Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I am not sure if someone tried to make sense out of total 29 whacks. Based on everything I read, both victims would have been dead after the first or second blow. Why give them so many more whacks.

Following are few of the possibilities I thought of:

1. Years since Sarah Morse's death
2. Number of Pigeons killed
3. Number of conflicting opinions the killer had with each.

I would love to know your opinions.

Years and years of unmitigated rage and the need to depersonalize the victims. Hacking someone in the face removes their "identity" far faster than smashing in the back of their head, so Andrew suffered fewer blows to be rendered unrecognizable. Plus, Abby may have been the focus for more of the rage, and with her murder there likely was more time. Also mentioned, the killer may not have realized when Abby was mortally wounded, whereas Andrew's injuries are more readily apparent as fatal, IMO.

I agree. As far as we know, the actual number of blows both Andrew and Abby received on that Thursday doesn't have any significance. Of course we can't be sure.

We don't know what began the attack on Abby. If the killer was Lizzie a quarrel may have begun quite suddenly, and rage and years of hidden hatred and resentments could have taken over and continued until Lizzie was done, not until death. I don't know if she even noticed that Abby was dead, it was probably all fuelled by emotion.

Andrew received fewer blows but time constraints and the fact that Bridget was in the house, although upstairs, may have had something to do with that. There are still signs of resentment present, however, in the chopping of the face and the number of blows, because, as you say, MysteryReader, only a couple of blows would have caused instant death.

I have always felt the killer was inexperienced at killing and didn't know the most efficient way to kill so the efforts were sloppy in the first place. That said I don't think we can avoid the evidence that the killer was extremely angry at Abby. Whether she insulted/resisted/fought back against an intruder or it was Lizzie who was darn mad, the killer tried to destroy her. Considering that there were chunks of Abby's hair with bits of bone attached~a couple on the bed and at least one stuck to the wall in front of her head~even an inexperienced killer should have known the victim was dead by that time. To me that gory detail implies a male assailant or a deranged female and I don't feel Lizzie is the one.

With Andrew it appears there was one tremendous whack and the others, possibly for the point of making sure the job was done. Maybe it's a bit like dispatching a fish. If a person knows just where to hit at the base of the head one whack will do it, but if a person is inexperienced there might be a lot of whacks. Of course fish keep flopping dead or alive and humans don't, but I think I made my point.

Lol...yes, point taken...

In my opinion all those unnecessary blows were nothing else but a false stage set up to make people believe that the author of the murder was a man (in order to protect indirectly the two women present in the house when the double murder was taking place there).

Men in general would have a better idea how to kill efficiently, especially in that day when more slaughtering of meat animals was done at farms. The excessive number of blows could be done by a woman or a man, who was inexperienced or extremely enraged. If Abby once faced her attacker perhaps she did something to resist him (or her). Perhaps she did holler but Bridget was outside and Lizzie may have been in the cellar. Sometimes resistance further enrages an attacker. I sort of picture the killer thinking she was alive after a few blows, and continuing to make sure the job was done.

I think it was years of rage. I also think that Lizzie thought Abby was moving in on the Borden fortune that she felt was suppose to go to her and her sister, Emma. I think Lizzie felt that Abby was a gold digger.