Bridget's Inquest Testimony

[Ad]

I'm sure that this has been brought up many times before, but I don't know where on this forum to look for the answer.

Was Bridget's testimony lost at the same time as Lizzie’s? Do we know what happened to either?

I'm sure there'd be a copy of both with the Robinson papers!!

[augusta]

I had hoped that one of the newspapers of the day would have published Bridget's missing testimony, as they published Lizzie's inquest testimony.
I think only one copy of Lizzie's was found, and that was in Jenning's hands.

I wonder if it would be any different from her other appearances on the stand?

[william]

Ad: Your question comes up from time to time on the Forum

Testimony from Bridget Sullivan is available in the documentation of the Preliminary Hearing and the Trial. Additional information may be obtained from her replies to the police in the Witness Statements.There have been no new developments as to the location of Bridget's Inquest testimony.
It may, as some think, be locked up among the Robinson papers in Springfield which are being held from the public. Recent attempts to obtain them have been unsuccessful.

In his book, History of the Borden Murders by E. H. Porter police reporter, there is some information concerning Bridgets Inquest testimony on pages 54-56. Porter's remarks have been subjected to some criticism and challenged, since there is a question as to whether he obtained the information first hand or not. His comments in the book tend to support that suspicion: "As the Inquest was held behind closed doors, and doubly guarded by the police, there was no way of finding out what had transpired within."

It is my opinion that Bridget's Inquest testimony does not differ substantially from her other court appearances, but then - who knows?
Perhaps the answers to the questions put to her by the interrogator would provide us with additional insight into the case.

[Harry]

I concur, Bill. I don't believe there is anything of significance in Bridget's testimony from her subsequent revelations. There may be some questions asked that were not again asked, and we as eager Bordenites looking for every scrap would love to read, but nothing important.

I'd be far more interested in finding out how Bridget's testimony got lost. I know Adams tried vainly to locate it. See the Knowlton papers, HK188, 189 and 190.

I saved this article a long time ago and it has to do with the Robinson papers. Here is a portion of it:

"Privacy in America: Lizzie Borden’s Secrets Protected by Vince Foster Ruling

"Lizzie Borden may continue to rest in peace. The famous high-society Sunday school teacher from Fall River, Mass., accused of wielding an ax and brutally murdering her stepmother and her father in 1892, was acquitted a year later after a sensational trial. There were no known witnesses, no murder weapon ever found, and the killer was never identified, facts that added to the legend and raised interest in private conversations she had had with her attorneys" (James Toedtman in Newsday, The Washington Post, July 13, 1998).

"Was there a confession? Or other clues to motive or murderer? The records fill a locked file drawer in a Springfield, Mass., law firm's 16th floor office. And that's where they'll stay, protected by the Supreme Court ruling last month that the secret conversations of the late deputy White House counsel Vincent W. Foster Jr. and his lawyer should remain private, even after Foster's death" (James Toedtman in Newsday, The Washington Post, July 13, 1998)."

"For her defense, Borden hired a dream team of lawyers led by former Massachusetts's governor George Robinson. The records of her conversations and notes taken during the trial have been retained by Robinson's firm, Robinson, Donovan, Madden and Barry. With the ruling they will remain under lock and key, according to Jeffrey F. McCormick, partner in the Springfield firm and president elect of the state bar association" (James Toedtman in Newsday, The Washington Post, July 13, 1998)."

http://www.loper.org/~george/trends/1998/Jul/99.html

[sguthmann]

didn't bridget have her own lawyer? did she have a lawyer at the time of the inquest? i know lawyers weren't allowed in the courtroom with their clients (a la lizzie), but is it possible bridget's lawyer might have a copy of her inquest testimony? what about her relation? have these sources been checked?

[Kat]

In the Knowlton Papers, as Harry points out, everyone wants a copy of Bridget's inquest tetimony and no one has it.
Yes she had a lawyer, but it seems he didn't have it either.
And no one had Lizzie's testimony after it was given to the New Bedford Evening Standard- not even Jennings in his famous Hip-bath collection.
Jennings had the preliminary hearing and Lizzie's not in there, of course.