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It's an amazing story. It really is.
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It's the story of one very unhappy family in a house.
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It is a morning like so many other mornings in
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a small town in New England.
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A father, a stepmother, living with his two adult daughters.
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Lizzie, 32, and Emma, 41.
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Lizzie was seen by the next door neighbor, and the
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neighbor asked, what's the matter? And she announces that her
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father has been killed.
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Law enforcement personnel arrived and found a gruesome murder.
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Two bodies, a lot of blood. There is a husband downstairs.
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Ten wounds to his head.
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And almost half of his face is obliterated.
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And just on the second floor was his wife. She
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was face down with a tremendous amount of injury to
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the back of her head.
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It seems like the most likely murder weapon was a
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hatchet with a three and a half inch blade.
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When someone is struck multiple times with a hatchet to
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the head, That's personal.
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You know, one of the most fascinating parts of this
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case is that except for around the bodies, there's no
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blood found anywhere.
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You would think that whoever was the perpetrator would be
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covered with blood, blood spatter. Nothing.
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Suspicion turned to the people in the house.
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And the only people in the house are his daughter
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and their housekeeper.
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It was.
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So shocking for the police to come to the conclusion
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that the daughter had killed her father and stepmother.
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You would have to believe that this sweet, seemingly harmless
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woman did this horrific thing.
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Women are as capable as men, not only for the good,
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but for the bad as well.
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On August the 4th, 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were
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hacked to death. in their Fall River, Massachusetts home.
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Every generation has that one really terrible case that we
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don't have any answers to.
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There is only one plausible explanation. Who do you believe
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killed Andrew and Abby Borden? Lizzie.
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Lizzie's responsible for these murders.
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It was Lizzie Borden who intended to murder and did
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murder Abby and Andrew Borden.
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It was not until I read about this case that
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I learned that I was wrong, and all.
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Of us are wrong.
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Lizzie Borden was acquitted, so no one has ever been
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held accountable for the crimes.
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But if not her, then who?
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This is somebody who may have quite literally gotten away
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with murder.
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Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother 40 whack.
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When she seen what she had.
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Done, She gave her father 41.
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The crimes were.
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So violent that many thought that Jack the Ripper had
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come to America.
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It was an unspeakable crime, a double homicide that captured
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the attention of the entire nation. Tonight on a special
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48 hours, we're taking a fresh look at a cold case,
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a really cold case. It occurred in 1892. and we're
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presenting it to a new jury to see if they
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can separate fact from fable. The defendant was a 32-year-old
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daughter of the victims. Her name, Lizzie Borden.
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I began studying Lizzie Borden when I was an undergraduate.
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Los Angeles author Kara Robertson has been living with Lizzie
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Borden for a long time.
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I was interested in trying to find a topic for
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my college thesis.
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Thirty years later, her thesis became this, a remarkably detailed
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look at the accusations against Lizzie Borden and her high-profile trial.
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Published by Simon & Schuster.
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Fundamentally, the case was about whether or not someone like
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Lizzie Borden could have committed these brutal crimes.
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And in 1893, a jury of 12 men agreed she couldn't,
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returning a unanimous verdict of not guilty.
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This was the kind of crime that was just could
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not have been committed by a woman.
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But despite being acquitted, time and popular culture has forever
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cast Lizzie as one of America's most notorious killers. So
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did she do it or not? To help get to
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the bottom of this mystery, we brought together a team
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of paid consultants, two extremely experienced lawyers. My name is
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Anastika Nicolazzi.
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I was a prosecutor for 21 years at the Brooklyn
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DA's office.
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My name is Matthew Troiano. I'm a criminal defense attorney
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in New Jersey.
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And equally seasoned investigators.
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My name is Erin Rubis, and I am a crime
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scene investigator and a former homicide detective.
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I'm Andrew Schweikart. I'm a criminalist at the New York
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City office of the chief medical examiner.
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I was sucked right in. I was sucked in from
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the perspective that this happened over 100 years ago.
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I think it's relevant now the same way it was
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relevant then, and it's just a fascinating story.
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That story begins here. Fall River, Massachusetts, 1892. Prominent local
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businessman Andrew Borden was wealthy but also frugal, choosing to
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live here with his second wife, Abby Borden, just a
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block from the center of town. The house is modest,
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even by 1890s standards, with almost no indoor plumbing or
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gas lighting.
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He was cheap. He was known to be at the
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extreme end of Yankee frugality.
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And we're coming up to the Lizzie Borden house. Wow.
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You can't analyze the crime without seeing where it all
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took place. So we brought crime scene investigator Erin Rubis here.
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What is important? What do you really want to see
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for yourself?
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I want to be able to take myself back into
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the crime scene based on what I've read. I want
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to be able to kind of put those pieces together
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that are missing.
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And she's able to do that because the house, oddly enough,
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so this is it, is now a bed and breakfast
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and restored in the style of the time. complete with
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actual crime scene photos.
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Here it is.
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And displays. To your left is a replica of Andrew
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Borden's skull. And to your right is Abby.
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I would definitely say that whoever did this, this was personal.
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This was a lot of anger and a lot of rage.
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Lizzie Borden is a fairly unremarkable woman. She was unmarried.
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She was active in her local church. Emma Borden is
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Lizzie Borden's older sister. Always played a bit of a
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maternal role with respect to Lizzie.
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Emma, at the time of the murders, had been out
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of town for two weeks visiting friends. And Abby Borden,
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how would you describe Abby Borden?
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Abby Borden, she's often cast in the story as the
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evil stepmother. But in fact, she may well have been
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the nicest person in the house.
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Which brings us to the late morning of August 4, 1892. Lizzie,
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standing at the side door of the house, tells her
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next door neighbor, Adelaide Churchill, that her father has been killed.
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And does the neighbor see any blood on Lizzie?
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The neighbor comes over directly and sees absolutely no blood.
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Nothing on her face, her hands, her clothing? Nothing.
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She seems perfectly presented.
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And this is how police found Lizzie's father, stretched out
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on the couch in the sitting room, bludgeoned to death.
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It's pretty brutal. I mean, his entire face is brutally
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bashed in.
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But what of Andrew's wife, Abby? Lizzie, sitting in the
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kitchen with that neighbor, Adelaide Churchill, offers an answer.
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She remarks that she thinks perhaps she heard her stepmother
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come in. At which point, Bridget Sullivan and Adelaide Churchill,
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the next-door neighbor.
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Go upstairs and find the body of Abby Borden.
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This right over here is where Abby Borden was found dead,
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face down.
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That scene is, if anything, more horrible. Abby suffered 19 blows.
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She's face down. Much of her, the back of her
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head has been hacked. You can imagine the pressure that
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was on the police to come upon a scene like that.
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The assumption at first was that it must have been
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a deranged outsider because the crimes were so shocking. But
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when it became clear that no one had been spotted
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in the vicinity, then suspicion turned to the people in
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the house.
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The house was triple locked in the front door, and
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the back door was locked, and the only door that
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could have been unlocked was the side door.
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They had to find a suspect. and they fastened upon
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Lizzie Borden as an obvious choice.
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She is the only one that could have committed these crimes.
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On Saturday, August 6, while Andrew and Abby Borden were
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being laid to rest, news of their murder was spreading
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far and fast.
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The brutality of the murders alone was enough to make
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this front page news across the country.
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At the same time, the Fall River Police Department was
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beginning its investigation. How would you describe the state of
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forensics in 1892? It was very primitive.
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I think in many ways it was the perfect time
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for somebody to potentially get away with a crime like this.
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Besides police, the Borden house was crowded with doctors, reporters, neighbors,
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and even several passersby.
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So anything really that was discovered at that crime scene
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was seriously compromised because we don't know when or by
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whom it was deposited.
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They take up pieces of carpet. They count blood stains.
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They search for evidence of blood on any clothing.
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What they find, though, are more questions than answers. One
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fact is clear. Abby was killed before Andrew.
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His death was so recent that his injuries were noted
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to have been oozing wet liquid blood. He was also
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warm to the touch. On the other hand, Abby, who
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was upstairs, had matted skin. coagulated blood, dark blood on
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her injuries. She was also cold to the touch.
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Five days later, during a police inquest, Lizzie gives her
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version of what happened that morning.
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Five people wake up in the Borden house. Andrew and
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Abby Borden, Lizzie Borden, the housemaid, Bridget Sullivan, and Lizzie's uncle,
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John Morse.
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Andrew's brother-in-law, John Morse, visiting from out of town, was
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staying in the guest room. This is where John Morse
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had stayed the night before.
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We know that John Morse left in the morning to
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go visit other relatives in a different part of town,
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and Andrew Borden walked into the center of town to
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visit some of the buildings that he owned. Abby Borden
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went upstairs to clean up the guest room.
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Lizzie says that she was in the dining room. She was.
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Actually ironing. And Bridget Sullivan was outside washing windows when
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about 9.30 in the morning, police believe Abby Borden fell
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to the floor, murdered.
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Abby Borden was a short woman, but she weighed about
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200 pounds.
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And did Lizzie hear anything at all?
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She claims not to have heard anything.
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According to Lizzie's testimony, Andrew returned home at 10.45, greeting
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both the housekeeper and Lizzie. and then retired to that
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sitting room to take a nap on the couch. According
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to the medical examiner, 45 minutes later, Andrew Borden was
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also dead.
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That was the opportunity right there. He's on that couch
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and he's sleeping. And there was your opportunity.
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Police were sure they had the when, but there was
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still the question of why? What was the motive? Lizzie
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may have given police that answer. during the inquest.
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Lizzie and her sister, Emma, both really desired to live
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a way better life, and they really resented their father
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for not providing that for them.
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Andrew decided essentially to bail out his wife's half-sibling by
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buying a house and putting it in Abby's name. And thereafter,
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you find that the house is a scene of a
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Cold War.
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Clearly, Lizzie was not happy that that house was going
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to go to her stepmother's sister.
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But enough to provide a motive for that kind of
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vicious killing?
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They were brutal.
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Certainly brutal enough to mark the perpetrator with evidence.
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I would think that there would definitely be blood on her.
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And yet....
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One of the most fascinating parts of this case is
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that except for around the bodies, there's no blood found anywhere.
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If, in fact, Lizzie Borden is the killer, how did
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she not have any blood spatter on her? Her neighbors
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said she was spotless. So where was the blood? Police
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searched the house and only found two instances of blood evidence,
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a minute spot on one of Lizzie's undergarments and a
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bucket of bloody cloths in the cellar washroom. Lizzie gave
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them a very personal explanation for both. She was menstruating.
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I think that was such a personal issue that, let's
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face it, who's going to challenge that?
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If we were to have that today, could we show, okay,
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is this Lizzie's blood or is it Andrew and Abby's blood?
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00:16:49.820 --> 00:16:54.659
Also puzzling and very suspicious... Lizzie's choice to burn a
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00:16:54.730 --> 00:16:59.129
dress in the kitchen stove the day after her father's funeral.
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Lizzie and Emma claimed that the dress had been stained
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with paint and it needed to be burned, and they
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00:17:05.210 --> 00:17:06.690
thought that was as good a time as any.
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00:17:07.329 --> 00:17:09.779
For me, the most valuable piece of evidence is the
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00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:13.759
dress that Lizzie burned. If she's responsible for this, it
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00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:16.079
would have blood from the victims on it, and that
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00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:18.299
would be very difficult for Lizzie to explain.
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00:17:19.019 --> 00:17:24.890
And with no dress, there was nothing to explain. It
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00:17:25.069 --> 00:17:30.569
seemed the more they looked, the less investigators found until
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00:17:31.549 --> 00:17:35.849
down in the cellar. It's in here that the hatchet
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00:17:35.890 --> 00:17:36.690
was found.
