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Some question about an article on bridget

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 7:41 am
by snokkums
I was reading the post Sour/Dour Bridget and the poster posted a Fall river article on Bridget. I've got a couple of question that maybe some of you can clear up for me.

It states that on the morning of August 4th, 1892, Sullivan found Abby Borden lying on the floor in a pool of blood in an upstaris bedroom. I thought it was Mrs. Churchill that found Abby after Lizzie found her father. I remember reading somewhere that Bridget was fearfull of going upstairs afterthe father was found. Which one is correct?

The other question I have is that it stated the LIzzie was the only suspect. I thought in the beginning everyone the family and Bridget were suspects. I mean, eventually Lizzie was the only suspect but just seems the article is saying that Lizzie was the only one from the get go.

Re: Some question about an article on bridget

Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 2:56 am
by Yooper
Bridget went upstairs ahead of Mrs. Churchill and actually went into the spare bedroom. Mrs. Churchill saw Abby when she looked under the bed from the stairway. I don't know if Mrs. Churchill could see a pool of blood from that angle, but she could see someone lying there, someone unaffected by the commotion downstairs. She could reasonably assume it to be Abby and reasonably assume Abby was dead, under the circumstances. So, from a technical standpoint, it actually was Bridget who found Abby in a pool of blood. Both women wanted company when they were sent upstairs, for all they knew the killer might be lurking about in one of the bedrooms. That never seemed to cross Lizzie's mind for some reason.

At first, the suspects probably included Bridget and John Morse. Bridget was seen outside by Mrs. Churchill and the Kelley maid around the time Abby was killed and Lizzie corroborated her story about being in her room about the time Andrew was murdered. Morse's alibi was airtight, so once the police checked out the stories, they would have been cleared as suspects. Whether Bridget, Morse, or an intruder killed the Bordens, the police found it difficult to believe that Lizzie would have been completely unaware of the murders. Even before their stories were corroborated, Morse and Bridget lacked motive. Lizzie had means, motive, and exclusive opportunity for both murders, so she was the only viable suspect.