History's Lost and Found: Lizzie Borden's Hatchet

[sauroid1]

What Prof. Ryckebusch said about Lizzie's cool decision about sleeping in her house the night of the murders is wrong. That house was minutely examined by many detectives and patrol men on 8/4/92. Also, that looks like a pretty small hatchet head, and as anyone who has split much firewood knows that the job is alot easier with a heavier ax head. The force needed to cause so many heavy blows with that small hatchet head would seem to point to a man as the murderer.

[izzardfan]

Incredibly cheesy but otherwise very informative clip.

[KayBeeEee1983]

If the murder was unsolved, why the hell would the authorities let anyone take the murder weapon home with them? Did literally every single person (except the jury) know she did it, even the judge and police? Theoretically, couldn't the weapon be used if they brought someone else to trial in the future?

[ClairSilence93]

well if I was her and had to deal with the way they treated her id slaughter them to but i would have chose a more groosom way of murdering them she did it the more easy way

[KayBeeEee1983]

@ClairSilence93 She didn't have to deal with the way they treated her. Lizzie and her sister Emma were given a property by their father, but they just sold it back to him for cash. Lizzie literally smashed their skulls in. You can't get much more gruesome than that if you actually want to succeed and evade punishment.

[FifthContinentMusic]

@KayBeeEee1983 "literally"? Did you get past third grade English? Doubt it.

[KayBeeEee1983]

@FifthContinentMusic You're literally the most pathetic troll I've ever seen on youtube. You figuratively beat your buddy izzardfan by a nose, though.

[lordanne6]

info: ppl didnt know who killed her step mom and dad plus we didnt hav the technology we have today we could hav figured it out plus lizzie said that she was in the barn and when she came in she saw her dad was dead and some ppl say thst it was the maid who killed them idk but thats some info

[izzardfan]

@lordanne6 "People didn't know who killed her stepmother and father. Also, society didn't have access to the kind of technology that we have now that would allow us to solve a crime like that. In addition, Lizzie herself said that she was in the barn when the murders took place, and only discovered her father's body upon returning to the house. Some say the maid who worked there was responsible for the grisly crimes. I can't say for sure but that's how I understand it." Isn't punctuation great?

[FifthContinentMusic]

@izzardfan Your punctuation is great. You get an A +.

[FifthContinentMusic]

@lordanne6 Would it not be possible for you to learn how to spell without resorting to all your incomprehensible abbreviations?

[JellyKimSugarBoom14]

She was pretty repressed tho. Her father was really controlling & they still threw their excrement out the window!

They never ate dinner together and weren't a close family. she was in her early 30's when the murders happened --> well past marriageable age. Its possible that her father didn't want her and her sister married off so that he could control them.

[JellyKimSugarBoom14]

@JellyKimSugarBoom14, you can see whay Lizzie would b frustrated. There could have been a whole host of other reasons why Lizzie would want to kill her father and step mother. It is very unusual that two daughters of that age wouldn't be married and remember that domestic abuse was the norm in the 1800's.

[FifthContinentMusic]

@JellyKimSugarBoom14 Is it not possible that Lizzie harboured Lesbian tendencies?

[joesarecool21]

whoa

[TrueLoveIsntTrue]

Cracked ftw!

[cheeriosinabowl]

If I had known Lizzie,  I would have been very nice to her.

Otherwise ...

[saddlesablazin]

The hatchet was never proven to be the murder weapon, but back in those days they had very primitive forensic protocols. She could have easily cleaned it after the murder. It had to have been her. She had motive and the opportunity and based on the timing of events, it's the only thing that makes sense.

[koaheart]

I still can't fathom how anyone, especially a family member for the sake of greed kill their own parents.

[MyLalinea]

is this ever solved?

[emlodik]

@MyLalinea Nope. Never was.

[koaheart]

Eli Bence testified at the trial Lizzie tried to purchase Purssic Acid ( Hydrogen cyanide) two days before the murders. Coincidental? She also hated her Step mother, and longed for a better life of Luxury. Lizzy was known as a thief and shoplifter. The court threw out her conflicting statements due to no lawyer present at the time she made them. After her acquittal she inherited $125,00.00 and moved to The Hill (rich section) where the community scorned her for the remainder of her life.

