Third and Fourth Days of the Trial.
Mr. Knowlton called Bridget Sullivan to the stand and she continued
her testimony—“Mrs. Borden came down stairs Wednesday morning, saying
she and Mr. Borden had been sick that night. They looked pretty sick.
Lizzie said she had been sick all night, too. I came down to start the
fire. Miss Lizzie had been ironing eight or nine minutes when I went
up stairs. There used to be a horse kept in the barn. Since the horse
was kept there, I have seen Lizzie go to the barn. Miss Lizzie spoke
about her mother going out and said her mother had received a note that
morning.”
Mr. Knowlton—“Did Lizzie say anything about hearing her mother groan?”
Bridget—“She said she heard her father groan.”
Mr. Knowlton—“Did you at any time that day see Lizzie crying?”
Bridget—“No, not in all the day.”
Mr. Adams conducted the cross-examination, and commenced by politely
asking the witness if she would be seated. She declined a chair, and
questions commenced rapidly. The counsel required her to review the
history of her life and then commenced questioning her regarding her
movements on the fatal day. She said—“I always carry a night key and
lock the doors, as I pass in and out. The night before the murders
I was out, but came home alone. Never had a man call on me at that
house. When some one came it was not a Fall River man. Was out in the
yard Wednesday morning and Lizzie told me she had been sick. That day
had pork steak, ‘johnny cakes’ and coffee for breakfast. Had soup and
mutton for dinner. Soup, bread, cake and tea for supper.
“Tuesday night, when they were taken sick, we had swordfish warmed
over for dinner. Had baker’s bread, too. Got the bread myself. Went of
my own notion to get the bread, and when I got back Mrs. Borden gave
me five cents. I didn’t eat any of that bread. I was taken sick that
night. Didn’t see Lizzie Wednesday after breakfast. They were all
sick. Wednesday morning I went down stairs after coal and kindlings.
Then opened the blinds in the dining room. I never rang a bell for
breakfast. They all got up without calling. Didn’t have anything
particular to do in the dining room till breakfast. Mrs. Borden came
down stairs and told me Mr. Morse was in the house. I asked her if
he slept in the attic, and she said no, in the spare chamber. That
Thursday morning Mr. Borden had brought in a basket of pears from the
tree. He had brought in some a day or two before. They got rotten
and he had dumped them under the barn. The only rooms I had been in
Thursday morning up to breakfast time were the kitchen and dining room.
Mrs. Borden often asked after breakfast what I had to do that day. The
ice chest was in a closet opening from the entry. We went upstairs out
of that entry-way. Never saw any clothes but my own on the nails in
the entry. There was a shawl sometimes hanging there. It belonged to
the house. Didn’t see a felt hat that morning. In the closet were kept
the bonnets and shawl of Mrs. Borden, that she would come and get and
go out with any time. Sure I didn’t go into any room except the dining
room and kitchen the day of the murder. Think it was before 9 o’clock
when Mrs. Borden said, ‘What have you got to do to-day, Maggie?’ She
told me that I had better wash the windows outside and in. Lizzie took
her breakfast in the kitchen. She took coffee. Am sure of that. Lizzie
was in the dining room, I think, when her mother asked me what I had
to do. Lizzie said, coming out into the kitchen, that she was going to
have a cookie and coffee for breakfast. She sat down by the kitchen
table. There were old magazines in the closet. Had seen Lizzie sit
down in the kitchen sometimes and read the old magazines. When I went
out into the back yard she was eating her breakfast. Didn’t mean to
say the first time I saw Lizzie was when I saw her at the screen door.
First saw her coming out of the dining room door to the kitchen when
I was at the sink. It was about an hour after she came down that she
came to the screen door. During that hour I was washing up the dishes.
I was out in the yard when she was at her breakfast. I felt sick that
morning getting up. I drank some of the milk, but I didn’t eat any of
the bread. I don’t know whether they drank milk before being taken sick
or not. I had eaten some mutton soup and some of my own bread before
being taken sick. I had not eaten any of the pears, for I’m no great
lover of them. I came back in again and Lizzie had had her breakfast.
