Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Its the 1890's in Massachusetts. A woman finds her father murdered. His body lays dead with his head cleaved open by multiple axe wounds. Blood is spattered about the room from the horrible attack. There were no signs of a struggle as the murderer seems to have waited in the kitchen and took him unexpected.....
Sounds familiar?...Its not the Borden case though! This is about Mr.Dean of Maynard Massachusetts and the year is 1896.

I found this article in the Newport Mercury Weekly news dated 17 December 1896.

It makes me wonder how common splitting heads with axes was as a way of murder. Did it start with the Borden case? There is also the Manchester murder to consider. I guess an axe is a silent way to kill someone (provided you do it quick).

I never heard of that crime case. Interesting. In this case instant cash must have been the motive. In the Borden case Andrew probably didn't keep cash on hand so maybe the killer was willing to wait on hers?

Every generation has it's weapons of choice I suppose. I wonder if they contemplated "Axe Control" in the 1890s? I can see it now, "Oh my gawd, axes kill people! We need to ban these evil things! We need Axe Control!

I have a color photo of a man with an axe stuck in his head. They go in quite deep.


-1bigsteve (o:

Don't forget the 1873 Smuttynose ax murder in New Hampshire. I think it was a well publicized case.

1bigsteve @ Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:02 pm wrote: I wonder if they contemplated "Axe Control" in the 1890s? I can see it now, "Oh my gawd, axes kill people! We need to ban these evil things! We need Axe Control!

-1bigsteve (o:

Don't forget the NAA (National Axe Association):
"Axes don't kill people, people kill people."

KAE @ Tue Aug 04, 2009 12:20 pm wrote:

1bigsteve @ Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:02 pm wrote: I wonder if they contemplated "Axe Control" in the 1890s? I can see it now, "Oh my gawd, axes kill people! We need to ban these evil things! We need Axe Control!

-1bigsteve (o:

Don't forget the NAA (National Axe Association):
"Axes don't kill people, people kill people."

I like that one! How about the NKA, "National Knife Association."

I never heard of the Smuttynose crime but recently I came across a case of a couple of boys who killed their own mother with an axe. I can't remember the name of the case. I'll see if I can find out.

1896. That was the year George Burns was born. Puts things in perspective for me.


-1bigsteve (o:

Toward the end of the first decade of the 1800s, Becky Cotton-- a lovely young woman from Edgefield County, S.C.-- was acquitted of murdering her third husband with an ax.
However, the respective deaths of her first two husbands were later questioned, a pond was dredged, and their bodies recovered.
One was murdered with a knitting needle; the other, poisoned.
Becky's brother, in an attempt to stop the insanity, shot and killed her.
People kill people. (Although guns, axes, poison, and knitting needles come in handy.)

3 different murder weapons? That's very unusual! I wonder if the woman was an intelligent organized sociopath?

Parson Weems, who propagated the myth about our first president and the cherry tree, wrote a pamphlet re Miss Cotton: "The Devil in Petticoats."
BTW, Kat-- stories of hauntings have unsurprisedly sprung up re that pond.

1bigsteve @ Tue Aug 04, 2009 3:31 pm wrote:

I never heard of the Smuttynose crime but recently I came across a case of a couple of boys who killed their own mother with an axe. I can't remember the name of the case. I'll see if I can find out. -1bigsteve (o:

The book and movie 'The Weight of Water' is based on the Smuttynose Island murders. I've not seen the movie (w/ Sean Penn), but most of the book is fictionalized history.

The movie Weight Of Water is full of uninteresting scenes but the setting is beautiful (Canada) and the historic part of the story is well done. It's worth having a copy around if you can find one that's reasonably priced. The modern times parts of the movie are a great time to go make popcorn or get something to drink!

Yes the modern times parts in the book are the same- good to go get popcorn during!

Another case that seemed so horrible was the case of the Purington murders or was it spelled Purrington. Capt. Purrington killed his wife and six children in 1806. An axe had to have been a most handy weapon back then. Yikes!

http://dohistory.org/diary/themes/purrinton/index.html

The murders are mentioned in Martha Ballard's diary which is online.

http://dohistory.org/diary/index.html