Has anyone read?

[snokkums]

I was searching books on amazon, and found this book. "Lizzie didn't do it: Emma did! It is by E. Elaine Watson. I was wondering if it was any good. That would be kind wild if she did do it! Maybe she wasn't out of town after all. Boy, if my imagination isn't running away with me! LOL!

[MysteryReader]

I *think* I read that book. I've packed away some of my Lizzie books. Let me look it up on Amazon. The description of the book isn't that good but in my book, the author said she was visited by a spirit who told her how Emma had committed the crimes, dressed as a male. It makes you think. Could it have been possible? Don't know but my question is what would have been the motive behind Emma being the killer?

[snokkums]

That's where I found the book, on amazon. I never thought about Emma being dressed as a man, but it would have been possible because everyone thought she was in Fairhaven, So, they would just dismissed her. I don't know what her motive would have been either, unless she hated Abby and her father just as bad as Lizzie did.

[InterestedReader]

Me I like the ice-cream peddler's brooding woman dressed as a woman... Walking slow to or from the barn... To or fro we don't know, he got bullied in court coz of his rubbish English.

Two days ago I cram-read so much Lizzie Borden she began talking in my sleep.
"In the forenoon it played forward but then it all ran backward..."
And there was me thinking her subnormal in the IQ department

[twinsrwe]

If Emma did kill Abby and Andrew, I think her motive is clearly stated in her Inquest Testimony, as well as the article in New Bedford Evening Standard, published on Friday, September 2, 1892.

Inquest Testimony of Emma L. Borden; questioned by District Attorney Hosea Knowlton. Page 112:

Q. Were the relations between you and your step mother cordial?
A. I don’t know how to answer that. We always spoke.

Q. That might be, and not be at all cordial.
A. Well, perhaps I should say no then.

Q. Were the relations between your sister Lizzie and your step mother, what you would call cordial?
A. I think more than they were with me.

Q. Somewhat more than they were with you, but not entirely so, you mean perhaps? I do not want to lead you at all. I judged from your answer you mean that, or don’t you mean that? You say somewhat more than your relations were, do you mean they were entirely cordial between your step mother and your sister Lizzie?
A. No.

According to Emma’s testimony, she was not at all cordial in her relationship toward Abby; Lizzie’s relationship with Abby wasn’t much better. This tells me that Emma was probably standoffish; distant and cold in manner.

New Bedford Evening Standard, Friday, September 2, 1892 Page 1 (underlining is mine):

“ANDREW J. BORDEN'S ESTATE.

Miss Emma Appointed Administratrix by the Probate Court.

[Special Dispatch.]
Taunton, Sept. 2. --- A matter of interest in relation to the celebrated Borden case appeared at a session of the Probate Court in this city to-day. On the 5th of August, the day following the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Borden, Emma L. Borden and Lizzie A. Borden appeared before Andrew J. Jennings as justice of the peace and swore that they were the surviving children of Andrew J. Borden, who died on the day previous intestate, and left no widow. They prayed that Emma L. Borden be appointed administratrix of the estate of Andrew J. Borden. On August 30 the bond of Emma L. Borden was approved by the Probate Court. The sureties are Joseph A. Borden, Franklin L. Almy, Jerome C. Borden, Frank S. Stevens and Andrew Borden of Fall River, and the amount is $50,000.

There was no application for administration upon any estate of Mrs. Abby Borden, and it is stated that she left no personal or real estate. "
________________________________________________________________________

New York Sun, 24 September 1893 (Partial article – underlining is mine):

“…. They have taken their father’s estate, which is commonly spoken of as the value of $400,000. It is probably less than that, but is of a nature to increase greatly as time goes on. On August 5, Emma Borden filed a petition with the Clerk of the Probate Court in Taunton and qualified, with a bond of $50,000 to act as administratrix of her father’s estate. The bond filed with the court by Lawyer Wood, as administrator of Mrs. Borden’s estate, was one of $500 only. Miss Emma Borden is now in control of the estate for her own benefit and that of her sister Lizzie. She has not yet filed a schedule of the properties which compose her trust, but must do so within a few weeks, and must thereafter report her operations as administratrix once a year. The cruel and gratuitous insinuation that there may have been a will, and that there was talk of forcing the sister into court again in order to air this supposition, has no basis. If Mr. Borden had made a will, he would have kept it where he kept all his papers, in the vaults of the financial institutions with which he was connected. It was said that he was about to make his first will at the time he was murdered, but that was not brought out on the trial. …..”
________________________________________________________________________

So, what possible motive could Emma have had if she killed Abby and her father?

Money!!!

It’s as if this action was pre-planned by Emma and Lizzie. Why? What was the rush??? I find it hard to believe that this action was one of the first things on Emma and Lizzie’s minds, the day after their father had been brutally murdered!!!

[Abby]

I haven't read it, but I seriously doubt that Emma had a role in the murders. No, she certainly did NOT like her stepmother, and it's always seemed to me that there was some kind of distance between her and her father, but those are hardly grounds for murder! I also doubt whether Emma had the temperament to commit such violent acts. Just my two cents' worth and that's probably all it deserves, lol!

[twinsrwe]

Hello, Abby, welcome to the forum! You have joined the best forum for information and discussions regarding the Borden murders. Enjoy!

I think your two cents worth is right on. I agree, I don't believe Emma had it in her to actually commit the murders, but I do believe that she was an instigator. I think Lizzie's dislike of Abby was instigated by Emma, and Lizzie depended on Emma for guidance in her daily life. Lizzie looked up to Emma as a mother figure. I also agree, that the relationship between Emma and her father was not a close one. Of course, we don't know a lot about Emma since she pretty much stayed out of the limelight.

[debbiediablo]

Hi Abby. Welcome to the forum!