Lizzie-JonBenet
A very interesting piece appeared on August 20, 2006 in the Palm Beach Post which does a rather lengthy comparison of the Lizzie Borden case and the JonBenet Ramsey investigation, prompted, of course, by the “confession” of John Mark Karr.
Read the article all the way through, as there are some choice quotes by 92 Second Street owner Lee-ann Wilbur and the curator of the Fall River Historical Society, Michael Martins. Looks like reporter Michael Browning has done some legwork for this piece.
The similarities with the Ramsey case are striking.
Both murders occurred at the family home. Lizzie’s older sister, Emma, was out of town. An uncle, John Vinnicum Morse, was staying with the Bordens but left the house early and was in town conducting business. The maid, an Irishwoman named Bridget Sullivan, was there.
So, needless to say, were Lizzie and her stepmother, Abby Borden. Andrew Borden, a prosperous undertaker and land speculator, had come home for lunch and a nap.
Both murders had evidentiary problems. JonBenet Ramsey’s body was moved from the basement, where it was discovered by her father. No murder weapon or bloody clothing was ever discovered by police in the Borden case.
The lack of crucial evidence, together with the fact that both murder houses represented sealed environments — difficult if not impossible for outsiders to gain access to in such a narrow time-frame — have kept the Ramsey and Borden murders alive in a kind of Black Museum of murder.
Thanks to Intrepid Reporter for the link!
September 11, 2006 at 3:43 pm
All right– let’s take a moment to examine Lizzie’s alleged love for Andrew. Here was a man who was tighter than Dixie’s pursestrings. Hadn’t he recently sold the horse and carriage? That’s a step down. Nothing like some downward mobility to get a girl’s dander up. Moreover, in an age with indoor plumbing, wouldn’t it have been nice to have been able to take a drawn bath during a hot summer?
I believe Lizzie had had it with living way below the family means.
Furthermore, if Andrew had been dilly-dallying about drawing up his will, he certainly could have been holding the matter high over his daughters’ heads. Can’t you just hear–
“Daughters, if you expect a penny from me, you had best straighten up and treat your stepmother with some respect. I expect a vast rearrangement of the regrettable attitudes that have been on display in my household.”
Even if this were not the case, more than likely Lizzie and Emma were well aware that their father’s will was up in the air.
How really tragic it would have been for them if they never made it out of their behind-the-times house. And, what if they were reduced to living in something even less commodious?
Beyond that, if the sisters suspicioned that Abby might wind up with far more than they, that would have truly pushed them over the edge. Which is why Abby had to die first.
Andrew would never have let his daughter, or daughters, get away with Abby’s death.
Ergo, Pops had to face the sharp end of the hatchet as well.
Let’s face it– Lizzie certainly lived a luxurious lifestyle in the decades that followed her father’s death. It’s interesting that Emma merely “tagged along” with Lizzie, living in her shadow, until she could take no more of the wild partying.
Perhaps Lizzie felt her father didn’t have much longer to live anyway. I’m sure a murderer can find ample justification in her/his own mind, for her/his actions.
One thing is for certain– she would NOT have been able to stand Mrs. Andrew Borden lording it over her with inherited wealth. If Lizzie ever thought that Abby could move into the likes of Maplecroft, while Lizzie remained in the likes of 92 Second Street, then said thought surely would have made Lizzie’s blood boil. Does anyone think for a moment that she would have allowed that to occur?
No Way.
Andrew, whether loved or not, unfortunately had to go, too, for the plan to succeed. And who would believe that a woman would ever take a hatchet to anyone, much less her father? See, we’re still debating the matter.
Well, where there isn’t a will, there’s a way.
Lizzie’s actions in the years following the murders give a pretty clear picture of how she thought she should have been living, all along. If Andrew had had any sense of self-preservation, he would have settled something on his daughters and moved them out of his house long years before.