1 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: Okay, Jacket, do you guys always have tons of guests. 2 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,080 Speaker 2: Here in the house. 3 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 3: I usually always have someone staying here, of course of Halloween. 4 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 4: It's always all the time. 5 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 3: But we'll get into the point where we will have 6 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 3: a couple of days. 7 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 4: Here and there where we don't have guests. 8 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: Carrie Nolty, Ashley Belliro, and I are at the Bordon 9 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: House in Fall River, Massachusetts. Ashley is showing us around 10 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: Lizzie Bordon's home and this tour is important because it's 11 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: the next stage of our season. 12 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 3: So basically, the girls sold the house and it becomes 13 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 3: a residential It is uh reopened in nineteen ninety six 14 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 3: with the idea of making a. 15 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 4: Bed and breakfast with the Barden's in mind. 16 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: So what would you show me around here if we 17 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: were gonna do anything? 18 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 3: So what I can show you in here. 19 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: Is this is the main So is this is the 20 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:18,320 Speaker 1: This is the parlor. 21 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 3: Note so that is like the front parlor, like the 22 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 3: guest would yeah, basically like it would be the place 23 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 3: where you know, mister Bordon would read the newspaper, check 24 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 3: his mail. 25 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 4: And then we have. 26 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 3: This was the room where they all ate breakfast that morning, 27 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 3: A big misconception is that the autopsies happened on the 28 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 3: dining room table, which is not true. 29 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 4: They happened on uh cots. 30 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 3: I do have pictures here that fewer discretion definitely advised. 31 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 3: These are pretty uh morbid pictures. 32 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 4: But we have mister Borden here. 33 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 3: That's his chin and that's where his face would have been, 34 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 3: and the back of Missus Borden's head. 35 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, I get your guy, Ashley. 36 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 3: Thanks. 37 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: These two city blocks are where our stories intersect, but 38 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: the connections run deeper than simply location. There are also 39 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: family connections tying them together through DNA and through murder. 40 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,359 Speaker 1: Back in the freezing winter of sixteen seventy two, Rebecca 41 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: Briggs Cornell died in a house fire in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. 42 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: Her son, Thomas Cornell Junior, was executed for her murder, 43 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:48,079 Speaker 1: maybe wrongfully. His wife, Sarah Earle, never liked her mother 44 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,639 Speaker 1: in law, and Rebecca had accused Sarah of chasing one 45 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: of her step children around with an axe. Rebecca told 46 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: others before she died that Sarah Earle was often unhinged. 47 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: When Thomas was executed, Sarah was pregnant, and she named 48 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: her daughter Innocent. Years Later, innocent Cornell became a burden 49 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: and the family curse continued. It wasn't just Thomas Cornell's 50 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: family line that had the killers, it was also Sarah Earls. 51 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: Soon there were more family murders, all following Thomas and 52 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: Sarah's union. In eighteen thirty two, Sarah Maria Cornell was 53 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: found hanging from a haystack pole in Tiverton, Rhode Island, 54 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: later called Fall River. Whether she was murdered or took 55 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: her own life as a debate for another time, but 56 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: Sarah's death was awful and lonely. Interestingly, Thomas's descendant would 57 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: soon make literary history by being the inspiration for Nathaniel 58 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: Hawthorne's classic The Scarlet Letter. Sarah Cornell was the real 59 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: Hester Prynne. In eighteen forty three, two little boys accidentally 60 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: set a huge fire at a warehouse on Second Street, 61 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: right across the street from the future home of Lizzie Borden. 62 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: The blaze threatened to burn down the whole city of 63 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: Full River, and while no one ever named the boys responsible, 64 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: we've speculated that the Borden's ten year old son William, 65 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: may have had a hand in starting it. Five years later, 66 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: another tragedy of a different kind. In eighteen forty eight, 67 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: after months of despair, Eliza Darling Borden drowned her two 68 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: youngest children, Holden and Eliza Ann, in the home's basement cistern, 69 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 1: before slitting her own throat with a straight razor. Her 70 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,840 Speaker 1: three year old daughter Maria survived, as well as her 71 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: older son William. Eliza and her husband Lodwick were both 72 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: descended from Thomas Cornell and Sarah Earle. Sarah was Lodwick's 73 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: great great great grandmother, which of course means that Andrew 74 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: Borden and his daughter Lizzie were also direct descendants of 75 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: Sarah Earle. Is it all clear now? All these lines 76 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: go back to Sarah and Thomas Wow, and that family 77 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: background would soon play a role in the story of 78 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 1: Lizzie Borden. Since most of you know about the murders 79 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: of Andrew and Abby Borden, will shorthand it and get 80 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: right away to why it's so relevant. Here's Borden author 81 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: Kara Robertson. 