1. "Morse at Prelim"
Posted by Stefani on Aug-27th-02 at 12:14 AM

Kat posted the second day of the Prelim from Porter. Here was one odd thing Morse was quoted as saying. Now could someone please tell me what he means? I can't seem to wrap by brain around it.

" I did not see Lizzie until after the couple were killed. I heard her come in the night before and go up the front stairs. This was about 9:15. Her room was at the head of the front stairs, and I occupied the spare chamber. This room was not accessible at night from the stairs."

The spare room was not accessible at night from the stairs? huh?

When I looked that all over before sending, I HAD to put in a couple of [SIC'S], that were in error.  But I didn't put [sic's] everywhere...maybe I should have?

So are you saying you typed it wrong or that Morse was incorrect? Or was Porter incorrect? You confuse me girl.

I think Porter paraphrased the wording. This is the actual wording from page 238:

Q.  Did you see the defendant, Miss Lizzie Borden when you got home that night about quarter of nine?
A.  No Sir.
Q.  Did you see her at all?
A.  I did not see her from the time I came until the time of the tragedy.
Q.  You did not see her at all until after they were killed?
A.  No Sir.
Q.  Did you hear her that night?
A.  Yes, I heard her come in, or what I supposed to be her.
Q.  You heard somebody come in?
A.  Yes, and shut the door, and go up the front stairs.
Q.  What time of night was that?
A.  Somewhere about quarter past nine, or 20 minutes.
Q.  Where was her room?
A.  Over the sitting room at the head of the stairs as you go up the front stairs.
Q.  Which room did you occupy?
A.  The front chamber where Mrs. Borden was murdered.
Q.  The same one she was killed in?
A.  Yes Sir.
Q.  That is the spare chamber, or guest chamber?
A.  Yes Sir.
Q.  Did you happen to know, in the arrangement of the house, as it was then, whether the spare chamber room was accessible to the back stairs?
A.  That night, no sir it was not.
Q.  Why not?
A.  Because Miss Lizzie's door was locked.
Q.  Which?
A.  Miss Lizzie's.
Q.  That leads into the front hall?
A.  Yes Sir.

Porter paraphrased all over the place.
I let the copy stand, as is, but I could not stop myself from putting in a few "sic's"...like where Morse says he saw Lizzie when he came, then in 2 more sentences says he never saw her until after the murders...the really obvious stuff.

Thanks Harry.  That was clear.

Yes, that makes more sense now!  I noticed that earlier and wondered what it meant?  I figured it was in reference to the door that connected Lizzie's room to the elder Borden's room, but, why Morse would know anything about that is strange to me. 

All the more reason to read the primary source documents! Remember they are available for free download at http://www.lizzieandrewborden.com

I just hate it when I am misquoted. Imagine how these folks felt when this book came out!

Some time ago, I noticed a strange thing in one of the newspaper drawings of the Borden guest room.  This particular sketch, which appears in that "Did She or Didn't She?" book and is from the New Bedford Evening Standard, looks fairly accurate, except that it pictures a DOOR in the room's north wall (the "Churchill" side of the house).  If there had been such a door, I surmised, anyone using it to exit the guest room would have wound up in a crumpled heap in the rutted Borden driveway.  That's because there are lots of photos showing that side of the Borden house, and there clearly was no outside staircase in 1892, nor is there one today.  For a moment there, I thought maybe the newspaper artist was onto something!  After all, if the guest room wasn't accessible from the front stairway, there would have had to be some other way to access it.  (Ladder?) I now notice that some of the other newspaper sketches are grossly inaccurate too, including one of the sitting room in which the sofa is the wrong style and the other furniture is misplaced.