Finding Abby’s body

[AgathaBasset]

I am confused about something. (Currently making my way through the Jennings Journals)
I have read two accounts of how Abby’s body was found. One account says Lizzie told people with her, “I think I heard Mrs. Borden come in, would you go look for her?” Prompting a hesitant Bridget and Mrs. Churchill to go half up the stairs, see the body, and run back down telling the doctors and police present, who then go up and look at her.
The other account, from Officer Patrick Doherty, states that “Dr. Bowen had an unaccountable notion to go upstairs” and he found her, thinking at first she had had a heart attack. There is also a picture of the full bed with the notation that it was too low for anyone to see the body from the staircase.
This is important because the first account really looks bad for Lizzie, the second not so much.
Any idea which is true?

[camgarsky4]

Hi! Below are excerpts from the Inquest transcripts. A copy can be found in the Primary Sources section on the Lizzie Borden Virtual Library website.

Mrs. Churchill Inquest Testimony. Page 129 (36).
She testifies that Lizzie asked for someone to look for Abby upstairs. Churchill and Bridget went up together as you describe. Churchill also testified that she (Churchill) told Dr. Bowen to go up to the guest room.

Dr. Bowen inquest testimony. Page 118 (25).
He testified that upon returning to the Borden house after sending Emma a telegram, Churchill told him they had found Abby and to go upstairs. Bowen went up and confirmed she was dead.

I seem to have misplaced my copy of Jennings Journals, but I presume that is where you found reference to Doherty's comments? Was the quote from a newspaper article or testimony?

One interesting question to answer is why Bridget and Mrs. Churchill went up the front stairway when Lizzie asked them to search 'upstairs'. Most of us think the answer is that both ladies had already gone up the back stairs to Abby's bedroom to fetch sheets to cover AJB. So they knew Abby wasn't up those stairs.

[AgathaBasset]

Hi!
Thanks for the response. The description from Officer Doherty is in the Jennings Journals, not from the newspaper but Jennings notes about what Patrick Doherty said. But it could be that he didn’t know about Mrs. Churchill talking to Dr. Bowen and that is where his “unaccountable notion” comes from…he didn’t know why Bowen went upstairs. Still not sure about the bed. The picture that I saw it’s true you couldn’t see under it, but I am wondering if it was taken too close….if you were further away from it maybe you could see something. Not sure why Bridget or Mrs. Churchill would lie about that.

[camgarsky4]

Exactly, Mrs. Churchill had no skin in the game. Doherty wasn't even there, so he would be relating what he thought he heard from others. Very much third hand and directly contradicted under oath by the people who were involved.

Not seeing under the bed doesn't feel that important to me. If Churchill and Bridget had gone all the way up to the guest room, they would have seen the body. Doesn't really make much difference if they saw it under bed or just plain view.

I don't hold much stock in the idea that Lizzie would have seen the body if Churchill/Bridget did. If she was walking up the stairs with a purpose in mind, why would she be focusing her eyes on something seen thru a sliver of open space under the bed.

[Marchesk]

I don't hold much stock in the idea that Lizzie would have seen the body if Churchill/Bridget did. If she was walking up the stairs with a purpose in mind, why would she be focusing her eyes on something seen thru a sliver of open space under the bed.

That and Lizzie probably already knowing the body was there. But why did Lizzie ask Bridget and Mrs. Churchill to go looking for her? That always seemed odd to me, unless Lizzie had a reason for someone else to find the body. If Lizzie committed the murders, she didn't mind "finding" her father.

[camgarsky4]

I suspect Lizzie had a strong need to control her environment and unresolved 'issues' didn't sit well for her. Abby needed to be found to keep the 'play' moving forward.

Viewed in isolation, a number of Lizzie's thoughts and actions that day don't make a lot of sense. But in total, to me they identify a person who is in a state of internal frenzy fueled by a blend of euphoria, anxiety, finality, and a tinge of shock and disgust that "it" really happened. My core belief is that Lizzie had a relatively scripted Plan for that day, but the combination of no prussic acid and Morse's unanticipated return for lunch forced Lizzie to completely act 'on the fly'. Thus the silly note story, a pretty weak alibi, and other things that seem like flaws to us, master criminals, 130 years later.

[Marchesk]

My core belief is that Lizzie had a relatively scripted Plan for that day, but the combination of no prussic acid and Morse's unanticipated return for lunch forced Lizzie to completely act 'on the fly'. Thus the silly note story, a pretty weak alibi, and other things that seem like flaws to us, master criminals, 130 years later.

That makes a lot of sense. Sort of reminds me of the JonBenet Ramsey case in terms of what looks like acting on the fly.

What do you think Lizzie's scripted plan was for the day?