Why hide the hatchet ?

[Steve887788]

Why is it necessary for the murderer to take the weapon with him ? Now he has to hide it - remove any blood from it and risk getting caught with it in his possession.
At least in Mr. Borden's case the murder weapon could have easily been dropped on the floor. The police would have the most obvious implement used and as far as the myth of flying hatchets from the backyard and different types of dust covered rusty handled and handless hatchets that Lizzie led the police to would not be a topic for discussion.

I mean - who really believes that Lizzie killed her step mother and father with a hatchet - then either goes outside when that house was watched by just about everybody in the area and tosses the hatchet on the roof of a neighbor ?

Or taking the murder weapon - washing it off - drying it - covering it with dust or ashes then to make it stand apart from any other hatchet break off the handle.
Then - instruct the maid to show the Fall River Police the box of hatchets where they miraculously find what was thought - the murder weapon used ! Brilliant police work... I am surprised the box did not have a sign on it that said Murder Weapons

[camgarsky4]

What do you think happened to the murder weapon?

[Steve887788]

Unfortunately there was no way of testing DNA back then - fingerprints were new as well. But if they did find let's say the hatchet and tested it for DNA - what would that prove ? It was in the Borden house - all of the blood related people in that house must have touched that hatchet at one time or another. And Borden DNA would be found.
So they did not find any human blood on anything. OK so was it washed ?

Who would commit a murder and then tell the police where to look for the murder weapon - exactly ? You have to have been the cleanest person in the world to have confidence that your wash job will pass a police / lab test. Or you have to be crazy. A hatchet is such a small thing to dispose of - yes the handle could have been broken off and burned and you have a piece of metal to get rid of the size of your palm. Either way - to put it back in the box and direct the police where to look is just dumb.

Unless your plan is to direct the police to one bit of evidence and let them ponder that for a while - thinking that all of the signs like a broken handle or different colored dust was on the blade will keep them busy until you can really put the real thing away for good. But a hatchet landing on your roof next door to your neighbor who just happened to be arrested and tried in a murder involving a hatchet is kind of sensensional. Actually it's dumb because if that hatchet landed on 3rd street or in somebody's front yard it would have been found soon. Not months later. If that Crowe's barn had a pitch to it then Lizzie is a better throw than I thought.

[camgarsky4]

Thanks. I understand you have strong doubts about the legitimacy of the Crowe hatchet and the cellar hatchets.

If neither of them are the murder weapon, what is your theory or idea on what happened to the murder weapon?

[leitskev]

Hey Cam

I don't have a theory that I am comfortable with, not even close. It seems to me that someone helped her. And that leaves either Morse or Bowen. Bowen could have easily taken the weapon away. Motive? Only one possible: something improper happened between Lizzie and him, and Lizzie had this leverage over him.

Not saying I believe that either. That's why this case never dies. No theory really makes sense. Lizzie killed Andrew(if she did) within a 5 to 10 minute window and somehow cleaned herself up and got rid of the murder weapon. Nothing indicates her being that clever, and to be fair, now that I've studied other crime cases, pretty much no one is clever the first time they kill. But Lizzie didn't even think to open the front door! She could have done this right after killing Andrew. But if she was too distracted and didn't think of it, what was she doing in the minutes after Bridget ran off? If she's guilty, her mind must be racing to make sure her story is straight and she's cleaned herself up. She couldn't even think to go run and unlock the door so it would look like the killer escaped that way? It's weird.

I don't see Morse being able to escape with the weapon. He was being closely watched. But what is the deal with his strange behavior? And did Morse and Bowen really visit the same house that morning?

[camgarsky4]

Leitskev -- I'm really enjoying this banter.....

Setting aside the timing of the discovery, what about the crowe barn hatchet being the murder weapon doesn't make sense?

Lizzie was experiencing the most chaotic, emotional, frenzied minutes of her entire life. Needing to come up with alibi's and explanations on the spot was dangerous and probably not Lizzie's strength. For me that explains the relatively odd barn visit, the mysterious note, hearing Abby come home, on and on. So if she forgot to cover her tracks like unlocking the front door doesn't seem surprising to me at all.

Also very interesting, Friday Aug 5th morning as she came down to breakfast, she asked Bridget 'wasn't the cellar door open" at the time of the murders? Bridget assured her it wasn't, but why would Lizzie randomly come up with that question? Lizzie's mentioning the open cellar door and then a few days later Morse, mentioning that he might have seen the cellar door open when he went back for the pears is an interesting match up.

[Steve887788]

I suppose I could come up with my own idea where was the actual murder weapon(s). Like I said before these hatches are small and relatively flat- even the handle is not a thick round one - it is a slim flat handle and the blade is made for roofers to lay wooden shingles. So as I said - while the police were focusing on the decoys as I like to call them - Lizzie - if she did it disposed it easily - she could have buried it or had a pre destined hiding place. All I have to say is that it just does not add up - why one would wash a hatchet or toss it on the roof. Just drop it in the sitting room and poof - the mystery of where is the murder weapon will be over. It's not like today where DNA testing will put you away. But as I said before it was a Borden hatchet and it stands to reason that Emma , Lizzie, Andrew -even Uncle John have some of the same DNA.