Victoria Lincoln's Theory: Epileptic Seizures

[Curiousmind2014]

I have been reading Victoria Lincoln's Book lately. It seems like she seems to place a high emphasis on Epileptic seizure causing Lizzie to commit such a crime. She goes to an extent of claiming that a social stature conscious Lizzie, also committed theft in a midst of an epileptic seizure.

In my lifetime, I have come across a few epileptics. I never heard of an epileptic who would perform an action with precision (in this case consistent hits on the skull) during a seizure. Based on my understanding, an epileptic seizure is a nervous system disorder wherein excessive electrical energy, beyond a capacity of a human is transmitted through the human body. Like any electrical device subjected to excessive power, the human body stops functioning and loses all consciousness during that period. The human starts gaining consciousness at the end of a seizure and cannot recall what happened while the seizure lasted. Also, the condition of the temporal lobe mentioned is not the kind that takes place twice a day. A grand mal epilepsy would be something that may be more frequent.

Given my understanding of the Borden case and Epilepsy, I can't buy into Victoria Lincoln's theory, even if we assume Lizzie was Epileptic for the following reasons:

1. Firstly an epileptic during seizure won't be in a condition to fetch a hatchet like weapon from the cellar and walk back two floors to kill someone.
2. Precision of the blows shows the Killer maintained composure and focus at the point of impact.
3. Given the type of Epilepsy claimed, I do not see Lizzie getting a seizure twice in a day.

I would like to know your opinions on this topic.

[Curryong]

It's very tempting to seek a solution to these murders,as Lincoln did, in which a murderer acts without conscious will, almost as an automaton, in order to kill.

Like you, I have known several epileptics in the past, none of whom, even with petit mal symptoms, acted as Victoria Lincoln suggested Lizzie acted. I believe Lincoln's theory has been discounted in the years since her book was published. However, hey every author needs a hookline!

I'd prefer, because I'm not medically qualified at all, to leave just why Lizzie wouldn't have committed murder during a 'fit' to those posters who are. However, it would be remarkable, in my opinion, for Lizzie (or anyone) to have an episode at a certain time and then ninety minutes later have a similar 'turn' and repeat her actions.

[Curiousmind2014]

Thanks for your opinion Curryong.

I will still finish the book. I find it interesting to view at Fall River culture from the perspective of another Fall River resident who happened to live next to Lizzie for a long period of time. Some of the things that interest me about their perspective as of now are as follows:

1. Victorian tact: It seems like the people "up on the hill" were a clique of people who always knew Lizzie did it. They also knew both sisters with the assistance of Jennings were involved in buying out witnesses. However, they decided to keep their mouth shut against one of their own.

2. Corrupt Officials: Victoria Lincoln goes around looking for case files for the murder of Abby & Andrew Borden. However, they are the only ones missing. It definitely tells me that it wasn't as kosher a case as I once thought it would be. Officials were involved in hiding the findings. I wonder if they were bought out much prior to the murders. As we all know, murders took place when the cops were having some sort of a picnic. It questions the integrity of Knowlton's team while investigating. It questions the integrity of the entity who decided not to disclose to Lizzie that her inquest can be used against her at the Trial. And it questions the integrity of the Judges, who happened to be friends with the former mayor who was the key member of the Defense team during the trial.

3. Vox Populi: Victoria mentions that the news about the death of Abby and Andrew did spread like a fire. And the very first expressions of many people "on the hill" and "down the hill" was "finally someone did it". It is an interesting observation of her's given that she also mentions that Abby was always looked down upon, and mentioned, even in her presence, as the second wife of Andrew Borden. I wonder if we can get to know more about Abby and Andrew's personality. It makes me believe they were not the ones people liked for reasons not known to us. Contrary to the family, Lizzie seems to be the one who is active socially with Sunday school and participation at women centric organizations. She seems to be more socially accepted than the rest.

Like many pages in the books of world history, facts are destructed, destroyed and manipulated. Lizzie Borden case cannot be an epitome of it; but definitely is symbolic of it. The world would be in chaos the day we can some how decipher and present the true stories than the perceived truth.