82 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 4: Andrew Borden is known to be a really hard man. 83 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,040 Speaker 5: You know that he's someone who one of the journalists 84 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 5: describes as is a lot more interested in piling up 85 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 5: dollars than in spending them. So he has a reputation 86 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 5: of a miser and a kind of hard man to 87 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,280 Speaker 5: do business with. But you know, on the other hand, 88 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:48,840 Speaker 5: he is also well respected. You know that he seems 89 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 5: to have friends among the most successful businessmen in the town. 90 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: Andrew had two daughters with his previous wife, Lizzie and 91 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: her older sister, Emma. He remarried to Abby and they 92 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: became a family in that now infamous house on Second 93 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: Street in Fall River. But as we all know, they 94 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: weren't a happy family. There were tensions. Andrew was tight 95 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: fisted with money. Lizzie was closer to her sister, but 96 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: she tried to avoid her father and his wife. But 97 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:25,039 Speaker 1: if Lizzie Borden had been the killer, what happened. Kara 98 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: Robertson says, there was an inciting incident if you believe 99 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: that Lizzie Borden was guilty. 100 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 5: There's an issue with a property transfer about five years 101 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 5: before the murders. 102 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 1: The issue was with Abby Borden's stepmother, So Lizzie Borden's 103 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: stepmother's stepmother. 104 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 5: Her own stepmother, wanted to basically cash out of the 105 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 5: family house. 106 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 1: This was a problem for Abby because Abby's younger half 107 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: sister was living in the family home. Abby loved her sister, 108 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: so Abby went to her own husband, Andrew, for help. 109 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 5: And so Andrew bought out Abby's stepmother so that Abby's 110 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 5: half sister. This, this all gets the family tangle gets confusing. 111 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 5: But so that Abbey's half sister could continue to live 112 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 5: in the house. 113 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 1: That doesn't seem like a big deal to me, but 114 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: Kara says it was. 115 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 4: That act of generosity. 116 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 5: It seems to be the thing that were either you know, 117 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 5: created the tension of the household or raised it up 118 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 5: to the surface. 119 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: This seems like a kind act from Abby, but it 120 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: was costing Andrew Borden money, and Lizzie had complained that 121 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: her father was cheap, and now he was giving money 122 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 1: to his wife's family. But Kara says that Abby seemed 123 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: totally innocent here. 124 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 5: I mean, it is an example if this wasn't even 125 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 5: something that she wanted for herself. 126 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 4: You know, it's not like she wanted to draw down 127 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 4: on the on. 128 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 5: The board and riches and drape herself in jewels or 129 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 5: travel to Europe. She was just trying to help out 130 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 5: her own family, and this was considered to be you know, 131 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 5: a betrayal, basically that she was taking money out of 132 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 5: the Bordon family and transferring it to hers. 133 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: And so Lizzie Borden saw it as a sort of 134 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: sinister act when it clearly wasn't. And Andrew Borden tried 135 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: to fix it by giving his daughters a different house. 136 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 5: In an attempt to modify his daughters, he in fact 137 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 5: transferred title to what had been a family house, something 138 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 5: that was an income producing property, so that his daughters, 139 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 5: you know, ended up with a you know, basically an 140 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:33,559 Speaker 5: equivalent rental income. 141 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:36,319 Speaker 4: But you know, it didn't heal the breach. 142 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: I asked Kara about the other motives, what were the rumors. 143 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 5: What I would say is that the evidence people cite 144 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 5: for some of those more extreme explanations, you know, namely 145 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 5: the sexual abuse or a kind of extreme cruelty, you know, 146 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 5: are either based on myths or are based on our 147 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 5: desire to make the facts the case conformed to our 148 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 5: own expectations. You know, we're always looking at things from 149 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 5: our own historical moment. 150 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: Kara says that there's no evidence of abuse in the house. 151 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: That doesn't mean it didn't happen, but She says that 152 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: there just isn't enough evidence to know for sure, and 153 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: Kara has spent years studying all of this for her 154 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: book about Lizzie Borden. 155 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 5: Again, I think that's about our trying to read very 156 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 5: limited evidence. It makes sense of something that's really horrible, 157 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 5: you know, so you want an explanation or you want 158 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 5: a justification for the murders that fits the horror of 159 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:34,080 Speaker 5: the crime. 160 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: But financial gain was a very real motive. Abby Borden 161 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,200 Speaker 1: and the two sisters were Andrew Borden's heirs. She was 162 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 1: already drawing money away from the family toward her own family, 163 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: and it all might have come to a head. On Thursday, 164 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 1: August fourth of eighteen ninety two, the. 165 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:58,680 Speaker 4: Elder Bordon's rose early. 166 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 5: Here they breakfast around There was a housemaid named Bridget 167 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 5: Sullivan who was an Irish immigrant. 168 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 4: Who worked for the family. 