I went to work washing windows, I didn’t know where Lizzie was then,
but she wasn’t in the kitchen. Mr. Morse went away while I was washing
the dishes, but I don’t know whether this was before or after Lizzie
had had her breakfast. When I was taken sick to my stomach and came
back Mr. Morse had gone out. I went down stairs into the laundry, got a
pail and brush and then went out into the barn to get a handle for the
brush. I got it in one of the stalls. As I went out I spoke to Lizzie
at one of the screen doors. Lizzie asked me if I was going to wash the
windows, and I said yes. She followed me into the entry. Didn’t say
yesterday that I came back from the barn and then spoke to Lizzie at
the screen door. When I told her she needn’t fasten the screen door,
she didn’t do it. Must have got six or seven pails of water from the
barn to wash the windows. The dipper I went in and got was an ordinary
tin dipper. Got it in the kitchen. Mr. Borden was in the habit of going
out the back door, but I didn’t see him. Didn’t see Mr. Borden go out
before I washed the windows. Raised the sitting room windows to wash
them from the inside. The window nearest the hall was open when I heard
Mr. Borden at the front door. Can’t say if the bell rang. Made a coal
fire that morning. Didn’t finish the dishes in the house. They always
put the ironing board on the dining room table. Washed Monday, hanging
out the clothes Tuesday and ironed Wednesday. Finished ironing that
evening. Then I laid the clothes ironed out in piles and Mrs. Borden
and the girls took them up stairs. I mean Lizzie took hers up instead
of the girls took them up. They took the piles of clothes up Thursday
morning, I separated the clothes before breakfast. The little ironing
board was not quite as big as a large board. Sometimes in hot weather
the girls ironed in the kitchen, but usually it was in the dining room.
Can’t say if Lizzie was in the dining room when I came in for the
dipper.” The court then adjourned until next morning, when the hearing
was resumed.
Mrs. Adelaide B. Churchill, a neighbor and friend of the Bordens, was
called to the witness stand as soon as Judge Blaisdell announced that
he was ready. She said: “The first that I knew about the tragedy was
when I saw Bridget Sullivan going to Dr. Bowen’s house. I was on Second
street, coming from the City Hall. She was going in the direction of
Dr. Bowen’s house and appeared frightened. I went to my house, into the
kitchen. The back door of my house is opposite the back door of the
dining room. I looked out to the Borden house and saw Lizzie Borden
standing inside the screen door. She looked distressed. She had her
hand to her head. I asked her what was the matter. She said: ‘Somebody
has killed father, come over.’ I went over and went into the house.
Lizzie was sitting on the second stair inside the screen door. The
stairway is at the right as you come in. I put my hand on her arm and
said, ‘O, Lizzie, where is your father?’ She said, ‘In the sitting
room.’ I said, ‘Where were you?’ She said, ‘I went out to the barn to
get a piece of iron. I heard a distressing noise and came back and
found the screen door open.’ I asked Lizzie where her mother was. She
said she had a note, inviting her to go visit some one who was sick.
She didn’t know but she was killed, too, and wished we’d try and find
her, for she thought she had heard her come in. She said, ‘Father must
have an enemy, for we have all been sick.’ She thought they must have
been poisoned. Then she said she must have a doctor. I said I would get
one, and went to find somebody. There was no one in the sitting room I
thought. I saw no one else in the house or coming to it. I went down
Second street to Hall’s stable to get a young man I thought I could
find there. I went back again, and in a few moments Dr. Bowen came.
Lizzie told him to go into the sitting room. We went, Bridget, Lizzie
and I, to the dining room door. Pretty soon Dr. Bowen came out and
asked for a sheet. Bridget did not want to go up stairs alone, so I
went up with her. Bridget got the sheets and gave one to Dr. Bowen. I
think Dr. Bowen went out then. Soon after Miss Russell came in Lizzie
said she wished somebody would hunt for her mother. Bridget would
not go up alone and I went with her. I went up the stairs and saw on
the far or north side of the bed the prostrate form. I didn’t go any
further. I was half way up the stairs, and my eyes were about on a
level with the floor. I went right down. Miss Russell asked if I made
the noise, and asked me if I had found another. Dr. Bowen was not there
then. A gentleman named Allen came in next, and then Charles Sawyer. I
saw Mr. Borden in the yard about 9 o’clock, before he went down street.
He stood by the screen door. Afterwards saw him headed down street.” In
the cross-examination concluded by Mr. Jennings the witness said that
she saw one of the windows open. It was opposite the screen door.
Miss Alice C. Russell was then called. She said she lived on Borden
street, three hundred yards from the Borden house, and had known Lizzie
eleven years. She thought it was about 11:30, Bridget Sullivan told her
of the affair and she went right over. Lizzie was there in the door.
“Did you say anything to Lizzie or she to you?” “I don’t remember.”
“Was Dr. Bowen there?” “I didn’t see him.” “Did you go in and see the
bodies?” “No, sir.” “Do you remember how Lizzie was dressed?” “No, I
don’t.” “Do you remember anything about it?” “Nothing very connected.”
“Do you remember talking to Miss Lizzie after that?” “Yes, but I don’t
remember what was said. I remember she said she was out in the barn
getting a piece of tin or iron with which to fit the screens.” “Do you
recall when that was that she said that?” “I think it was up stairs.”
“Were there many people there, and did you remain there, Miss Russell?”
“There were people down stairs. I stayed four nights at the house.”
