{"id":3168,"date":"2018-07-05T17:39:58","date_gmt":"2018-07-05T21:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/HatchetOnline\/?p=3168"},"modified":"2018-07-05T17:39:58","modified_gmt":"2018-07-05T21:39:58","slug":"a-tv-producer-has-an-axe-a-look-behind-the-scenes-of-the-discovery-channels-lizzie-borden-special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/a-tv-producer-has-an-axe-a-look-behind-the-scenes-of-the-discovery-channels-lizzie-borden-special\/","title":{"rendered":"A TV Producer Has an Axe: A Look Behind the Scenes of the Discovery Channel’s Lizzie Borden Special"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Tim Evans, producer<\/span><\/p>\n

First published in October\/November, 2004, Volume 1, Issue 5, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

LIZZIE BORDEN HAD AN AXE is a one-hour television special that applies modern forensic techniques to the Borden Murders of 1892. It aired on the Discovery Channel on Saturday, October 30, 2004, at 9:00 pm.<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For most of my adult life I have been a documentary producer. It\u2019s the perfect job for someone with Attention Deficit Disorder. I\u2019m assigned a topic, I read prodigious amounts of material in an attempt to become an \u201cinstant expert,\u201d and then I get to talk to people who are the real experts. In three months, I\u2019ve usually assembled all the possible visuals on the topic, edited the whole thing into a 44-minute-and-30-second show, and I\u2019m ready to move on. I\u2019ve produced documentaries on subjects ranging from the Abominable Snowman to the origins of Christianity, from haunted Caribbean islands to the life of Billy the Kid. I know a very little about a lot of things. My knowledge base is like a swamp. Or perhaps a better metaphor is an alluvial delta: very, very broad, but not at all deep. And with lots of strange things growing in the corners.<\/span><\/p>\n

And one of the strangest, of course, is Lizzie Borden. When I got the assignment from the Discovery Channel, I figured it was a pretty standard show: crazy lady, forty whacks, blah blah\u2014shoot a couple of re-enactments, talk to a couple of crime experts, move on. But the Lizzie Borden story is such an enigma, with plot twists and turns that defy explanation that I found myself hooked by the story.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most wonderful parts of Discovery Channel\u2019s show is that we got to actually re-create the crime with two of the best criminal investigators in America today. We laid out the crime scene with re-enactors to try to work out the crucial sequence of events. We created a \u201csound analog\u201d of the murders to see whether anyone could actually have heard the crimes being committed. And, most importantly, we sprayed Luminol\u2014the nearly magic forensic blood tracer\u2014on various parts of the house to discover disturbing new evidence.<\/span><\/p>\n

But when I found myself splitting open a skull with a hand-axe \u2014on camera\u2014I knew that I had perhaps gotten a little too deeply into my subject. Lizzie will do that to a person.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The result of this last event will NOT appear in the prime time documentary, mostly because it\u2019s simply too grisly to discuss on prime time. But now I know exactly WHY the murderer gave Abby Borden 19 whacks in the back of the head. And it\u2019s not what you think.<\/span><\/p>\n

After being assigned the story, I immersed myself in the world of Lizzie Borden, reading everything I could, examining every possible suspect. Like most people, all I really knew in the beginning was the rhyme\u2014so even finding out that Lizzie was acquitted was news to me. But once I\u2019d gotten a good handle on the various texts and theories, I began to line up the interviews, and was fortunate to get some of the best Borden-ites (Bordenistas?) in the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Stefani Koorey and Kat Koorey are not only the editors of this publication; they are some of the nicest and most knowledgeable people on the planet. They gave our show access to every piece of Lizzie material they had, and helped our team get in contact with whomever we wanted. They are also both great interview subjects, attractive, smart and funny, which is a rare and precious combination for a medium that thrives on short sound bites. We also lined up incredible interviews with Bill Pavao, former director of the Borden House Museum, and Len Rebello, whose book Lizzie Borden: Past and Present<\/i> is a treasure trove of Borden minutiae. William Masterson, author of Lizzie Didn\u2019t Do It<\/i>, graciously offered to drive down from his home in Vermont to join in the interview. It was an all-star cast for Borden aficionados.<\/span><\/p>\n

We shot our interviews in the beautiful and historic mansion that houses the Fall River Historical Society. Michael Martins has the unenviable job of running the Society. He is quick to point out the importance of Fall River not only to American history, but also to world trade in the 19th Century. The city was the largest producer of cotton goods in the world, it was the center of trans-Atlantic trade for decades, and at one point in history Fall River, Massachusetts may well have given Boston and even New York a run for their money for the title of \u201cMost Important City in America.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