169 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 5: Emma was out of town visiting friends in fair Haven, 170 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 5: and Lizzie Bordon, as she often did, rose later and 171 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 5: avoided her father and stepmother. 172 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: In the morning, the housekeeper, Bridget Sullivan, was washing windows 173 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: at Lizzie's request. 174 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:27,239 Speaker 5: And she goes outside to watch the windows, and fortunately 175 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 5: for her, a spotted doing so, which gives her an alibi, 176 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 5: which she will need because Abbie Bordon is killed at 177 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 5: nine point thirty in the upstairs guest room. She's found 178 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 5: by nineteen blows from a hatchet or some other kind 179 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,880 Speaker 5: of sharp implement, and. 180 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:51,320 Speaker 4: She lies dead for a while. 181 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: Andrew Borden had gone out in the morning to attend 182 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: to his business. 183 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 5: He came back around ten forty five and then, after 184 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 5: speaking with Lizzie and Bridget. 185 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 4: Went into the sitting room where. 186 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 5: He lay down for a little nap, and he was 187 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 5: killed by ten blows, apparently while he was sleeping, probably 188 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 5: sometime within that hour between ten forty five and eleven 189 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 5: forty five. 190 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: Now fast forward a bit, Lizzie is a suspect. 191 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 5: Of course, the police can tell pretty quickly that, you know, 192 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 5: it would have been hard for someone to come in 193 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 5: from the outside, and although they do diligently, you know, 194 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 5: look for someone who might have met the requirements, it 195 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 5: does seem like it would have needed to be someone 196 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 5: who was in the house that morning. 197 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:51,559 Speaker 1: Lizzie was arrested about a week later, and she spent 198 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: almost three hundred nights in jail. On Monday, June fifth, 199 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety three, Lizzie Borden's jury was being selected. Almost 200 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty men from Bristol County sat and 201 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: answered questions about impartiality in the case. Could they convict 202 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 1: a woman of murder if she were really guilty? Yes, 203 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: answered some, But did any of them doubt their own answers? 204 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: Would nineteenth century male sensibilities take over for that final 205 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: panel of twelve people. The prosecutors were concerned that the 206 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: jury could be distracted by any news story that might 207 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:42,839 Speaker 1: influence them, like potentially another axe murderer in Fall River. Okay, 208 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,719 Speaker 1: let's start from the beginning, about two miles from the 209 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: Bordon House on the other side of town, near the 210 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: Old Oak Grove Cemetery where Eliza Darling Borden is buried. 211 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 1: The woman at the center of this story is Bertha 212 00:12:57,679 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: Mabel Manchester. When I was doing research on my book 213 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: about Sarah Maria Cornell, the head of the Fall River 214 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: Historical Society first told me about Bertha. Kara Robertson says 215 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,240 Speaker 1: that Bertha Manchester was twenty two years old and she 216 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: was a farm girl. 217 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 5: Bertha Manchester is the daughter of a farmer, you know, 218 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:20,680 Speaker 5: so someone who has a farm in the Fall River area. 219 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 1: Bertha had a father named Stephen, who was sixty two 220 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,959 Speaker 1: years old in eighteen ninety three. Bertha's mother, Hannah, had 221 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 1: died when Bertha was just ten years old, leaving behind 222 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: a one year old boy named Frederick. Bertha also had 223 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 1: a sister named Jenny. Her friends say that as she 224 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: grew older, she understood the deep loss in her life. 225 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 1: She was a toughened farm woman, so she was rarely sentimental, 226 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:50,920 Speaker 1: but it was clear that she missed her mother. Bertha's 227 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: father remarried a few years later, and they had a 228 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: little boy named Alexander. The Manchester family's experience of Fall 229 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: River was very different than for the Borden family. I 230 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:05,560 Speaker 1: asked Kara about the city society in eighteen ninety three. 231 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:12,719 Speaker 5: Fall River, Massachusetts was America's leading textile producing town at 232 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 5: the time of the murders. And keep in mind, this 233 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 5: is America during the Gilded Age, so this is the 234 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 5: time of intense income inequality, of social stratification, and in 235 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 5: a sense, Fall River is a microcosm of that, but 236 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 5: it has its own peculiar characteristics. 237 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: Karra says that the topography of the town created an 238 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: almost literalized map of inequality. 239 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 5: So the people who are the owners of the mills, 240 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 5: the people who are reading the most benefit from the 241 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 5: boom and the fall River's experiencing at the time, live 242 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 5: in what's known as the hill district, which is higher, 243 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 5: and the people who work in the mills tend to 244 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 5: live closer to the river or the water, which provides 245 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 5: the hydro electric power to run the bells. And then 246 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:08,080 Speaker 5: there's an area called the flats, which is basically where 247 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 5: the central town businesses district and sort of surrounding little 248 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 5: neighborhoods around there. So that's where professionals would live or 249 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 5: people who you know, people who had to go into 250 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 5: an office to work. 251 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 1: Despite the incredible growth of mills and factories in