The 1892 Lizzie Borden crime scene photos reveal how much early investigators missed

It’s been more than 130 years since Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother, Andrew and Abby Borden, were killed, so it’s no surprise that policing has changed dramatically since then. And the real crime scene photographs from 1892 reveal just how much investigators failed to secure. 

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story has sparked renewed interest in the case, but while the Netflix series depicts Lizzie as if she committed the murders, we still don’t know for sure who did it. 

Although Lizzie was a suspect, she was acquitted after a hearing in 1893. Multiple crime scene details were overlooked, two of which make it into Monster: Lizzie really did burn a dress after the killings, and police did find bloodied rags in the house, but they accepted Lizzie’s explanation that they were used for menstruation. 

When it came to the bodies of Andrew and Abby, by the time they were photographed, hours had passed. Both victims as well as furniture had been handled, while numerous people had entered the house and the crime scene. 

*Warning: The following photos have been blurred, but some readers may still find them upsetting*

What investigators missed when the Lizzie Borden crime scene photos were taken

The photos weren’t taken until around 3.30pm on August 4, 1892, many hours after the murders. Abby was killed at roughly 9.30am that morning, while Andrew was killed between 10.30-11.10am. 

The photograph above shows Abby where she was found in the upstairs guest room, but it doesn’t capture the scene exactly as it was first discovered. By this point, her body had already been examined and lifted, her hand had been moved to check for a pulse and the bed beside her had been moved.

Dr Seabury Bowen later admitted that when Abby was placed back down, her position was only “somewhat similar” to how he’d originally found her. When asked whether she’d been returned exactly to her original position, he replied, “I won’t say exactly.”

Medical examiner Dr William Dolan similarly testified that he and Dr Bowen had lifted Abby’s body so he could get a better look at her injuries, and admitted he hadn’t realised other people had done so before him. 

“I did not know then that Patrolman Doherty had lifted the body. I know it now. I did not know that Dr Bowen had pulled out her right hand and felt of the wrist. I know it now. I did not know that Doherty had moved the bed, and I do not know it now,” he said. 

In short, even the medical examiners initially didn’t have a fully complete picture of what had been carried out or changed at the scene. 

When it came to Andrew, Dolan testified that the position of his body hadn’t been changed. However, George Pettee – one of the earlier people to see Andrew’s body – testified, “I noticed the position that he laid in. He was lying on his right side, with the left side exposed. His feet was crossed, and one of them rested on the floor.”

This is different to the photo of Andrew, which shows his feet uncrossed. These conflicting accounts make it impossible to know for certain whether he was repositioned or not. 

Looking at how the scene was handled overall, these images highlight the biggest difference between investigations then and now. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that securing crime scenes became common practice. 

In the Borden case, which took place in Victorian-era Fall River, Massachusetts, the house wasn’t a sealed forensic scene because that simply wasn’t how things were done. As such, police, doctors and even potential suspects were moving through it and tampering with it during those critical first hours. 

Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity, however, was analysing Lizzie more closely. Despite being inside the house around the time her father was killed, she was only checked for visible blood. A more thorough investigation of the dresses in the house didn’t take place until two days later. 

And, as said, when bloodied rags were found in the cellar, Lizzie said they were menstrual rags. Officers accepted her explanation and left them where they were. 

But even if all of these elements had been perfectly preserved, police didn’t have the regular tools they would’ve needed to pick up on key evidence. Although fingerprint analysis did exist, it was still in its early years and wasn’t a routine practice in the US. 

So while many people suspect Lizzie was responsible for the crimes, there is simply no way of knowing for sure, making it one of America’s most infamous unsolved cases. 

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Featured image credit: Real Stories/YouTube/Netflix