The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-06-14

from blood. stains while numbering her
step-mother does not appear. She
burned dress two or three days after
the murder, and it is possible that this
is the one she wore while killing her
During the killing of the
father she need not necessarily have
received any blood-stains, or only such
as were easily removed. She shed no
tears. She did not cry out or shrek or
manifest any unusual emotion, When
the work was done she called the servant
down from her room in the attic. To
account for the absence of her step
mother she invented lie, saying that
Mrs. Borden had received note and
had gone out to see a sick friend.
Finally she said to the servant and
neighbor that {" she thought she heard
her come in" and when the servant
and neghbor assembled the front stairs
to find Mrs. Borden, as soon as their
eyes were on level with the second
floor they discovered her lying dead in
her blood in the guest room. No
note was discovered on the murdered
woman's body or about the house. The
story was lie, designed to prevent the
premature discovery of the step-moth-
er's body. The prisoner lied with less
method about her movements during
the forenoon. To no two persons did
she tell the same story. When apolice-
man asked question about her mother,
she replied sharply: "She is not my
mother. My mother died when l was
a child" On the day of the funeral of
her parents, she committed the aston
ishing act of burning dress (new in the
spring. because, as she alleged, it had
little paint on it. AS to the motive.
The father was wealthy, his estate
amounting to some S25O,000. He had
made no will. The step-mother had
led the father to give property to her
relatives. He might by will bequeath
the bulk of his property to his wife.
The prisoner wanted money. She
coveted ease and luxury. The mother
was killed first, so that the estate would
not benefit the wife or her people.
Only an inmate of the house, familiar
with its precincts and the habits of the
others, could have committed the double
murder. The above is the theory and
argument of the prosecution.
The defense maintains that the un-
pleasant relations alleged by the state
did not exist between Lizzie Borden
and her step-mother. The domestic
who had lived nearly three years in the
family never heard quarrel or cross
word. The testimony relating to the
prussic acid is the result of a case Of
mistaken identity. The incident of the
burning of the dress is explained away
Lizzie was engaged in ironing hand
kerchiefs at the time her father wat
murdered and had stepped out to the
barn for a few minutes to get piece o.
iron, leaving the screen door untas-
tened, and during her absence the kill
ing occurred and the murderer escaped
The theory of the defense is that some
one concealed in the house committed
the murder.
There seems to be no direct proof o
the prisoners guilt. The evidence o
the state is ali circumstantial, so far as
developed, but it must be admitted
that circumstances tend to sugges
Lizzie Borden as the guilty person
Her accounts of her whereabouts at tn
time the father must have been kille
were conflicting. The story of the not
her mother had received is plainly a
invention. No one has appeared VIII
saw Mrs. Borden on the street on tha
fatal morning, and the person who ha
sent the alleged note has not risen u
to vindcate Lizzie Borden's veracity
The burning of the dress is incrim
. mating. AT the inquest, which wa
held with closed doors, she involve
|
and when it is proposed to submit
evidence the stenographic report of ht
: testimony at the inquest, her couns
Z stoutly object. The court sustain
u the objection, so important evidenC
l. for the state is locked up. Legally, tn
y is victory for the defense, morally
y defeat. If Lizzie Borden is innocen
y innocent as babe unborn-as b,
- friends and defenders claim - sh
e would challenge the fullest and mo
J unrestricted investigation. Investig
u ton could not harm her. But all tn
II is known of her acts on the day of IL
l. crime, all that she has said, and I'll
81 general course of the defense, seem
9 be wholly inconsistent with the theol
l. of childlike innocence-such innocent
Il as invests Bridget Sullivan, the dome
s. tic, the only other known occupant
IL the house at the time of the murders.