the 252 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: late eighteen hundreds, many people still lived in rural spaces, 253 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: even in cities like Full River. The Manchesters lived off 254 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: New Boston Road, about two miles from Lizzie Borden's home 255 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: on Second Street, close to the Oak Grove Cemetery that 256 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: we visited in the previous episode. Bertha worked there on 257 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: her father's farm. She had a stepmother, the mother of 258 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: Bertha's half brother, Freddy, but neither she nor her other son, Alexander, 259 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 1: actually lived with a family. It sounds like maybe Stephen 260 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:57,320 Speaker 1: and the stepmother were separated, but if so. 261 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 4: We don't know why. 262 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 1: If you were looking for the archetype of the perfect 263 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:09,440 Speaker 1: young farm woman in Fall River, Bertha Manchester was an 264 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: excellent choice. 265 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 4: Yeah. 266 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 5: I think she's a little younger than Lizzie, but she 267 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 5: had enough of the classic attributes to be presented as this, 268 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 5: you know, kind of classically good good woman, you know, 269 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 5: a young, unmarried woman living at home, helping her father. 270 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 1: Sadly, Bertha Manchester is our victim here, the woman whose 271 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: death would spark so much interest in the newspapers at 272 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 1: a crucial time in Fall. 273 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 5: River, and she's described in a way that, you know, again, 274 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 5: it's the sort of the perfect victim, right, She's a 275 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 5: very dutiful daughter, she's living at home. 276 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: It's important to talk about the victim before we talk 277 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 1: about the crime. To me, that makes the loss even 278 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: greater and the hope for justice even stronger. Friends described 279 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 1: Bertha as a wonderful young woman, very hard working. Her 280 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 1: closest friend was her neighbor Ellen Reid. Ellen says that 281 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: Bertha was a devoted Christian, though her work on the 282 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:11,680 Speaker 1: Manchester farm occupied all of her time, sometimes even on Sundays. 283 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 1: This is what Ellen said about Bertha. She possessed a 284 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 1: sweet disposition, and although her lot was a hard one, 285 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 1: she never complained. She worked from early morning until late 286 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 1: in the evening unceasingly. But Ellen said that Bertha could 287 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:33,400 Speaker 1: be strange and difficult to understand emotionally, she had been 288 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 1: extremely sheltered. She almost never left the farm, and she 289 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:41,640 Speaker 1: had actually been born there. This, said Ellen, was sometimes 290 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 1: a problem. Her faith in humanity was touching. According to Ellen, 291 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,439 Speaker 1: she never came into contact with the outside world, and 292 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:56,040 Speaker 1: she was a pure, innocent child. Let's get into what 293 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:01,440 Speaker 1: happened on May thirtieth, eighteen ninety three, stays before Lizzie 294 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: Borden's trial was set to begin. Stephen Manchester finished at 295 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:11,119 Speaker 1: breakfast early that morning, and he left the sprawling, multi 296 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: level farmhouse around seven thirty am. We don't know if 297 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,399 Speaker 1: that was his usual daily schedule, but we do know 298 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: that Bertha was alone that morning. After her father left, 299 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: Bertha stayed in their large kitchen. She hovered over their 300 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: massive wood burning cooking stove and worked for about an 301 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,439 Speaker 1: hour or two. The stove was warm as she worked. 302 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: A picture of water and baskets of produce sat nearby. 303 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 1: Bertha held a bowl full of gingerbread dough as she 304 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:50,880 Speaker 1: stared out the kitchen window. Suddenly a man appeared walking 305 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 1: through their farmyard past the chickens. She watched him as 306 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: he approached their kitchen door. She might have even recognized 307 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: him before he could not. Bertha opened the door and 308 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 1: asked what he wanted. He was yelling, and Bertha was frightened. 309 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 1: He pushed past her and yelled some more, demanding answers. 310 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 1: She followed him inside the kitchen. Bertha grabbed him and 311 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 1: tried to throw him out, but he refused and they 312 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 1: began to fight. The police believed that Bertha was getting 313 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: the better of the man. Her family described her as 314 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:27,720 Speaker 1: remarkably strong and robust. Perhaps he was smaller than she was, 315 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:30,879 Speaker 1: or he was caught off guard by her strength, or 316 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:36,199 Speaker 1: perhaps he was much older, even elderly. Whatever it was, 317 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 1: the man was losing his battle with Bertha Manchester. He 318 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,360 Speaker 1: spotted an axe in the nearby wood box. Remember they 319 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:45,879 Speaker 1: were in the kitchen near the wood stove, so he 320 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: grabbed the axe and he struck her with it. A 321 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 1: lot Bertha fought hard. Police found extensive tears in her 322 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: clothing from axe cuts. They believed he hid her once 323 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 1: and that she continued to fight from the ground. She 324 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 1: sustained almost two dozen blows from the axe. The Globe 325 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:11,679 Speaker 1: newspaper reported that police believed she had bled freely and 326 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: yet fought hard, but it was no use. Her body 327 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: fell next to the warm stove, just beneath an exterior window. 