Lizzie Borden had, what seemed to others, a life that was fairly normal. The city of Fall River, Massachusetts, was, and is, full of Bordens. The Bordens were among the area's first settlers. Some branches of the family prospered, while others did not. Andrew Borden, Lizzie's father, was the son of a fishmonger, who was born on the less fortunate side of the family. He dedicated his entire life to changing this situation, and succeeded handsomely(Meganet, 1998). He accumulated enough money to invest in real estate and banks and became quite a wealthy man by the standards of his time(Crimelibrary, 1998). Many self-made men prefer to keep a firm grip on their hard-won riches. However; Andrew took this particular tendency to such an extreme that he was a local legend, and not a very popular one

About this time, Uncle John Morse returned, strolling into the backyard, picking some

Miss Emma Borden, who had been visiting a friend in Fairhaven, returned home Thursday evening, after being summoned by the news of the crime. Emma had the perfect alibi, any idea of her being the murderer was definetly out of the picture (Kent, 51). The morning after the tragedy Lizzie and Emma put out a reward for $5,000 for the person or persons that killed Andrew J. Borden and his wife (Porter, 34).

One possible theory that could explain what might have drove Lizzie to murder her parents, is that perhaps the paradox of having wealth but the appearance of poverty might have driven Lizzie to develop two personalities to cope with this contradiction. The mind of Lizzie Borden seems have held two entirely different personalities. While one kept awake with one eye open, the other, deep inside her, slept. Lizzie appears to be both a deadly daughter and a harmless church going spinster (Meganet, 1998).

There seems to be quite a bit of evidence that seems to point in the direction of Lizzie Borden's innocence. The lack of blood was one of the greatest sources of speculation in the murders. Inside the house 5 officers spent 3 hours looking at everything for blood and they found nothing. The absence of blood so soon after the murder weighed heavily in her favor during the investigation. A spotless appearance would be almost impossible if she did commit the crime. According to Mrs. Churchill, "I stood in front of her, rubbing both her hands and fanning her, and I did not see any blood on her hands or on her face, nor any disarrangement of her hair"(Meganet, 1998).

It is almost certain that if the technology of today was available to those investigating the Borden murders, the final outcome might have been a little different than how it turned out over a century ago. The story will remain forever unfinished. Perhaps Lizzie was the only person who knew the truth. Perhaps not.

Upstairs, Deputy Marshal John Fleet questioned Lizzie, asking her if she had any idea of who could have committed the murders. Other than a man with whom her father had had an argument a few weeks before, a man unknown to her, she knew of no one. When asked directly if Uncle John Morse or Bridget could have killed her father and mother, she said that they couldn't have. Uncle John had left the house at 8:45, and Bridget was upstairs when Mr. Borden was killed. She pointedly reminded Mr. Fleet that Abby Borden was not her mother, but her stepmother.

when her father came home. Mr. Borden, who had kept his and Mrs. Borden's bedroom locked since a burglary the year before, took the key to his bedroom off the mantle and went up the back stairs. Lizzie set up the ironing board and began to iron handkerchiefs. For a few minutes more, Bridget resumed washing windows.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2930
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)