Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I just got my registration renewed and I am delighted to be back among such a group of fellow Lizzie scholars! My premise is:

Through a Star Trek-like time portal you and your partner have just arrived in front of 92 Second Street in full period Police garb. Andrew Borden has just rounded the corner of his house and is climbing the steps to his front door fumbling with his key. Armed with the knowledge we now have that Abby lies dead on the floor upstairs, Lizzie most probably is on the stairs about to laugh at Bridget's "Pshaw", you stop Andrew and say "Excuse me Mr. Borden! We have news that all is not well with your wife upstairs, may we accompany you to check on her?" Take the scenario from there and lets examine your next steps and outcomes...
(I LOVE this website!)

I see Lizzie hasten right down the stairs to greet me and Andrew:

"Oh, you have missed her- Abby has gone to check on a sick friend earlier this morning, please have a seat in the sittingroom I was just going out to Sargent's for a sale. She may come back soon-won't you stay for lunch?"

"Father! Good sirs!" Lizzie greets them at the door. "You are just in time! There's an intruder in your bedroom, Father! Make haste to apprehend the thief, who has no doubt returned to make off with more of Mrs. Borden's possessions!"
Up the back stairs they go, then Lizzie grabs the key from her Father, slams the bedroom door after them, locks it, and smashes a couple of kerosene lamps on the back stairway.
Thereupon, she runs outside, grabs the nearest neighbor, and proclaims, "Father is burned!"
(Actually, I've wondered, especially considering the dual stairways, how plausible it would have been for Lizzie to have escaped a house fire, while those up the back stairs perished. Of course, Bridget might well have been "collateral damage," but, once one has offed two people....)
Of course, there would be no house today, but then there probably wouldn't have been any charges against Lizzie. Plus, she would have saved herself close to 30 grand, or more, in legal fees, which far exceeded the value of the house and its contents.

Seeing our approach, Lizzie descends the stairs towards the door muttering "so Emma has given me away. Well, I won't give in an inch, they'll see."

That's an interesting comment about a fire, DJ. Makes one wonder if Lizzie was responsible for the murders, if she ever considered it....

Knowing how steep those stairs are- I always wondered why Lizzie just didn't give Abby a good shove from the top! "Accidents can be a woman's best friend "(Dolores Claiborne).

Shelley @ Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:47 pm wrote:Knowing how steep those stairs are- I always wondered why Lizzie just didn't give Abby a good shove from the top! "Accidents can be a woman's best friend "(Dolores Claiborne).

I think Lizzie had alot in common with Dolores Claiborne in justifying her actions. "Accidents can be a unhappy woman's best friend", "Sometimes you have to be a high-riding bitch to survive. Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has to hold onto." Loved that movie and the book.

One of my favorite movies, and books, by Stephen King also.

No disrespect meant to Eliz. Montgomery, but Kathy Bates would have been a great Lizzie too.

My first thought, in answering: the one thing that might save me if I were Lizzie knowing I had killed Abbie, would be to go to my room immediately (if I was on the stairs) and stab myself with something and pretend to be unconscious.

Welcome back Steve! I wondered what happened to you. Thought you fell in a hole.

As the police officer I would: "Excuse me, Mr. Borden. I am officer Jones and this is officer Smith. Mr. Borden we have reason to believe that your wife may have been assaulted inside your home. We would like your permission to search the house for Mrs. Borden and the attacker. If you could please wait out here in the yard with officer Smith I'll check for Mrs. Borden."

I would then pull out my trusty revolver and, after looking Lizzie over and asking if there are any other people in the house, I would ask her to wait outside as well. I would go up and get Bridget and have her wait outside with officer Smith. I would then search the house from top to bottom, every room, broom closet and cabinet. After a complete search for the attacker I would seal off the house and call for a full team of detectives and photographers. I would then break the bad news to Mr. Borden. I would then join in a full search for weapons, blood spots, clothes, etc., inside and outside the house. Mean while Lizzie, Bridget and Mr. Borden would be questioned separately. The photographer would be making numerous photos of both bodies and the items in the rooms.

There are other things I would do but that is basically it.

-1bigsteve (o:

Lizzie: "Father! Gentlemen! Do come in! Someone has killed Mrs Borden!"

Us: "Mr. Borden, we have heard some troubling cries from your house, and we suspect something dreadful has occurred within! May we investigate?"

Andrew: "Well, MY money shan't pay for it. Good day!"

Tina-Kate: Perfect!

Bob Gutowski @ Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:49 am wrote:Us: "Mr. Borden, we have heard some troubling cries from your house, and we suspect something dreadful has occurred within! May we investigate?"

Andrew: "Well, MY money shan't pay for it. Good day!"

Thanks - I needed a good laugh today!

1big steve

Andrew would be outside with Lizzie and Bridget. Where would the second body come from?

We have some news. Your wife is dead, and you are going to be next if you walk in your house. And the worst news is that we have your daughter Lizzie in custody.

Fargo @ Tue Jun 17, 2008 1:38 am wrote:1big steve

Andrew would be outside with Lizzie and Bridget. Where would the second body come from?

I'm just so used to two bodies... My brain must have been fried when I was beamed down. "Mr. Borden would you please come in and identify your body?"

-1bigsteve (o:

"Excuse me Mr. Borden , but I see you have returned home a trifle early. Are you not feeling well?"

"Not that it is any of your affair Madame, but I do have a spliiting headache!!!!"

"Good Day and please get off my stoop!"

Kat @ Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:45 pm wrote:My first thought, in answering: the one thing that might save me if I were Lizzie knowing I had killed Abbie, would be to go to my room immediately (if I was on the stairs) and stab myself with something and pretend to be unconscious.

You know, I think that maneuver might not occur to her, although it seems logical and sensible to us. In the days before antibiotics, any cut could get infected with strep, staph, or other nasty germs, and those infections could and did kill people.

I'm trying to think of a pre-1945 case where the murderer tried that tactic. Can't think of one -- can anyone else?

Kathy Bates would have made a great Lizzie. I like what Shelley said, why not a good push from the top & make it look like she tripped over something. If Lizzie didn't want to stab herself, she could have run into the door frame & say she was pushed as the person was running away.

Yup, Kathy Bates does it for me too. Got the right physical build and everything. Remember seeing her in the titanic movie; wears those old victorian dresses well.

I just watched her in Misery the other day and thought again how perfect she'd be as Lizzie.

Yes that's a good point about not stabbing oneself. But the stairs is a good idea too. 1/2 way down the stairs and get some bruises at least. Maybe smear some blood on first. They couldn't tell whose blood it was.
But just acting like I had also been attacked, dazed, confused, and hit my head and amnesia. I'm just a poor motherless girl who knows nothing...

(I do hear that staph is back, so don't anyone cut themselves, please! )

I first Saw Kathy Bates in a Pioneer movie years ago. She would make a good Lizzie but she would have to diet a bit.

That staph is terrible stuff. My dad nearly died from it many years ago. As Mr. Roat would say, "Bad News!"

-1bigsteve (o:

Wordweaver:

You know, I think that maneuver might not occur to her, although it seems logical and sensible to us.

-partial

As for the question whether Lizzie would have thought of that- I am reminded that she did admit that she had been sick the same night as the elder Bordens. If she tried to poison them, which many people believe, then here is clear proof that she could think of including herself in an attack in order to not stand out, no matter if she was truly sick or not. (Which again, most people believe, I think, that she was not sick.)