1. "Why Not Kill Them....?"
Posted by Kat on Oct-6th-02 at 3:43 AM

Morse had supposedly proclaimed to a reporter that if HE had meant to kill the Borden's why would he do it in such a way?  He allegedly said that He would have chloroformed them in their sleep.

We've asked why, if Andrew was the true target, he was not simply run down by a wagon in the street, or set upon by a robber.  If someone was jealous of Abby's widow's portion (1/3) enough to do her in...you'd think that saving that money as a motive would be offset by what was paid those high-priced lawyers.  It might have been easier and less costly to allow her that portion, and her life.

If Abby was the victim, why not push her down the stairs and then conk her one to finish her off.  Then wait for Andrew to die a few years...he was 70 which was old for that time.

So why did BOTH have to die, and die that day in that way?

Kim had asked, Why not kill them in their sleep, and make sure all the back doors leading up to their room were found open or unlocked? 

You'd think a double murder would happen in night, not the bright light of a bustling day...

I guess that is exactly why this murder is so fascinating to us so many years after.  It shouldn't have happened the way it did, broad daylight, people about the house, etc., but, it did!  If it had happened any other way, would we be as into it as we are?  This is almost like one of those "locked room" mysteries, it sounds impossible that someone was murdered there, yet, they were and now we can pick up the clues and try and decipher them to the best of our abilities. 

It still seems very possible to me that it could have been an
intruder, If Abby didn't go upstairs where would she
have killed her at? The other rooms weren't so out of
the way, would she have went to the barn earlier? Lizzie had
only a few minutes to get her axe & go upstairs before Abby
was finished in the guest room.
It could have been planned so much better if she did plan
it, it seems like a random act but still there has never
been any real consideration given to that it could have been
a intruder. If they really knew it was Lizzie why didn't they
do a better job? I'm sure Bridget would have told everything
she knew if she was in jail also, she wasn't going to be telling
much if she was going to profit from not talking.

I was thinking more about it and realized that if the muders were planned for at Night OR in the Day, there would Still be those 2 pesky Witness/survivors...= Bridget and Lizzie.
So a night time killing would only be a diversionary tatic...because something as gruesome as this crime one would think would be committed in the cruel darkness.
I suppose it didn't matter, then, if it were daylight, if one were brash enough.  And meant to leave those two girls alive.
(If you look like you know what you're doing, you can get away with anything--meaning an intruder who kept their wits about them Could possibly walk away into the day-crowded street...)

(Message last edited Oct-6th-02  7:43 PM.)

If this was a carefully-planned crime, and if the (unknown)perpetrator was in touch with someone in the house, an excellent window of opportunity might have been the week of August 7.  Lizzie was planning to be away at least part of that week, Emma might still have been in Fairhaven, John V. Morse would probably have gone home, and we know that Bridget sometimes went out at night and probably even spent entire nights away from the Borden house.  That would clear the decks quite nicely.  If Lizzie herself was the perpetrator, it seems to me that night would have been a better time too.  She could have lain in her room listening for the sound of snores from the adjoining chamber, then crept up the back stairs.  If she waited until Bridget was away, she could have had hours to clean up after herself and hide evidence.  Why on earth would she have chosen the middle of the day with all those people around?  Why would anyone, except somebody who was forced into that position or somebody who killed in a fit of passion?

The "fit of passion" theory has been one that I've subscribed to in relation to Lizzie, it makes sense if she did it.  Its that or she was just plain crazy!  And if she was, it wasn't in a visible sense, it was something faulty with her reasoning.  Maybe it was her childhood traumas that set her over the edge, her mother dying when she was so young may have left lasting scars.  Andrew remarrying may have caused her some grief.  The thought that she could have murdered Abby and just walked away from it like no one would discover it is so childlike in thinking. 

You're right, and come to think of it, the week before would have looked good too, for a pre-med job.
Lizzie and Emma were gone from July 21st, and Lizzie didn't return until the 26th.  And no Morse then, either.

I suppose something MUST have happened in that time frame that tipped the scales toward murder.  (Then we have the *rumors* of the girls meeting with Morse whilst away...)

There seems to be a time each summer when Abby & Andrew go to the farm and stay.  It could easily have *happened* there, too, like the Manchester murder.

I'm sure I wrote this over a year ago (old site?).
The murder of Abby was an "accident". Willie was to wait in the closed up guest room until Andy returned from the bank. Abby, instead of leaving for that errand, went upstairs (to make bed?) and found Willie there. Abby let him know of her disgust, etc. and turned her back on him. Willie flew off the handle, his hatchet spoke for him.

When Andy returned Willie went downstairs. Abby was not missed because she was supposed to go out. Andy turned over the little white box to Willie (money or ?), and said something to him. Then Willie finished the job. As he walked out the back door he waved to Lizzie.

Lizzie then went back in (after giving her Dad his privacy for the meeting) and found the body. Called Bridget to send to Dr Bowen....
And we know the rest. Lizzie's first statements were true, she hadn't rehearsed the cover-up w/ Uncle John.

And that is my explanation of the events. Thanks to AR Brown's book, and what seems to be implied by the facts as I know them.

[I don't believe that it was either planned, or Lizzie was involved before the fact. Because she would have gone out for a good alibi!! I believe that Uncle John was on his way home, until recalled by Dr Bowen. He then helped to plan the cover-up.]

Not to change topic, but if you think the Trial of LAB smells, wait until you read about the Hall-Mills Murder which makes the above like perfume. Imagine this: two murders, eyewitnesses, but NO indictments! I believe this was also an "accident", something that happened because of the emotions and anger involved in a confrontation. Do you agree?

(Message last edited Oct-7th-02  3:57 PM.)

Every time I hear the word "accident" in connection with a brutal slaying like these, I think of Andy Williams' ex-wife, Claudine Longet (I think that was her name).  She shot her skier boyfriend, "Spider" Something-or-Other, about six times and claimed it was an accident.  I guess her finger got stuck on the trigger!  Now there was a woman who looked like the picture of innocence.  The smallest sliver of butter wouldn't have melted in her mouth.

Every time I hear the word "accident" in connection with a brutal slaying like these, I think of Andy Williams' ex-wife, Claudine Longet (I think that was her name).  She shot her skier boyfriend, "Spider" Something-or-Other, about six times and claimed it was an accident.  I guess her finger got stuck on the trigger!  Now there was a woman who looked like the picture of innocence.  The smallest sliver of butter wouldn't have melted in her mouth.