Lizzie Borden Society Forum

John testified that he visited the Borden's Aug 3 & 4th to purchase a couple cattle from Andrew and to follow up on Andrews letter concerning staffing for one of the farms.

As many have questioned, could the timing of John's visit be more than a coincidence? Morse seems to be one of the most popular alternatives to Lizzie as the murderer or at least as a co-conspirator.

Could there be a third reason? Emma and John appear to have had a relatively close uncle/niece relationship. Emma was in Fairhaven, which is pretty close to South Dartmouth, where John was living.

What do you all think of the possibility that Emma, sensing heightening tension in the Borden house (based on experience & potentially the tone/content of Lizzie's letters to her), asked John to 'visit' and get a read on the situation? This might help explain his odd behavior upon returning to the Borden home around 11:40 on the day of the murders and walking into the backyard and 'not noticing' the likely high # of folks around the house. Maybe he suspected something nasty may have happened because of odd activity around the house and was collecting his thoughts while he enjoyed a juicy pear.

I tend to believe his testimony on why he visited, but hadn't seen the Emma angle discussed in the forum and am interested in alternative ideas on why he visited that particular day.

Very interesting. I’ve always believed the pears were just that: a time to collect his thoughts as there was no way he missed all those people as he maintained. The idea that Emma asked him to visit, not Andrew, is original. Her presence out of the house when she never went ANYWHERE has always been too much of a coincidence. That she was trying to escape because of foreboding and called in family cavalry is certainly possible.

It does seem so strange if we believe that Emma hardly went anywhere and then was not home when the murders happened. Coincidence or not is a question. I agree that it's possible that she may have been the one who summoned John to come for a visit.

John and the pears is one of those mysteries that we'll always wonder about I believe. It could be as simple as he was real hungry and when he saw the commotion he realized there was not going to be a dinner. Now don't take that too seriously because I go off the wall real easily.