Mr. Knowlton—“Have you often visited the house, Miss Russell?” “Yes;
have stayed there nights. Have been the guest of the girls. Made my
quarters in the guest chamber with the girls. Went there as often as I
had reason to go, sometimes twice or three times a week.” “Was there a
bed in that chamber?” “Yes sir.” Mr. Jennings—“When you went in where
did you say Lizzie was?” “She was standing at the screen door, and
asked me to sit down in the chair in the kitchen. Saw no blood on her
dress. Saw her hands. Rubbed them. There was no blood on them. Rubbed
her cheeks. There was no blood on them or her hair. Her hair, I think,
was done up as usual. Her clothes had no blood on them. Don’t know
if she had on the same shoes I have seen her wear before.” “Was she
fainting from exertion?” “No, she wasn’t fainting.” “Do you remember if
Lizzie went upstairs before the officers did?” “No, she did not.” “How
do you know?” “Because I remember they were all down talking to her.”
“Do you know if an officer went up stairs?” “They went up stairs. I
don’t know if I went with them. I can’t connect it with them, if I went
too. I remember being up stairs.” “Did they go into Miss Lizzie’s room
before she went up?” “Yes; they tried to open Miss Lizzie’s door and
it was locked. They had to break it in and pull the hook out. I told
them to let me look in first. I went in and they came in after I looked
around. Do not know who the officers were. Did not know Officer Doherty
by sight. Know him now. I was in the parlor with them down-stairs. Do
recollect now one of the officers. It was Assistant Marshal Fleet.”
“Did the officers go up to Miss Lizzie’s room when she was there?”
“Yes; they went up then and afterwards. It seems to me they were coming
all day. They asked her questions and she answered them freely.”
[Illustration: POLICE MATRON REAGAN.]
Miss Lucy Collette said that she was at Dr. Chagnon’s house on August
4. She went there at ten minutes before 11 in answer to a telephone
message from a clerk at Dr. Chagnon’s. She was to take any telephone
message, for Dr. Chagnon’s family were away. All the doors were locked
and so the witness sat on the piazza in front of the house. She was
there up to 12 o’clock and saw nobody either in the yard or pass
through. She could see the whole yard and there was nobody there during
the time she sat on the piazza.
The calling of the next witness, in the judgment of many of the
spectators in Court, produced evidence of uneasiness on the part of
Lizzie Borden. He was Eli Bence, the drug clerk. He said he remembered
the day of the tragedy and knew the defendant. She was in his store the
day before the tragedy between 10 and 11:30 o’clock. “She asked me for
ten cents worth of prussic acid. I told her we didn’t sell it without
a doctor’s prescription. She said she wanted to use it on a sealskin
cape and I again told her we couldn’t sell it without a prescription,
and she said she had bought it before. Then she went out.” “Is the
defendant the person who tried to purchase this poison?” “She is,” was
the answer. “Who was there?” “Mr. Hart and Mr. Kilroy, the clerks.”
This was all that Mr. Bence was required to tell by Mr. Knowlton, but
Mr. Adams cross-examined him at great length. His testimony was not
shaken.
Frederick E. Hart, who worked for Smith the druggist, said he saw Miss
Borden between 10 and 10:30 Wednesday morning: “A woman came in and
said she wanted ten cents worth of prussic acid to put around the edges
of a seal skin sacque or cape. She did not speak to me, though she was
very close to me.” “Is the defendant the woman?” “Yes, sir.”
Frank H. Kilroy was in Smith’s drug store at the time. He said “I saw
this lady come in. She went to the counter and asked for prussic acid.
Mr. Bence said: “I can’t sell prussic acid without a prescription.” The
only other thing I heard was the woman use the words, ‘seal skin cape.’
She left the store then. That was all I heard.” Mr. Knowlton “Are you
sure this is the woman?” “Yes, sir.”
Assistant Marshal John Fleet testified as follows: “I was home when the
news came from the Marshal, who had sent word to me by a man in a team.
I drove down to the Borden house and arrived about ten minutes of 12.
I saw officer Allen and Mr. Manning at the front door. Mr. Sawyer was
at the rear door. Inside I found Bridget, Mr. Morse, Dr. Dolan, Dr.
Bowen and Miss Lizzie. I went into the sitting room and saw Dr. Dolan
standing over Mr. Borden. Then I went upstairs and saw Mrs. Borden.
Soon after I went into Miss Lizzie’s room and had a conversation with
her. She was sitting in the room with Rev. Mr. Buck. I asked her if
she knew anything about the man who killed her father and mother? She
said it was not her mother, but her step-mother. Her mother was dead.
I asked her if she had seen anyone around the premises, and she said
she had not. Then she said she heard a man talking to her father at 9
or half-past 9, and she thought they were talking about some store. I
asked her if this man would do her father any injury, and she said no.