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00:17:36.710 --> 00:17:42.210
A particular hatchet head was found in a box of
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00:17:42.869 --> 00:17:43.930
abandoned tools.
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00:17:44.410 --> 00:17:47.730
It became known as the handleless hatchet and would be
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00:17:47.769 --> 00:17:50.509
a subject of debate for years to come.
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00:17:51.269 --> 00:17:54.420
It only had a piece of a handle. And according
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00:17:54.460 --> 00:17:56.619
to the police, it was a fresh break.
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00:17:59.180 --> 00:18:02.089
This particular hatchet head almost looked like it had been
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00:18:02.130 --> 00:18:04.390
deliberately covered with a layer of ash.
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00:18:04.930 --> 00:18:07.329
It's about three and a half inches of a cutting blade.
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00:18:08.210 --> 00:18:11.369
And that seemed consistent with the wounds on Andrew and
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00:18:11.450 --> 00:18:12.819
Abby's body.
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00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:15.980
She could have quickly rinsed off that hatchet head, thrown
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00:18:16.019 --> 00:18:18.779
it in a pile of ash to obliterate any lingering blood.
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00:18:19.210 --> 00:18:21.049
and then just tossed it in the cellar to make
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00:18:21.089 --> 00:18:22.670
it look like an old piece of junk.
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I mean, there are endless places in this house to
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00:18:25.750 --> 00:18:26.269
hide stuff.
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00:18:27.490 --> 00:18:31.329
If it was the murder weapon, police later discovered it
283
00:18:31.509 --> 00:18:34.410
might not have been Lizzie's first weapon of choice.
284
00:18:35.299 --> 00:18:38.240
Someone who was identified as Lizzie Borden tried to buy
285
00:18:38.339 --> 00:18:40.279
prussic acid the day before the murders.
286
00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:47.029
In 1892, prussic acid, a lethal poison, was only available
287
00:18:47.069 --> 00:18:48.710
with a doctor's prescription.
288
00:18:49.190 --> 00:18:52.029
The woman said that she needed it to put an
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00:18:52.210 --> 00:18:55.250
edge on a sealskin cape. And we know that Lizzie
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00:18:55.289 --> 00:18:57.650
Borden did in fact have sealskin capes.
291
00:18:58.210 --> 00:19:00.710
But the pharmacist said he never heard of it used
292
00:19:00.750 --> 00:19:03.210
that way and refused to sell it to her.
293
00:19:04.789 --> 00:19:07.869
And then because she was unable to get the poison,
294
00:19:08.029 --> 00:19:12.170
she turned instead. to a readily available household implement.
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00:19:13.650 --> 00:19:14.309
The hatchet.
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00:19:15.170 --> 00:19:15.690
That's right.
297
00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:21.720
It would seem the police came to the same conclusion.
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00:19:22.339 --> 00:19:25.279
At the close of the inquest, the chief of police
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00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:52.660
placed Lizzie Borden under arrest for murder. On June 5th 5, 1893,
300
00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:56.240
ten months after her arrest, Lizzie Borden sat in the
301
00:19:56.309 --> 00:20:01.289
Superior Court in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in this very chair
302
00:20:01.849 --> 00:20:03.269
on trial for murder.
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00:20:05.130 --> 00:20:09.690
The first day of Lizzie Borden's trial attracted a massive crowd.
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00:20:10.980 --> 00:20:14.359
Reporters were detailed from around the country. People waited for
305
00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:15.799
hours online.
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00:20:17.059 --> 00:20:21.970
It was called the trial of the century, the 19th century.
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00:20:23.009 --> 00:20:25.289
What I think is striking is that many of the
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00:20:25.430 --> 00:20:28.130
people most interested in the case were women.
309
00:20:28.450 --> 00:20:31.500
But why? Why are these women willing to put aside
310
00:20:31.579 --> 00:20:34.420
their lives to attend the trial?
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00:20:34.809 --> 00:20:36.430
This was the trial of a woman who seemed to
312
00:20:36.450 --> 00:20:38.960
have transcended the limits of her sex in such a
313
00:20:39.059 --> 00:20:43.319
violent way. The women, I think, were curious to see
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00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:45.619
the monster.
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00:20:47.099 --> 00:20:50.490
While they were welcome to watch, at the time, women
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00:20:50.549 --> 00:20:52.569
were not allowed to sit on the jury.
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00:20:53.529 --> 00:20:58.630
There won't be, in fact, women jurors until 1951 in Massachusetts.
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00:20:59.230 --> 00:21:03.119
Despite the rigid standards of the times, the proceedings of
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00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:07.720
the trial were surprisingly familiar to our consulting attorneys.
320
00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.220
From what I've read, you could take this trial transcript
321
00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:14.940
and put it into 2020, and it would basically be
322
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:15.519
the same.
323
00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:18.700
Both the prosecutors and the defense attorneys came in with
324
00:21:18.769 --> 00:21:21.210
a lot of the same arguments that I would imagine today.
325
00:21:21.230 --> 00:21:25.029
In front of a panel of three judges and a
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00:21:25.089 --> 00:21:29.650
jury of 12 men, The prosecutor began his opening statement
327
00:21:29.890 --> 00:21:31.410
with a simple premise.
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00:21:31.819 --> 00:21:35.200
That Lizzie Borden is the only person with the opportunity
329
00:21:35.259 --> 00:21:37.079
and the motive to have committed the crimes.
330
00:21:37.980 --> 00:21:40.880
But it was how he wrapped up his open that
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00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:42.319
stunned the courtroom.
332
00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:46.970
He alludes to the fact that he has the skulls
333
00:21:47.890 --> 00:21:48.609
of the victims.
334
00:21:49.230 --> 00:21:52.750
The actual heads of the victims in the courtroom.
335
00:21:53.710 --> 00:21:57.140
Yes, and Lizzie Borden responds by fainting.
336
00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:04.480
Over the next week, the jury hears from a parade
337
00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:06.200
of prosecution witnesses.
338
00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:12.619
The prosecution works very methodically and lays out the evidence.
339
00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:15.880
Evidence of who was killed first.
340
00:22:16.289 --> 00:22:20.049
If Andrew had been killed first, then automatically Abby's family
341
00:22:20.089 --> 00:22:23.049
will get part of the money where she's killed first.
342
00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:25.680
Everything is just for the girls.
343
00:22:26.779 --> 00:22:30.619
Evidence matching the skulls to the suspected murder weapon.
344
00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.940
To show that the dimensions of the injuries on the
345
00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:39.349
skull aligned with the dimensions of the most probable murder weapon,
346
00:22:39.369 --> 00:22:40.130
which was the hatchet.
347
00:22:41.450 --> 00:22:45.650
And testimony of Lizzie's ability to wield that hatchet.
348
00:22:46.230 --> 00:22:51.789
The medical experts all said that a woman of ordinary
349
00:22:52.109 --> 00:22:56.450
build an ordinary strength, could have committed the murders.
350
00:22:57.329 --> 00:23:00.109
But there is one thing that judges don't allow the
351
00:23:00.150 --> 00:23:01.029
jury to hear.
352
00:23:01.609 --> 00:23:05.539
Some of the prosecution's best evidence is kept from the jury.
353
00:23:06.579 --> 00:23:10.859
Most notably, her alleged attempts to buy prussic acid before
354
00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:11.400
the murders.
355
00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:15.099
If she's out there getting poison, that is absolutely something
356
00:23:15.140 --> 00:23:18.220
the jury should consider when two people in her home
357
00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:19.990
were found dead the next day.
358
00:23:20.349 --> 00:23:21.839
Was it right to keep that out?
359
00:23:22.339 --> 00:23:27.599
As a defense attorney, sure, right? Hugely prejudicial, not really relevant.
360
00:23:28.339 --> 00:23:32.980
After nine days, the prosecution rests, and Lizzie's defense team
361
00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:34.079
goes to work.
362
00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:37.259
The defense is much more interested in telling a story,
363
00:23:37.700 --> 00:23:40.369
that she's just an ordinary person caught in this unbelievably
364
00:23:40.420 --> 00:23:41.569
horrible situation.
365
00:23:42.470 --> 00:23:44.730
Clearly there's a lack of evidence, and then there's a
366
00:23:44.829 --> 00:23:46.869
second part of, hey, we just don't think that she
367
00:23:46.930 --> 00:23:47.269
did this.
368
00:23:47.990 --> 00:23:51.700
The defense needed only two days of witness testimony to
369
00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:55.839
make its case, and it's a case for reasonable doubt.
370
00:23:56.180 --> 00:23:59.359
You cannot answer the questions that have to be answered here,
371
00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:00.720
and that's reasonable doubt.
372
00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:04.680
What was perhaps the most powerful defense?
373
00:24:05.509 --> 00:24:09.190
The most powerful witness in her defense was her sister Emma.
374
00:24:09.210 --> 00:24:15.450
Emma testified that it was her idea rather than Lizzie's
375
00:24:15.490 --> 00:24:18.579
to burn the dress, which makes it seemed like it
376
00:24:18.619 --> 00:24:20.319
was a much more innocent thing to do.
377
00:24:21.140 --> 00:24:25.519
Lizzie Borden never testified, and after three weeks, the trial
378
00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:30.339
ended with closing arguments. But before the jury was charged,
379
00:24:30.779 --> 00:24:33.220
Lizzie did have the last word.
380
00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:37.609
And she says, I am innocent. I leave it to
381
00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:39.069
my counsel to speak for me.
382
00:24:40.180 --> 00:24:43.009
And with that, the case went to the jury.
383
00:24:44.250 --> 00:24:48.319
The courtroom is packed. People are also standing out in
384
00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:51.869
the corridors and around the front of the building waiting
385
00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:53.049
for some kind of word.
386
00:24:53.950 --> 00:24:56.710
They didn't have to wait long. The jury took less
387
00:24:56.730 --> 00:24:58.950
than two hours to reach a verdict.
388
00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:05.250
The foreman, it's reported, almost can't contain his excitement.
389
00:25:05.549 --> 00:25:06.990
And just says, not guilty.
390
00:25:07.589 --> 00:25:08.690
Just blurts it out?
391
00:25:08.769 --> 00:25:12.509
Blurts it out, yeah. And at that point, Lizzie Borden
392
00:25:12.609 --> 00:25:15.650
falls into her chair as if shot and puts her
393
00:25:15.710 --> 00:25:19.730
head on the rail. Meanwhile, the courtroom erupts into cheers,
394
00:25:20.910 --> 00:25:23.069
and there are cheers outside that could be heard a
395
00:25:23.109 --> 00:25:23.730
mile away.
396
00:25:25.009 --> 00:25:26.609
Maybe this is the prosecutor in me, but I was
397
00:25:26.650 --> 00:25:30.210
shocked she was acquitted. It is so clear to me,
398
00:25:31.650 --> 00:25:34.019
as much as it can be, that she is guilty.
399
00:25:34.619 --> 00:25:36.480
Now, whether or not they thought it was not guilty
400
00:25:36.539 --> 00:25:40.539
or innocent, who knows? But they certainly didn't think she
401
00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:41.000
was guilty.
402
00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:43.049
And I think at the end of the day, they
403
00:25:43.089 --> 00:25:45.750
just didn't want to believe that such a terrible, horrific
404
00:25:45.789 --> 00:25:48.049
crime could have been done by somebody like Lizzie Borden.
405
00:25:50.089 --> 00:25:54.769
But now, in 2020, would a jury of men and
406
00:25:54.970 --> 00:25:57.950
women come to the same conclusion?
