“Lizzie Borden Took an Axe” — Or Did She? What Would a Jury Say Today? Is it the facts or the proofs of the facts that determined the verdict then as is different now

It all dates to the 1892. Emma and Lizzie were the daughters of Andrew Borden who lived with his second wife in Massachusetts. The two sisters were middle aged. Emma being the elder one.

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The two sisters had a complain from their fathers that they couldn’t get the kind of quality of life despite being rich and wealthy. That’s believed to be the reason behind them both killing the couple.

History

It was the morning at nearly 10:45 when Lizzie informs her neighbours about her father’s death. Upon arrival, the neighbours saw the pathetic condition of Andrew whose face was blood stained all over and was smashed several times on the back of his head.

The verdict in the past of Lizzie being innocent

Although the jury took 90 minutes to make a decision that Lizzie was too innocent to have committed such a heinous crime, there are rumours of her being the killer of her parents and rendering herself an orphan. After her death in 1927,she was buried next to her parents.

The verdict of to be given in 2020

With clear evidences it becomes clear that Lizzie was the killer of her parents-

  1. Although her dress was totally unstained, there were marks of blood on her undergarments which she claimed to be a personal reason as she was having menstrual flow. However the forensic development at that time wasn’t as strong and hence was an easy escape for many crime committers.
  2. A day before the murder Lizzie went to the pharmaceutical store to buy a bottle of very dangerous acid. Upon asking the reason, she said it was for her to clean her skin cap. However there’s no scientific explanation to it being used for the said purpose and hence she was denied the use. When refused, she opted for a more readily, home-made method.
  3. She agreed that her dress at the time of murder was burnt, not by her but by her sister, hence making it clear that Lizzie wanted to hide her blood stains.

With all these reasons the jury in 2020 could prove Lizzie guilty purely on the basis of evidences.