Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I'm just re-reading "A Private Discrace" and on page 79 (of the re-issued 1986 paperback version) it says

"Then someone saw the wooden shutters to the guest room closed; several other neighbours noticed this, too, later in the morning, for they had never seen those shutters closed by day before"

This was observed around 9 o'clock. Now here are my questions, can anyone point me in the right direction where these statements from neighbours were made? and if it is true that the shutters were shut, were they open when Abby's body was found? or is this pure fabrication on Victoria Lincoln's part?

Many thanks Aaron

Some of the shutters were shut when the first people entered the guest room to find Abby's body. It's said that it was sort of dark in there. Try word search "shutter", or "shade" or "dark" in testimony. (You may be better at word search than I).

As to whether they were never shut, I'd think that was an exaggeration- a person shuts up a rarely used room or a nicely decorated room to keep it clean and to keep out the dust.
Apparently Second Street was pretty dusty, as the girls clothes press had things stuffed around the window and a dust-cover over their dresses, and that was one room away from the guest room.
With Emma away, Lizzie might have visitors/friends come to their bedroom and thus the guest room might have been kept closed.

If you want some skivvy that is still questionable and debateable- see the Trickey/McHenry story- which gives probably false info on what the neighbors and street standers "saw."

In the Privy:
viewtopic.php?t=36

Then come back and tell us what you think. We have a member, Gramma, who believes there is some truth to this "story" if we read between the lines- but we don't know what exactly to look for!

I do remember seeing in a documentary the narrator saying a witness saw the shutters being shut in the guest room about the time Abby is supposed to have died. It might have been that one called "The Country Lawyer", where this guy hosted it and read a poem. It's about 15 years old and aired on the Discovery Channel, I think.

The show could have very well gotten their info from Lincoln's book.

I remember it made me feel creepy to hear that. But since I've really gotten in to the case these past years, I have not found anything to substantiate the claim.

Second Street was a real busy and very noisy street. I doubt that anyone was looking up at those guest room shutters at that moment. That would be important testimony, if it were true. But I haven't run into it yet.

Well, if that guest room was as dark as its made out to be, I would imagine Abby must have opened the shutters slightly to let in some light to do her work in there, possibly the window closest to the bed? And someone must have closed them again at some point, possible during the murder of Abby, maybe even after, wouldn't the killer need enough light to see what they were doing as they struck at Abby's head?

I found this in Robinson's closing plea:

"Besides, you remember the testimony of Dr. Bown and Mr. Manning and some others---it is not necessary to state them---that the upper hall was dark when they went up there, and that the guest chamber was dark.

You remember that in the guest chamber there are these tight board shutters, not open blinds like this court room, but tight board shutters that shut up. And you know the New England housewife does not like to have her carpet fade, and the more they live in the old style the more careful they are. I remember with some reflections about my old mother, how she looked after the carpets and the boys, that they didn't get the light in. The boys wanted to live out in the sunlight; she didn't want her carpets there. And so the natural thing in that room in the Borden house was to keep the shutters shut, those tight shutters. And the doctor says, they all of them say, that when they went in it was dark and they had to open them so they could see something."

So, if Abby was killed around 9am (just supposing) she would have had to have opened those shutters, otherwise the room would have been entirely dark with shutters like that, wouldn't it?, there were no electric light switches then were there? and I wouldn't think she would have used a lamp when she could have gotten her light from the window. I was wondering also, if someone enters that room and another person is standing where Abby fell to the ground, wouldn't they catch movement from the corner of there eye if they were standing sideways? if she had her back to the door and was looking at the dresser, she's in the wrong position to be whacked from behind and fall down in that position isn't she? or she was possibly kneeling down, tucking in the sheet when the attacker struck? are those wooden shutters still in the house today? and if so has anyone experimented with how dark the room is at that time of the morning, and what can you see from the stairs to under the bed?

I will look for more shutter info.
But remember, Morse was in there that morning and he gets up early. If it were me, I'd open the shutters (inside shutters) to see the weather. Abby may have closed them when she was almost through fixing the bed. (Where Are The Sheets!?)

Trial
Dr. Bowen
319
Q. I understand you to say that when you first saw her, after you got to the upper landing, by looking over the bed, the room appeared to be dark?
A. Not very light.

Q. Do you recall that you made any observation about the shutters?
A. I don't remember about the shutters on the west side.

Q. That is the street side?
A. The street side, yes, sir. The inside shutters were partly closed on the north side.

Q. That is toward Mrs. Churchill's?
A. Yes, sir.

Page 320

Q. They were partly closed?
A. The inside shutters, I think, were.

Q. And there is only one window there, I believe, on that side?
A. No, sir; I think not.

Q. And that window is a window which is near the end of the bureau as it then stood?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. And when you speak of the shutters, I suppose there is no doubt that these shutters were the board shutters. They were not shutters like these in the court room, made of blinds, but they were board shutters?
A. Board shutters; yes, sir.

Page 321

Q. The inquiry is made upon the other side as to what you said about the shutters on the west side of the room, the street side of the room?
A. I don't know, I don't remember about that.

Q. Your answer was in reference to the south window or the window which is towards Mrs. Churchill's and the window at the end of the bureau is that, the shutters of that window were partly closed?
A. Yes, sir --- the north window instead of the south.

Q. Yes, the north window; thank you. And are you able to recall now whether there is a shutter in the top part or the lower part that was open?
A. I think they were both thrown together loosely; shutters that fold that same as these do, only they were made of board, solid.

Q. Was there not an upper and under shutter?
A. Yes, sir.

--It sounds as if the shutters were inside, were solid board rather than what we might call "louvered" and that they were fixed at the bottom and seperately at the top, like a "Dutch Door."
Bowen thinks the north shutters were closed "loosely" which darkened the room, or at least make it "not very light."

We must keep in mind, too, that in the morning, the guest room is in the corner of the house (northwest) that is getting no direct sunlight at all. The sun is in the southeast in the morning.

By the time Abby's body is discovered, the sun is probably still not shining into the front windows although it soon will be. By later in the afternoon the room will be getting direct sunlight.

This, of course, doesn't make a huge difference, but with the board shutters mostly shut, it will be darker in that room earlier in the morning and somewhat lighter when you might get more direct sunlight shining into the cracks.

Kat @ Wed Dec 08, 2004 10:20 pm wrote:(Where Are The Sheets!?)

I thought by the look of the crime scene photo of Abby that the bed had a sheet on it? what is that on the bed? whatever it was could she not have knelt down to tuck it under the mattrise and then been struck? i'm seeing some weird ghostly shape on the bed, not the person to the right, but smack bang in the middle, like a flo nightingale kinda figure I think I need a break!

Yes the bed is made but goofy Morse has slept in those sheets and he didn't use the convenience nor did he bring a change of clothing. If Lizzie made the bed (or Morse for that matter) -it's possible they didn't change the sheets.
If Abby took care of the bedding, you can bet she changed the sheets unless she knew Morse was coming back for another nights stay? We've been wondering why the sheets weren't in the laundry, and why we hadn't heard of their disposal into the cellar wash room by Abby...