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Hello from Wonder Media Network.

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I'm Jenny Kaplin and this is

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Encyclopedia Wamanica.

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In case you're just tuning in, here's the

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deal. Every weekday for

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a year, we're taking five minutes

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to tell the story of a woman from throughout

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history and around the world who

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you may or may not know about that definitely

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should. Each month is themed,

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and this month we're talking about Villaaness's.

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Today, let's go back to nineteenth century

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Massachusetts to meet the most famous

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suspected axe murderer in history.

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Hers was the trial of her decade.

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Our Villaaness of the day is Lizzie

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Borden. Lizzie was born

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in Fall River, Massachusetts, in eighteen

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sixty to Andrew and Sarah Borden.

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Andrew met his fortune mostly in textiles

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and property development, and was well

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known in Fall River for being frugal. Lizzie

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and her older sister Emma were

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raised in a religious household and spent

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their younger years heavily involved in church

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activities. Lizzie's

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mother died when Lizzie was just two years

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old, and three years later her

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father married a woman named Abby Gray.

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Lizzie and Emma both hated their stepmother.

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From the beginning, they thought she'd married

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their father for his fortune, and they

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may have felt threatened because, unlike

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their frugal father, it seemed the

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two sisters had expensive tastes. On

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the morning of August fourth, eighteen

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ninety two, Andrew Borden left

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for work as usual. The only

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people left at home were Lizzie, her mother,

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and their maid, Bridget. Andrew

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came home a few hours later and laid down

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for a nap on the couch. According

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to Lizzie's later testimony, at

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approximately eleven fifteen in the morning,

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she found her father dead on the couch.

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It appeared that he'd been struck in the head multiple

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times with a sharp object. Abby,

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the hated stepmother, was found

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dead upstairs, brutally mutilated. The

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coroner determined that Abby had died about

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an hour before her husband. Police

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quickly came to the conclusion that the murders

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had to be an inside job, but they

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were confused by the lack of blood at either

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scene except for all the bodies themselves.

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They also couldn't find anything resembling

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a murder weapon. Prosecutors

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later argued that the weapon had famously

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been an axe suspicion

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almost immediately turned towards Lizzie.

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Her sister had been out of town at the time

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of the murder, and it was well known that Lizzie

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had issues with her father and stepmother.

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Her alibi was also unconvincing.

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Lizzie claimed to have no idea where her stepmother

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was after nine am, and then

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she claimed that while her father was being murdered,

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she was in the barn looking for lead sinkers

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for a fishing trip, but

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when the police examined the barn, there

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were no footprints on the dusty floor. Police

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also learned that Lizzie had visited a drug

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store the day before the murder to buy a deadly

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poison. On August

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eleventh, Lizzie was arrested. At

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first, the grand jury refused to issue

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an indictment, but then a family

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friend presented new evidence. The

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friend had stayed with Lizzie in the days following

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the murders and said that she witnessed

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Lizzie suspiciously burning a blue

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dress in the kitchen fire. Lizzie

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had said the dress was covered with paint. Lizzie's

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maid had previously stated that Lizzie

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had been wearing a blue dress on the day

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of the murder. The new

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evidence convinced the jury to issue the indictment.

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The trial of Lizzie Borden began

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on June fifth, eighteen ninety three,

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in the new Bedford Court House. It

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was a public sensation even before

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the first gavel. The newspapers

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had covered the story from the beginning, and the

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country was both enthralled by the story

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and split over Lizzie's guilt. It

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was essentially the O. J. Simpson Trial

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of its day. Lizzie had

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a high power to sense team at her side, including

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Andrew Jennings and George Robinson,

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the former governor of Massachusetts. The

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jury was made up of twelve men. Newspaper

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accounts were very impressed with the performance

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of Lizzie's lawyer, George Robinson, who

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seemed to consistently poke holes in the prosecution's

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case. They weren't nearly as

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impressed with the quality of the prosecution's

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bench. In his summation

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of the defense, Andrew Jennings

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argued, there's not one particle

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of direct evidence in this case from beginning

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to end against Lizzie A. Borden. There's

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not a spot of blood, there is not a

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weapon, that they've connected with her in any way,

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shape or fashion. Robinson,

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who gave his own summation for the defense,

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claimed that the crime could only have been committed

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by a maniac or the devil. It

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certainly couldn't have been committed by a respectable

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lady. The jury deliberated

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for only an hour and a half before returning

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with its verdict not guilty. Today,

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many speculate that the jury may have been more declined

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to convict had Lizzie been a man. Most

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people in the late nineteenth century found it hard

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to believe that a woman of Lizzie's background

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could have pulled off such brutal killings. How

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unladylike that's said.

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Modern experts believe it's very likely

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that Lizzie was guilty. After

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the trial, Lizzie returned to Fall River, where

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she and her sister Emma purchased a large

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home called Maplecroft and lived

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a quiet existence. Lizzie

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was involved in the theater scene in town and

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mostly associated with what one might call

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bohemian types. She

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died at sixty seven years old in Fall River

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and was buried next to her parents. Whether

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she killed her parents or not, the story

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of Lizzie Borden, the Axe Murderer,

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holds a special and disturbing place in the

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American imagination and pop culture

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mythology. Stay

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tuned tomorrow for the story of another fascinating

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villainess special thanks to my

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favorite sister and co creator Liz Kaplan

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talk to you tomorrow Before

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we go, a quick shout out to another

6:03

show I think you'll like. Check out

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Crooked Media's weekly podcast, Keep

6:08

It. Hosts Ira Madison

6:10

the Third and Louis Bertel discuss

6:12

the latest in the ever colliding worlds

6:14

of pop culture and politics. New

6:17

episodes of keep It drop every Wednesday,

6:19

so listen wherever you get your podcasts.