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

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. (Aug.)