Most of us have heard the infamous rhyme before. It's an old folk poem often used as a jump-rope song.
Lizzie Borden took an ax
And gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.
But do you know the true story behind these gruesome ax murders?
Brace yourself, we're about to get pretty gory.
On the morning of August 14, 1892, Andrew Borden and his wife Abby were murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts, home.
Abby was killed first, while she was cleaning the guest room. Half an hour later, her husband was killed while sitting on the living room couch.
To this day, nobody knows for sure who committed the heinous murders. For decades everyone was convinced that it was Andrew's daughter, Elizabeth.
Lizzie, who was 32 at the time of the murders, quickly became the prime suspect — but she was later acquitted of the crime by a jury.
Middle Thumbnail Photo: Wikimedia Commons
[H/T: PopSugar]
To understand the entire story of the Borden family ax murders, we need to go back in time a little bit.
Andrew and Sarah Borden lived a normal life. They were relatively well-off, and they had two daughters: Emma and Elizabeth.
When their mother passed away, Emma and Lizzie were distraught — but Andrew remarried after three years.
He and Abby Durfee Gray tied the knot, and Abby moved into the family home with Emma and Lizzie.
The relationship between Abby and her stepdaughters wasn't great. Lizzie was convinced her new stepmother was after her father's money.
Lizzie and Emma rarely ate with Abby and Andrew. Tensions were always high in the household.
In July 1892, the family had a huge argument, and Lizzie and Emma both left the house to go on "vacation."
They both returned home a week before the murders. Instead of going back to the house, Lizzie opted to stay in a rooming house in town for four days.
During the time Lizzie was away, all the members of the household, including the maid (Bridget), came down with a mysterious illness.
It may have just been food poisoning, but Abby was worried someone had intentionally tried to poison them.
On August 3, 1892, John Morse, Lizzie's uncle on her mom's side, visited the house to discuss business matters with Andrew.
John left at 8:48 a.m. to visit a friend. By 11 a.m., both Abby and Andrew were dead.
Abby was tidying up the guest room when she was attacked. The killer struck her 17 times in the back of the head.
Andrew was lounging on the couch, possibly napping, when the murderer came for him. He was struck 10 or 11 times with an ax.
At 11:10 a.m., Lizzie yelled to the maid, claiming someone had killed her father. She said someone must have come in and murdered him.
When police came to the house, they asked Lizzie about her actions earlier in the day. Her story changed multiple times, but officers didn't press her for the truth.
Police officers also didn't check Lizzie's clothes for blood. The day after Lizzie was informed she was a suspect, her friend found her ripping up a dress that was "covered in paint."
Because they didn't pin Lizzie as a suspect at first, the police admitted they didn't thoroughly investigate her.
Later, the officers were criticized for not doing diligent work.
On June 20, 1893, Lizzie was acquitted of the murder. Her trial has gone down in history as a landmark in legal proceedings and public interest cases.
Despite her acquittal, Lizzie remained the prime suspect in the case of the Borden murders. She was ostracized by the community, ended up changing her name to "Lizbeth" and moved out of town.
Other theories have come up including that the maid, Bridget, did it; that Lizzie's sister Emma committed the crime; that John Morse was the murderer and came from out of town just to kill the Bordens; or that Andrew had an illegitimate son who wanted money from his father.
But none compare to the evidence on Lizzie.
Today, the Borden family home is a bed and breakfast, and people travel from all over to stay in the rooms where Abby and Andrew were brutally murdered.
If you're fascinated by historical murders like this one, please SHARE this article!
