Lizzie Borden: The Legend, the Truth, the Final Chapter - Hardcover

Brown, Arnold R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1558530991 ISBN 13: 9781558530997

Publisher: Rutledge Hill Pr, 1991

Synopsis

Presenting new evidence on the crime of Lizzie Borden, an expert on the case analyzes the four legal proceedings against Borden and shows how the prosecution and defense conspired to keep the truth from public record

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

One of the most famous cases in the history of American crime took place 99 years ago in Fall River, Mass., when wealthy banker-landowner Andrew J. Borden and his second wife, Abby, were hacked to death. Andrew's younger daughter, Lizzie, was tried for the slayings but found innocent and the crime has never been solved. In the dozens of books and magazine articles written about the killings, the murderer has been variously identified as Lizzie; her older sister, Emma; her uncle John Morse; the family maid; neighbor Dr. Bowen; and an unknown stranger. Brown, a Fall River native, theorizes that the guilty party was Andrew Borden's mentally defective, illegitimate son William, that Lizzie knew he had done it and that she connived with the local establishment to keep the murderer's identity secret, undergo the charade of a rigged trial herself and use part of her and Emma's inheritance to pay off the town's "Silent Government." His argument is as convincing as any other, but most true crime buffs will balk at reading yet another recapitulation of grand jury and trial proceedings. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the infamous Borden murders. Did Lizzie kill her father and stepmother? Not according to Brown, who thinks it's time to bury the hatchet. After meeting a man who claimed to have known the real murderer, Brown spent several years researching the man's account, and his book purports to be the "definitive" explanation of what really happened one August afternoon in Fall River, Massachusetts. Brown obviously believes his explanation and has done impressive research to prove it. He takes much of his information from courtroom and newspaper accounts, and he examines again all the suspects. Brown writes well, but the book sometimes slows during detailed recounting of courtroom evidence. He delivers the "real" murderer in the end, but the impression lingers that another writer setting out to prove an entirely different theory could also muster facts. Although a number of Borden books already exist, this one will appeal to many fans of the legend. Recommended for public library collections.
- Lois Walker, Winthrop Coll. Lib., Rock Hill,
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rutledge Hill Pr
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 1558530991
• ISBN 13: 9781558530997
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 382