328 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:26,760 Speaker 1: There was rummaging from a faraway room, and then the 329 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:37,639 Speaker 1: man was gone. Bertha lay dying on the floor of 330 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:42,200 Speaker 1: her family's kitchen. Blood seeped from her body. Two large 331 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: pools began to form beneath her, several feet apart, which 332 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 1: is why authorities assumed that they were fighting on the ground. 333 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: There was blood sprayed on the walls of the kitchen. 334 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 1: The police believed she was murdered between nine and ten 335 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning, perhaps less than two hours after 336 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: her father left. By early that afternoon, a detail of 337 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,960 Speaker 1: fifteen police officers was at the house pursuing leads. They 338 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,439 Speaker 1: fanned out for up to two miles away, each hoping 339 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: to discover clues to Bertha Manchester's murder. The same police 340 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:20,639 Speaker 1: chief who handled Lizzie Bordon's case. Marshall Hillard was on 341 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:24,479 Speaker 1: this case too. Authorities examined in vain for a motive. 342 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: Who would want to kill Bertha Manchester. They examined her wounds, 343 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: which were extensive. This seemed to be overkill that many 344 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:39,520 Speaker 1: ax hits. Local historian Jeff Blanger knows the story of 345 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: Bertha Manchester. He thinks that her murder must have been personal. 346 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:46,199 Speaker 2: I mean, that's a crime of passion. You don't have 347 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,639 Speaker 2: to be a crime expert to know that when you 348 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,680 Speaker 2: use an axe and you hit someone multiple times while 349 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 2: they're prone, that's personal, right, That's not revenge, that's not 350 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 2: an execution you are. This is deeply personal, and so 351 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 2: who would be that angry who wants to destroy a 352 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 2: life that much? 353 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 1: But was there another motive? Investigators searched the house, which 354 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:12,919 Speaker 1: was a mess, like it had been ransacked. Turns out, though, 355 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 1: that the house was just messy. The Manchesters were running 356 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: out of room for all their stuff. The investigators asked 357 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 1: Bertha's father, was anything missing? Yes, Stephen Manchester replied a 358 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 1: gold watch and a little bit of money. But oddly, 359 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,919 Speaker 1: the killer left behind a valuable collection of jewelry in 360 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: a case standing beside the watchbox. A gold watch and 361 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: a little money didn't seem like a satisfying robbery, but 362 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,880 Speaker 1: we know that people are murdered every day for less 363 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:47,320 Speaker 1: than that. Still, maybe robbery wasn't the motive here. Let's 364 00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:51,919 Speaker 1: look in a different direction. Bertha's friend, Ellen Reid, respected 365 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,959 Speaker 1: Stephen Manchester, but he was a hard man, and he 366 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: was hard on his daughter. Ellen said her father is 367 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 1: a kind man at heart, but he did not know 368 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 1: that she mutely endured hardships that were imposed on her. 369 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: Police had some suspicions because Stephen Manchester was reacting to 370 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 1: his daughter's murder very strangely. Investigators at first dismissed him 371 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: as a suspect because he had said he was away 372 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:24,119 Speaker 1: working in the fields, But then he didn't seem particularly 373 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: bothered by Bertha's murder. The police continued to press him 374 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: about his feelings. Wasn't he at all upset over her death? 375 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:37,640 Speaker 1: Stephen seemed to shut down. He asked to go back 376 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: to work. Police were also concerned about the similar reaction 377 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: from Bertha's half brother, Freddie, who was eleven. The Boston 378 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:48,680 Speaker 1: Daily Globe said he appears to be no more troubled 379 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 1: than his father. The reporter for the Globe found it 380 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: disturbing that Freddie seemed as happy as a lark, even 381 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: though his older sister had been murdered in their kitchen 382 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:03,679 Speaker 1: just hours before. This was concerning for the police, so 383 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 1: they surveilled both father and son. They watched Stephen work 384 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: cheerfully in the barn the same day Bertha was murdered. 385 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,399 Speaker 1: He soon hitched up a horse and cart and drove to town. 386 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:30,119 Speaker 1: The Globe later wrote, the indifference on the part of 387 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: the old man may be natural, but the police are 388 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:41,159 Speaker 1: keeping a sharp watch on him all the time. Stephen 389 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: Manchester and his young son were not allowed back in 390 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 1: their farmhouse. Two policemen served as night watchmen to make 391 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 1: sure no one entered and disturbed the scene. The police 392 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:58,200 Speaker 1: spent days collecting more evidence. Whoever killed Bertha had exited 393 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:02,240 Speaker 1: the house by the side door facing the barn. Investigators 394 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:06,200 Speaker 1: found the axe covered in Bertha's blood on a woodpile nearby. 