Evening journal., 1892-09-29
AGAINST LIZZIE BORDEN.
A New Link in the Chain of Cir
cumstantial Evidence.
IT POINTS TOWARD TIE ACCUSED.

Il Is Intimated That 1t Was She Who
Robbed the House Previous to the Muir
ders, and That Her Father Knew 1t and
Refused to Prosecute the Girl.
FALL RIVER, Mass, Sept. 29.-New light
that will no doubt have an important bear.
ing on the trial of Lizzie Borden has been
thrown upon the robbery Of the murdered
Mr. and Mn. Andrew J. Borden, which
occurred on June "a. 1891 Ii will be re.
membered that the facts of this robbery
had been kept secret and were not brought
TO the public notice until after the mys-
terious murder of the old couple. The po-
lice, after a long investigation Of the mat
ter were perfectly satisfied that they could
place the thief under arrest, but this never
occurred because it is stated, Mr. Borden
declined to press the charge.
Mr.. Borden reported the robbery on the
afternoon of the date mentioned He said
his own room over the kitchen had been
entered and a desk used for his private pa
pers broken open. From this desk had been
taken eighty dollars in bills, thirty dollars
in gold coin, number of horse car tickets
for use by directors of thecompany, lady's
gold watch a ladys gold watch chain with
tassel charm, ladys pocketbook made Of
Russian leather and some trinkets Of more
or less value
All the articles except the money and
tickets belonged TO Mrs Borden, and in the
stolen pocketbook was a lock Of hair, which
the old lady dearly priced. The private
papers of Mr. Borden We're scattered about
inside the desk, and some of them appeared
TO have been the subject of scrutiny by the
thief
No Traces of Burglar.
Captain (then Inspector) Desmond and
Inspector PerrOn were put on the case.
4 rhey found that none of the members Of
| the family had been away from the house
i during the day. All the doors, as far as
. they knew, were locked the night before,
. when the articles were safe in the desk
4 The burglary was committed sometime in
the forenoon. The first clew the inspectors
4 iound was in door at the head of the
stairs which opens into Mr. Borden's ROOM
a tenpenny nail was found sticking from
the keyhole. The head Of the nail was on
the outside of the door 1t was first thought
that the lock had been picked, but a mi
a mute examination showed that it had not
been tampered with at all. A thorough
search Of the premises failed to reveal any
traces of the burglar.
The officers reported what they had
learned to Mr.. Borden, and later had talk
with Mrs. Borden, Lizzie Borden Emma
Borden and Bridget Sullivan. The detec-
tive shadOwed crooks and other officers
rode on the, horse cars TO find II possible
some one using the stolen tickets. Con-
ductors had seen none of the pasteboards,
neither did the officers find trace Of any.
None Of the stolen property was ever re-
covered, although pawnshops and other
places where professional burglar would
try to palm Off his i'll gotten goods were
searched.
An Important Link.
Finally the inspectors sent for Mr.. Borden
and told him that they could arrest the
thief at any time. They told Mr. Borden
something which astounded him, and the
case was dropped very quietly at the old
gentleman's request. He told the police
authorities that he did not care about the
money OF the watch, but he wanted the
chain and lock Of hair, because Mrs. Borden
prized them beyond all worth. The detec
tives had worked very, secretly in the
matter Newspaper men were kept in the
dark about the whole affair until the excit
s. ing hours following the discovery of tn,
murdered old couple. Then the fact that q
mysterious robbery had occurred was de
velopcd, but the police were loath to give
any information to the reporters.
Some of Mrs. Borden's friends, who be
came possessed Of some facts regarding thl
theft, made statements which were worked
on by the newspaper men. Chief HilliarC
was seen in his Office and told just what ha
been written. He showed a great deal o
surprise and when questioned abou
the matter he said I'm not ready to g
into that matter yet. / must find if an.
one has been giving information from thi
department. Some of the statements ar
true; some are not. No, l will not tall
about the matter"
The facts concerning this mysterious rob
berry, it is understood, will be more thoI
oughly elucidated at the trial, and are eN
pected TO form an important part of tn
governments case.