[irina]

Epilepsy has been poorly understood throughout history and the idea of "fits" playing a part in crime goes way back. We know now from the huge amount of crime stats that Lincoln's theory isn't correct. I'm sure Possum or Debbie will give more technical detail.

Lincoln made the connexion because Lizzie's mother had severe migraine which can be connected to epilepsy. I have migraine real bad and think I can be our migraine expert. Extreme migraine can make Harry Potter's world seem pretty normal. It is true that seizures can be a comorbidity with migraine. I had one convulsion in my life due to migraine, which caused my own muscles to shatter the bones in my arm. There is nothing I see in the literature that supports Lincoln's theory.

When our governments emptied the mental institutions in the US, the people were told over and over that even full blown mental illness was not a precursor to crime and that the mentally ill could live among law abiding folks without problem. For the most part this is true. Also in this country, especially in recent times, certain mentally ill young men have completed mass shootings which has made the same governments cry for more "mental health" efforts. These men seem to have been schizophrenic or something similar.

In Lizzie's life before and after the murders, she may have shown signs of depression. I have never read anything to indicate that she had "fits" which I believe would have led to her being ostracized by her peers even before the murders. Again I will defer to Possum and Debbie for an opinion.

A friend of mine was a DA and she explained the legal definition of diminished capacity or in other words the not guilty by reason of insanity defense. She said to find a murderer for instance, not guilty for this reason, that person would need to be found at the scene, basically holding a bloody knife or something, and have no idea of the morality or seriousness of the deed. Any attempt to cover up, clean up, get away, blows the legal defense.

Lincoln has a complex solution to the murders and Lizzie's behaviour. She ties everything up in a neat package for the reader. I read her book when I was 13 and I still think Lizzie was some shade of innocent. I do think maybe we get the idea from Lincoln, that if she did it she killed Abby in a state of rage and then killed her father to cover up. I will concede that if she did it this is very plausible. But by the nature of the crime I don't believe she was in an altered state or that she didn't know she was killing Abby till after the fact. (So if she is ever PROVED guilty I won't be arguing for a state of innocence through insanity.)

As for the so-called shoplifting, I have wondered if Lizzie might have been absent minded and forgotten to pay for items, IF she actually obtained items without paying. I have also wondered if there was a game with Andrew, that Lizzie was supposed to live within her allowance but if she didn't, extra items were put on Andrew's bill. The Tilden and Thurber incident smells of extortion and I doubt we will ever make sense of it. If Lizzie was a klepto I would think she would also steal from her friends and acquaintances yet she seems to have had a reputation for honesty.

I think Lincoln took all the nasty gossip in Fall River and wrote a book that is an easy read. I think there is interesting background material there but from the side that hated Lizzie and blew up any negative tid bit of gossip over the years. I have never figured out why a book like Lincoln's is in the "true" section of a library but Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood' is in the fiction section. Truman had extensive access to the admitted murderers. Lincoln worked from gossip.

Finally, in modern crime where mentally ill criminals commit crimes that may in part have stemmed from mental illness, frequently it is drugs or alcohol that drives the perpetrator over the edge or removes the inhibitions against committing crime. We have no idea what sort of patent medicines Lizzie could have used. Cocaine and opiates were in a lot of elixirs as well as alcohol. Yet there does not seem to be anything that has filtered down about Lizzie using anything regularly for any condition. Since she was a member of the WCTU it is doubtful she used alcohol socially or secretly. I would assume she had signed the pledge. Anything is possible of course.

[twinsrwe]

I’ve had experiences with people who have had both petit mal and grand mal seizures, and I just don’t see how it is humanly possible for anyone to kill two people, during a seizure. People who are having a seizure are not conscious of their actions. A person who is having a seizure would not be able to plan and carry out the actions involved in murdering two people, 90 minutes apart.

1. Wait for an opportune time to attack.
2. Obtain a hatchet.
3. Kill with ‘right on’ blows to the victims head.
4. Hide the hatchet.
5. Clean themselves up.
6. Control their emotions.
7. Calmly call for Bridget.

Here are some common symptoms during a seizure...

