Mrs. Bowen's front window

[Angel]

Mrs. Bowen said she was sitting at her front window during the morning of Aug. 4th watching and waiting for her daughter to come home. She didn't see anything unusual. I have a question for those familiar with the neighborhood layout- was she able to see the area across the street from the barn to the side door of Lizzie's house? If she could, wouldn't she have seen any activity over there, like Lizzie going to and from the barn, or some furtive figure slinking in or out of the house?

[Shelley]

Good point. The Buffinton house was very close to the fence, leaving only that narrow driveway corridor between the two houses. Also, the Borden's fence went all the way across the front and that would also have cut down on some visibility. Still, I do believe, having scoped out her bird's eye view from across the street, that had anyone gone up the side steps from the street and stood on that landing going into the side door- Mrs. Bowen would have been able to see that. A furtive sort of person, hugging very close to the foundation, might have slithered around the NE corner of the house from the backyard sidled up to the side door , back pressed up against the clapboards, and darted quickly through the screen door into the back hall though, probably just under Mrs. Bowen's "radar".

I expect it would have been possible, with some precaution , luck and stealth.

[Angel]

Where was the Buffinton house?

[Shelley]

The Buffinton house is the same as Adelaide Churchill's house- to the left of the Borden's.

[Shelley]

Remember Addie was a Buffinton before she married Charles Churchill. She was a widow by 1879. This was her family homestead at #90 Second Street. She also had one son named after his father who also lived at #90.

[Angel]

It would seem to me to be almost impossible for anyone to be entering or leaving the house with so very many people about- carpenters, strollers, maids, wagons, kids, shopkeepers, various vomiters, etc etc etc. It was a very busy street.

[Shelley]

And don't forget Lucy Collette hanging around the porch of Dr. Chagnon's and various folks sitting around at the Boston Express Depot under trees, ruminating on fancy horseflesh

The killer must have borrowed Harry Potter's Invisibility Cape!

[diana]

I think Knowlton must have been very disappointed with Mrs. Bowen's responses during his cross examination at the Preliminary Hearing on this point. It came out that, although she normally had a good view of the Borden yard, she had her blinds down the morning of the murder and could not see the yard at the crucial time.

"Q; You were in sight of the yard?
A: Yes Sir, I could see the yard.
Q: You was not watching the yard as closely as down street?
A. My attention was attracted down street.
Q: Whether you paid attention, or not, you did not see anybody go inor out of the yard?
A: No Sir, if I had had the blinds open – I had my blinds closed so I could not see through them.
Q: So you could not see the yard at that time?
A: Not at that time.
Q: At that time you could not see the yard where you were at all?
A: No
Q: So where you were standing that morning watching for your daughter, you could not have seen, without opening some blinds, you could not have seen the yard?
A: No, Sir. I misunderstood you." (Preliminary Hearing, 481)

[I take her last statement, "I misunderstood you", to refer to her answer to his question: "You were in sight of the yard?." I think Mrs. Bowen initially took that as being a general question as to whether she could see the Borden yard from her window -- and only realized he was referring specifically to August 4 as the questioning progressed.]

[Shelley]

I have always found that bit extremely confusing. How was she able to see down the street then if blinds were closed? I wonder if she meant she was looking out her door at her own yard and down the street. I wish that would have been pinned down better.

[Harry]

If I remember correctly (and tell me if I'm wrong) that as you face the Bowen/Miller house, the Bowen's occupied the lower right apartment. This would be the side furthest from the Borden house. The Miller's occupied the south side near the orchard.

If that is true then I don't think Mrs. Bowen could have seen too far back into the Borden yard. Mrs. Churchill's yard had that large bush just at the corner of her property, which it being August would have been in full bloom.

The police used the orchard when keeping a view on the Borden yard as this was almost directly opposite.

It's an interesting question though.

[Shelley]

Quite right Harry on all counts. Mrs. Bowen's view would have been on the oblique with the Churchill house blocking some of the view. I think she would only have had a possibility of seeing someone if they were on the Borden's side door landing, which is, as you know, quite high and raised above street level and fence level. And of course one would have to have been looking just at the right moment. Her focus would of course not have been on that landing.

[Allen]

I think Knowlton must have been very disappointed with Mrs. Bowen's responses during his cross examination at the Preliminary Hearing on this point. It came out that, although she normally had a good view of the Borden yard, she had her blinds down the morning of the murder and could not see the yard at the crucial time.

