Lizzie Borden

American homicide suspect in the brutal murders of her father and step-mother after their bodies were found hacked beyond recognition on 4 August 1892 in Fall River, Massachusetts. Lizzie spent almost a year in jail before her trial, which lasted for 15 days before her acquittal on 20 June 1893.

Much of the evidence was inadmissible and there was a general public opinion that an upper class, respectable Christian woman and Sunday school teacher could never have committed an act of such brutality.

Borden was two and her sister Emma was 11 when their mother died; their father later remarried a disliked step-mother. With their inheritance, Lizzie and Emma moved out of their home to a bigger one on "the Hill," the wealthier section of Fall River.

Despite initial support, the community generally shunned Lizzie for the rest of her life. She often visited Boston and other cities, and made friends with an actress, Nance O'Neil.

Lizzie and Emma lived together in an ostentatious mansion until they experienced a rift over Lizzie's friendship with O'Neil, a relationship which was suspected to be lesbian. In 1905, Emmy moved to her own home in New Hampshire.

Lizzie had a history of irrational fits during her menses, which only occurred four times a year. A theory was later proposed that she suffered from temporal epilepsy.

Borden was ill in her last year following the removal of her gallbladder and died alone and friendless on the morning of 1 June 1927 aged 66 in Fall River from pneumonia. Emma, who had moved away, died nine days later and the two were buried together in the family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River. Lizzie left the bulk of her fortune to a fund for animals.