Unsolved Lizzie Borden

by Stefani Koorey

First published in April/May, 2004, Volume 1, Issue 2, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies.

The Discovery Channel first contacted me on April 15, 2003. The voice mail message that was left at work was friendly and upbeat, inviting me to participate in a production of Unsolved History as an expert on the Borden murders and be interviewed on camera for the documentary. They found my site, The Lizzie Borden Virtual Museum and Library (LizzieAndrewBorden.com) and had used it extensively in researching the Victorian era, the crime and the case. Their plan, they said, was to film in Fall River in September of 2003, at the Historical Society. The producer, Dylan Tilley, was next going to call Michael Martins and work out some of the logistics and pick his brain as well. 

Luckily for me, I had two hours of free time before my next class so I immediately returned Mr. Tilley’s call. During this hour-and-a-half conversation, we talked all about the case, including case details, controversies, and theories. They seemed truly surprised by the existence of the “Robinson File” and wanted more information as soon as possible. After consulting with Maynard Bertolet, Michael Martins, Harry Widdows, and Kat Koorey, I sent them everything I had accumulated on the subject. 

They asked me not to discuss this project with anyone but my closest associates and my employer (so I could get the green light to take a few days off), as it was still early in the preproduction phase. They wanted it be a secret “until the lawyers had a look at it.” I took this to not only mean that the producer didn’t have the clearance to advertise the production at this time, but that it was not my place to make this all-important announcement. Since I am very active in the Borden community with the web site and the Lizzie Borden Society Forum, they asked me to remain mum until they could clear it with their legal department.

They also asked me for the names and contact information of Borden scholars and experts that they should speak to. I immediately sent them the phone numbers and email addresses of those I knew, promising to track down others and send those along as well. My “job” for the production was to assist them in the gathering of information, theories of the case, and case-related materials. This I did sporadically throughout the rest of the year. 

I suppose documentary projects such as these sometimes take longer than expected, for it was not until February 17th of this year that I was finally contacted about the actual filming dates—and the news was the shooting in Fall River was to be in two weeks! The Dean of my department had been on the alert for my departure for this project since the year before, so it was no problem to get the time away from teaching. The Discovery Channel paid for my expenses (air fare, rental car, hotel) and my sister, Kat, paid for her ticket. Since I had been to Fall River twice, once in 1997 to stay the night in Lizzie’s room, and another time last spring to drive around for several hours on a trip to Nova Scotia, there was no way that I was going to visit Fall River again without her! I had preached to her and everyone who would listen that you can never truly know the case until you walk around in that house for a while, so I sensed that she would never forgive me if she missed this opportunity to make her pilgrimage. Kat has been heavily involved in writing about the case for years on the Lizzie Borden Society Forum and providing some of the content on the web site. She was also my Borden encyclopedia, and I would be lost without her. By the time the itinerary arrived, Kat’s name was on there as scheduled to be interviewed.

We thought the highlight of the trip was going to be the actual interviewing on camera, but the day we arrived, the 4th, we were treated to a most amazing evening, courtesy of Bill Pavao and Len Rebello. Bill had just wrapped up his interview and the production team was moving the equipment around for a new setup to film Len, when Bill announced that we were going to 92 Second Street for a private tour while Len was doing his interview (please read Kat’s piece on her personal impressions in this issue)! Afterwards, when Len was finished, Bill, Kat and I drove back to the Historical Society, picked up Len, and were surprised to be given a car tour of famous Borden case sites by none other than the master himself! Len is a very generous man, and really delights in sharing his knowledge with others. He took us to all the major sites, and topped it off with stopping in the middle of a parking lot and announcing, “Here is the exact spot where the Ferry St. house stood.” Needless to say, Kat and I were flabbergasted to be shown this invisible place. We could only imagine from the photograph of the house what once was but is no more.

We were also given a tour of Swansea and we were shown the Borden farm and Mr. Eddy’s house. I was on sensory overload. Just in time, Len said he was “staaaving” and we went to dinner. On Bill’s recommendation, I had some “wicked good chowda,” quite the perfect cap to the perfect day. If only I could bottle it all up, the food, the friends, the memories, the images of both tours, and keep it fresh forever! Well, I guess that is what digital cameras are for. 

By 10 PM we were all beat, Kat and I from all the excitement, Len and Bill from their interviews, our excitement, and full days at work. We said our long good-byes and got directions back to the hotel from Len—all this kindness from two men we had only ever communicated with by email and phone! It was a truly remarkable day.

When we arrived at the Historical Society the next morning for our appointed time, the producer Tim Evans, made the decision to interview me first. I must say Kat was much better at it than I was. All the details of the case are in her head and she can recount dates, names, and places, who is genealogically related to whom, and can even verbalize the arguments of others—all without notes! I, on the other hand, have been trained my whole educational life how to look stuff up, thereby using long term memory for source locations rather than content. I am not afraid to get up in front of a crowd and give a performance, teach a class, or extemporize on some issue, but my forte is not in the detail—it is in the big picture. So Kat was the best on camera of the two of us by far. She was so good, in fact, that Tim stopped reading from his notes during Kat’s interview and, instead, followed her line of thinking. It was a sight to behold!

I have no idea how much of either one of us will appear in the final cut. Whatever becomes of these tapes is irrelevant, for, to paraphrase Casablanca, we will always have Fall River.

After our interviews, Kat and I went to lunch with Michael Martins and Dennis Benette, curator and assistant curator of the Fall River Historical Society. We lunched at a restaurant that was located in a renovated mill. On the walls were huge reproductions of the Fall River mill postcards we had both grown to know and love. Our lunch, I am afraid, lasted until dinner, and so we scooted back to the Historical Society to make our purchases from the museum shop and let these two friends lock the place up and go home!

Saturday was our final day in Fall River and Kat and I decided to tour New Bedford and visit the Bristol County Court House. We knew it would be closed, but we still wanted to go. So on that cold, misty day we walked all around the building and took in the sea air, before driving back to Boston and taking our flight home. In doing so, we must have stood in the very place where the AP hut had been, which made the Borden trial the first time in US history that the telegraph was used to send daily reports of events in New Bedford to newspapers all over the country. It must have been a noisy spot in 1893 with dozens of reporters gathered around. This day, however, all I heard was the wind and the pellets of rain hitting the hood of my windbreaker.

We accomplished a great deal in the short time we were there and we have promised Len and Bill to return soon. They seemed to have just as much fun as we did—reveling in the excitement of those who are interested in the case as much as they. 

One good thing you can say about this particular murder case, it sure brings out the best in some people. Thanks to Lizzie, we have made many close relationships with some truly remarkable folks. And yes, if you were wondering, I finally have permission from the Discovery Channel to let everyone know about the show!