[koaheart]

@koaheart Sorry $125.000.00 inheritance

[emlodik]

@koaheart But that's almost 3 million dollars in today's money!

[MARILYN19481]

Lizzie did not do it, but she knew who did .

[esf5129]

The hatchet was never proved to be the murder weapon.

[skkiittllezz]

i think it was the uncle but really who gives a shit its done no one will ever know the real truth behind it

[RobotMice]

I think the maid did it

[slap1328]

I loved this show and would watch it every Sunday morning from 6 to 7AM on The History Channel. Now they show infomercials during this time. What a pisser. No one watches that crap except for monkeys. Come on H.C. programmers, put this show back in rotation. Further, put the Vietnam documentary back on Saturday mornings. I repeat, no one watches infomercials.

Thank you, won't you.

SL

[halkiphulkiben]

this is so sad.

[crazyknight2008]

stupid prosecutor, she did it for sure, come on !!!!.....

[OctoberWytche]

I thought that it was revealed that a more blunt instrument, like a candlestick, was used to dispatch Abby.  Hmm.

[dunkindoenuts]

did they found the murderer?????  :0

[OctoberWytche]

@dunkindoenuts Nope.

[dunkindoenuts]

@OctoberWytche wow! after all those years they still havent found da nurderer! dats just skecthy

[OctoberWytche]

@dunkindoenuts Yeah. I wish that Cold Case could take it on, but they wouldn't have enough evidence to use, of course.

Forensics must have really bit the big one back during the late 19th century. Add suffrage to the equation, and Lizzie was safe no matter what. Early women's libbers kind of used her as a poster child for their cause.

[sonicmaster110022]

@dunkindoenuts dude. its unknown

[MetalHeart8787]

@sonicmaster110022

whats unknown? the murderer? uh NO

she did it she recieve money insurance & even spent the Night anyone in the Right mind After seeing their parent hacked up with an Axe wouldn't stay there that Night.. as that guy said i wouldn't have stayed the night in that House if i was in Bed with a machine Gun

[emmers57]

I know she was weird, but what on earth was she doing going to a policemans picnic?

[OctoberWytche]

@emmers57 Yeah, that sure takes some lady balls. :P

[jack2breeze]

@bullfrog11758 i saw a show where they said she had locks on the outside of her bedroom door which was unusual.

[dvine0621]

wow the story is kind of freaky really freaky.

[Terpfan007]

I just read a story about her titled "She couldn't have done it, Even if she did" by Kathryn Allamong Jacob. Everyone should read this quick story on her if they aren't sure what to think about this. It is a 4 page article and is NOT a long read. Really helps show you what REALLY happened!!!

[priest4486]

if the glove don't fit u must aquitt

lol

[LarkinProductions]

@ bullfrog11758

BAHAHAHAAAA!! I love you!

[antij1]

LOL @ "The hatchet had only begun its day's work."

[creolelady182]

Lizzie did it alright and rightly so. She spent years being rather frustrated. That happens when somebody else isholding the purse strings. After her aquital-just look at her life afterwards

[farmerne]

"Well...she wasn't very nice to her parents!" LOL!!!!

[moonflower0924]

i think the maid did it.

[Jez8969]

evidence was inconclusive and due to the drag on of the court case was how she was acquitted

[thorn35]

@Jez8969 her jury consisted of all males who were reportedly enamored by her. Not a single woman on the jury and her behavior after the murders was quite emotionally detached.

[NeonDarkness13]

D: The beginning sure sounded cheerful.

[mikimikalol]

i personally think it was the maid just think.. well it migh have been lizzie thought

[Cissy2cute]

There was enough circumstantial evidence (at least what was not unintentionally destroyed) to convict her in a court of law today.

The only question I have is: would it be 1st Degree Murder? Or would the charge have been downgraded? Obviously she was in a rage when she did this. With her money, she could have hired the best lawyer around today and he would certainly have gotten the charge downgraded.

[OctoberWytche]

@Cissy2cute Obviously she was in a rage when she did this.

And not just any rage...they found menstrual blood on the dress she was wearing. I think that was the one that she tried to burn. Or was that the one that she got paint on? Anyway, they said that at the time of the murders she was visited by...hey...Aunt Flo did it!

