1. “I did not see his face, because he was all covered with blood.”
Lizzie Borden
Julie Lee
“I did not see his face, because he was all covered with blood.”

2. Early Life Born July 19, 1860 in Fall River, Massachusetts
Biological parents were Andrew and Sarah Borden; once mother died, father remarried to Abby (Durfee Gray) Borden
Older sister, Emma Borden, and her were very
religious and attended Central Congregational
Church, where Lizzie was very involved
Taught immigrants at Sunday school, member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and a member of the Ladies’ Fruit and Flower Mission
Emma Borden
Central Congregational Church

3. Early Life (continued)
Andrew Borden was successful enough in the fields of manufacturing and real estate development to support his wife and daughters while employing servants to keep their home in order
Emma and Lizzie lived with their father and stepmother into adulthood
Emma was protective of her younger sister and, together, the two sisters helped to manage the rental properties owned by Andrew Borden
A grammar school teacher described her “as a pupil she was an average scholar, neither being exceptionally smart nor noticeably dull”

4. Early Life (continued)
The Borden sisters were told to call their stepmother “Mrs. Borden”
The maid, Bridget Sullivan, said that the girls and the parents rarely ate meals together as a family.
The girls often took “vacations” away from the house, but it is more likely they were either forced
out at times by their father or left to
be away from their stepmother
The girls constantly worried that
Abbey was trying to steal money from
their father
The Borden residence

5. Crime and Sentence Thursday, August 4th, 1982
Lizzie Borden was charged with the first degree murder of her father and stepmother with a hatchet, Andrew Borden and Abby Borden
Although she was initially arrested, she was acquitted of all charges
Body of Andrew Borden
Body of Abby Borden
****First Degree Murder - murder that is carried out with the planned and deliberate intention of killing somebody
****Acquitted – to be freed from a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty

6. Evidence
Many officers investigating the case cited that Lizzie Borden was too “calm and poised” for someone who’s parents just died
In the basement, police found two hatchets, two axes, and a hatchet-head with a broken handle
A few days after the murder, a family friend entered the kitchen to find Lizzie Borden burning a dress on the fire. Lizzie said that she was burning it because it was covered in “paint”

7. Evidence (continued)
Andrew Borden
Lizzie called the maid downstairs, told her Andrew Borden had been murdered, and told her not to go into the room where he died. Instead, Lizzie sent the maid to fetch a doctor.
Lizzie's answers to the police officers' questions were at times strange and contradictory.
Initially she reported hearing a groan or a distress call before entering the house, but two hours later she said she didn’t hear anything and entered the house not realizing that anything was wrong
The Borden residence’s maid, Bridget Sullivan

8. Sentence and Subsequent Life
Lizzie Borden was acquitted of all charges
Moved into a house her father owned with her sister in Fall Rivers, MA
Ostracized by her community
Died of pneumonia on June 1, 1927
Fall River, MA

9. Cultural References
Many books about her; these are just a few examples
nonfiction
nonfiction
nonfiction
fiction

10. Cultural References (continued)
She has had a few movies about her as well

11. Songs She Took an Axe – Flotsam and Jetsam Folk rhyme
Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one.
She Took an Axe – Flotsam and Jetsam
Now before the jury with a solemn face,
These legendary murders... she left not a trace.
Lizzy found it so simple to take their lives,
Today she walks free... Axe by her side
Folk rhyme
Thirty Whacks – Dresden Dolls
Thirty drops in a glass, keep my temper and pass
With my breath held. You bastards, you lucked out again!
It's not really so bad. There’s still mom, there’s still
Damage to do before they wrest the axe from my hands.

12. Anomie Theory
I believe Lizzie tried to obtain her goals but did not have the legitimate means. Many people have theories that her father was not going to be leaving much money or and estate for his daughters, as his new wife, Abby, continuously tried to make him hand everything over to her. If this was the case, Lizzie and her sister, Emma, would be in a lot of financial trouble. They had grown up their whole life surrounded by money. If Abby had complete control of funds, they would get nothing. It was known Abby hated her daughters, so they knew as well that they wouldn’t be getting any money. If Lizzie killed Abby, all of her money would’ve been inherited by her father and once she killed her father, all of his money and estate would be inherited by her and her sister. Since she was so spoiled in her earlier life, before her birth mother died and her father remarried, she probably didn’t think of any legitimate means to get money if her father decided to give it all to Abby. After the murder of her parents, Lizzie and Emma received a large sum of money and lived in one of the properties her father had owned. This wouldn’t have been possible if they hadn’t both died.