The Evening Standard—Thursday, August 4, 1892 Page 6

THE BORDEN MURDER.

Portuguese Farm Employe
Suspected Assassin.

Daughter of Slain Couple First
Discovered the Bodies.

Threads of Evidence Picked Up By
the Police

Mr. Borden Seen on the Street
Shortly Before Found Dead.

No Trace of the Implements Used in
the Commission of the Crime.


[By Associated Press.]
Fall River, Aug. 4. — Andrew J. Borden and his wife were found at their home, 92 Second street, at 11 o’clock this forenoon, both dead. Both had been frightfully mutilated about the head and face with an axe, cleaver, or a razor. Mr. Borden lay on a sofa in a room on the lower floor of the house. His head had been cut and gashes from four to six inches long were found on his face and neck. Mrs. Borden was in her own chamber on the upper floor, and the condition of her face and head was the same as that of her husband. She lay face downward on the bed, which was a veritable pool of blood. The police were immediately notified and began an investigation. Up to the hour of writing no implements that could have been used in the commission of the crime had been found. This leads to the terrible suspicion that Mr. and Mrs. Borden were murdered. The murder and suicide theory is advanced and finds many supporters. Mr. Borden was a wealthy real estate owner and mill man, and was seen on the street half an hour before he was found dead.

There is hardly any doubt now that both were murdered. The daughter of the unfortunate couple was the first to make the discovery. She went up stairs after finding the body of her father and saw the form of her mother lying on the floor. She thought she had fallen in a swoon, but upon finding that she too was murdered, the girl fled down stairs and fainted. The police have searched in vain now after a Portuguese who runs the Borden farm at Gardner’s Neck and who, it is said, was in the house a few minutes before the bodies were discovered.

It is reported that word was sent to Mrs. Borden this morning that a sick friend desired to see her to-day, but she didn’t go out.

It is said that the servant, Bridget Sullivan, says she went into the room to make some inquiry of Mr. Borden about five minutes before Lizzie Borden gave the alarm. He was then sitting on the sofa reading a newspaper. Mr. Borden was on the streets and in several of the banks as late as 10 o’clock.