Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I was looking thru the archives because I was curious about the fact that I always heard and read the LIzzie said that her father was reading a paper when he was killed.

I found this in the archives posted 28 Dec 2003,

"Andrew was supposed to be reading thenewspaper when he was on the sofa when he was killed. Where did the paper go?

Are there any photos that show it still clutched in his hand? Or is it another Lizzie (alleged) Lie?"

I went to go look at the crime photos on this site, and I don't see any paper. Was there one? And thrown away maybe?

snokkums @ Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:59 am wrote:I was looking thru the archives because I was curious about the fact that I always heard and read the LIzzie said that her father was reading a paper when he was killed.

I found this in the archives posted 28 Dec 2003,

"Andrew was supposed to be reading thenewspaper when he was on the sofa when he was killed. Where did the paper go?

Are there any photos that show it still clutched in his hand? Or is it another Lizzie (alleged) Lie?"

I went to go look at the crime photos on this site, and I don't see any paper. Was there one? And thrown away maybe?

Was it posted by a reliable person? Or just another rumor?

The known fact is that Lizzie was outside the house at TOD. In the backyard, in the barn, up in the barn away from any window. Take your pick.

On the post it says augusta. I have not seen any posts of late by her, so I don't know how reliable she is.

I seem to remember something about Andrew wanting to sit down to read something but I don't recall right off what it was or if he did read something before being killed.

You're right Snokks, I don't see anything in the crime photos of a paper anywhere near him. I wonder what happened to the mail he brought home and that lock?

-1bigsteve (o:

snokkums @ Fri Jan 26, 2007 3:11 pm wrote:On the post it says augusta. I have not seen any posts of late by her, so I don't know how reliable she is.

Augusta is one of THE MOST reliable posters. However, at this time she is away on a secret assignment.





Tracy...

Yes, Augusta is a most reliable poster, she has contributed much to this site and to The Hatchet. And not to knock Augusta, but, just for the record, the only time that I can find that Lizzie said that Andrew was reading the paper in the sitting room was when she first came down in the morning.

Lizzie's Inquest, page 65:

Q. I want you to tell me where you found the people when you got down that you did find there?
A. I found Mrs. Borden in the dining room. I found my father in the sitting room.

Q. And Maggie?
A. Maggie was coming in the back door with her pail and brush.

Q. Tell me what talk you had with your mother at that time?
A. She asked me how I felt. I said I felt better than I did Tuesday, but I did not want any breakfast. She asked me what I wanted for dinner. I told her nothing. I told her I did not want anything. She said she was going out, and she would get the dinner. That is the last I saw her, or said anything to her.

Q. Where did you go then?
A. Into the kitchen.

Q. Where then?
A. Down cellar.

Q. Gone perhaps five minutes?
A. Perhaps. Not more than that; possibly a little bit more.

Q. When you came back did you see your mother?
A. I did not; I supposed she had gone out.

Q. She did not tell you where she was going?
A. No sir.

Q. When you came back was your father there?
A. Yes sir.

Q. What was he doing?
A. Reading the paper.

It was Bridget that said that Andrew was reading in the sitting room when he came home.

Preliminary, volume 1, page 22:

Q. What did he do then when he came back?
A. He let the window down, it was up with the screen in. He took a chair and sat down near the window with a book or paper in his hand.

Q. Which window was that?
A. The sitting room.

Ah, and Lizzie was specifically asked if Andrew was reading on the sofa:

Lizzie's Inquest, page 69:

Q. Where did you leave him?
A. On the sofa.

Q. Was he asleep?
A. No sir.

Q. Was he reading?
A. No sir.

And from the Inquest I also found out that the paper Lizzie said her father was reading that morning was the Providence Journal.

snokkums @ Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:59 am wrote:I was looking thru the archives because I was curious about the fact that I always heard and read the LIzzie said that her father was reading a paper when he was killed.

I found this in the archives posted 28 Dec 2003...

Snokkums, it is proper when you quote someone to say who at the time.
Also, a link to the topic would be helpful.
Do you know how to copy and paste a link to an archived thread?
Thanks!

Not to sure how to copy and paste, and I think it was someone named Augusta that made the post. Sorry I forgot to include the name.

If there was indeed a paper, wouldn't the police want it for evidence?
It probably would be covered with blood and maybe it would have helped
making out the direction of the blood spatters more precisely if Andrew
put the paper down on his lap when he took his nap.

I think that was just another Lizzie lie.

This looks like, if we read Susan's post carefully, that Andrew was reading the paper before he left the house that morning, and that is the only reference to his newspaper.
(Thanks Susan!)

When Andrew returned he went first into the dining room, and was reading something, then he went upstairs and came back down and was in the sitting room by the window reading something, "a book or paper."
Then he went to get comfortable on the couch (supposedly) and Lizzie says he was not reading there.

Prelim
Bridget
20
Q. What did he do in the dining room?
A. He sat at the head of the lounge in a chair when I saw him.

Q. There is a lounge in the dining room too?
A. Yes Sir.

Q. That is not the lounge he was found dead on?
A. No Sir.

Q. He sat in a chair? What doing?
A. Reading.