Did She or Didn’t She?

Opinions Index

While our cultural history tells us that Lizzie Borden is guilty of the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother, because she was acquitted by a jury of the charges against her the murders remain officially unsolved. Those curious enough to look into the case to learn the “truth” about Lizzie’s guilt or innocence usually discover that since there was no direct evidence Lizzie, no blood on her person and no weapon to tie to her hand, there is no hard-and-fast truth to be found. Most of the circumstantial evidence against Lizzie introduced at her trial was of the “eye-of-the-beholder” variety, open to interpretation one way or the other, which makes the case a morass of theories and opinions fueled by speculation and conjecture. Of course, that’s what makes the case so absorbing to study, and such an enduring fascination in the annals of American true crime. Here you will find a collection of opinions on the question that has resisted a definitive answer for over 130 years: Was Lizzie Borden guilty of killing her parents as the authorities believed, or was she a wrongfully accused innocent?