395 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: Police believed that after dropping the axe, the killer ran 396 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: through the barn and took the pathway to the street 397 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 1: and then vanished. Bertha Manchester's body lay there, bleeding on 398 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: the kitchen floor for almost six hours until her father 399 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:28,159 Speaker 1: discovered her. If that's what really happened, Most of this 400 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,480 Speaker 1: story came from a Manchester family member, and then it 401 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: was adopted by the police regardless time was ticking. The 402 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: local paper wrote, with a six hours start, will he 403 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:45,640 Speaker 1: be discovered? Will he keep the lead? 404 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:47,040 Speaker 4: Now? 405 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:52,119 Speaker 1: Why was Bertha Manchester's murder so important besides the loss 406 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 1: of an admired young woman. Well, as you may have 407 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,919 Speaker 1: figured out, all of this happened six days before Lizzie 408 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 1: Borden's jury select and Lizzie was in custody, so obviously 409 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,880 Speaker 1: she wasn't the one holding the axe. But there was 410 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 1: someone out there, someone who attacked viciously with an axe. 411 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 1: What if that person had also murdered the Burdens, And 412 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:21,639 Speaker 1: what if that theory might convince even just one member 413 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: of the jury that Lizzie was innocent. One officer quipped, 414 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,359 Speaker 1: I wish this had not happened until the Bourdon case 415 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 1: had been disposed of, no kidding. Almost immediately after the 416 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,160 Speaker 1: murder of Bertha Mancha, the press arrived at the murder 417 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:06,640 Speaker 1: scene and reporters began to stoke speculation, but the police 418 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:12,120 Speaker 1: kept them out. At first, The next day. The day 419 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,919 Speaker 1: after the murders, reporters were allowed inside the family's kitchen 420 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,680 Speaker 1: where Bertha was killed. The rest of the house was 421 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:25,360 Speaker 1: cordoned off. The writers stared down at some red spots 422 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:27,840 Speaker 1: on the floor near the stove, and there were several 423 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:33,159 Speaker 1: holes drilled into the wooden planks. This is from a 424 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:37,480 Speaker 1: newspaper clipping this morning. The spot in which miss Manchester's 425 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:40,800 Speaker 1: body was found was marked by boring auger holes in 426 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 1: the floor. In close proximity are two great red spots 427 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 1: caused by the blood from Bertha's wounds. Now, let's talk 428 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 1: about popular theories that floated around Fall River. Lizzie Borden 429 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: was off the table because she was in custody, And 430 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,719 Speaker 1: just to be clear, these are not necessarily theories from 431 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,359 Speaker 1: the but from the average person reading the local paper. 432 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 1: Local historian Jeff Balanger wonders about a theory that we 433 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,880 Speaker 1: sometimes talk about today. It's called the copycat effect. 434 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:16,080 Speaker 2: It happens with crimes, it happens with serial killers. Serial 435 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,240 Speaker 2: killers will have an mo and they'll start to do 436 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:21,280 Speaker 2: what they do, and sometimes people copy them, thinking wow, 437 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 2: I want to do that, I want to get away 438 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:24,400 Speaker 2: with it, I want to be part of the story. 439 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,600 Speaker 2: And so the axe murder, you know, is that is 440 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 2: that a copycat effect or is that just you know, 441 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,359 Speaker 2: someone saying like, oh, I have these really dark, awful 442 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 2: impulses too. I want to destroy a life. I don't 443 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 2: mean just take a life, I want to destroy one. 444 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 2: And do they they act that out. 445 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,520 Speaker 1: At this point, that's a possibility. But speaking of people 446 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 1: getting involved, people did try to get involved with Bertha's case, 447 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 1: and as oftentimes the case, their involvement was not helpful 448 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 1: to police. Kara says that investigators were drowning in letters 449 00:28:58,120 --> 00:28:59,479 Speaker 1: from all over the place. 450 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 5: There are a lot of letters that get sent both 451 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:04,520 Speaker 5: to Marshall Hilliard who's the chief of police, to the 452 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,959 Speaker 5: Fall River, and also letters that get sent to the 453 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 5: district Attorney. 454 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 4: Joseah Knowlton, and you know, there's some overlap. 455 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 5: But basically there are letters from helpful citizens who are 456 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 5: advising them. You know, I think that I think that 457 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 5: something might be at the well, or I heard from 458 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 5: so and so that you know this happened or this happened. 459 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:28,360 Speaker 1: Kara says that there were other letters from people who 460 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:32,280 Speaker 1: were clearly not involved, but sometimes they wanted to be. 461 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:35,280 Speaker 5: But there were also people who you know, who were 462 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,720 Speaker 5: apparently crazy, you know, and wrote in to claim responsibility, 463 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 5: and some of them are anonymous. 464 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: And here's another wild theory. Someone equipped that apparently Fall 465 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:50,600 Speaker 1: River had a Jack the Chopper, a pretty clear reference 466 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 1: to Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper had murdered five 467 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:58,120 Speaker 1: women in London in eighteen eighty eight, just four years earlier. 468 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: It's been speculated that he might have been responsible for 469 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,920 Speaker 1: several more, stretching into eighteen ninety two when the Lizzie 470 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:07,760 Speaker 1: Bordon case happened. And as far as we know, Jack 471 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:11,240 Speaker 1: the Ripper was never caught. But would he really have 472 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: traveled from London to Fall River, Massachusetts? And if so, 473 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 1: why local investigators in eighteen ninety three didn't believe it? 474 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:21,959 Speaker 5: You know, that's very much on the mines of people, 475 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,440 Speaker 5: and I'm not sure that you would have had occasion 476 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:24,840 Speaker 5: to do so. 477 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 4: But in the correspondence what one of the. 478 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 5: Policemen refer to as the crank communications, there is something 479 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 5: that purports to be from Jack the Ripper. 