Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Hey everyone,

The intruder theory definitely seems possible if one assumes and accepts the following:

A. Acceptance of Facts:

1. If Bridget is innocent, Lizzie could not commit Andrew's murder, hide the hatchet, hide her dress, clean the blood off her body and hair and get dressed in a span of time between 10:55am to 11:14am.

2. If Lizzie is the murderer, she could take her sweet time to clean up the crime scene before alarming Bridget, who supposedly had gone to take a nap. Even if she planned to burn the house then, nothing was stopping her if she actually intended to.

3. Lizzie or Emma never pointed suspected Bridget committing the crime. From what I understand, Lizzie actually states that she does not believe Bridget could have done it. If Lizzie had done it, why would she mind attention being shifted from her.

B. Assumptions: No one saw or the intruder was composed enough to escape unnoticed after committing the murders.

So on the night before the murders, Uncle John, Lizzie and Bridget, factually in Fall River, were out of the house. I would like to mention details of their arrivals.

1. Uncle John: Abby and Andrew possibly opened the door, leaving a little possibility of an intruder coming in, along with Uncle John.
2. Lizzie: Uncle John heard someone entering the house around 9pm, heading towards Lizzie's room upstairs. However, no one saw her. It opens up a possibility that a person who had/was given the house keys (Bridget, Emma or/and Lizzie) entered the house.

3. Bridget: Based on the trials, Bridget had a key to the house in case she came home late from one of her evening excursions. Once again, it opens up the possibility of the weapon and the murderer entering the home alongside Bridget (that can explain lack of suspicion by Lizzie/Emma)

Given the rage and the assault Abby and Andrew suffered, it has to be someone close and personal to the family, for whom, Lizzie would have gone to prison and accepted social out-casting for the rest of her life.

I would be happy to have some feedback on the same.

Hi, CuriousMind, good to see you posting again!

As I don't believe in the intruder theory, I'll have a go at challenging it. In the thread all about Andrew there are images of the sitting room which make it clear that, without too much effort a certain Borden family member would have been able to cover herself with Andrew's coat, grab the hatchet already concealed in the dining room and be able to reach through the adjacent dining room door and kill A.B. without necessarily covering herself with gore from head to toe.

I don't think it would take more than a few minutes to quickly wipe a few splashes of blood off, roll Daddy's coat under his head and dispose of the hatchet, whether on a nearby barn roof (Crowe's) or concealed somewhere in the house.

Lizzie was probably wearing the paint stained dress that Thursday morning that she later burned on the Sunday, before being arrested. She wouldnt have needed to change her clothing as there was little to wipe off.

I don't believe that Lizzie intended to burn the house down. That's Debbie's theory.

Possum who used to post on here used a photo of an experiment with blood and a hatchet in which the white boiler-suited volunteer is spotless afterwards except for one lower leg. If Lizzie's leg was protected by the dining room door jam there wouldn't even be that.

I don't think that Lizzie knew, until her father informed her, that Uncle John was coming home for the midday meal. Up until then she was, I believe, going to kill her father after lunch when Bridget was out for the afternoon. When Lizzie received that bit of info it was an "Oh Sh--!" moment, IMO. She struck while the iron was hot as her father, luckily for her, had a snooze on the couch. Lizzie didn't know whether she'd get an opportunity later, with her uncle hanging around.

The only reason for Bridget to introduce an intruder into the house on the Wednesday evening is if she was part of a plot to kill her employers. No proof of any kind of ill will by Bridget towards them has ever been found. In fact all the evidence there is shows that Bridget liked Abby very much and was neutral about Andrew.

Lizzie never accused anyone, except a snarled remark at the inquest about her uncle Hiram. She didn't need to accuse Bridget or John or anyone else, as who could possibly think that a respectable church-going spinster lady would be capable of brutal murders with a hatchet. Lizzie counted on her persona to help protect her. She didn't believe that the police would suspect her. She was wrong.

As far as I know Uncle John never heard two lots of separate footsteps going up the stairs. Lizzie came back on that Wednesday evening at about 9pm. As was usual with her, she didn't bother to put her head around the door to say good night. She went upstairs to her room, leaving Andrew, Abby and John talking in the sitting room. Abby had let John into the house earlier that day.