No one cares. All visitors to the Fall River Museum want to see is Lizzie Borden. Which makes his offer to help our production all the more gracious. Michael Martins\u2014along with many residents of Fall River\u2014finds Lizzie Borden a little too much of a headline-grabber for his tastes, but he not only agreed to be interviewed, he gave us access to the Society\u2019s extraordinary collection of Lizzie Borden artifacts.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The hatchet that prosecutors say did the deed\u2014the Society has it. The sheets Abby Borden was carrying when she got her \u201cforty whacks\u201d\u2014the Society has them. Even the bloodstained headscarf Abby was wearing is carefully preserved in the collection. Some of this stuff is never displayed. None of it has ever been shown on television before. For a TV producer, this was a gold mine.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a crime investigator, this was simply the Evidence Locker. That\u2019s where Tom Lange and Tom Mauriello came in. Our show began with the premise that we might be able to apply modern forensic tools to this century-old crime\u2014sort of a CSI: Fall River<\/i>. Tom Mauriello teaches Criminalistics at the University of Maryland, and wrote the textbook that is used in every major university crime department. Tom Lange is a former LAPD detective famous for breaking the O.J. Simpson case. Both of the Toms were excited by the prospect of investigating the Borden murders. But neither was prepared for the wealth of materials that still exist.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Michael Martins brought out the physical evidence, he insisted that we wear gloves. Lange and Mauriello were used to this sort of thing\u2014I wasn\u2019t. I felt uncomfortable even breathing on the artifacts. Tom and Tom looked at the stuff with a practiced eye. They noted the angle and spatter patterns of the ancient blood on the sheets. They examined the hatchet head\u2014with its broken handle\u2014and quickly spotted apparent vice marks that might have held the hatchet in place in 1892 while someone broke it. Mauriello had no problem popping the handle out of the iron head, just to see if it could be done. And when Abby\u2019s scarf was brought out, Mauriello was the one who quickly decided to compare the cut marks with the hatchet head. While the cameras rolled, Lange held the hundred-year-old scarf out flat, while Mauriello attempted to insert the hatchet blade into a bloodstained cut. I gasped and nearly ruined the shot\u2014it was a near-perfect fit.<\/span><\/p>\n

But even this discovery was nothing compared to seeing the Koorey sisters examine the same axe. It was fascinating to watch two experienced cops at their job. It was even more fascinating to watch two true aficionados handle and examine what can only be described as the Lizzie Borden Holy Grail. And the difference in their reactions was enlightening as well. The cops simply said, \u201cInteresting, but it doesn\u2019t prove anything.\u201d Kat Koorey summed up the Bordenistas approach when, after handling the axe head in a moment of two of silence, finally breathed: \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To get a better idea of the actual crime, we made our way to the Borden house itself. The owners have done an amazing job keeping the house as authentic as possible. To the unpracticed eye, the house looks exactly as if it were still 1892\u2014as if Abby and Andrew had just stepped out, or as if Lizzie were just about to walk down the stairs with a mischievous grin and a surprise behind her back. Lange and Mauriello were both a little skeptical of the restoration\u2014as investigators, the seeming authenticity of the house only covered up the actual crime evidence. If they had their way, I\u2019m sure both of them would have loved to strip the place down to the floorboards and submit each molecule of wood and fiber to DNA analysis. But short of that, they still had plenty to work with. Tom and Tom examined each room, walked the path of both victims and murderer, and used re-enactors to replicate the crime scene photos.<\/span><\/p>\n

One particular piece of testimony bothered both men. Bridget Sullivan claimed she had been washing windows outside when Abby was murdered. But it\u2019s a small house. Mauriello and Lange both wondered: \u201cWouldn\u2019t she have heard a 200 pound woman fall to the ground?\u201d So we put the question to the test. We placed a camera case weighing 200 pounds in the bedroom where Abby was killed. Then we placed Tom Lange and a decibel register by the window where Bridget claimed to be, and dropped the 200-pound case.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The answer was immediately clear, but it wasn\u2019t good enough for Lange. Yes, we could see the result with a large case, but would a human body really sound the same? No, of course not. If we were to do this test right, we needed a body. One that would drop face-first to the floor multiple times\u2014enough to get a clear answer AND get a good take for the camera.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Well, there were no bodies stupid enough to agree to this, and being the producer, I had to take it upon myself. I placed a 25-pound sandbag on each of my shoulders, raising my 160 pounds to the approximate weight of the large-and-lovely Mrs. Borden. Then I fell face first on to the floor. Then did it again. And again. I\u2019m well aware of the importance of getting a good take, but I began to get suspicious when it seemed that both Lange and Mauriello were giggling when they said we needed yet another take.<\/span><\/p>\n

The result, however, (besides bruised knees) was a surprising refutation of Bridget Sullivan\u2019s court testimony. But of course, you\u2019ll have to watch the show if you want to know what we actually discovered.<\/span><\/p>\n

