You Are Suspected

At 7:45 p.m. on the evening of Saturday, August 6th, two days after the murders of the Andrew and Abby Borden, one day after John Morse had been pursued through town by a mob, eight hours after the funeral, and a little over an hour after a thorough search of the house had been completed, Police Marshal Rufus Hilliard climbed into a carriage and traveled back to the Borden House, along with Fall River Mayor John Coughlin, with the intent to speak to the Borden family.

As they traveled up Second Street, they saw “a large number of people congregated around the Borden House.” In court, Hilliard would estimate it at about “two to three hundred people; maybe more than that.” So many people, in fact, that Coughlin said they had difficulty getting down the street, “without running some of them down.” So, he “instructed the marshal to have them removed.” Hilliard then instructed his officers to disperse the crowd.

According to Hilliard, the two men entered the house through “the side door, what is called the rear door, and passed from there into the kitchen and from there into the sitting room. There we waited perhaps four or five minutes.” Emma then greeted them and showed them into the parlor, where they were joined by Lizzie and John Morse. At the trial, Hilliard testified he didn’t do any of the talking, but he was able to describe the conversation between Mayor Coughlin and the family:

“After we entered the parlor and sat down, the mayor said that he had a request to make of the family, and that was that they remain in the house for a few days, that there was a great deal of excitement, and he thought it would be better for all concerned if they should not go onto the street … I am pretty sure he told them that if they was annoyed by the people around the house, why, to send word to the city marshal or himself, and he would see that they were dispersed. I think Mr. Morse it was spoke up and wanted to know how they was going to get their mail from the post office, and the mayor told them it would be better to send somebody for it … I think Miss Lizzie it was that spoke up next and said, “Why, is there anybody suspected in this house?” The mayor said, “Well, perhaps Mr. Morse can answer that question from what occurred last night.” Then with that, Miss Lizzie spoke up and said, “I want to know the truth.” I think she repeated that twice. The mayor said, “Well, I regret very much to say, Miss Borden, but you are suspected.” With that Miss Emma spoke up and said, “We have tried to keep it from her as long as we could.”

Coughlin, in his testimony, would add that Lizzie had asked if anyone in the house was suspected “somewhat excitedly,” and when told that it was she who was suspected, she replied, “I am ready to go now.” He then asked Lizzie where she had been during the time her father was killed, and she repeated the story she had told many others: Up in the barn, looking for lead for sinkers.

After this, the men took their leave, and, as Emma showed them to the door, she repeated something she had said several times over the previous days, “We want to do everything we can in this matter.” Although, Robinson, in his cross-examination got Coughlin to agree that what Emma actually said was, “We want you to do everything you can in this matter.” Hilliard believed that the entire visit lasted “ten or twelve minutes.”

Whatever reason the police marshal and the mayor had for making the visit, by confining the family to the house, they had essentially placed Lizzie under house arrest. Coughlin, in speaking with reporters from several newspapers in the following days would admit as much, saying there was no rush to make an arrest because “these people are practically under arrest already.”

This Saturday visit during which Lizzie was informed she was a suspect also became important at the trial and was prominently featured in arguments by the defense for the inadmissibility of Lizzie’s inquest testimony. Because Lizzie was, from that point on, the primary suspect in the murders, effectively under house arrest, her lawyers had grounds to argue that she should not have been summoned to appear at the inquest at all. The judges agreed, declaring her confused testimony to be “involuntary” and thus inadmissible at trial. This ruling by the judges to exclude testimony understandably considered damaging to Lizzie’s claim of innocence no doubt made it easier for a jury to render a “not guilty” verdict. (For more on the controversial ruling by the judges, see Inquest.)