480 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,280 Speaker 1: I didn't know this, but there was someone sending letters 481 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,160 Speaker 1: to the Fall River police claiming to be the person 482 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: who killed Andrew and Abby Borden of course, that was 483 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: dismissed quickly. The police and fall River were baffled by 484 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: Bertha Manchester's murder. They began to look more closely at 485 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:57,480 Speaker 1: her father, which is how they discovered that he had 486 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,920 Speaker 1: been in a very unhappy marriage to his wife, who 487 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 1: was Bertha's stepmother. That's the woman who no longer lived there. 488 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:08,320 Speaker 1: In fact, the stepmother hadn't lived at the farmhouse for 489 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: five years. 490 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 4: What happened? 491 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,080 Speaker 1: Did Bertha's father have anything to do with Bertha's murder? 492 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:20,240 Speaker 1: Was he violent? Or maybe it was the stepmother. The 493 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:25,240 Speaker 1: police asked neighbors about Bertha's love interests. Ellen Reid replied, 494 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 1: I can say quite positively that she never kept company 495 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:32,520 Speaker 1: with any gentleman. Would she have been in contact with 496 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:33,440 Speaker 1: anyone else? 497 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 4: Not? 498 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: Really, replied Ellen, this is what she says. Her father's 499 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 1: hired men left him very often, and I cannot recall 500 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: one who remained in his employ long enough to become 501 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,760 Speaker 1: more than ordinarily acquainted with her. 502 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:48,640 Speaker 4: Hmm. 503 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 1: Doesn't sound like Stephen Manchester was a very good boss, 504 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:56,640 Speaker 1: and maybe that was what was problematic, But Ellen Reid 505 00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:01,040 Speaker 1: said he should not be under suspicion she was of 506 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:03,960 Speaker 1: the greatest service to her father, and I do not 507 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 1: believe that the suspicion he is under is well founded. 508 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,800 Speaker 1: He is an eccentric man, but not cruel. She loved 509 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:19,160 Speaker 1: her father in her own way. Of all the theories 510 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:21,840 Speaker 1: out there, the connection between the murder of the Bordons 511 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: and the murder of Bertha Manchester was the most publicized angle. 512 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:29,880 Speaker 1: But of course those rumors were unhelpful to the police 513 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,480 Speaker 1: and the prosecution team who were about to put on 514 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:36,400 Speaker 1: a case against a seemingly upstanding citizen of Fall River. 515 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,960 Speaker 1: As any newspaper then or now would be, the Boston 516 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:44,640 Speaker 1: Daily Globe seemed eager to capitalize on the case. The 517 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:49,120 Speaker 1: paper issued a front page story, multi column detailing the 518 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,720 Speaker 1: similarities between the murders of the Burdons and the murder 519 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:57,239 Speaker 1: of Bertha Manchester. Listen to this. The opinion has been 520 00:32:57,440 --> 00:33:01,719 Speaker 1: rife that there is an extreme probability of their being 521 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:04,600 Speaker 1: made a feature by the defense in the Bordon trial, 522 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:09,400 Speaker 1: which begins at New Bedford on Monday. Just one day 523 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 1: after Bertha's murder, Lizzie Borden's friends had begun their own investigation, 524 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:17,720 Speaker 1: determined to prove that the killers were the same person. 525 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:22,320 Speaker 1: Bordon's defense attorney spent that night, four days before her trial, 526 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:26,680 Speaker 1: studying Bertha's case. He equipped to a reporter, well, are 527 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 1: they going to say that Lizzie Borden did this also? 528 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 1: But when the reporter pressed Andrew Jennings about his defense, 529 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 1: would he include details of Bertha's murder, he refused to comment. 530 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 1: Jennings said, I should say that the similarity of the 531 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:45,600 Speaker 1: manner in which the victim was killed yesterday with the 532 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,680 Speaker 1: murder of the Bordons would be well worth considering. But 533 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,160 Speaker 1: the attorney did show his hand a little bit. One 534 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,880 Speaker 1: of the arguments of the prosecutor in Lizzie Bordon's case 535 00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: was this, how could anyone but the family enter leave 536 00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:05,719 Speaker 1: the house undetected? Her attorney replied with this, this assailant 537 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:09,279 Speaker 1: has gotten away and left no trace. Here is a 538 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: striking example of what they said was impossible in a 539 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:16,360 Speaker 1: private home. It seems to me that the Manchester murder 540 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:20,440 Speaker 1: is a refutation that what is asserted an impossibility in 541 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:23,879 Speaker 1: the Boorden case was not only a possibility but an 542 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 1: actual occurrence in this case. He's right, but there are 543 00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:32,680 Speaker 1: some stark differences. The Manchesters lived on a rural farm 544 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:36,040 Speaker 1: with few neighbors, and of course no security. The Burdens 545 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,440 Speaker 1: lived on Second Street in a town where there were 546 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:41,120 Speaker 1: other residences and businesses right next door. 547 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:42,520 Speaker 4: Big difference. 548 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:48,040 Speaker 1: Bertha Manchester's murder was a real mystery, one stoking fear 549 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:51,040 Speaker 1: in a city already alarmed by the brutal killings of 550 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:55,000 Speaker 1: the Burdens. According to a Boston paper, they know not 551 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:57,879 Speaker 1: where to look for the slightest clue that will help 552 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:02,080 Speaker 1: to unravel the impenetrable miss that has shrouded the movements 553 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 1: of the murderer so successfully up to the present hour. 554 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 1: No one saw anything. The neighbors reported that there were 555 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:14,000 Speaker 1: no problems with vagrants at the farm. There was virtually 556 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,600 Speaker 1: no crime in that area. The family dog barked once 557 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:20,360 Speaker 1: that morning, as it often did when strangers came to 558 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:24,160 Speaker 1: the yard, but that was it. Bertha's killer was like 559 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:28,719 Speaker 1: a ghost. He simply vanished, like so many killers in 560 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:30,320 Speaker 1: New England's haunted history. 