In the Maptech Embassy Guide for Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, 5th Edition (2001), there is a blurb about Fall River which includes mention of the Borden murder case. Let me share the text with you.
Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done She gave her father forty-one!
So goes the legend, anyway. Truth is, Miss Borden, who was an old maid of 32 at the time of the crime, was acquitted in the killings of her father and stepmother. The case remains unsolved, despite overwhelming circumstantial evidence—more advanced forensic methods would likely have put Lizzie behind bars. Of course, it seems that Lizzie owned her acquittal not to the persuasive powers of an innocent face but rather to aiding and abetting (a neighbor was caught helping Lizzie destroy evidence). Nevertheless, the 1892 Borden double axe murder trial made for the most interesting headline in Fall River’s history.
Hmmm. Modern forensic methods would put her behind bars? A neighbor was caught helping Lizzie destroy evidence? The Borden double axe murder trial was held in 1892?
I find it fascinating that so many essays, articles, and blurbs get the case and this woman so wrong! It is not like there aren’t any sources for people to use to check their facts. It is not that there hasn’t been anything written about this case which would make it extra hard to know what’s what. It just feels like people make stuff up when they should conduct a little research instead. Is it so hard to take the time and effort necessary to present factually the story of Lizzie Borden, Fall River, and the murders that made Fall River famous?
I wish I could say that this type of error-filled essay was the exception to the rule. However, with the recent release of a book on the case (by a Harvard historian no less), that contains factual innacuracies, bold assumptions, and misstatements, I am afraid that the Borden case is doomed to be forever relegated to the world of the apocryphal.
Thanks to author Michael Brimbau for the find!