Awareness, Sensory, Emotional or Thought Changes:

• Loss of awareness (often called “black out”)
• Confused, feeling spacey
• Periods of forgetfulness or memory lapses
• Distracted, daydreaming
• Loss of consciousness, unconscious, or “pass out”
• Unable to hear
• Sounds may be strange or different
• Unusual smells (often bad smells like burning rubber)
• Unusual tastes
• Loss of vision or unable to see
• Blurry vision
• Flashing lights
• Formed visual hallucinations (objects or things are seen that aren’t really there)
• Numbness, tingling, or electric shock like feeling in body, arm or leg
• Out of body sensations
• Feeling detached
• Déjà vu (feeling of being there before but never have)
• Jamais vu (feeling that something is very familiar but it isn’t)
• Body parts feels or looks different
• Feeling of panic, fear, impending doom (intense feeling that something bad is going to happen)
• Pleasant feelings


Physical Changes:

• Difficulty talking (may stop talking, make nonsense or garbled sounds, keep talking or speech may not make sense)
• Unable to swallow, drooling
• Repeated blinking of eyes, eyes may move to one side or look upward, or staring
• Lack of movement or muscle tone (unable to move, loss of tone in neck and head may drop forward, loss of muscle tone in body and person may slump or fall forward)
• Tremors, twitching or jerking movements (may occur on one or both sides of face, arms, legs or whole body; may start in one area then spread to other areas or stay in one place)
• Rigid or tense muscles (part of the body or whole body may feel very tight or tense and if standing, may fall “like a tree trunk”)
• Repeated non-purposeful movements, called automatisms, involve the face, arms or legs, such as
o lipsmacking or chewing movements
o repeated movements of hands, like wringing, playing with buttons or objects in hands, waving
o dressing or undressing
o walking or running
• Repeated purposeful movements (person may continue activity that was going on before the seizure)
• Convulsion (person loses consciousness, body becomes rigid or tense, then fast jerking movements occur)
• Losing control of urine or stool unexpectedly
• Sweating
• Change in skin color (looks pale or flushed)
• Pupils may dilate or appear larger than normal
• Biting of tongue (from teeth clenching when muscles tighten)
• Difficulty breathing
• Heart racing

Source: http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/epilepsy- ... ng-seizure

[twinsrwe]

In case anyone is interested, there is a series of threads on the forum regarding Victoria Lincoln’s book; these threads are authored by Tracy... (theebmonique). Here are the links:

1.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=623

2.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=644

3.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=664

4.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=684

5.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=722

6.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=805

[PossumPie]

From the Epilepsy Foundation:

"Typically, a complex partial seizure starts with a blank stare and loss of contact with surroundings. This is often followed by chewing movements, picking at or fumbling with clothing, mumbling and performing simple, unorganized movements over and over again. Sometimes people wander around, and in rare cases, a person might try to undress during a seizure, or become very agitated, screaming, running or making flailing movements with his arms or bicycling movements with his legs. Actions and movements are typically unorganized, confused and unfocused (that is, not directed at a specific person or object) during a complex partial seizure. During these episodes the person is on "automatic pilot" so far as his actions are concerned, is totally unaware of what is happening, and, when consciousness returns, will have no memory of what occurred during the seizure. After a few minutes, natural systems in the brain subdue the electrical overload which caused the seizure, and consciousness returns."

My Medical opinion:

This is highly controversial and not completely accepted as a excuse for committing a crime. The behaviors are usually bizarre and disorganized, NOT killing your step-mother, calmly keeping others away, then 90 minutes later killing your father, coming out of it, and denying everything.

[Curryong]

Now you've had the medically trained and experienced on the Forum give their opinion, CuriousMind, I'll keep off the subject! However, I do want to say continue reading Lincoln (with an awareness of what her 'hook' is) because in spite of everything it is a good read. Yes, she comes from a family who probably believed Lizzie guilty, and perhaps a majority of people on 'the Hill' did.

Yet her book does give some local colour and an insight into gossip in the town at the time and afterwards. We have very little literature on what people were actually thinking at the time and after the trial as distinct from 'newspaper talk'.

