The unusual way America's greatest unsolved double axe murder keeps tiny riverside town thriving decades later

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

In August 1892, a Massachusetts socialite was accused of bludgeoning her father and step-mother to death.
Lizzie Borden went on to be stunningly acquitted, but not before her high-profile trial bitterly divided her hometown of Fall River.
And 133 years later, the murders remain a source of fascination in the quaint city but crucially, beyond.
Each year thousands of visitors descend on Fall River in an attempt to understand what really happened on that fateful morning on August 4, 1892.
But it is not just armchair detectives who stay in the quaint town, paranormal enthusiasts and even legal scholars are among the tourists welcomed each year.
While many believe Lizzie got away with the heinous crime, she also has legions of fans who say she was wrongly accused.
'Fall River kind of did [her] wrong. But she's really important to us and really important to the fabric of our history,' Patti Rego, the Executive Director of Viva Fall River told Daily Mail.
Rego is among Borden's supporters who insist she had nothing to do with the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden, whose deaths today remain the stuff of childhood nursery rhymes.
Back then however, it was a much more gory scene. The couple were discovered in their beds hacked to death with a hatchet, sustaining 29 whacks between them.
Shortly after the attack, their daughter Lizzie alerted household staff that she'd found her parents bloody and disfigured
Curiously, it was mid-morning, yet no one had heard the couple yell for help and despite the unbridled violence of their death, Andrew and Abby appeared to have died in silence.
Theories of a silent intruder or scorned business partner floated about, but accusations ultimately landed on Lizzie.
After an intense trial, Lizzie was acquitted and the mystery remained unsolved, perhaps fortunately for Fall River which continues to trade in dark tourism associated with the case.
'We're always trying to give people a new reason to come,' Lance Zaal, the owner of The Historic Lizzie Borden House told Daily Mail.
Zaal, the founder of US Ghost Adventures, bought the house in 2021 and has allocated a lot of time and money to making sure its as historically accurate as possible.
Law students are a regular fixture in the town, owing to its unique place in US legal history.
The town of Fall River, Massachusetts' tourism industry is built off of the mystery
However, many tourists come drawn to the more mystic aspects, using their visit as a chance to ghost hunt for the Borden's spirits.
'Most people are skeptical and that's fine and understandable,' Zaal said. 'We don't tell people what to think.'
However, he insists he has experienced paranormal happenings first hand.
'When I was there before buying the house, I heard footsteps and voices when no one else was there,' he said.
He added that he also felt something touch his leg with no one around and felt the hair stand up on his neck, completely unexplained.
The reactions have been so strong that some people are too terrified to talk about it.
'I have spoken to guests and we encourage them to share their experience. A lot of people don't like to talk about it,' Zaal said. 'It makes them reflect on their own mortality.'
But on Trip Advisor, there are plenty of people gushing about the site's 'amazing paranormal activity'.
One guest said: 'If you can stay in Andrew and Abby Suite. My wife's hair was brushed to the side and kept getting woken up by laughing female voices.
'My blanket kept sliding down off my shoulders and woke up with a strange scratch on my upper forehead and a pillow can't do that but paranormal can.'
Another said that when staying in the couple's room, 'at times you can smell some sweet perfume in the air,' perhaps indicating the presence of some ghoulish friends.
The Historic Lizzie Borden House also hosts tours to nearby Oak Grove Cemetery where Lizzie, her sister Emma, Andrew, and Abby Borden were all buried.
But chilling cemeteries and haunted residences aren't Borden's only legacy.
After being acquitted of murder when she was 32, she became quite the animal lover and devoted much of her time to supporting the Animal Rescue League of Fall River.
She even purchased the barn where the organization's first animals received care. The ARL is still operational today after officially being incorporated on June 25, 1914.
Lizzie frequently attended fundraising events for the organizations and even became known for hosting other parties and gatherings at her own home.
According to the league's website, she developed a love for Boston Bull Terriers, so much so that per local legend, 'a year after her death in 1927, three of her deceased terriers were dug out of their graves in the Borden's back yard and reburied miles away in the Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery'.
Shortly after her death, the ARL Board of Directors discovered that Lizzie had left them $30,000 to support their continued efforts.
'Subsequent "Annual Reports" reveal that these funds were so well invested that some income is still derived from their contributions to this day,' the website states.
Despite her charitable endeavors, the murders are undoubtedly why she is best known, something that local businesses also lean into.
Rego said breweries sell Lizzie-themed beers titled '40 Whacks' and restaurants don't shy away from playfully capitalizing on her story.
But to many locals, like Rego, Lizzie's story is, 'so much less about the actual act, and more about class and gender and power.'
'I always looked at Lizzie as a feminist. Nobody thought that a woman could do that. She pushed back.'
Dramatizations of her story have been turned into documentaries, movies, and TV shows.
But the best place to get a slice of her story will always be in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Beyond that the town has a rich food and culture scene and other historic offerings.
'Lizzie is definitely part of the narrative. Our goal is to use her legacy - or notoriety - as a jumping off point,' said Rego.