407
00:25:58.410 --> 00:26:01.569
There is only one person who reasonably could have committed
408
00:26:01.609 --> 00:26:04.430
this crime, who did commit this crime, and that is
409
00:26:04.490 --> 00:26:05.839
the defendant, Lizzie Borden.
410
00:26:24.599 --> 00:26:28.160
In 1893, Lizzie Borden was found not guilty by a
411
00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:33.890
jury of 12 men who couldn't believe a woman was
412
00:26:34.029 --> 00:26:39.710
capable of such acts of extreme violence. But how would
413
00:26:39.750 --> 00:26:44.750
a jury of men and women vote today in 2020?
414
00:26:44.750 --> 00:26:48.369
To try and answer that question, we hired a jury
415
00:26:48.450 --> 00:26:53.930
recruiting firm to find us a panel of men and
416
00:26:54.029 --> 00:26:58.440
women who had never heard of Lizzie Borden and then
417
00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:03.160
paid them to decide the case. This is not a retrial,
418
00:27:03.579 --> 00:27:08.440
but a presentation argued by our consulting attorneys in their
419
00:27:08.619 --> 00:27:12.759
own words without any guidance from us. This is the
420
00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:17.309
case of Lizzie Borden. The rules are simple. Only evidence
421
00:27:17.369 --> 00:27:22.029
presented in the original trial could be presented here. And
422
00:27:22.170 --> 00:27:25.890
all facts should be presumed to be true. Good morning, everyone.
423
00:27:26.490 --> 00:27:32.279
Prosecutor Anastasia Nicolasi and defense attorney Matthew Troiano.
424
00:27:32.579 --> 00:27:33.779
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
425
00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:36.339
Deliver their opening statements.
426
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:41.890
This case is about bitterness, resentment and fear. Greed was
427
00:27:41.930 --> 00:27:45.190
what drove Lizzie Borden to do what she did. Just
428
00:27:45.730 --> 00:27:49.690
one night before these two innocents are bludgeoned in their
429
00:27:49.779 --> 00:27:52.940
own home, the defendant goes to see a friend. She,
430
00:27:53.079 --> 00:27:57.920
out of nowhere, volunteered. She'd been feeling depressed and so
431
00:27:58.019 --> 00:28:02.230
worried about many nameless, faceless enemies that her father had.
432
00:28:02.509 --> 00:28:08.430
And she left with this. I'm afraid something's going to happen.
433
00:28:09.349 --> 00:28:10.029
Lizzie Borden.
434
00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:14.509
Is guilty of her parents, her father, and her stepmother's murder.
435
00:28:14.849 --> 00:28:17.269
And the evidence by the end will prove that to
436
00:28:17.329 --> 00:28:19.190
you beyond any reasonable doubt.
437
00:28:19.710 --> 00:28:20.069
Thank you.
438
00:28:22.690 --> 00:28:25.390
This is a woman of 32 years old who is
439
00:28:25.450 --> 00:28:30.470
accused of the most vicious and heinous murder that one
440
00:28:30.490 --> 00:28:34.049
could imagine. What would you expect to see around the
441
00:28:34.089 --> 00:28:37.869
person and on the person that did this? Blood?
442
00:28:38.789 --> 00:28:40.089
A lot of blood, right?
443
00:28:40.509 --> 00:28:43.329
There's no blood on her at all. There's no blood
444
00:28:43.410 --> 00:28:46.750
on her hands. There's no blood on her face. There's
445
00:28:46.869 --> 00:28:52.170
no blood anywhere on her. The reality here, ladies and gentlemen,
446
00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:57.740
is the evidence is lacking. The story's good, but the
447
00:28:57.819 --> 00:29:01.200
evidence is lacking. And if you are going to come
448
00:29:01.240 --> 00:29:05.240
back and convict somebody of this crime, you better get
449
00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:07.369
a little bit more than a story. Thank you.
450
00:29:08.329 --> 00:29:11.660
Next. Prosecutor Nicolazzi calls on her experts.
451
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:14.079
People call crime scene detective Erin Rubis.
452
00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:19.619
To explain the evidence. The locked doors. The hatchet. The
453
00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:23.549
pail of bloody rags. And that burned dress. But it's
454
00:29:23.640 --> 00:29:28.650
the blood evidence, or rather the lack of it, that
455
00:29:28.730 --> 00:29:30.230
is her biggest challenge.
456
00:29:30.710 --> 00:29:35.529
It is my belief that this was done from someone
457
00:29:35.630 --> 00:29:38.630
facing him and directly almost over top of him.
458
00:29:39.619 --> 00:29:41.759
And it's... fair to say that even with that number
459
00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:45.079
of wounds, there was not a whole lot of blood.
460
00:29:45.339 --> 00:29:45.940
That's correct.
461
00:29:46.519 --> 00:29:50.309
With Abby Borden, how many wounds were observed on her body?
462
00:29:51.289 --> 00:29:55.549
There were 19 wounds observed on Mrs. Borden, 18 to
463
00:29:55.569 --> 00:29:57.789
the back of her head on the right side, and
464
00:29:58.069 --> 00:29:59.269
one at the base of her neck.
465
00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:02.000
Possible to commit those murders and not get a lot
466
00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:04.400
of blood on you based on the type of wounds
467
00:30:04.440 --> 00:30:04.880
that we had?
468
00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:05.680
Absolutely.
469
00:30:06.180 --> 00:30:08.059
Did he have any defensive wounds?
470
00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:09.680
None that were observed.
471
00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:13.599
And why wouldn't the victims fight back?
472
00:30:15.029 --> 00:30:18.950
If someone sees someone who is familiar, could that contribute
473
00:30:19.029 --> 00:30:21.809
to lack of initial defensive wounds?
474
00:30:22.630 --> 00:30:23.109
Possibly.
475
00:30:23.750 --> 00:30:27.450
Did they recover anything in terms of any possible weapon?
476
00:30:28.450 --> 00:30:29.269
A hatchet head.
477
00:30:29.809 --> 00:30:32.430
Is there anything about the size of the actual hatchet
478
00:30:32.450 --> 00:30:35.900
that was recovered that would preclude a woman.
479
00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:36.500
From using it?
480
00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:37.240
No.
481
00:30:37.539 --> 00:30:38.420
No matter the size?
482
00:30:39.079 --> 00:30:39.819
No matter the size.
483
00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:41.119
I have nothing further.
484
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:48.910
For the defense's cross-examination, Troiano again focuses on that lack
485
00:30:48.930 --> 00:30:49.509
of blood.
486
00:30:49.750 --> 00:30:52.750
So you would agree that at the point that obviously
487
00:30:53.230 --> 00:30:58.599
the object hits that source of blood, there's going to
488
00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:01.829
be blood that comes out from it. Is that correct?
489
00:31:02.180 --> 00:31:02.480
Yes.
490
00:31:02.589 --> 00:31:05.829
I think that does depend on the specifics, but yes.
491
00:31:05.990 --> 00:31:06.210
Okay.
492
00:31:06.589 --> 00:31:08.829
But certainly as far as you know, there was no
493
00:31:08.930 --> 00:31:13.490
dress that was found that would have had blood spatter
494
00:31:13.690 --> 00:31:14.750
on it. Is that correct?
495
00:31:15.009 --> 00:31:15.369
Correct.
496
00:31:15.490 --> 00:31:20.970
The only blood that is on an article of clothing
497
00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:28.339
was a one 16th inch size Pinhead, spot of blood
498
00:31:28.819 --> 00:31:32.420
on an underdress, underneath an outer dress.
499
00:31:32.819 --> 00:31:35.240
That's correct. That was the only piece of blood that
500
00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:35.920
was detected.
501
00:31:36.539 --> 00:31:37.759
Any blood on that hatchet?
502
00:31:38.599 --> 00:31:39.519
Not that was observed.
503
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:45.740
And in 1892, with no scientific testing available, observation was
504
00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:48.099
the best and only tool at hand.
505
00:31:48.619 --> 00:31:53.269
No other apparent blood anywhere else, or quite frankly, anywhere
506
00:31:53.309 --> 00:31:54.220
in the house. Is that correct?
507
00:31:55.539 --> 00:31:59.640
Other than blood in the immediate two areas of the
508
00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:04.480
two homicides and potential blood on the pail in the cellar,
509
00:32:04.519 --> 00:32:07.140
there was no mention of blood elsewhere in the case record.
510
00:32:07.730 --> 00:32:09.910
I think that's all I have. Thank you.
511
00:32:10.710 --> 00:32:15.410
And then both lawyers make their final arguments to the jury.
512
00:32:16.269 --> 00:32:17.990
I think what you've heard over the course of the
513
00:32:18.009 --> 00:32:23.039
last couple hours are questions, but not proof, and not
514
00:32:23.079 --> 00:32:24.359
proof beyond the reasonable doubt.
515
00:32:25.009 --> 00:32:28.920
This case is very much like a jigsaw puzzle. But
516
00:32:29.160 --> 00:32:31.900
I suggest that when you look at all those pieces,
517
00:32:32.019 --> 00:32:34.559
it's not one that is overly tough to solve.
518
00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:38.869
You are not here to find a solution to the puzzle.
519
00:32:39.430 --> 00:32:41.390
But you are here to decide if a crime was
520
00:32:41.450 --> 00:32:45.329
committed and if this person, the defendant, Lizzie Borden, committed it.
521
00:32:45.569 --> 00:32:47.849
And all the pieces of evidence say yes.
522
00:32:48.250 --> 00:32:52.519
There is no direct evidence here, right? And the circumstantial
523
00:32:52.619 --> 00:32:57.109
evidence is so very weak that it can't be enough.
524
00:32:57.430 --> 00:32:59.569
So think those things through, I know you will. So
525
00:32:59.609 --> 00:33:00.269
thank you very much.
526
00:33:01.150 --> 00:33:04.849
The evidence is all there. When you use all of it,
527
00:33:05.099 --> 00:33:07.400
and use your common sense, it is proof of one thing.
528
00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:13.420
Lizzie Borden, the defendant, bludgeoned her stepmother and her father
529
00:33:13.720 --> 00:33:17.359
to death. And for that, you should find her guilty.
530
00:33:18.140 --> 00:33:23.529
Thank you. And with that, once again, Lizzie's fate is
531
00:33:23.589 --> 00:33:24.869
in the hands of a jury.
532
00:33:25.400 --> 00:33:27.539
I feel like it has to be somebody familiar with
533
00:33:27.579 --> 00:33:27.960
the house.
534
00:33:28.309 --> 00:33:31.730
But what's different this time is that these lawyers get
535
00:33:31.789 --> 00:33:33.950
to hear the jury deliberate.
536
00:33:34.089 --> 00:33:37.910
Think of the murder weapon, the hatchet. You chopping at someone,
537
00:33:38.250 --> 00:33:40.470
there's no blood whatsoever.
538
00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:02.779
More than a century after Lizzie Borden went on trial
539
00:34:02.819 --> 00:34:06.160
for murder, this jury of eight people have been asked
540
00:34:06.220 --> 00:34:10.760
to wrestle with many of the same questions. It's an
541
00:34:10.860 --> 00:34:13.809
unheard of opportunity to be in the room for an
542
00:34:14.010 --> 00:34:18.030
actual deliberation, but it quickly becomes clear that there are
543
00:34:18.070 --> 00:34:25.889
no easy answers for our jurors. Frank, James, Michelle, Amy, Michael, Jarrell, Larissa,
544
00:34:26.289 --> 00:34:28.269
and Jennifer. What are the big concerns here?