We know that most newspapers in the US were pro-Lizzie before and during the trial, including the local ones, with one (local) exception. Afterwards, as sometimes happens, even nowadays, there seems to have been a reaction, and a more sceptical and critical tone develops in the tone of articles. We can't tell, at this length of time what caused this. Was it the Press responding to community feeling all over the country or were they leading it? As I say, we can't tell 122 years later.

It's entered the lore of the Lizzie Borden case that Lizzie spent the rest of her life in virtual seclusion, ignored by the townspeople of Fall River. Again, we can't tell now whether much of this was exaggerated or whether Lizzie wanted to live very quietly. We know Emma did because her behaviour after leaving Fall River tells us so. Lizzie did have a small circle of friends and a couple of cousins, not all of whom lived in the surroundings of Fall River. She would visit them. We know she enjoyed for a short while the company of Nance O' Neill and her friends.

My own opinion is that before and during the trial opinion in Fall River, as in the rest of the country, was mixed or split. Afterwards there does seem to have been a reaction among local residents because, perhaps, of Lizzie's willingness to buy a large house and live 'high on the hog' buying jewellery etc in the town on her dead father's money. I believe there may well have been gossip because of this, which turned a lot of locals away. I believe there were townspeople who wished her to settle elsewhere. On the other hand her servants were devoted to her and there were people in the town who knew of her secret charitable works. So, again the picture is a little mixed!

[irina]

I gained a lot of fresh insight by reading the forum link Twinsarwe posted. Considering these discussions and what I got from reading Lincoln's book many years ago, in many ways she dehumanized Lizzie and the members of her family. Plus she solved the crime in her opinion. Now thanks to the internet and forums like this we are beginning to see so many different aspects of the case and the people involved.

I should also have added in my post earlier that if Lizzie's mother had migraine~especially severe migraine~it is very genetic. Since it involves multiple sites on more than one gene it is very easy to pass to offspring. My mom had it bad and I was completely disabled by it for a number of years though I am better due to lidocaine injections at this time. My point is Lizzie~or Emma or both~ may have had migraine. Medical science now recognises the "menstrual migraine" that affects younger women. Lizzie did say she was not feeling well on Wednesday and laid around in her room. I don't remember Lizzie mentioning headache though. Silent migraine can cover a number of phenomena that includes digestive upset, seeing lights, hallucinations and many other strange experiences other than actual pain. If anything these effects make the patient tired or depressed. I have never read of anything like this leading to acts of violence. I could see these effects leading to Lizzie saying what she did to Alice on Wednesday night.

[twinsrwe]

From the Epilepsy Foundation:

"Typically, a complex partial seizure starts with a blank stare and loss of contact with surroundings. This is often followed by chewing movements, picking at or fumbling with clothing, mumbling and performing simple, unorganized movements over and over again. Sometimes people wander around, and in rare cases, a person might try to undress during a seizure, or become very agitated, screaming, running or making flailing movements with his arms or bicycling movements with his legs. Actions and movements are typically unorganized, confused and unfocused (that is, not directed at a specific person or object) during a complex partial seizure. During these episodes the person is on "automatic pilot" so far as his actions are concerned, is totally unaware of what is happening, and, when consciousness returns, will have no memory of what occurred during the seizure. After a few minutes, natural systems in the brain subdue the electrical overload which caused the seizure, and consciousness returns." ...

Thank you, Possum. This is exactly what I was attempting to show with my very long post above.

... My Medical opinion:

This is highly controversial and not completely accepted as a excuse for committing a crime. The behaviors are usually bizarre and disorganized, NOT killing your step-mother, calmly keeping others away, then 90 minutes later killing your father, coming out of it, and denying everything.

I agree!

[twinsrwe]

I gained a lot of fresh insight by reading the forum link Twinsarwe posted. ...

I'm glad you found those links helpful. Tracy did an excellent job of reviewing Victoria’s book.

[Curiousmind2014]

Another issue I am having with the book is that many of her conclusions are based on opinions of the people she knew, than mere facts.

