

2 Phrasal verbs
These phrasal verbs also come from the text. Match them with their definitions.

1 sign over (/. 14) a lie down

2 turned down (/. 17) b die
3 stretch out (/. 42) c refuse a request
4 come round (/. 99) d give rights with a formal document
5 pass away (/. 108) e agree after first refusing
3 Grammar: o rd e r of adjectives before a noun
Lizzie Borden was an unattractive, young, unmarried American woman.
Certain rules must be observed in placing adjectives in the correct order before a
noun. If there are determiners, such as as, the, that, my, etc., these will precede
other adjectives. Ordinal numbers (first, second, fifth.) come next, followed by
cardinal numbers (one, seven, fifty).
Then come all other adjectives. These, however, are the ones that cause
problems for students. A plan for these adjectives is helpful. With very few
exceptions, it is as follows:
(after 1, determiners: 2, ordinal numbers; 3, cardinal numbers)
4 quality words (of general description; they can go in any order in respect to
each other)
5 size (big, long)
6 age, temperature (old, hot)
7 shape (round, square)
8 colour (blue, green)
9 participle (spoken, running)
10 origin or location (Portuguese, western);
11 material (glass, metal)
12 noun used as an adjective (school, as in school teacher).
Luckily, not all categories are likely to be included in a sentence but those that
are usually follow this order, as in:
beautiful big old square grey repainted French stone school house
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112
Exercise
Put the adjectives in brackets in the correct order before the noun.
1 Abby Borden was a (grey-haired, round, short) woman.
2 John Morse was a (middle-aged, pleasant, tall) man.
3 Lizzie’s sister Emma was a (41-year-old, quiet, thin) woman.
4 Lizzie’s friend Alice was a (English, kind, little) lady.
5 George Robinson, who was Lizzie’s lawyer, was a (brilliant, persuasive,
likeable) man.
6 Bridget, the maid, was a (Irish, large, hard-working) girl.

Discussion

Your teacher will give you instructions on how to do this part of the lesson.

Writing

You are a neighbour of the Bordens, living opposite them on Second Street. It is
the afternoon of 4 August, 1892. You have been asked by the local newspaper to
write an article telling what you know about the crime.