I asked her if she knew this man, and she said no. She said she did not
know that any one had threatened her father or would do him harm. At
this point Miss Russell said: ‘Lizzie, tell him all about that man.’
Then Lizzie said that two weeks ago a man had come to the front door
and had held a long conversation with her father. The man seemed to be
angry, and was talking about a store he wanted her father to let. She
said she heard Mr. Borden say he wouldn’t let it for that purpose. She
said she thought the man was a stranger in Fall River. I asked her if
Bridget was in the house during the morning, and she said she had been
washing windows and came in after her father came and then went up
stairs. She said she didn’t think Bridget had anything to do with it.
Lizzie said that when Bridget went up stairs she went up in the barn.
‘Up in the barn?’ I said, and she said ‘Yes.’ ‘What do you mean by up?’
I asked. ‘Up stairs,’ she said. I asked her how long she remained in
the barn and she said half an hour. She said her father was lying upon
a lounge in the sitting room when she went out, and when she came back
she found him all cut up, lying in the same position as she had left
him. She also said John V. Morse had been there, and I asked her if Mr.
Morse had anything to do with it. She said it was impossible, for he
went away at 9 o’clock in the morning and didn’t come back. She didn’t
tell me what she was doing in the yard. Rev. Mr. Buck and Miss Russell
were present during the conversation. I then started to search all the
rooms I could go into.”
“What did you find down in the cellar?”
“Found Mr. Mullaly, with a number of axes on the floor of the washroom.
We reached the cellar, and found nothing other than the two axes and
two hatchets. The two axes were dusty, or covered with ashes, and so
was the little hatchet. The large hatchet was clean with the exception
of a small rust spot. It was about four inches long from the head, to
the edge six inches, and it had a claw handle. I tried the cellar
door, and then went out to the barn. I satisfied myself there was
nobody there to do this deed. Then I went into the house again and
consulted with two of my officers and State Officer Dexter. I made
another search and saw Lizzie again in the presence of two officers,
Dr. Bowen was holding the door. I told him I wanted to search the room.
He said something to her. He went in. He came out and asked me if I
must search the room. I said I must examine the room to make my report.
He let me in then. When I got in, Miss Borden said: “How long will it
take you?” I said I didn’t know, but that I had to search the room. She
said: “I do hope you will get through soon, this is making me sick.” I
searched the room.”
Mr. Knowlton—“Did you say anything more to Miss Borden?”
Assistant Marshal Fleet—“Yes, I said: ‘You say, Miss Borden, that you
went out to the barn, and that you were out there half an hour, while
your father and mother were killed. You still say that?’ She said: ‘I
do not. I say I was in the barn twenty minutes to half an hour.’ Said
I ‘You told me this morning that you were out there half an hour.’ ‘I
don’t say so now,’ she said, ‘It was twenty minutes to half an hour.’
‘What makes you say twenty minutes to half an hour?’ I asked her;
‘Which is it now, twenty minutes or half an hour?’ She said, ‘It was
twenty minutes to half an hour.’”
Mr. Knowlton—“Did you search the premises then? Did you have any more
talk with her then?”
[Illustration: CAPTAIN PATRICK CONNORS.]
Marshal Fleet—“I searched the room and bureau and then went behind
Lizzie’s door to another door. It was locked. I asked her what room
that was. She said: ‘That is father’s room.’ ‘Is there another way to
get into it?’ I asked. She said there was, by going by way of the back
stairs; that the door from her room was always locked. I started to go
around, as there was no other way. When I got into the entry I asked
her what was in the clothes press. She asked me if I must search that.
I told her I must. She said she had the key and would open it. She
produced the key and opened it.”
Mr. Knowlton—“Describe the room.”
Marshal Fleet—“It was about five by eight; there was a window in it,
but it had not been opened in some time. We took nothing, and then we
searched the rest of the house. I tried the door of Mrs. Borden’s
room, from Miss Lizzie’s room. It was fastened by a bolt, I think, on
the other side.” Mr. Knowlton—“Did you go in there? What else did you
say to Miss Borden?” Marshal Fleet—“When I went into Miss Borden’s
room, Miss Lizzie said there was no use going there, that she always
locked her door, and there was no possible way for anybody to get into
it. I asked her when she saw her mother last. She said about 9 o’clock,
when she was going down stairs. Her mother was in the room where she
was found murdered. Miss Lizzie also said that Mrs. Borden had received
a note or letter from some one that morning. She thought it was from
somebody of the house.” Mr. Knowlton—“Was Lizzie in tears while in
her room.” Marshal Fleet—“No.” The cross-examination of the witness
brought out nothing of importance.
[Illustration: POSITION OF MRS. BORDEN’S BODY WHEN FOUND.]
[Illustration: POSITION OF ANDREW J. BORDEN’S BODY WHEN DISCOVERED.]