545
00:34:29.030 --> 00:34:31.949
The prosecutor said resentment, bitterness, and greed. But it just
546
00:34:31.969 --> 00:34:36.449
seems like overkill if she wasn't going to lose everything.
547
00:34:36.710 --> 00:34:40.170
Either she's a sociopath or possibly not guilty.
548
00:34:40.250 --> 00:34:41.309
And that's my only question.
549
00:34:42.730 --> 00:34:47.789
I feel like to go for first-degree murder of both victims,
550
00:34:48.489 --> 00:34:51.570
there has to be malice and forethought. And I don't
551
00:34:51.690 --> 00:34:53.090
believe that was proven.
552
00:34:53.909 --> 00:34:56.570
You know, you could. I mean, these are two different counts.
553
00:34:56.630 --> 00:35:00.230
So if you wanted to, you could. decide that she's
554
00:35:00.269 --> 00:35:02.329
guilty of one and not guilty of the other.
555
00:35:02.590 --> 00:35:06.670
Abigail was struck 19 times. Like you said, it's overkill.
556
00:35:07.050 --> 00:35:09.829
But there's still a lot of, like I said, unknowns
557
00:35:09.889 --> 00:35:12.170
in terms of how do they clean that up?
558
00:35:12.409 --> 00:35:14.090
I can't figure out how she could have done it
559
00:35:14.489 --> 00:35:20.039
and been standing there with nothing on her house and
560
00:35:20.380 --> 00:35:21.280
everything normal.
561
00:35:21.800 --> 00:35:23.940
I feel like it has to be somebody familiar with
562
00:35:23.980 --> 00:35:24.320
the house.
563
00:35:24.340 --> 00:35:25.380
Also familiar with family.
564
00:35:26.130 --> 00:35:30.389
The victim is because they're clearly familiar with the attacker.
565
00:35:31.329 --> 00:35:35.639
I'm not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that she's guilty.
566
00:35:36.480 --> 00:35:37.110
I don't buy it.
567
00:35:37.559 --> 00:35:39.920
But I don't think the standard is completely convinced. It's
568
00:35:39.960 --> 00:35:42.880
beyond a reasonable doubt. But that doesn't mean completely.
569
00:35:43.639 --> 00:35:47.340
Unlike the original jury, this panel has no trouble believing
570
00:35:47.380 --> 00:35:52.000
a woman could kill. The question is, was it this woman?
571
00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:55.460
If she does know how to kill a pig or livestock,
572
00:35:55.539 --> 00:35:57.900
then she knows how to do it right.
573
00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:02.960
They believe she had the motive. She hated her stepmother.
574
00:36:03.460 --> 00:36:05.539
But there were still questions.
575
00:36:06.059 --> 00:36:07.619
Why leave Bridget alive?
576
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:11.360
Why leave the bloody rags just hanging out?
577
00:36:11.380 --> 00:36:15.380
Listen, let's forget about our accomplices or her motivation. The
578
00:36:15.460 --> 00:36:16.699
question is, did she do it?
579
00:36:17.510 --> 00:36:20.869
After more than an hour of deliberation. So do you
580
00:36:20.989 --> 00:36:24.349
want to, you know, take a vote from everybody on
581
00:36:24.409 --> 00:36:29.030
two different counts? The vote. On the charge of first
582
00:36:29.050 --> 00:36:35.159
degree with the death of Abby Borden. Guilty. Guilty.
583
00:36:36.260 --> 00:36:36.619
Guilty.
584
00:36:37.659 --> 00:36:39.139
Guilty. Guilty.
585
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:40.360
Guilty.
586
00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:44.260
I keep going back to she looks guilty, but I'm
587
00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:46.559
not convinced, so.
588
00:36:47.269 --> 00:36:50.369
I'm back to not guilty. You're the last one, Jarell.
589
00:36:50.710 --> 00:36:51.030
Guilty.
590
00:36:52.250 --> 00:36:53.090
Yeah, guilty.
591
00:36:53.929 --> 00:36:54.329
You're sure?
592
00:36:54.469 --> 00:36:56.320
Yes, positive on that one.
593
00:36:56.980 --> 00:36:59.539
On the charge of first degree with Andrew Borden.
594
00:37:00.059 --> 00:37:00.460
Guilty.
595
00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:01.380
Guilty.
596
00:37:02.460 --> 00:37:02.840
Guilty.
597
00:37:03.639 --> 00:37:05.380
Guilty. Guilty.
598
00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:06.719
Guilty.
599
00:37:07.320 --> 00:37:12.289
Not guilty. Not guilty. While Jarell was confident Lizzie had
600
00:37:12.429 --> 00:37:15.510
planned to kill Abby, He believed the murder of her
601
00:37:15.550 --> 00:37:17.969
father was purely spontaneous.
602
00:37:18.590 --> 00:37:22.289
I just, I don't know if that premeditation factored in
603
00:37:22.329 --> 00:37:23.010
with dad.
604
00:37:24.269 --> 00:37:28.010
And with that, the foreman published the jury's verdict.
605
00:37:28.730 --> 00:37:32.449
On the charge of first degree murder of Abby Borden,
606
00:37:32.849 --> 00:37:36.159
we are a hung jury. And on the charge of
607
00:37:36.199 --> 00:37:40.079
first degree murder for Andrew Jackson Borden, we are also
608
00:37:40.099 --> 00:37:40.739
a hung jury.
609
00:37:41.900 --> 00:37:42.179
Thank you.
610
00:37:43.900 --> 00:37:48.460
There's still something profoundly unsettling about the idea that a
611
00:37:48.519 --> 00:37:51.800
woman who seems normal committing a crime like this.
612
00:37:52.489 --> 00:37:56.090
We heard most of these jurors vote to convict her,
613
00:37:56.590 --> 00:37:58.630
but you heard a lot of doubt there still. Yeah,
614
00:37:58.650 --> 00:37:59.190
there was a lot.
615
00:37:59.210 --> 00:38:01.829
There were a number of them that were expressing doubt,
616
00:38:02.670 --> 00:38:06.449
and you wonder, is that a misunderstanding of the standard,
617
00:38:07.269 --> 00:38:09.929
or is it just they're making a call, right? It
618
00:38:09.969 --> 00:38:13.519
was fascinating, but at the same time, troubling at times.
619
00:38:13.539 --> 00:38:15.320
I think if you really broke it down, those that
620
00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:18.000
voted for guilty at the end really did express that
621
00:38:18.059 --> 00:38:20.019
they did think it was her and that the evidence
622
00:38:20.059 --> 00:38:22.559
had proven it, while they may not have expressed it
623
00:38:22.639 --> 00:38:24.440
that clearly in that one thought.
624
00:38:24.840 --> 00:38:29.110
So is it fair to say that we've not solved
625
00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:32.119
the mystery of Lizzie Borden and it will be argued
626
00:38:32.179 --> 00:38:35.550
for another 120-something years?
627
00:38:36.329 --> 00:38:39.309
I feel like we've solved the mystery of Lizzie Borden.
628
00:38:39.750 --> 00:38:41.670
We just haven't solved whether she should have been found
629
00:38:41.710 --> 00:38:44.389
guilty or not. Because it's a very different question.
630
00:38:45.469 --> 00:38:47.070
I think that that's the best way to say it.
631
00:38:47.309 --> 00:38:50.230
And maybe that's the beauty of the system, and maybe
632
00:38:50.269 --> 00:38:50.650
it's not.
633
00:38:52.030 --> 00:38:54.929
Clearly, Lizzie Borden didn't care what people thought of her.
634
00:38:55.510 --> 00:38:58.639
After her acquittal, she wasted little time getting on with
635
00:38:58.699 --> 00:39:02.300
her life. She stayed in Fall River, just not in
636
00:39:02.639 --> 00:39:03.340
this home.
637
00:39:03.949 --> 00:39:08.110
She and her sister Emma promptly vacate the cramped family
638
00:39:08.179 --> 00:39:10.480
house that was a source of some dissatisfaction.
639
00:39:10.960 --> 00:39:16.280
Inheriting almost $ 350, 000 from their father's estate, which would be
640
00:39:16.280 --> 00:39:20.320
$ 10 million in today's money, Lizzie and Emma bought the
641
00:39:20.360 --> 00:39:22.969
house they always wanted at the top of the hill
642
00:39:23.369 --> 00:39:24.989
in the wealthy part of town.
643
00:39:25.670 --> 00:39:29.690
She changed her name from Lizzie to Lizbeth, and she
644
00:39:29.750 --> 00:39:31.519
named her house Maplecroft.
645
00:39:32.340 --> 00:39:36.630
It seemed well unseemly to many in the community.
646
00:39:37.429 --> 00:39:40.489
Very soon there are people who start to wonder if
647
00:39:40.610 --> 00:39:44.369
it wasn't Lizzie Borden then who was it? Lizzie Borden
648
00:39:44.449 --> 00:39:49.210
finds herself unwelcome at the church where she had spent
649
00:39:49.309 --> 00:39:51.710
so much of her time and which had provided the
650
00:39:51.750 --> 00:39:54.210
foundation of her support during the trial.
651
00:39:54.969 --> 00:39:58.829
Twelve years later, even Lizzie's sister Emma turns her back
652
00:39:58.969 --> 00:39:59.309
on her.
653
00:40:00.230 --> 00:40:03.030
Emma was deeply troubled by something that was going on
654
00:40:03.070 --> 00:40:06.639
in the house such that she felt it was necessary
655
00:40:06.679 --> 00:40:08.539
to sever all ties with her sister.
656
00:40:09.139 --> 00:40:12.480
Lizzie, who never married, finished out her life as a recluse,
657
00:40:12.760 --> 00:40:15.929
alone in her home with her dogs, until her death
658
00:40:16.010 --> 00:40:21.599
in June of 1927. Did Lizzie ever talk to the press?
659
00:40:21.659 --> 00:40:24.559
Did she ever give her side of the story?
660
00:40:25.900 --> 00:40:26.179
No.
661
00:40:26.960 --> 00:40:28.440
Lizzie Borden remained silent.
662
00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:34.199
Coincidentally, Emma, living in New Hampshire, died just nine days later.
663
00:40:34.659 --> 00:40:38.400
They were both laid to rest here, alongside their father
664
00:40:38.860 --> 00:40:45.269
and their stepmother. Today, Fall River, Massachusetts embraces the woman
665
00:40:45.550 --> 00:40:50.670
who brought so much notoriety to the town. Lizzie Borden
666
00:40:50.710 --> 00:40:51.449
took an axe.
667
00:40:53.840 --> 00:40:55.559
And gave her mother 40 whacks.
668
00:40:58.039 --> 00:40:59.619
When she saw what she had done.
669
00:41:01.599 --> 00:41:02.699
She gave her father 41 whacks.
670
00:41:11.519 --> 00:41:15.500
Last May, Lizzie Borden's house was sold for $ 1. 8 million.
671
00:41:16.280 --> 00:41:21.690
It is still a museum and bed and breakfast. A
672
00:41:21.809 --> 00:41:24.989
twisted love triangle. An ominous ultimatum.
673
00:41:25.010 --> 00:41:26.510
I told him it was he had to pick one.
674
00:41:26.889 --> 00:41:29.909
A deadly decision and a surprising clue.
675
00:41:30.369 --> 00:41:33.250
One of the biggest pieces of evidence was a KFC bag.
676
00:41:33.550 --> 00:41:35.219
The murder of Ana Repkina.
677
00:41:35.219 --> 00:41:36.980
48 hours, next on CBS.
678
00:41:43.610 --> 00:41:43.960
Thank you.
1
00:00:12.169 --> 00:00:14.250
It's an amazing story. It really is.
