An Unlikely Murderer
One would think that crimes with such a "gruesome nature" would be committed by "a hatchet-wielding maniac" as put by Russell Aiuto (1). But rather, the suspect was that of "a church-going, Sunday-school-teaching, respectable, spinster-daughter"(Aiuto 1). The young woman, Lizzie Borden, was charged with the killing of her father and stepmother, "a crime worthy of Classical Greek tragedy" (Aiuto 1). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to research the life and trial of Lizzie Borden in order to determine if she was innocent or guilty of parricide, the murder of one's parents. It was on the 19th of July, 1860, that in Fall River, Massachusetts Lizzie Borden was born (Radin 268). She grew up there alongside her father, Andrew Borden. He was a very prosperous man, starting out as the town's undertaker and ending up investing his profits into the textile industry. When Lizzie made it in to her teens, Mr. Borden was worth $500,000 (Paton 432). Being as prosperous as he was, he only had to places to spend his money: his two daughters, Lizzie and her older sister Emma (Paton 432). Andrew Borden also had a wife, Abby Borden. She was the stepmother of Lizzie and Emma and a hated one at that. Whenever Lizzie and Abby were together
The day of August 4th was a day that would make history. It started out normal. Emma was not in town, and there was a guest staying in the house, Uncle John Morse. Bridget Sullivan, the maid, was up with Uncle John as she did her daily chores. She stopped short, however, because of a sickness she had had recently (Paton 435). Then, with John gone into town and Bridget cleaning the windows, the murders happened. At 9:00 AM, Abby Borden was killed. With nothing more worse happening, Andrew Borden was then killed two and a half hours later, at 11:30 AM (Sams 1). There were 20 wounds from a sharp instrument on Abby and only 10 on Andrew (Paton 432). Radin, Beatrice H. "Borden, Lizzie Andrew." Encyclopedia Americana. 1994 ed. The last testimony, and perhaps one of the most damning, was of Inspector William H. Medley. He had gone up into the loft and said the only thing that was up there were his own footsteps lying in the dust (Sams 6). Alice's testimony was quite revealing, alongside with Emma. They stated that before there was the second search, Lizzie destroyed and burned a dress, saying "'Because it was all faded and paint-stained'"(Paton 436). Alice then later said that she no paint on the dress before Lizzie destroyed, then implying that it was not smart to let them see her burn it (Paton 436). in the house, which happened a lot, "the atmosphere was electric" (Paton 433). Abby was called Mrs. Borden, and Lizzie did not eat when Abby was around. Their relationship was so distant, that Lizzie only spoke to her when it was needed (Paton 433). Just because the trial was over, did not mean that it was forgotten. Books such as The Trial of Lizzie Borden, in which she was proclaimed guilty, and Lizzie Borden, The Untold Story, whereas she was found innocent. The case was also made into plays, a ballet, a musical revue, and an opera (Radin 268). But perhaps the most reknown one is the children's nursery rhyme, "Lizzie Borden took an ax/ And gave her mother forty whacks;/ When she saw what she had done,/ She gave her father forty-one" (Radin 268).
Some common words found in the essay are:
Lizzie Abby, Lizzie Borden, Bordens' Lizzie's, Abby Andrew, Abby Borden, Andrew Borden, Uncle John, Alice Russell, Fall River, Abby Sams, lizzie borden, paton 436, trial lizzie, paton 433, trial lizzie borden, lizzie abby, radin 268, abby borden, andrew borden, sams 2, paton 432, feb 4 2000, murder one's parents, yahoo feb 4, purpose paper research,
Approximate Word count = 1804
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