[Curryong]

Don't be too harsh on her. Victoria WAS a novelist by profession! I think she had developed this theory and wanted to weave a story, including childhood memories, around it. It's no more bizarre really than those authors who lock onto a famous case and, with no evidence, present a suspect, moulding and ignoring known evidence.

With regard to the missing files etc, with the exception of the rather odd missing record of Bridget Sullivan's testimony, little is missing. As a longtime Jack the Ripper cases follower I remember a police officer remarking years ago that the files held on Jack at Scotland Yard have been denuded over the years by not only clerks, police, taking 'souvenirs' over the decades, but by, during a shortage of paper during World War 2, officers just grabbing old files and using the paper from them as they needed it.

I doubt whether the latter bit happened to Bridget's testimony record, but I wouldn't be surprised at some sticky-fingered clerk smuggling it out and to his home a few years after the trial. At the time Victoria Lincoln was writing her book many years ago it might not have been State government policy to allow authors to go grubbing about among legal and police files. Look at how long the Robinson law firm in Springfield has held on to its records of interview with client Lizzie and they still won't release them!

(How Abby and Andrew were seen by their community, neighbours etc. is an interesting topic, but I'd better stop now or my post will be longer than it already is! There are also several older threads that touch on it!)

[PossumPie]

I agree with Curryong. Books about unsolved crimes HAVE to have a hook. The authors often twist to the point of breaking the truth in order to put a novel idea forth.
Author: I want to write about Jack the Ripper.
Agent: (yawning) that has been so over done.
Author: Yes, but I have a new theory!
Patricia Cornwell, author of the "Scarpetta" books took a chance when writing her Jack the Ripper book. Her book is full of B.S. and twisted logic, and even things made up whole cloth. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that she honestly believes what she wrote, but it defies logic, has no real basis of evidence, and somewhere deep down she has to acknowledge that. An author a few years ago wrote a book about John Lennon. His premise was that John and Brian Epstein his manager were homosexual lovers. Thing is, there is not one shred of evidence and Yoko has said, that it wasn't true. But the guy sold books...the shame of it is that some people don't dig deeply enough to separate fact from speculation, from pure fiction...

[twinsrwe]

I agree with Curryong and PossumPie. Some authors twist facts and create embellishments, without any evidence or proof to back up their theory, simply to sell their book; after all, they are publishing a book to make money. Arnold Brown’s book, Lizzie Borden: The Legend, the Truth, the Final Chapter, is a good example of this. At least Victoria Lincoln’s book, A PRIVATE DISGRACE, has a lot information about the town and people of Fall River. Granted, there are parts of her book that is based on conjecture and it definitely has its errors, but it is a good read although I don’t agree with her diagnosis that Lizzie suffered from epilepsy of the temporal lobe; in my opinion, that is a bit far-fetched. However, Victoria Lincoln’s book, A PRIVATE DISGRACE, received an Edgar as the best non-fiction crime book of 1967 from the Mystery Writers of America. The Edgar Award is a small bust of Edgar Allan Poe.

[irina]

I have read that a retired police officer tried so solve Jack the Ripper case by interviewing children and grandchildren of people who lived in Whitechapel when the crimes occurred. The point was to collect folklore, urban legends and gossip to see if a solution would be forthcoming. The general concensus was that Jack's victims had run afoul of an abortionist. In a way Victoria Lincoln does the same thing working with material from a smaller town. Chances are the conclusions about JtR are wrong and some of the conclusions of VL are likely wrong.

With more research materials available in general and on line there is a better chance of solving these historic mysteries. Any kind of writing sells better if it is sensationalized. I think there is a new genre of books which compile intense research on a subject and may or may not solve some of these things. A book of this type is Tom Wescott's "The Bank Holiday Murders" which covers happenings in Jack the Ripper's Whitechapel. Wescott brings forth a lot of interesting things on the subject that are not generally known.

[Curryong]

Yes, I agree, irina, today's authors reap the benefit of easy Internet access if needed and much more precise archival techniques. I also like Westcott's examination (beyond the canonical victims) of the Whitechapel murders. As a matter of fact I'm re-reading it at the moment!