2
00:00:14.669 --> 00:00:18.410
It's the story of one very unhappy family in a house.
3
00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:24.480
It is a morning like so many other mornings in
4
00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:26.500
a small town in New England.
5
00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:31.170
A father, a stepmother, living with his two adult daughters.
6
00:00:32.929 --> 00:00:37.520
Lizzie, 32, and Emma, 41.
7
00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.340
Lizzie was seen by the next door neighbor, and the
8
00:00:40.380 --> 00:00:45.140
neighbor asked, what's the matter? And she announces that her
9
00:00:45.179 --> 00:00:46.140
father has been killed.
10
00:00:48.140 --> 00:00:53.070
Law enforcement personnel arrived and found a gruesome murder.
11
00:00:54.210 --> 00:00:58.329
Two bodies, a lot of blood. There is a husband downstairs.
12
00:00:58.950 --> 00:01:00.250
Ten wounds to his head.
13
00:01:00.990 --> 00:01:04.390
And almost half of his face is obliterated.
14
00:01:05.209 --> 00:01:09.750
And just on the second floor was his wife. She
15
00:01:09.790 --> 00:01:15.109
was face down with a tremendous amount of injury to
16
00:01:15.129 --> 00:01:16.010
the back of her head.
17
00:01:16.510 --> 00:01:19.950
It seems like the most likely murder weapon was a
18
00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:21.890
hatchet with a three and a half inch blade.
19
00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:26.840
When someone is struck multiple times with a hatchet to
20
00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:28.859
the head, That's personal.
21
00:01:30.859 --> 00:01:32.500
You know, one of the most fascinating parts of this
22
00:01:32.540 --> 00:01:35.459
case is that except for around the bodies, there's no
23
00:01:35.500 --> 00:01:36.379
blood found anywhere.
24
00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:40.099
You would think that whoever was the perpetrator would be
25
00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:43.159
covered with blood, blood spatter. Nothing.
26
00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:45.530
Suspicion turned to the people in the house.
27
00:01:46.209 --> 00:01:49.069
And the only people in the house are his daughter
28
00:01:50.469 --> 00:01:51.349
and their housekeeper.
29
00:01:54.209 --> 00:01:54.430
It was.
30
00:01:54.939 --> 00:01:58.060
So shocking for the police to come to the conclusion
31
00:01:58.939 --> 00:02:02.200
that the daughter had killed her father and stepmother.
32
00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:06.439
You would have to believe that this sweet, seemingly harmless
33
00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:08.719
woman did this horrific thing.
34
00:02:09.030 --> 00:02:13.090
Women are as capable as men, not only for the good,
35
00:02:13.289 --> 00:02:14.310
but for the bad as well.
36
00:02:17.430 --> 00:02:22.090
On August the 4th, 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were
37
00:02:22.129 --> 00:02:25.110
hacked to death. in their Fall River, Massachusetts home.
38
00:02:27.509 --> 00:02:31.689
Every generation has that one really terrible case that we
39
00:02:31.740 --> 00:02:33.060
don't have any answers to.
40
00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:40.639
There is only one plausible explanation. Who do you believe
41
00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:43.080
killed Andrew and Abby Borden? Lizzie.
42
00:02:44.259 --> 00:02:45.810
Lizzie's responsible for these murders.
43
00:02:47.189 --> 00:02:50.389
It was Lizzie Borden who intended to murder and did
44
00:02:50.449 --> 00:02:52.270
murder Abby and Andrew Borden.
45
00:02:52.969 --> 00:02:56.560
It was not until I read about this case that
46
00:02:56.620 --> 00:02:58.300
I learned that I was wrong, and all.
47
00:02:58.180 --> 00:02:58.780
Of us are wrong.
48
00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:02.800
Lizzie Borden was acquitted, so no one has ever been
49
00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:04.740
held accountable for the crimes.
50
00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:08.889
But if not her, then who?
51
00:03:09.689 --> 00:03:12.530
This is somebody who may have quite literally gotten away
52
00:03:12.569 --> 00:03:12.990
with murder.
53
00:03:14.330 --> 00:03:18.650
Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother 40 whack.
54
00:03:19.250 --> 00:03:21.229
When she seen what she had.
55
00:03:20.969 --> 00:03:24.810
Done, She gave her father 41.
56
00:03:47.330 --> 00:03:49.689
The crimes were.
57
00:03:49.550 --> 00:04:20.829
So violent that many thought that Jack the Ripper had
58
00:04:20.889 --> 00:04:21.750
come to America.
59
00:04:23.970 --> 00:04:28.449
It was an unspeakable crime, a double homicide that captured
60
00:04:28.490 --> 00:04:32.959
the attention of the entire nation. Tonight on a special
61
00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:36.459
48 hours, we're taking a fresh look at a cold case,
62
00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:41.769
a really cold case. It occurred in 1892. and we're
63
00:04:41.829 --> 00:04:44.790
presenting it to a new jury to see if they
64
00:04:44.829 --> 00:04:50.689
can separate fact from fable. The defendant was a 32-year-old
65
00:04:50.790 --> 00:04:54.910
daughter of the victims. Her name, Lizzie Borden.
66
00:04:57.699 --> 00:05:00.790
I began studying Lizzie Borden when I was an undergraduate.
67
00:05:01.050 --> 00:05:05.170
Los Angeles author Kara Robertson has been living with Lizzie
68
00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:07.470
Borden for a long time.
69
00:05:07.829 --> 00:05:10.649
I was interested in trying to find a topic for
70
00:05:10.689 --> 00:05:11.689
my college thesis.
71
00:05:12.009 --> 00:05:17.279
Thirty years later, her thesis became this, a remarkably detailed
72
00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:21.939
look at the accusations against Lizzie Borden and her high-profile trial.
73
00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:25.050
Published by Simon & Schuster.
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Fundamentally, the case was about whether or not someone like
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Lizzie Borden could have committed these brutal crimes.
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And in 1893, a jury of 12 men agreed she couldn't,
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returning a unanimous verdict of not guilty.
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This was the kind of crime that was just could
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not have been committed by a woman.
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But despite being acquitted, time and popular culture has forever
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cast Lizzie as one of America's most notorious killers. So
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did she do it or not? To help get to
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the bottom of this mystery, we brought together a team
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of paid consultants, two extremely experienced lawyers. My name is
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Anastika Nicolazzi.
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I was a prosecutor for 21 years at the Brooklyn
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DA's office.
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My name is Matthew Troiano. I'm a criminal defense attorney
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in New Jersey.
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And equally seasoned investigators.
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My name is Erin Rubis, and I am a crime
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scene investigator and a former homicide detective.
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I'm Andrew Schweikart. I'm a criminalist at the New York
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City office of the chief medical examiner.
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I was sucked right in. I was sucked in from
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the perspective that this happened over 100 years ago.
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I think it's relevant now the same way it was
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relevant then, and it's just a fascinating story.
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That story begins here. Fall River, Massachusetts, 1892. Prominent local
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businessman Andrew Borden was wealthy but also frugal, choosing to
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live here with his second wife, Abby Borden, just a
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block from the center of town. The house is modest,
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even by 1890s standards, with almost no indoor plumbing or
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gas lighting.
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He was cheap. He was known to be at the
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extreme end of Yankee frugality.
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And we're coming up to the Lizzie Borden house. Wow.
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You can't analyze the crime without seeing where it all
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took place. So we brought crime scene investigator Erin Rubis here.
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What is important? What do you really want to see
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for yourself?
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I want to be able to take myself back into
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the crime scene based on what I've read. I want
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to be able to kind of put those pieces together
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that are missing.
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And she's able to do that because the house, oddly enough,
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so this is it, is now a bed and breakfast
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and restored in the style of the time. complete with
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actual crime scene photos.
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Here it is.
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And displays. To your left is a replica of Andrew
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Borden's skull. And to your right is Abby.
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I would definitely say that whoever did this, this was personal.
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This was a lot of anger and a lot of rage.
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Lizzie Borden is a fairly unremarkable woman. She was unmarried.
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She was active in her local church. Emma Borden is
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Lizzie Borden's older sister. Always played a bit of a
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maternal role with respect to Lizzie.
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Emma, at the time of the murders, had been out
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of town for two weeks visiting friends. And Abby Borden,
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how would you describe Abby Borden?
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Abby Borden, she's often cast in the story as the
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evil stepmother. But in fact, she may well have been
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the nicest person in the house.
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Which brings us to the late morning of August 4, 1892. Lizzie,
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standing at the side door of the house, tells her
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next door neighbor, Adelaide Churchill, that her father has been killed.
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And does the neighbor see any blood on Lizzie?
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The neighbor comes over directly and sees absolutely no blood.
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Nothing on her face, her hands, her clothing? Nothing.
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She seems perfectly presented.
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And this is how police found Lizzie's father, stretched out
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on the couch in the sitting room, bludgeoned to death.
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It's pretty brutal. I mean, his entire face is brutally
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bashed in.
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But what of Andrew's wife, Abby? Lizzie, sitting in the
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kitchen with that neighbor, Adelaide Churchill, offers an answer.
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She remarks that she thinks perhaps she heard her stepmother
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come in. At which point, Bridget Sullivan and Adelaide Churchill,
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the next-door neighbor.
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Go upstairs and find the body of Abby Borden.
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This right over here is where Abby Borden was found dead,
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face down.
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That scene is, if anything, more horrible. Abby suffered 19 blows.
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She's face down. Much of her, the back of her
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head has been hacked. You can imagine the pressure that
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was on the police to come upon a scene like that.
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The assumption at first was that it must have been
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a deranged outsider because the crimes were so shocking. But
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when it became clear that no one had been spotted
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in the vicinity, then suspicion turned to the people in
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the house.
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The house was triple locked in the front door, and
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the back door was locked, and the only door that
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could have been unlocked was the side door.
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They had to find a suspect. and they fastened upon
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Lizzie Borden as an obvious choice.
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She is the only one that could have committed these crimes.
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On Saturday, August 6, while Andrew and Abby Borden were
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being laid to rest, news of their murder was spreading
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far and fast.
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The brutality of the murders alone was enough to make
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this front page news across the country.
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At the same time, the Fall River Police Department was
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beginning its investigation. How would you describe the state of
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forensics in 1892? It was very primitive.
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I think in many ways it was the perfect time
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for somebody to potentially get away with a crime like this.
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Besides police, the Borden house was crowded with doctors, reporters, neighbors,
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and even several passersby.
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So anything really that was discovered at that crime scene
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was seriously compromised because we don't know when or by
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whom it was deposited.
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They take up pieces of carpet. They count blood stains.
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They search for evidence of blood on any clothing.
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What they find, though, are more questions than answers. One
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fact is clear. Abby was killed before Andrew.
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His death was so recent that his injuries were noted
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to have been oozing wet liquid blood. He was also
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warm to the touch. On the other hand, Abby, who
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was upstairs, had matted skin. coagulated blood, dark blood on
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her injuries. She was also cold to the touch.
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Five days later, during a police inquest, Lizzie gives her
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version of what happened that morning.
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Five people wake up in the Borden house. Andrew and
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Abby Borden, Lizzie Borden, the housemaid, Bridget Sullivan, and Lizzie's uncle,
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John Morse.
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Andrew's brother-in-law, John Morse, visiting from out of town, was
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staying in the guest room. This is where John Morse
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had stayed the night before.
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We know that John Morse left in the morning to
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go visit other relatives in a different part of town,
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and Andrew Borden walked into the center of town to
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visit some of the buildings that he owned. Abby Borden
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went upstairs to clean up the guest room.
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Lizzie says that she was in the dining room. She was.