"Q; You were in sight of the yard?
A: Yes Sir, I could see the yard.
Q: You was not watching the yard as closely as down street?
A. My attention was attracted down street.
Q: Whether you paid attention, or not, you did not see anybody go inor out of the yard?
A: No Sir, if I had had the blinds open – I had my blinds closed so I could not see through them.
Q: So you could not see the yard at that time?
A: Not at that time.
Q: At that time you could not see the yard where you were at all?
A: No
Q: So where you were standing that morning watching for your daughter, you could not have seen, without opening some blinds, you could not have seen the yard?
A: No, Sir. I misunderstood you." (Preliminary Hearing, 481)

[I take her last statement, "I misunderstood you", to refer to her answer to his question: "You were in sight of the yard?." I think Mrs. Bowen initially took that as being a general question as to whether she could see the Borden yard from her window -- and only realized he was referring specifically to August 4 as the questioning progressed.]

When I read this passage I believed she was talking about wooden blinds/shutters on the inside of the windows like the ones that exist on the second floor windows at the B&B. If she had these blinds partially closed, or opened just enough to peek through now and then to see if her daughter was coming, she would have a somewhat obstructed view. I mean the actual opening of the blinds from the middle, not just the louvres. These sort of blinds often covered the entire window, yet could be separated bottom from top to open them. The top of the blinds could be closed, while the bottom half remained open. But that's just my take on it. In his testimony at trial Dr. Bowen testified that these were the type of shutters/blinds that were on the guest room windows of the Borden house at the time.

Trial testimony of Dr. Bowen.

Q. I understand you to say that when you first saw her, after you got to the upper landing, by looking over the bed, the room appeared to be dark?
A. Not very light.

Q. Do you recall that you made any observation about the shutters?
A. I don't remember about the shutters on the west side.

Q. That is the street side?
A. The street side, yes, sir. The inside shutters were partly closed on the north side.

Q. That is toward Mrs. Churchill's?
A. Yes, sir.

Page 320

Q. They were partly closed?
A. The inside shutters, I think, were.

Q. And there is only one window there, I believe, on that side?
A. No, sir; I think not.

Q. And that window is a window which is near the end of the bureau as it then stood?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. And when you speak of the shutters, I suppose there is no doubt that these shutters were the board shutters. They were not shutters like these in the court room, made of blinds, but they were board shutters?
A. Board shutters; yes, sir.

Page 321

Q. The inquiry is made upon the other side as to what you said about the shutters on the west side of the room, the street side of the room?
A. I don't know, I don't remember about that.

Q. Your answer was in reference to the south window or the window which is towards Mrs. Churchill's and the window at the end of the bureau is that, the shutters of that window were partly closed?
A. Yes, sir --- the north window instead of the south.

Q. Yes, the north window; thank you. And are you able to recall now whether there is a shutter in the top part or the lower part that was open?
A. I think they were both thrown together loosely; shutters that fold that same as these do, only they were made of board, solid.

Q. Was there not an upper and under shutter?
A. Yes, sir.


There was some debate here on the forum at one time that the inside shutters were not called blinds. Rather it was the shutters on the outside of the windows which were called blinds. But it seems that they were both generally referred to as either/or.

Bston Daily Globe, June 26, 1893, which can be found in Rebello page 33:

The windows, one or two of them, on the side looking toward the Churchill's, were opened, but the old fashioned, white painted inside blinds [ shutters], were partly closed. The green, outside blinds [shutters] of one of the parlor windows, fronting the street, formed an angle of 45 degrees, admitting a dim light, allowing a person to look out, but shutting off any view of the interior from the exterior.

[Allen]

http://lizzieandrewborden.com/Galleries ... om%203.jpg

This is a picture that can be found on the LABVM by first going under galleries, and then 92 Second Street now.

[Harry]

This is allegedly an 1892 photo of Second Street. The shutter or blind that can be seen at the lower right is for the window on the north side of Dr. Bowen's residence.

This window faced north and gives us some idea of the kind of shutter they had at least on that side of the house.

There were also 3 windows each for the Bowens and Millers on the front of the house facing Second St. The shutters on those windows appear similar to the one in the photograph.

[Constantine]

Of course, nobody had their binoculars trained on the Borden property at the time as they were not looking for an escaping murderer. The fact that there was so much else going on might make it all the easier for an escaping killer to brazen it out (provided he was not covered with blood or otherwise conspicuous).

I still say Lizzie did it.