Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I have watched the movie AMERICAN PSYCHO, and there is a scene in the movie where Patrick Bateman kills a man named Paul with an ax while listening to Huey Lewis & The News.

Patrick is jealous of Paul because he can get a reservation at Dorsia's (a famous restaurant in New York that is hard to get into).


Patrick has laid copies of the Style section all over the floor, covered his furniture in covers, and puts on a raincoat in order to kill Paul.

He is a strong man and hits Paul incessantly hard. There is blood everywhere.

Here is the link to watch the scene on YouTube. (This scene is not particularly gruesome. It is more amusing than anything, especially if you have seen the movie and know what it's about).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiS7OeBj ... n%20Psycho

Do you think that if Lizzie killed her parents, the reason there wasn't much blood is because she didn't have enough force behind her blows to cause blood spurts? Do you think she was "lightly" hitting them...just enough to pierce the skin and bone? Or do you think she whacked at them like Patrick Bateman?

Watch the scene and give me your input, please.

Edited to add: Patrick hits Paul seven times.

If the murder weapon in the Borden case was indeed a hatchet, it would have been a lot lighter than the heavy axe he's using in the video. I could imagine Lizzie dispatching Abby with similar energy, but the blows would not have created the same blood spatter as that of a heavier implement.
(MHO)

kash

Remember that a movie is only a movie, a recreation that is designed to impress the paying public. How true is it? Only experienced professionals can say for sure.
One thing I assume is true: hitting a man in the head with a sharp end of an axe will kill on the first blow, given the usual strength. Overkill is something else.

Back in August 1994, after the Preliminary Hearing, my doubts on the case were strengthened when I listened to a talk radio program (1050 AM?) from NY. A retired police detective was telling why the news reports were wrong. The 4-5 stab wounds on Nicole made her the innocent bystander, the 25-30 stab wounds on Ron made him the target. He had investigated many such overkill murders in Manhattan in his career, in each of these cases the murderer was a rejected homosexual lover. You can look it up.

You've got to love 'American Psycho'. Christian Bale's performance was b----- marvellous! That aside -- I tend to agree with Kash's assessment that the weight of the axe could be the telling factor in this comparison.

I really shouldn't be giving an opinion on this, though -- I'm woefully ignorant on the bloodspatter, angle of blows etc. And there are others on the forum who really know their stuff when it comes to these details.

Herb McDonnell of Corning NY is the authority on blood spatter. His books (?) may not be available to the general public. He teaches courses to the police from all over the country.
Herb is the white-haired guy in the background in the photos of OJ's Dream Team. Like Henry Lee, he only takes the cases that interest him.