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Actually ironing. And Bridget Sullivan was outside washing windows when
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about 9.30 in the morning, police believe Abby Borden fell
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to the floor, murdered.
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Abby Borden was a short woman, but she weighed about
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200 pounds.
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And did Lizzie hear anything at all?
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She claims not to have heard anything.
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According to Lizzie's testimony, Andrew returned home at 10.45, greeting
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both the housekeeper and Lizzie. and then retired to that
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sitting room to take a nap on the couch. According
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to the medical examiner, 45 minutes later, Andrew Borden was
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also dead.
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That was the opportunity right there. He's on that couch
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and he's sleeping. And there was your opportunity.
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Police were sure they had the when, but there was
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still the question of why? What was the motive? Lizzie
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may have given police that answer. during the inquest.
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Lizzie and her sister, Emma, both really desired to live
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a way better life, and they really resented their father
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for not providing that for them.
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Andrew decided essentially to bail out his wife's half-sibling by
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buying a house and putting it in Abby's name. And thereafter,
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you find that the house is a scene of a
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Cold War.
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Clearly, Lizzie was not happy that that house was going
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to go to her stepmother's sister.
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But enough to provide a motive for that kind of
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vicious killing?
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They were brutal.
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Certainly brutal enough to mark the perpetrator with evidence.
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I would think that there would definitely be blood on her.
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And yet....
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One of the most fascinating parts of this case is
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that except for around the bodies, there's no blood found anywhere.
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If, in fact, Lizzie Borden is the killer, how did
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she not have any blood spatter on her? Her neighbors
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said she was spotless. So where was the blood? Police
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searched the house and only found two instances of blood evidence,
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a minute spot on one of Lizzie's undergarments and a
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bucket of bloody cloths in the cellar washroom. Lizzie gave
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them a very personal explanation for both. She was menstruating.
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I think that was such a personal issue that, let's
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face it, who's going to challenge that?
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If we were to have that today, could we show, okay,
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is this Lizzie's blood or is it Andrew and Abby's blood?
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Also puzzling and very suspicious... Lizzie's choice to burn a
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dress in the kitchen stove the day after her father's funeral.
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Lizzie and Emma claimed that the dress had been stained
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with paint and it needed to be burned, and they
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thought that was as good a time as any.
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For me, the most valuable piece of evidence is the
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dress that Lizzie burned. If she's responsible for this, it
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would have blood from the victims on it, and that
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would be very difficult for Lizzie to explain.
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And with no dress, there was nothing to explain. It
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seemed the more they looked, the less investigators found until
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down in the cellar. It's in here that the hatchet
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was found.
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A particular hatchet head was found in a box of
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abandoned tools.
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It became known as the handleless hatchet and would be
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a subject of debate for years to come.
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It only had a piece of a handle. And according
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to the police, it was a fresh break.
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This particular hatchet head almost looked like it had been
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deliberately covered with a layer of ash.
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It's about three and a half inches of a cutting blade.
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And that seemed consistent with the wounds on Andrew and
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Abby's body.
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She could have quickly rinsed off that hatchet head, thrown
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it in a pile of ash to obliterate any lingering blood.
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and then just tossed it in the cellar to make
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it look like an old piece of junk.
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I mean, there are endless places in this house to
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hide stuff.
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If it was the murder weapon, police later discovered it
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might not have been Lizzie's first weapon of choice.
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Someone who was identified as Lizzie Borden tried to buy
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prussic acid the day before the murders.
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In 1892, prussic acid, a lethal poison, was only available
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with a doctor's prescription.
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The woman said that she needed it to put an
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edge on a sealskin cape. And we know that Lizzie
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Borden did in fact have sealskin capes.
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But the pharmacist said he never heard of it used
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that way and refused to sell it to her.
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And then because she was unable to get the poison,
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she turned instead. to a readily available household implement.
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The hatchet.
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That's right.
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It would seem the police came to the same conclusion.
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At the close of the inquest, the chief of police
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placed Lizzie Borden under arrest for murder. On June 5th 5, 1893,
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ten months after her arrest, Lizzie Borden sat in the
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Superior Court in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in this very chair
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on trial for murder.
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The first day of Lizzie Borden's trial attracted a massive crowd.
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Reporters were detailed from around the country. People waited for
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hours online.
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It was called the trial of the century, the 19th century.
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What I think is striking is that many of the
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people most interested in the case were women.
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But why? Why are these women willing to put aside
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their lives to attend the trial?
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This was the trial of a woman who seemed to
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have transcended the limits of her sex in such a
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violent way. The women, I think, were curious to see
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the monster.
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While they were welcome to watch, at the time, women
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were not allowed to sit on the jury.
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There won't be, in fact, women jurors until 1951 in Massachusetts.
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Despite the rigid standards of the times, the proceedings of
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the trial were surprisingly familiar to our consulting attorneys.
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From what I've read, you could take this trial transcript
321
00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:14.940
and put it into 2020, and it would basically be
322
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:15.519
the same.
323
00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:18.700
Both the prosecutors and the defense attorneys came in with
324
00:21:18.769 --> 00:21:21.210
a lot of the same arguments that I would imagine today.
325
00:21:21.230 --> 00:21:25.029
In front of a panel of three judges and a
326
00:21:25.089 --> 00:21:29.650
jury of 12 men, The prosecutor began his opening statement
327
00:21:29.890 --> 00:21:31.410
with a simple premise.
328
00:21:31.819 --> 00:21:35.200
That Lizzie Borden is the only person with the opportunity
329
00:21:35.259 --> 00:21:37.079
and the motive to have committed the crimes.
330
00:21:37.980 --> 00:21:40.880
But it was how he wrapped up his open that
331
00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:42.319
stunned the courtroom.
332
00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:46.970
He alludes to the fact that he has the skulls
333
00:21:47.890 --> 00:21:48.609
of the victims.
334
00:21:49.230 --> 00:21:52.750
The actual heads of the victims in the courtroom.
335
00:21:53.710 --> 00:21:57.140
Yes, and Lizzie Borden responds by fainting.
336
00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:04.480
Over the next week, the jury hears from a parade
337
00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:06.200
of prosecution witnesses.
338
00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:12.619
The prosecution works very methodically and lays out the evidence.
339
00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:15.880
Evidence of who was killed first.
340
00:22:16.289 --> 00:22:20.049
If Andrew had been killed first, then automatically Abby's family
341
00:22:20.089 --> 00:22:23.049
will get part of the money where she's killed first.
342
00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:25.680
Everything is just for the girls.
343
00:22:26.779 --> 00:22:30.619
Evidence matching the skulls to the suspected murder weapon.
344
00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.940
To show that the dimensions of the injuries on the
345
00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:39.349
skull aligned with the dimensions of the most probable murder weapon,
346
00:22:39.369 --> 00:22:40.130
which was the hatchet.
347
00:22:41.450 --> 00:22:45.650
And testimony of Lizzie's ability to wield that hatchet.
348
00:22:46.230 --> 00:22:51.789
The medical experts all said that a woman of ordinary
349
00:22:52.109 --> 00:22:56.450
build an ordinary strength, could have committed the murders.
350
00:22:57.329 --> 00:23:00.109
But there is one thing that judges don't allow the
351
00:23:00.150 --> 00:23:01.029
jury to hear.
352
00:23:01.609 --> 00:23:05.539
Some of the prosecution's best evidence is kept from the jury.
353
00:23:06.579 --> 00:23:10.859
Most notably, her alleged attempts to buy prussic acid before
354
00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:11.400
the murders.
355
00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:15.099
If she's out there getting poison, that is absolutely something
356
00:23:15.140 --> 00:23:18.220
the jury should consider when two people in her home
357
00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:19.990
were found dead the next day.
358
00:23:20.349 --> 00:23:21.839
Was it right to keep that out?
359
00:23:22.339 --> 00:23:27.599
As a defense attorney, sure, right? Hugely prejudicial, not really relevant.
360
00:23:28.339 --> 00:23:32.980
After nine days, the prosecution rests, and Lizzie's defense team
361
00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:34.079
goes to work.
362
00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:37.259
The defense is much more interested in telling a story,
363
00:23:37.700 --> 00:23:40.369
that she's just an ordinary person caught in this unbelievably
364
00:23:40.420 --> 00:23:41.569
horrible situation.
365
00:23:42.470 --> 00:23:44.730
Clearly there's a lack of evidence, and then there's a
366
00:23:44.829 --> 00:23:46.869
second part of, hey, we just don't think that she
367
00:23:46.930 --> 00:23:47.269
did this.
368
00:23:47.990 --> 00:23:51.700
The defense needed only two days of witness testimony to
369
00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:55.839
make its case, and it's a case for reasonable doubt.
370
00:23:56.180 --> 00:23:59.359
You cannot answer the questions that have to be answered here,
371
00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:00.720
and that's reasonable doubt.
372
00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:04.680
What was perhaps the most powerful defense?
373
00:24:05.509 --> 00:24:09.190
The most powerful witness in her defense was her sister Emma.
374
00:24:09.210 --> 00:24:15.450
Emma testified that it was her idea rather than Lizzie's
375
00:24:15.490 --> 00:24:18.579
to burn the dress, which makes it seemed like it
376
00:24:18.619 --> 00:24:20.319
was a much more innocent thing to do.
377
00:24:21.140 --> 00:24:25.519
Lizzie Borden never testified, and after three weeks, the trial
378
00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:30.339
ended with closing arguments. But before the jury was charged,
379
00:24:30.779 --> 00:24:33.220
Lizzie did have the last word.
380
00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:37.609
And she says, I am innocent. I leave it to
381
00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:39.069
my counsel to speak for me.
382
00:24:40.180 --> 00:24:43.009
And with that, the case went to the jury.
383
00:24:44.250 --> 00:24:48.319
The courtroom is packed. People are also standing out in
384
00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:51.869
the corridors and around the front of the building waiting
385
00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:53.049
for some kind of word.
386
00:24:53.950 --> 00:24:56.710
They didn't have to wait long. The jury took less
387
00:24:56.730 --> 00:24:58.950
than two hours to reach a verdict.
388
00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:05.250
The foreman, it's reported, almost can't contain his excitement.
389
00:25:05.549 --> 00:25:06.990
And just says, not guilty.
390
00:25:07.589 --> 00:25:08.690
Just blurts it out?
391
00:25:08.769 --> 00:25:12.509
Blurts it out, yeah. And at that point, Lizzie Borden
392
00:25:12.609 --> 00:25:15.650
falls into her chair as if shot and puts her
393
00:25:15.710 --> 00:25:19.730
head on the rail. Meanwhile, the courtroom erupts into cheers,
394
00:25:20.910 --> 00:25:23.069
and there are cheers outside that could be heard a
395
00:25:23.109 --> 00:25:23.730
mile away.
396
00:25:25.009 --> 00:25:26.609
Maybe this is the prosecutor in me, but I was
397
00:25:26.650 --> 00:25:30.210
shocked she was acquitted. It is so clear to me,
398
00:25:31.650 --> 00:25:34.019
as much as it can be, that she is guilty.
399
00:25:34.619 --> 00:25:36.480
Now, whether or not they thought it was not guilty
400
00:25:36.539 --> 00:25:40.539
or innocent, who knows? But they certainly didn't think she
401
00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:41.000
was guilty.
402
00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:43.049
And I think at the end of the day, they
403
00:25:43.089 --> 00:25:45.750
just didn't want to believe that such a terrible, horrific
404
00:25:45.789 --> 00:25:48.049
crime could have been done by somebody like Lizzie Borden.