[Cissy2cute]

@OctoberWytche - There are two schools of thought:

1. Having her period at the time was a concocted story to help explain away the blood (or paint,) on the dress and would also explain bloody rags in a pail. Did they just take Lizzie's word on this? The Victorians were very touchy about it and would not have questioned it further.

2. She did have her "friend". She might have been quite irritable because of it and so...

Lizzie remains a fascinating person. Truly part of our history!

[tsmith01220]

The sick thing is in Fall River people make money off Lizzie Borden - a sick murderer.

I was going to make the Robin Murphy Bed and Breakfast over on Bedford Street where the Pier was but they wouldn't give me a permit to do it as it was considered 'in bad taste'.

So it's wrong to make money off a satanic cult murders in FR but not a dyke ax murderer.

[theretro22]

It had to be her. She slept in the house the same day of the murders....wouldn't that bother most people!? Especially since the "murderer" was still on the loose.

[Targen81]

Why should the muder strike once again at the same place?

The house was most likley guareded to, i don´t suspect the police went in looking for clues, removed the bodys then returned to the station.

But everything is pointing against her

[countmein33]

As I recall the story, she first killed her stepmother (whom she hated) upstairs, then had to wait until her father (whom she loved and hated) came home to attack him.

[adarkenedmind]

Good grief... they don't even know for sure if she did it.

It's interesting, for certain, but it's hard to say for sure.

[krissykris100]

the father was a sick man!!  Hell, they were all sick.

[MeryndasBFF]

My gosh it's as if she wanted to go to jail! She completely gave it away that it was her! I did a video on her story on another account of mine.

[Popcultureguy3000]

Lizzie Bordon; the official O.J. Simpson of 19th century.

[Baldgol4]

Lizzie and O.J. belong together. They both got away with double murder.

[susan462]

my bad in my previous post i meant to say beyond a reasonable doubt not upon one..

[susan462]

The trial of Lizzie Borden is in comparison with the O.J. trial, they were both acquitted and found not guilty, in legal terms that does not mean they were found innocent, it means they were found not guilty upon a reasonable doubt.

[3zy]

Except in Lizzie's case, she was found not guilty by reason of being a chick, which is one defense that OJ couldn't pull off.

[FifthContinentMusic]

@3zy She was not a 'chick', she was a human being. Do get a life, mate.

[PiratePrincess2009]

she was aquitted not do to the fact that she was a woman and they couldn't see a woman committ a murder that cold.

She was aquitted because she had an unshakeable allibi. Lubinsky said he said her walking to the barn at the time of her fathers murder. I thought that she paid him off but he had two other people to confirm his story and he was a immirgant and also he didn't go voluntery. they had to find him. someone who was being paid off wouldnt need to be found.

[Cissy2cute]

I respectfully have to disagree with Pirate Princess.

Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable. Just as an example, many people can not only get the time they saw a suspect confused, but also even the day they saw him/her. Eyewitness testimony has a 50% accuracy rate.

Crime shows on TV give the impression that eyewitness testimony is the gold standard. Circumstantial evidence is best because it's not based on human perception and the little quirks our minds play on us.

[Cissy2cute]

To be honest, Andrew Borden was so unpopular that the conversation around town was that "someone finally got to him". Not much mourning seemed to accompany this event.

One can only imagine what passed within the walls of that dysfunctional family. No surprise here that Lizzie probably did it.

Would it have been called 1st degree today? 2nd degree? Manslaughter? Of course, we can only guess.

[fflybz]

They make this sound like a circus show, probably due to the killer being a woman. Could they be a little bit more respectful of history? Do we need the cartoon version?

[Lurking99]

Unfortunately we will never know for certain who did it. Forensics backed then were quite promitive.... Having said that, I think that there is a strong circumstantial case that Lizze was guilty.

[izzardfan]

@Lurking99 Could you and the nine people who liked this comment please explain what 'promitive' means? I can't find it anywhere else and the closest word to it I can think of is 'primitive'. Thanks.

[FifthContinentMusic]

@izzardfan There is no such word. The blogger can't type.

[EchoCalypso7879]

Go Lizzie!

[pinklatex]

The son did it.... Yes there was a son... google it

[creolelady182]

Lizzie's case was the OJ Simpson case of the Victorian era. Sorry folks-Lizzie killed her father and stepmother

[FanofBewitched]

I totaly agree with you she did kill her parents.

