The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1893-06-12
CASE OF LIZZIE BORDEN
Seventh Day Of Her Trial al
New Bedford.
LEGAL LUMlNARlEs WRANeLlNo

posing counsel and the prisoner were in
their places. and the seventh day OF the
Borden trial commenced The court room
was packed as usual, large proportion ol
the spectators being women.
Argument at once began with regard 10
the ndmissbility of the report Of the pris-
oners testimony at the inquest.
1t s becoming more evident every day
that the Commonwealth is gradually
knocking the underpinning from the struc-
ture it began to erect be it prison or glib
bet, with such skill and celebrity in the
rial Of Lizzie Borden, and, what is more
astonishing still, this work of demolition
is being accomplished by the very me
chancs who helped lay the foundation.
The conflicting testimony regarding the
handle of the hatchet with which it is said
the murders were committed the
quality and quantity Of the dust with
which the handle was covered. the color
and style Of the dress Miss Borden wore on
the morning of the murder; the alternately
proven and denied identity of the dress
with one she is said to have burned or the
one now in posse sion of the State-all
this is becoming more of a muddie as the
case progresses.
II Miss Borden, or some one for her, car
satisfactorily explain the alleged burning
of tLg waist, it is difficult to see, unless it
has some much better cards in reserve
chan ny so far played how the prosecu-
ton can convince the jury or the commune
10y that this young woman is guilty of the
atrocious crime with which she is charged
In fact, the prosecution is gradually and
materially giving tangibility to the belief
which has existed in many minds that the
prisoner is the victim, Incredible as this
may SEEM of a conspiracy on the part Of
the Fall River police, who, it is limited,
being baiiled at every turn, felt that they
had to distort facts in order to make a case
and, it is further intimated, earn the pro
motion with which, as was disclosed, they
nave since been rewarded
A review of the case, viewed from the
standpoint of the prosecution, then from
chat Of the defense, may be of interest.
The Governments case, as it stands i.
chat Miss Lizzie Borden is guilty because
Of the following facts: She lived a dull
routine in an uucongenial household where
life was mouotonOu5, the fare was
wretched, her father was a parsimonious
man, aud she hated her stepmother So
Jdious to right-minded persons was the
manner of living that the old people kept
their bedroom door locked. and bolted the
doors that led from their end of the house
to that occupied by the daughters.
On the day before the murder she tried
to buy prussic acid, and on that night she
went TO visit her closest friend, Miss Rus
sell, and talked to her Of her stran-e feel
ing that something dreadful was going to
happen. She talked of poison, saying that
MI her people had been sick, and she
feared that the food was poisoned She
faara1 fp,. bar fotbag hapo 200 of hic pr1ar
relsomeness; in fact. she said she expected
nothing less than her home would BE-
burned over her head. She said she had
been oppressed by this feeling for some
| days, and while her sister and the servant
were merry, she was depressed She chose
for a time for the murder a period when
der sister was off on a visit, and the only
person at home besides her victims was
the servant. She meant at first to poison
her people with prussic acid but could not.
| While the servant was out of doors at
work at the lower windows and her
mother was upstairs at the chamber work
she murdered her An hour or two after.
ward her father came in and she induced
him to lie down and sleep on sofa where
his head would be near a doorway, in
which she stood while she chopped his
mead, the wall protecting her from the fly
I
/ she saw to it that the house was locked on
| MI sides against intrusion. How she pro
ected herself from blood stains while
/ numbering her mother is not yet outlined
/ She might have been naked, though. As
she burned one of her dresses afterward,
| it is poss bic that that was what she wore
1t will be admitted that during the second
lilling she need not have got any
blood upon her. When all was over she
called the servant down. She did not
scream or shrek nor did she weep at any
time that anyone can testify to. She in
vented lie TO the effect that Mrs Borden
had got note and gone out and to
ths She adhered all day, until at the last
she said, "She thought she heard her come
i'm well knowing that the only door at
which the old lady could have come in
was that of the kitchen, and yet to do so
she must have passed the neighbors who
were then around her That lie was told
TO keep the people from looking for the
| Did lady and discovering her body.
No note was discovered, as it would be
likely to be on the woman's body or about
the house She lied with still less system
bout her own movements To no two per
SOILS did she describe them alike To every
one she said she was in the yard or barn, but
beyond thai no two of her stories agreed.
Upon the very discovery Of the murders,
when a police Ola er happened to ask a
question ubost her mother she turned
upon him snar. AMI said: SHE'S not
| my mother uH e. died when ! was
child A ne sane time SHE showed by
"a mars she made that she had picked
out tl- uuuerutker she meant TO employ
| On iAe lay the iuuerH this Yankee
Cir. brought up il a house where every
Yeuug was squeezed till IL was dented
.omuiJtel tle astonishing act Of burning
. no % dress because IL had little paint on
'it-a sood dress made new luaU spring
As or the motive that pr mpt- 1ecrime
-e-ms many sided. the sJapm).hef had
ti tI- father 10 give property o. her ssla
ives The murderer Ia Jei her, aud said
/ 30 She wanted M npy. ease and luxury.
Iad she killed h er lath ~ first the vs at
guul have benefited his wife's people
] Iha fore the mother was killed first
/ 1d ihe iirAer afterwad. The Common
i,l cues that only an inmate of the
I ..-4. familiar with the habits Of the 9th
IT'S. cpd. have committed the murders.
Aa Dorden's defenders assert that the
ugr5 y ate of affairs in the Borden house
/ .s exaggerated that Jhey will prove that
/ IN two years and nine months in that
/ house Bridget Sullivan never heard
quarrel or a cross word there, that her talk
bout forebodngs to Miss Russell was
such as women ofJan n indulge in, that it is
mere coincidence that the murders hap
oened next day. They assert that mis-
taken identity leads 70 the testimony abont
prussic acid They say that the dress she
burned was not worn by her or sen upon