405
00:25:50.089 --> 00:25:54.769
But now, in 2020, would a jury of men and
406
00:25:54.970 --> 00:25:57.950
women come to the same conclusion?
407
00:25:58.410 --> 00:26:01.569
There is only one person who reasonably could have committed
408
00:26:01.609 --> 00:26:04.430
this crime, who did commit this crime, and that is
409
00:26:04.490 --> 00:26:05.839
the defendant, Lizzie Borden.
410
00:26:24.599 --> 00:26:28.160
In 1893, Lizzie Borden was found not guilty by a
411
00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:33.890
jury of 12 men who couldn't believe a woman was
412
00:26:34.029 --> 00:26:39.710
capable of such acts of extreme violence. But how would
413
00:26:39.750 --> 00:26:44.750
a jury of men and women vote today in 2020?
414
00:26:44.750 --> 00:26:48.369
To try and answer that question, we hired a jury
415
00:26:48.450 --> 00:26:53.930
recruiting firm to find us a panel of men and
416
00:26:54.029 --> 00:26:58.440
women who had never heard of Lizzie Borden and then
417
00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:03.160
paid them to decide the case. This is not a retrial,
418
00:27:03.579 --> 00:27:08.440
but a presentation argued by our consulting attorneys in their
419
00:27:08.619 --> 00:27:12.759
own words without any guidance from us. This is the
420
00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:17.309
case of Lizzie Borden. The rules are simple. Only evidence
421
00:27:17.369 --> 00:27:22.029
presented in the original trial could be presented here. And
422
00:27:22.170 --> 00:27:25.890
all facts should be presumed to be true. Good morning, everyone.
423
00:27:26.490 --> 00:27:32.279
Prosecutor Anastasia Nicolasi and defense attorney Matthew Troiano.
424
00:27:32.579 --> 00:27:33.779
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
425
00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:36.339
Deliver their opening statements.
426
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:41.890
This case is about bitterness, resentment and fear. Greed was
427
00:27:41.930 --> 00:27:45.190
what drove Lizzie Borden to do what she did. Just
428
00:27:45.730 --> 00:27:49.690
one night before these two innocents are bludgeoned in their
429
00:27:49.779 --> 00:27:52.940
own home, the defendant goes to see a friend. She,
430
00:27:53.079 --> 00:27:57.920
out of nowhere, volunteered. She'd been feeling depressed and so
431
00:27:58.019 --> 00:28:02.230
worried about many nameless, faceless enemies that her father had.
432
00:28:02.509 --> 00:28:08.430
And she left with this. I'm afraid something's going to happen.
433
00:28:09.349 --> 00:28:10.029
Lizzie Borden.
434
00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:14.509
Is guilty of her parents, her father, and her stepmother's murder.
435
00:28:14.849 --> 00:28:17.269
And the evidence by the end will prove that to
436
00:28:17.329 --> 00:28:19.190
you beyond any reasonable doubt.
437
00:28:19.710 --> 00:28:20.069
Thank you.
438
00:28:22.690 --> 00:28:25.390
This is a woman of 32 years old who is
439
00:28:25.450 --> 00:28:30.470
accused of the most vicious and heinous murder that one
440
00:28:30.490 --> 00:28:34.049
could imagine. What would you expect to see around the
441
00:28:34.089 --> 00:28:37.869
person and on the person that did this? Blood?
442
00:28:38.789 --> 00:28:40.089
A lot of blood, right?
443
00:28:40.509 --> 00:28:43.329
There's no blood on her at all. There's no blood
444
00:28:43.410 --> 00:28:46.750
on her hands. There's no blood on her face. There's
445
00:28:46.869 --> 00:28:52.170
no blood anywhere on her. The reality here, ladies and gentlemen,
446
00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:57.740
is the evidence is lacking. The story's good, but the
447
00:28:57.819 --> 00:29:01.200
evidence is lacking. And if you are going to come
448
00:29:01.240 --> 00:29:05.240
back and convict somebody of this crime, you better get
449
00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:07.369
a little bit more than a story. Thank you.
450
00:29:08.329 --> 00:29:11.660
Next. Prosecutor Nicolazzi calls on her experts.
451
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:14.079
People call crime scene detective Erin Rubis.
452
00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:19.619
To explain the evidence. The locked doors. The hatchet. The
453
00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:23.549
pail of bloody rags. And that burned dress. But it's
454
00:29:23.640 --> 00:29:28.650
the blood evidence, or rather the lack of it, that
455
00:29:28.730 --> 00:29:30.230
is her biggest challenge.
456
00:29:30.710 --> 00:29:35.529
It is my belief that this was done from someone
457
00:29:35.630 --> 00:29:38.630
facing him and directly almost over top of him.
458
00:29:39.619 --> 00:29:41.759
And it's... fair to say that even with that number
459
00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:45.079
of wounds, there was not a whole lot of blood.
460
00:29:45.339 --> 00:29:45.940
That's correct.
461
00:29:46.519 --> 00:29:50.309
With Abby Borden, how many wounds were observed on her body?
462
00:29:51.289 --> 00:29:55.549
There were 19 wounds observed on Mrs. Borden, 18 to
463
00:29:55.569 --> 00:29:57.789
the back of her head on the right side, and
464
00:29:58.069 --> 00:29:59.269
one at the base of her neck.
465
00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:02.000
Possible to commit those murders and not get a lot
466
00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:04.400
of blood on you based on the type of wounds
467
00:30:04.440 --> 00:30:04.880
that we had?
468
00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:05.680
Absolutely.
469
00:30:06.180 --> 00:30:08.059
Did he have any defensive wounds?
470
00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:09.680
None that were observed.
471
00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:13.599
And why wouldn't the victims fight back?
472
00:30:15.029 --> 00:30:18.950
If someone sees someone who is familiar, could that contribute
473
00:30:19.029 --> 00:30:21.809
to lack of initial defensive wounds?
474
00:30:22.630 --> 00:30:23.109
Possibly.
475
00:30:23.750 --> 00:30:27.450
Did they recover anything in terms of any possible weapon?
476
00:30:28.450 --> 00:30:29.269
A hatchet head.
477
00:30:29.809 --> 00:30:32.430
Is there anything about the size of the actual hatchet
478
00:30:32.450 --> 00:30:35.900
that was recovered that would preclude a woman.
479
00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:36.500
From using it?
480
00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:37.240
No.
481
00:30:37.539 --> 00:30:38.420
No matter the size?
482
00:30:39.079 --> 00:30:39.819
No matter the size.
483
00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:41.119
I have nothing further.
484
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:48.910
For the defense's cross-examination, Troiano again focuses on that lack
485
00:30:48.930 --> 00:30:49.509
of blood.
486
00:30:49.750 --> 00:30:52.750
So you would agree that at the point that obviously
487
00:30:53.230 --> 00:30:58.599
the object hits that source of blood, there's going to
488
00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:01.829
be blood that comes out from it. Is that correct?
489
00:31:02.180 --> 00:31:02.480
Yes.
490
00:31:02.589 --> 00:31:05.829
I think that does depend on the specifics, but yes.
491
00:31:05.990 --> 00:31:06.210
Okay.
492
00:31:06.589 --> 00:31:08.829
But certainly as far as you know, there was no
493
00:31:08.930 --> 00:31:13.490
dress that was found that would have had blood spatter
494
00:31:13.690 --> 00:31:14.750
on it. Is that correct?
495
00:31:15.009 --> 00:31:15.369
Correct.
496
00:31:15.490 --> 00:31:20.970
The only blood that is on an article of clothing
497
00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:28.339
was a one 16th inch size Pinhead, spot of blood
498
00:31:28.819 --> 00:31:32.420
on an underdress, underneath an outer dress.
499
00:31:32.819 --> 00:31:35.240
That's correct. That was the only piece of blood that
500
00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:35.920
was detected.
501
00:31:36.539 --> 00:31:37.759
Any blood on that hatchet?
502
00:31:38.599 --> 00:31:39.519
Not that was observed.
503
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:45.740
And in 1892, with no scientific testing available, observation was
504
00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:48.099
the best and only tool at hand.
505
00:31:48.619 --> 00:31:53.269
No other apparent blood anywhere else, or quite frankly, anywhere
506
00:31:53.309 --> 00:31:54.220
in the house. Is that correct?
507
00:31:55.539 --> 00:31:59.640
Other than blood in the immediate two areas of the
508
00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:04.480
two homicides and potential blood on the pail in the cellar,
509
00:32:04.519 --> 00:32:07.140
there was no mention of blood elsewhere in the case record.
510
00:32:07.730 --> 00:32:09.910
I think that's all I have. Thank you.
511
00:32:10.710 --> 00:32:15.410
And then both lawyers make their final arguments to the jury.
512
00:32:16.269 --> 00:32:17.990
I think what you've heard over the course of the
513
00:32:18.009 --> 00:32:23.039
last couple hours are questions, but not proof, and not
514
00:32:23.079 --> 00:32:24.359
proof beyond the reasonable doubt.
515
00:32:25.009 --> 00:32:28.920
This case is very much like a jigsaw puzzle. But
516
00:32:29.160 --> 00:32:31.900
I suggest that when you look at all those pieces,
517
00:32:32.019 --> 00:32:34.559
it's not one that is overly tough to solve.
518
00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:38.869
You are not here to find a solution to the puzzle.
519
00:32:39.430 --> 00:32:41.390
But you are here to decide if a crime was
520
00:32:41.450 --> 00:32:45.329
committed and if this person, the defendant, Lizzie Borden, committed it.
521
00:32:45.569 --> 00:32:47.849
And all the pieces of evidence say yes.
522
00:32:48.250 --> 00:32:52.519
There is no direct evidence here, right? And the circumstantial
523
00:32:52.619 --> 00:32:57.109
evidence is so very weak that it can't be enough.
524
00:32:57.430 --> 00:32:59.569
So think those things through, I know you will. So
525
00:32:59.609 --> 00:33:00.269
thank you very much.
526
00:33:01.150 --> 00:33:04.849
The evidence is all there. When you use all of it,
527
00:33:05.099 --> 00:33:07.400
and use your common sense, it is proof of one thing.
528
00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:13.420
Lizzie Borden, the defendant, bludgeoned her stepmother and her father
529
00:33:13.720 --> 00:33:17.359
to death. And for that, you should find her guilty.
530
00:33:18.140 --> 00:33:23.529
Thank you. And with that, once again, Lizzie's fate is
531
00:33:23.589 --> 00:33:24.869
in the hands of a jury.
532
00:33:25.400 --> 00:33:27.539
I feel like it has to be somebody familiar with
533
00:33:27.579 --> 00:33:27.960
the house.
534
00:33:28.309 --> 00:33:31.730
But what's different this time is that these lawyers get
535
00:33:31.789 --> 00:33:33.950
to hear the jury deliberate.
536
00:33:34.089 --> 00:33:37.910
Think of the murder weapon, the hatchet. You chopping at someone,
537
00:33:38.250 --> 00:33:40.470
there's no blood whatsoever.
538
00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:02.779
More than a century after Lizzie Borden went on trial
539
00:34:02.819 --> 00:34:06.160
for murder, this jury of eight people have been asked
540
00:34:06.220 --> 00:34:10.760
to wrestle with many of the same questions. It's an
541
00:34:10.860 --> 00:34:13.809
unheard of opportunity to be in the room for an
542
00:34:14.010 --> 00:34:18.030
actual deliberation, but it quickly becomes clear that there are
543
00:34:18.070 --> 00:34:25.889
no easy answers for our jurors. Frank, James, Michelle, Amy, Michael, Jarrell, Larissa,
544
00:34:26.289 --> 00:34:28.269
and Jennifer. What are the big concerns here?