[kmcl11]

@creolelady182 no evidence...there is a story here about william borden.

[creolelady182]

@kmcl11

Tell me something I dont know

[azgurl12390]

@creolelady182 ummm nooo lizzie killed her parents and oj didnt get it right !!!!

[kiki04]

will if that was the case how come lizzie borden stole an axe from the store she is the only one with it even though she loves her father he killed her pigeons she love her pigeons alot because those are like her friends those are her only pets left and she killed her stepmother because she never really been a mother to lizzie at all.

[danforks]

Have they ever been able to actually prove that the hatchet was the murder weapon? I know the video said that it fit in the trial, but would they still be able to do any DNA testing or not--I'm guessing it probably wasn't preserved very well if it sat in the Jennings basement all that time.

[ra2yuri4]

Honastly I'd like to know too. If they had ever got the chance to do what they did with Hitlers teeth (To see if it was really his dead body they aquired at Berlin) to the hatchet then we may get some good infomation.

[scottieman2]

Wonder if there are more clips of the show.

[lizzysecondstreet]

I will be spending a week at the Borden B and B again this summer, my third time there. If you want to go "back in time", and work on your theory for this mystery, stay at the B and B. It is the next best thing to time travel

[plaidnum]

her dad was a bank president. perfect.

[amazed92]

"She spent the night in that house ... I wouldn't have spent the night in that house if I was in bed with a machine gun" -wuss. Where was she supposed to go? She wasn't there on her own. The police were there all night. After a friend of mine was killed we (her 7 yr old son & I) had to spend the night in her house until her killer was found. What would this guy have made of it - of course, how silly we all were, it must have been her son that killed her (sorry should have had a scarcasm warning)

[Arttkid]

Its just a show...

[amazed92]

Narration shows which way a programme based on fact is bias, it is obvious when you listen to the narration that those making the programme believed Lizzie was the killer. There was no other side looked at with any depth or belief, any alternative view was laughed at. What annoyed me was the assertion that because he was a coward and wouldn't have spent the night there after the murders anyone who did was guilty, if she had stayed at friends he's have said she ran away, it must have been guilt

[LawrenceRooney]

I completely understand what you mean about your friend. However, it is a slightly different situation when your father and stepmother were axed until their heads caved in. I don't think I would ever be able to stay in the house again. I think it is quite obvious that she did it, and she even seemed to make a joke out of it after she was acquitted, chopping wood and all.

[amazed92]

You need to remember that the press had a lot to do with the wood chopping stories (even then) - and heaters, stoves and burners all worked on wood and coal, she would have needed the wood for the fire, and we only have the reporters word for what happened. I'm afraid that I don't trust the word of reporters.

From personal experience I can tell you that the press make things up, especially if it will sell more papers. Suing them is not an option for an ordinary person due to the expense.

[EffieReal]

I am sorry about your friend. :(

[amazed92]

thank you, my friends son is doing a lot better - he seems to understand that his mother didn't want to leave him, but she died saving his life from the attacker that killed her.

[Wsmtaylor]

Find a copy of "A Private Disgrace" by Victoria Lincoln (mentioned in the clip). It is the BEST thing written about the case.

[NGS712]

Love this show! Too bad they canceled it.

[jamjambambam667]

was 32 and living at home??

ah god no wonder she lashed out...

[rsslvscff]

I heard her father was getting old and there was a threat that if he died, the evil stepmother would get the old man's money, leaving Lizzie and her sister nothing. I think that was one of the factors to this case.

[CherishHarts]

Back then, women either worked or married to get out of the house. She wasn't married, and I don't know why she didn't work. Maybe it's because they were weatlthy. Anyhoo, you have to remember that this was in 1892. Things were different back then.

[starrenee]

thanks for sharing this with the youtube community. I had never seen it before. I was a little bit creeped out that Andrew was apparently burried headless since they used his skull in the trial and found it in that bucket in the 60s!!!!

[prodigaldsd2003]

Hah-hah. Funny. I had two step-fathers I would've handed over to Lizzie.

[NGS712]

prodig: What 'bout my Stepsiblings? ;)

[Grace8706]

~~I MISS THIS SH0W=(

[fasterkillpussycat2]

LOL I find that funny too!

[ghosttrain2066]

"she wasnt very nice to her parents"lol