Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Has anyone ever read about John Morse and a certain fortune teller?
I read that not too long before the murders that John saw a fortune teller
and he wanted his fortune told. She told him she could not tell him.
He offered to pay her more, but she said that he did not want to know what was in his future and that no amount of money could make her tell him what lied in store for him.

I think it was either in the source book or Arnold Brown's book.

Just wondering if other people have heard of this.

It also appears in Rebello on page 70 under John Morse's profile information.


John Morse was fond of fishing and had an interest in having his fortune told. He oftentimes told the story of a gypsy in Hastings who refused to tell his fortune, " You don't want it told." It was sometime after this, the Bordens were murdered.

Can I mention that this sounds like a self-serving statement?

Around the end of July 2001 I received Email for a job offer to work in Manhattan. The offer was from a firm in the WTC. But a gypsy told my fortune and said "don't go there", so I didn't.

A sharp reader can decide how much of this story is true.

Jeff @ Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:57 am wrote:Has anyone ever read about John Morse and a certain fortune teller?
I read that not too long before the murders that John saw a fortune teller
and he wanted his fortune told. She told him she could not tell him.
He offered to pay her more, but she said that he did not want to know what was in his future and that no amount of money could make her tell him what lied in store for him.

I think it was either in the source book or Arnold Brown's book.

Just wondering if other people have heard of this.

I have read that too. I read that she was too afraid to tell him. But I don't know how true the story is. I haven't seen anything that would back the story up.

RayS @ Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:03 pm wrote:Can I mention that this sounds like a self-serving statement?

Around the end of July 2001 I received Email for a job offer to work in Manhattan. The offer was from a firm in the WTC. But a gypsy told my fortune and said "don't go there", so I didn't.

A sharp reader can decide how much of this story is true.

I reluctantly have to agree with you, Ray. The story of the fortune teller who will not tell someone's future, then the person is involved in a disaster or dies, seems to be an urban legend. When I was a kid, there was an identical story floating around about the local Psychic Reader. She refused to tell a lady's fortune, then the lady died on the way home in an auto accident. EXCEPT that the fortune teller had given the lady a note and told her not to read it until she reached home. When the note was found, it said that the fortune teller could see only green grass in the lady's future. Interesting story, except the deceased lady was always the friend of a friend of a friend, and no one could recall her name.

I'd take that story with a grain of salt.

I think that John Morse was known as something of a character in his hometown. This sounds like a good story he spread around after the murders for attention.

I don't know why he says the fortune teller refused to tell him, tho. He was not killed, and not suspected. She could have said something like, "I see trouble ahead ... blood ... murders ... But you will be safe, unless you try going to the post office."