I told you no wire hangers!!
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Harry
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theebmonique
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Kat
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Now that's a weapon!
I wonder if it was considered a hatchet or an ax.
The first weapon considered in the case was the claw-headed hatchet found on the premises and I don't know if the testimony was urged to match that hatchet or if it was Dolan's studied opinion that the weapon had that long handle, of between 18 and 24 inches.
Preliminary Hearing
Dr. Dolan
Day 2, Friday, August 26, 1892
Dr. William A. Dolan, resumed.
Q. (Mr. Adams.) Did you measure at any time, Doctor, the length of the handle of the hatchet that you have described?
A. No sir.
Q. Have you an opinion about its length?
A. I could not say, I should think it would be about probably eighteen inches or two feet, eighteen inches probably.
Q. Do you mean from the hatchet to the end of the handle?
A. No sir, from the blade to the end of the handle, the inner edge of the blade.
Q. Did you at any time measure the length of the edge, that is the breadth of the blade of the hatchet?
A. No sir, I did not.
Q. Did you weigh it?
A. No sir.
Q. Have you any opinion about its weight?
A. No, I should think it weighed from three to five pounds.
Q. And the handle was about eighteen inches to two feet long?
A. Yes sir.
Q. What is your theory as to the position the assailant of Mrs. Borden was in when these blows on the back of the head, that you have described, I do not limit them to the back of the head, were given?
A. My impression is ---
Q. Your opinion I am asking for.
A. Yes. That they were given while Mrs. Borden was lying in the position in which she was found, with the murderer standing over her.
Q. If the murderer was standing over her, using the hatchet you have described, with the handle about eighteen inches to two feet long, would the assailant have used, in your opinion, one or two hands to inflict these blows?
A. I would not be prepared to say that.
Q. Would he have been obliged to stoop over in order to give the blows?
(177)
A. Certainly, he would not have been obliged to stand erect.
Q. In a bending position?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Taking into account the average length of the handle of the hatchet, and the average length of the human arm, whereabouts over the prone body of Mrs. Borden, would the assailant have had to stand, in your opinion?
A. I should judge about over the hips.
Q. Then the assailant would have been obliged to be, would he not, astride the hips?
A. Yes sir.
Q. With one foot between the body and the bureau, and the other foot between the body and the frame of the bed?
A. Yes sir.
--Later, in the trial, when the handleless hatchet was assumed to be the killing tool, and the handle was *missing*, the box it was found in might give a supposition as to that handle-length.
The box was approximately 14" long and about 4" deep, and possibly 8 - 10 inches wide (Fleet T474 & MullalyT626- averaged). That implies the handle was no more than 14" long. That's a ruler plus 2 inches.
That is a big difference in handle length.
I wonder if it was considered a hatchet or an ax.
The first weapon considered in the case was the claw-headed hatchet found on the premises and I don't know if the testimony was urged to match that hatchet or if it was Dolan's studied opinion that the weapon had that long handle, of between 18 and 24 inches.
Preliminary Hearing
Dr. Dolan
Day 2, Friday, August 26, 1892
Dr. William A. Dolan, resumed.
Q. (Mr. Adams.) Did you measure at any time, Doctor, the length of the handle of the hatchet that you have described?
A. No sir.
Q. Have you an opinion about its length?
A. I could not say, I should think it would be about probably eighteen inches or two feet, eighteen inches probably.
Q. Do you mean from the hatchet to the end of the handle?
A. No sir, from the blade to the end of the handle, the inner edge of the blade.
Q. Did you at any time measure the length of the edge, that is the breadth of the blade of the hatchet?
A. No sir, I did not.
Q. Did you weigh it?
A. No sir.
Q. Have you any opinion about its weight?
A. No, I should think it weighed from three to five pounds.
Q. And the handle was about eighteen inches to two feet long?
A. Yes sir.
Q. What is your theory as to the position the assailant of Mrs. Borden was in when these blows on the back of the head, that you have described, I do not limit them to the back of the head, were given?
A. My impression is ---
Q. Your opinion I am asking for.
A. Yes. That they were given while Mrs. Borden was lying in the position in which she was found, with the murderer standing over her.
Q. If the murderer was standing over her, using the hatchet you have described, with the handle about eighteen inches to two feet long, would the assailant have used, in your opinion, one or two hands to inflict these blows?
A. I would not be prepared to say that.
Q. Would he have been obliged to stoop over in order to give the blows?
(177)
A. Certainly, he would not have been obliged to stand erect.
Q. In a bending position?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Taking into account the average length of the handle of the hatchet, and the average length of the human arm, whereabouts over the prone body of Mrs. Borden, would the assailant have had to stand, in your opinion?
A. I should judge about over the hips.
Q. Then the assailant would have been obliged to be, would he not, astride the hips?
A. Yes sir.
Q. With one foot between the body and the bureau, and the other foot between the body and the frame of the bed?
A. Yes sir.
--Later, in the trial, when the handleless hatchet was assumed to be the killing tool, and the handle was *missing*, the box it was found in might give a supposition as to that handle-length.
The box was approximately 14" long and about 4" deep, and possibly 8 - 10 inches wide (Fleet T474 & MullalyT626- averaged). That implies the handle was no more than 14" long. That's a ruler plus 2 inches.
That is a big difference in handle length.
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Susan
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On a sad note, my sweetie and I were in LA last weekend visiting friends, we went around the area with one of those maps of stars homes. Joan Crawford's old house in Brentwood is no more, it has been torn down and replaced with a completely new home that was pretty much 2 by 4s and windows when we saw it, no siding put on yet. The only thing that may have survived from Joan's time was the rusty white wrought iron fence out front. 