Lizzie Borden Society Forum

In 1882, a young man named Henry Palmer, a recent high school graduated , went to work as a messenger for the Fall River National Bank. Palmer was highly intelligent and a hard worked, quickly moved his way up the ladder and in ten years he vecame a bank teller.

He had nearly perfect re ord of attedance and never asked for or took a vacationl As a result, his superiors were puzzled dwhen he didnt show up for work.They contacted his wife, asn she had no idea where he could be and that she was frantic with worry. The bank officers were suspicous. They stated going through his books. They found that he had been embezzing funds for 14 months. His system was simple. When a large depositor added, let's say 10,000 dollars, he would give him a receipt for that amount. He would pocker perhaps 2000 and enter 8000 in his deposit book. At the end of the day his account would tally very nicely witht he amount the bank actually received. As long as he came into work he could cover his tracks.

My idea is that Andrew found out about this and was black mailing the man. Maybe Henry came over to the house; Abby let him in. He had the plan to kill Andrew, but he had to do something with Abby. After all, she could identify him, so he killed her, then waited for Andrew. Think maybe this scenario would work?

May I please ask as to the source of this information, Snok ? Is it a quote from something you've read ?


Tracy...

Yes it is. I was reading "Lizzie didn't do it". I was parapharsing what the author was saying, but I thought that he had a good point. Henry Palmer was embezzleing from the bank, and Andrew Borden was a big depositor, and very careful with his money. He would have spotted something like this. Just looking for everyone else might think.
thanks.

Terence wrote a piece about "Suspect Carpenter" for the LBQ which was very good:

Duniho, Terence. "Friends From Boyhood: A Police Officer and an Embezzler." Lizzie Borden Quarterly VIII.3 (July 2001): 7, 17-20.
"Duniho follows the trail of Joseph W. Carpenter, Jr., an employee of Andrew J. Borden who had embezzled $6,700 from Borden & Almy as a possible suspect in the murder of Andrew and Abby Borden."
--citation from website:
http://lizzieandrewborden.com/Resources ... Auth.htm#d

--Also:
"Joseph W. Carpenter, Jr. — William L. Masterton. Lizzie Didn't Do It!, 2000, pg. 229-31. Also Ashton, "Hip-bath Collection," pg. 218, Jennings notes, "P. Clarkson Alfred -- exam (?) told me about Joe Carpenter." Also, Rebello, pg. 56: " . . . employed as a bookkeeper for Borden and Almy from 1874-1878 . . . dismissed . . . became an early suspect." Pg. 132-3: An unnamed informant to a local paper in Rochester, N.Y., claimed Carpenter had "embezzled the funds of the firm." Also, Knowlton Papers, pg. 99- 100, letter #HK098 and #HK099: “Jennings tells me a story about one Joe Carpenter, who had a grudge against Borden, who he says ought to have been looked up,” pg. 153-4, letter #HK143: Joseph Carpenter swore before a Notary Public his whereabouts the day of the murders. Victoria Foreman " . . . occupies the premises Nos. 33 and 35 Maiden Lane, in said City [Albany, N.Y.], and rents furnished rooms in said premises . . . " swears to same Notary Public Mr. William F. Beers, as to truthfulness of Carpenter's statement as far as she knows, dated Jan. 24, 1893."
--From my list of suspects:
http://www.lizzieandrewborden.com/Crime ... tPart2.htm
That will give you other sources.

Thank you for the links Kat !


Tracy...

Actually- the links won't get you any farther than what I posted/pasted...sorry... we can't reproduce LBQ articles at the website...but thanks for the "Thanks!"
But these are other sources for people to check if they are interested in Carpenter.
Also, people can scan the newspapers for him.

This is a very interesting line of thought. $6,700 was a huge sum of money in the 1870's.

Almost all prosecutors say "follow the money" - it usually leads to conviction.

Anyone else reading Masterton?
I posted about Carpenter, but not "Palmer."