545
00:34:29.030 --> 00:34:31.949
The prosecutor said resentment, bitterness, and greed. But it just
546
00:34:31.969 --> 00:34:36.449
seems like overkill if she wasn't going to lose everything.
547
00:34:36.710 --> 00:34:40.170
Either she's a sociopath or possibly not guilty.
548
00:34:40.250 --> 00:34:41.309
And that's my only question.
549
00:34:42.730 --> 00:34:47.789
I feel like to go for first-degree murder of both victims,
550
00:34:48.489 --> 00:34:51.570
there has to be malice and forethought. And I don't
551
00:34:51.690 --> 00:34:53.090
believe that was proven.
552
00:34:53.909 --> 00:34:56.570
You know, you could. I mean, these are two different counts.
553
00:34:56.630 --> 00:35:00.230
So if you wanted to, you could. decide that she's
554
00:35:00.269 --> 00:35:02.329
guilty of one and not guilty of the other.
555
00:35:02.590 --> 00:35:06.670
Abigail was struck 19 times. Like you said, it's overkill.
556
00:35:07.050 --> 00:35:09.829
But there's still a lot of, like I said, unknowns
557
00:35:09.889 --> 00:35:12.170
in terms of how do they clean that up?
558
00:35:12.409 --> 00:35:14.090
I can't figure out how she could have done it
559
00:35:14.489 --> 00:35:20.039
and been standing there with nothing on her house and
560
00:35:20.380 --> 00:35:21.280
everything normal.
561
00:35:21.800 --> 00:35:23.940
I feel like it has to be somebody familiar with
562
00:35:23.980 --> 00:35:24.320
the house.
563
00:35:24.340 --> 00:35:25.380
Also familiar with family.
564
00:35:26.130 --> 00:35:30.389
The victim is because they're clearly familiar with the attacker.
565
00:35:31.329 --> 00:35:35.639
I'm not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that she's guilty.
566
00:35:36.480 --> 00:35:37.110
I don't buy it.
567
00:35:37.559 --> 00:35:39.920
But I don't think the standard is completely convinced. It's
568
00:35:39.960 --> 00:35:42.880
beyond a reasonable doubt. But that doesn't mean completely.
569
00:35:43.639 --> 00:35:47.340
Unlike the original jury, this panel has no trouble believing
570
00:35:47.380 --> 00:35:52.000
a woman could kill. The question is, was it this woman?
571
00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:55.460
If she does know how to kill a pig or livestock,
572
00:35:55.539 --> 00:35:57.900
then she knows how to do it right.
573
00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:02.960
They believe she had the motive. She hated her stepmother.
574
00:36:03.460 --> 00:36:05.539
But there were still questions.
575
00:36:06.059 --> 00:36:07.619
Why leave Bridget alive?
576
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:11.360
Why leave the bloody rags just hanging out?
577
00:36:11.380 --> 00:36:15.380
Listen, let's forget about our accomplices or her motivation. The
578
00:36:15.460 --> 00:36:16.699
question is, did she do it?
579
00:36:17.510 --> 00:36:20.869
After more than an hour of deliberation. So do you
580
00:36:20.989 --> 00:36:24.349
want to, you know, take a vote from everybody on
581
00:36:24.409 --> 00:36:29.030
two different counts? The vote. On the charge of first
582
00:36:29.050 --> 00:36:35.159
degree with the death of Abby Borden. Guilty. Guilty.
583
00:36:36.260 --> 00:36:36.619
Guilty.
584
00:36:37.659 --> 00:36:39.139
Guilty. Guilty.
585
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:40.360
Guilty.
586
00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:44.260
I keep going back to she looks guilty, but I'm
587
00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:46.559
not convinced, so.
588
00:36:47.269 --> 00:36:50.369
I'm back to not guilty. You're the last one, Jarell.
589
00:36:50.710 --> 00:36:51.030
Guilty.
590
00:36:52.250 --> 00:36:53.090
Yeah, guilty.
591
00:36:53.929 --> 00:36:54.329
You're sure?
592
00:36:54.469 --> 00:36:56.320
Yes, positive on that one.
593
00:36:56.980 --> 00:36:59.539
On the charge of first degree with Andrew Borden.
594
00:37:00.059 --> 00:37:00.460
Guilty.
595
00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:01.380
Guilty.
596
00:37:02.460 --> 00:37:02.840
Guilty.
597
00:37:03.639 --> 00:37:05.380
Guilty. Guilty.
598
00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:06.719
Guilty.
599
00:37:07.320 --> 00:37:12.289
Not guilty. Not guilty. While Jarell was confident Lizzie had
600
00:37:12.429 --> 00:37:15.510
planned to kill Abby, He believed the murder of her
601
00:37:15.550 --> 00:37:17.969
father was purely spontaneous.
602
00:37:18.590 --> 00:37:22.289
I just, I don't know if that premeditation factored in
603
00:37:22.329 --> 00:37:23.010
with dad.
604
00:37:24.269 --> 00:37:28.010
And with that, the foreman published the jury's verdict.
605
00:37:28.730 --> 00:37:32.449
On the charge of first degree murder of Abby Borden,
606
00:37:32.849 --> 00:37:36.159
we are a hung jury. And on the charge of
607
00:37:36.199 --> 00:37:40.079
first degree murder for Andrew Jackson Borden, we are also
608
00:37:40.099 --> 00:37:40.739
a hung jury.
609
00:37:41.900 --> 00:37:42.179
Thank you.
610
00:37:43.900 --> 00:37:48.460
There's still something profoundly unsettling about the idea that a
611
00:37:48.519 --> 00:37:51.800
woman who seems normal committing a crime like this.
612
00:37:52.489 --> 00:37:56.090
We heard most of these jurors vote to convict her,
613
00:37:56.590 --> 00:37:58.630
but you heard a lot of doubt there still. Yeah,
614
00:37:58.650 --> 00:37:59.190
there was a lot.
615
00:37:59.210 --> 00:38:01.829
There were a number of them that were expressing doubt,
616
00:38:02.670 --> 00:38:06.449
and you wonder, is that a misunderstanding of the standard,
617
00:38:07.269 --> 00:38:09.929
or is it just they're making a call, right? It
618
00:38:09.969 --> 00:38:13.519
was fascinating, but at the same time, troubling at times.
619
00:38:13.539 --> 00:38:15.320
I think if you really broke it down, those that
620
00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:18.000
voted for guilty at the end really did express that
621
00:38:18.059 --> 00:38:20.019
they did think it was her and that the evidence
622
00:38:20.059 --> 00:38:22.559
had proven it, while they may not have expressed it
623
00:38:22.639 --> 00:38:24.440
that clearly in that one thought.
624
00:38:24.840 --> 00:38:29.110
So is it fair to say that we've not solved
625
00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:32.119
the mystery of Lizzie Borden and it will be argued
626
00:38:32.179 --> 00:38:35.550
for another 120-something years?
627
00:38:36.329 --> 00:38:39.309
I feel like we've solved the mystery of Lizzie Borden.
628
00:38:39.750 --> 00:38:41.670
We just haven't solved whether she should have been found
629
00:38:41.710 --> 00:38:44.389
guilty or not. Because it's a very different question.
630
00:38:45.469 --> 00:38:47.070
I think that that's the best way to say it.
631
00:38:47.309 --> 00:38:50.230
And maybe that's the beauty of the system, and maybe
632
00:38:50.269 --> 00:38:50.650
it's not.
633
00:38:52.030 --> 00:38:54.929
Clearly, Lizzie Borden didn't care what people thought of her.
634
00:38:55.510 --> 00:38:58.639
After her acquittal, she wasted little time getting on with
635
00:38:58.699 --> 00:39:02.300
her life. She stayed in Fall River, just not in
636
00:39:02.639 --> 00:39:03.340
this home.
637
00:39:03.949 --> 00:39:08.110
She and her sister Emma promptly vacate the cramped family
638
00:39:08.179 --> 00:39:10.480
house that was a source of some dissatisfaction.
639
00:39:10.960 --> 00:39:16.280
Inheriting almost $ 350, 000 from their father's estate, which would be
640
00:39:16.280 --> 00:39:20.320
$ 10 million in today's money, Lizzie and Emma bought the
641
00:39:20.360 --> 00:39:22.969
house they always wanted at the top of the hill
642
00:39:23.369 --> 00:39:24.989
in the wealthy part of town.
643
00:39:25.670 --> 00:39:29.690
She changed her name from Lizzie to Lizbeth, and she
644
00:39:29.750 --> 00:39:31.519
named her house Maplecroft.
645
00:39:32.340 --> 00:39:36.630
It seemed well unseemly to many in the community.
646
00:39:37.429 --> 00:39:40.489
Very soon there are people who start to wonder if
647
00:39:40.610 --> 00:39:44.369
it wasn't Lizzie Borden then who was it? Lizzie Borden
648
00:39:44.449 --> 00:39:49.210
finds herself unwelcome at the church where she had spent
649
00:39:49.309 --> 00:39:51.710
so much of her time and which had provided the
650
00:39:51.750 --> 00:39:54.210
foundation of her support during the trial.
651
00:39:54.969 --> 00:39:58.829
Twelve years later, even Lizzie's sister Emma turns her back
652
00:39:58.969 --> 00:39:59.309
on her.
653
00:40:00.230 --> 00:40:03.030
Emma was deeply troubled by something that was going on
654
00:40:03.070 --> 00:40:06.639
in the house such that she felt it was necessary
655
00:40:06.679 --> 00:40:08.539
to sever all ties with her sister.
656
00:40:09.139 --> 00:40:12.480
Lizzie, who never married, finished out her life as a recluse,
657
00:40:12.760 --> 00:40:15.929
alone in her home with her dogs, until her death
658
00:40:16.010 --> 00:40:21.599
in June of 1927. Did Lizzie ever talk to the press?
659
00:40:21.659 --> 00:40:24.559
Did she ever give her side of the story?
660
00:40:25.900 --> 00:40:26.179
No.
661
00:40:26.960 --> 00:40:28.440
Lizzie Borden remained silent.
662
00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:34.199
Coincidentally, Emma, living in New Hampshire, died just nine days later.
663
00:40:34.659 --> 00:40:38.400
They were both laid to rest here, alongside their father
664
00:40:38.860 --> 00:40:45.269
and their stepmother. Today, Fall River, Massachusetts embraces the woman
665
00:40:45.550 --> 00:40:50.670
who brought so much notoriety to the town. Lizzie Borden
666
00:40:50.710 --> 00:40:51.449
took an axe.
667
00:40:53.840 --> 00:40:55.559
And gave her mother 40 whacks.
668
00:40:58.039 --> 00:40:59.619
When she saw what she had done.
669
00:41:01.599 --> 00:41:02.699
She gave her father 41 whacks.
670
00:41:11.519 --> 00:41:15.500
Last May, Lizzie Borden's house was sold for $ 1. 8 million.
671
00:41:16.280 --> 00:41:21.690
It is still a museum and bed and breakfast. A
672
00:41:21.809 --> 00:41:24.989
twisted love triangle. An ominous ultimatum.
673
00:41:25.010 --> 00:41:26.510
I told him it was he had to pick one.
674
00:41:26.889 --> 00:41:29.909
A deadly decision and a surprising clue.
675
00:41:30.369 --> 00:41:33.250
One of the biggest pieces of evidence was a KFC bag.
676
00:41:33.550 --> 00:41:35.219
The murder of Ana Repkina.
677
00:41:35.219 --> 00:41:36.980
48 hours, next on CBS.
678
00:41:43.610 --> 00:41:43.960
Thank you.