The investigation got really spooky when we turned to the basement. The enormous underground area has not been restored at all\u2014in fact, it\u2019s pretty much as it was a hundred years ago. The \u201cwater closet\u201d had been covered over, and the floor has been cemented, but there is still much that has been unchanged since a police inspector saw Lizzie Borden doing something mysterious down there in August 1892.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We had brought along a substance called \u201cLuminol.\u201d It\u2019s a chemical compound that makes bloodstains glow bright blue, and is used regularly by crime labs. It\u2019s especially useful when a crime scene has been covered up\u2014even bloodstains that have been washed until they are invisible will glow when sprayed with Luminol. However, we weren\u2019t sure it would work at all, since no one has ever used it with blood stains this old. Tom Mauriello had called the Luminol company, and they said they had used it once on bloodstains from World War II. But stains over a century old? They couldn\u2019t guarantee we\u2019d get any result.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mauriello mixed the chemical compound in the Borden basement. It\u2019s a caustic compound, which required us all to wear eye protection and gloves. The room had to be dark in order for the fluorescence to show up, so the entire basement was bathed in an eerie red light. Mauriello and Lange began to spray the substance at strategic spots around the basement. Then we turned off the red light, and waited for a reaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh my god. Look at this! Look at this!\u201d Mauriello snapped on the red light and rushed to the ladder we had set up. On the ceiling of the basement\u2014just below the spot where poor Andrew Borden had his head split open\u2014a glimmer of blue light could be seen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Andrew Borden\u2019s blood\u2014112 years old\u2014dimly glowed in spots and patches that had dribbled down through the floorboards of the historic house.<\/span><\/p>\n

We had proven that Luminol worked on bloodstains that were over 100 years old. Subsequent stains showed up in other spots throughout the basement. Connecting these bloodstains helps to prove a sequence of events that we think points to the actual murderer of the Bordens. Again, watch the show if you want all the gory details.<\/span><\/p>\n

But no details were gorier than a test I devised once I\u2019d returned to Los Angeles. Tom Lange had made the point that the hatchet might be the key to the murder. Using new microscopic techniques, Lange believed that we could match the minute striations of the hatchet head with microscopic scratches on the Borden\u2019s skulls\u2014much like a ballistics test on a bullet. The L.A. Coroner\u2019s Office agreed to show us how this could be done, if we could bring them the skull and the hatchet.<\/span><\/p>\n

But since Abby and Andrew\u2019s skulls were buried in Fall River\u2019s Oak Grove Cemetery (at their feet, apparently, after they\u2019d been shown off at the trial), we needed a substitute skull.<\/span><\/p>\n

And here\u2019s where\u2014in the interest of science\u2014I crept up behind a head and bashed it in with a hatchet.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A human head was out of the question, sadly. So my crew and I did the next best thing. We used a pig\u2019s head. A hapless production assistant bought two sow\u2019s heads from a local butcher and brought them to our production offices. We set up a small studio in the garage, with the pig\u2019s head front and center in the camera. Then I gave it forty whacks.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Actually I only gave it one whack. But, damn it, I barely even dented the pig\u2019s head, and there was quite a bounce to the hatchet. Flesh, bone and brain matter have a lot of \u201cgive\u201d and it didn\u2019t seem like I\u2019d done much damage. So I gave it another whack. And then another. Another. Another! It took eight whacks before it was clear to me that I\u2019d actually broken through the thick skull and caused enough damage to show up in a forensic test.<\/span><\/p>\n

And suddenly, I was in Fall River, in a bedroom, with a prone body before me, and I realized why the murderer gave Abby Borden 19 whacks, and gave Andrew 10. It\u2019s got nothing to do with familial rage or maniacal fury\u2014it\u2019s simply not easy to whack open a head with a hatchet. You need to do it multiple times to be sure the job is done right And the skull I whacked was just sitting there, not screaming or running or begging for mercy!<\/span><\/p>\n

The pig-whacking incident doesn\u2019t appear in the film. The L.A. Coroner\u2019s Office easily showed that the striations on the hatchet matched the striations on the pig\u2019s head, but since the Borden\u2019s skulls are not available, the entire test didn\u2019t really tell us much. And even if the Borden\u2019s skulls were available (which the city of Fall River has made it very clear they will NOT exhume), the evidence would still be inconclusive. The hatchet might or might not be the real murder weapon, but it still wouldn\u2019t tell us who did the deed. Like much of detective work, we had gone down a blind alley.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, we had more than enough forensic material to create a television special and to develop a new and compelling theory for the Borden murders. Watch it on the Discovery Channel on the Saturday before Halloween.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As for me, I had an insight into the Borden murders that very few have ever experienced\u2014the feel of the hatchet in my hand . . . the anticipation as I swung it high . . . and the peculiar emotions that come only when you feel an axe bite into a skull\u2014and splatter pork all over your best shirt.<\/span><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For most of my adult life I have been a documentary producer. It\u2019s the perfect job for someone with Attention Deficit Disorder.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lizzie-borden-documentaries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}