561 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,200 Speaker 2: And so when you're talking about the darker side of history, 562 00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:37,560 Speaker 2: like murders and murder suicides and all that other stuff, 563 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,719 Speaker 2: we keep those stories around. Lizzy, especially, we keep the 564 00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 2: Lizzy Bordon story around. It haunts us because two people 565 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:47,919 Speaker 2: were murdered. I don't care where you are, what town 566 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 2: you're in. That bothers you forever, even if it's been 567 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:53,720 Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty plus years since it happened. 568 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:59,080 Speaker 1: Jeff says that it's these stories that haunt people, the 569 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:01,160 Speaker 1: messy true stories. 570 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:03,440 Speaker 2: So that just keeps gnawing away at you, and you 571 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:05,360 Speaker 2: stare and you go, oh, what happened? I don't like 572 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:07,080 Speaker 2: I at least want to know who did it, who 573 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,560 Speaker 2: done it, and why wasn't that person punished? And then 574 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:14,360 Speaker 2: from there you start to spiderweb, You look for other possibilities, 575 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:16,279 Speaker 2: and then that leads you to the dark cloud over 576 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:17,399 Speaker 2: Second Street and so on. 577 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:21,760 Speaker 1: But a cloud over Second Street wasn't the biggest concern. 578 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:25,280 Speaker 1: In eighteen ninety three, Lizzie Borden was going on trial 579 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:28,239 Speaker 1: for murdering her parents in less than a week, and 580 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:31,120 Speaker 1: all male jury would soon be set to hear the case, 581 00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:34,880 Speaker 1: and they all likely knew about Birth of Manchester's murder. 582 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 5: So it happened on the day that the jury was 583 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:44,200 Speaker 5: being picked, So it was possible that the jurors might 584 00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:46,799 Speaker 5: have had that in their heads right that, I mean, 585 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:50,120 Speaker 5: they knew about the murders beforehand, and then they were 586 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:53,000 Speaker 5: if they were chosen, they were immediately sequestered, right, So 587 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,600 Speaker 5: it's possible that they could have thought, well, maybe there's 588 00:36:57,600 --> 00:36:59,759 Speaker 5: just somebody going around doing this, and so it's not 589 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:00,839 Speaker 5: Borden at all. 590 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:05,160 Speaker 1: In the meantime, the police in Fall River desperately searched 591 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:09,080 Speaker 1: for a suspect in the murder of Bertha Manchester. Frustrated, 592 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:13,800 Speaker 1: they declared a suitable motive cannot be found. They knew 593 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,799 Speaker 1: that the public and the newspapers demanded to know just 594 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:20,200 Speaker 1: who did this, but also why did they do it? 595 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:25,040 Speaker 1: Bertha seemed to have no enemies, but her father was 596 00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:40,000 Speaker 1: a different story. On the next episode of tenfold War 597 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:43,600 Speaker 1: wicked on exactly right. 598 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:48,680 Speaker 5: And Marshall Hilliard's quite dismissive because he said that the 599 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:52,000 Speaker 5: you know, the murders seemed quite different in terms of 600 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:55,760 Speaker 5: forethought and you know, even on some level of the violence. 601 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:57,560 Speaker 5: I mean, as horrible as it was for the murder 602 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,520 Speaker 5: to be committed by an act, you know, he just 603 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:04,080 Speaker 5: took a couple of swings. It wasn't the same obliteration 604 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:07,799 Speaker 5: of the you know, the face that you know you 605 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:09,560 Speaker 5: saw in Andrew's murder. 606 00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:13,400 Speaker 6: So there's all these these generalizations and kind of a 607 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 6: lack of education about people where you'll get the majority 608 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:20,759 Speaker 6: kind of picking on anybody who is other, anybody who 609 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,839 Speaker 6: isn't them, and saying, well, it must be them who 610 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,439 Speaker 6: are committing these clients. It couldn't possibly be one of us. 611 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 5: They really thought Lizzie Borden must be insane. I mean, 612 00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:33,200 Speaker 5: that was they were convinced she was guilty, and for them, 613 00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:36,120 Speaker 5: that was really the only explanation that made sense to them. 614 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:39,760 Speaker 5: I mean, after all, they're confronting this very typical looking, 615 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:43,880 Speaker 5: upper middle class woman who's involved in all the appropriate charities, 616 00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:46,719 Speaker 5: and she's supposed to have killed her father and her 617 00:38:46,719 --> 00:38:49,200 Speaker 5: stepmother with a hatchet or an axe, and it just 618 00:38:49,239 --> 00:38:52,920 Speaker 5: seems so unbelievable that there had to be an explanation 619 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:55,160 Speaker 5: of insanity. I mean, really, it was the only it 620 00:38:55,200 --> 00:39:02,440 Speaker 5: was the only thing that they could imagine. 621 00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:06,040 Speaker 1: If you love true crime, check out my books American 622 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:08,640 Speaker 1: Sherlock and All That Is Wicked. I also have an 623 00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:11,520 Speaker 1: audio book called The Ghost Club. I can't wait to 624 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:14,600 Speaker 1: tell you the real story about the world's most famous 625 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,760 Speaker 1: ghost hunter, who was the head of the world's most 626 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:22,440 Speaker 1: famous ghost club and how he investigated England's most famous 627 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:29,359 Speaker 1: haunted house. This has been an exactly right tenfold more 628 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:34,480 Speaker 1: media production producer Jason Whaling, Senior producer Alexis m Rossi, 629 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:40,520 Speaker 1: Consulting producer Kyle Ryan, sound designer Eric Friend, composer Curtis Heath. 630 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:47,440 Speaker 1: Additional music Jeremy Buller, artwork Nick Toga. Executive producers Georgia Hartstark, 631 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:50,000 Speaker 1: Karen Kilgarriff and Danielle Kramer.