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.He also wanted todetermine the time of death, based on the degree to which the food theyate at breakfast had been digested.The information would tell him whowas killed first and the amount of time that had elapsed between thetwo killings.The police continued questioning Lizzie.They asked her if there wereany axes in the house.She had Sullivan take the officers down to thecellar.They found four axes in a box near the furnace.One hatchethad the handle broken off and the blade was covered with ash.Policethought the handle had been snapped off and the remaining head wasthe murder weapon.Sullivan also took the police through the house as they searched it,locking doors as she went.The previous summer someone had enteredthe house in broad daylight, stole a watch and other valuables, andescaped without being seen.Emma, Lizzie, and Sullivan were home atthe time.The barn was broken into less than a year later.Every doorto the house was kept locked after the first break-in. 30 Cold Cases: Famous Unsolved Mysteries, Crimes, and Disappearances in AmericaPolice saw no signs of an intruder, and they were puzzled by theabsence of blood around the bodies.While looking around the property,they noticed that workmen were calmly working on the other side of thefences around the Borden home.One man was standing in one directionsawing wood and two other men in work clothes were facing anotherdirection.They clearly had not seen or heard anything; they were noteven aware that a double murder had been committed and that twobodies had just been discovered.About 20 minutes after the bodies were found, John Morse returnedto the Borden home for lunch, unaware of the events that had unfoldedin his absence.He walked to the backyard to pick some pears and atepart of one.Sullivan was standing at the back door when he enteredthe house.She told him that Mr.and Mrs.Borden had been murdered.Morse opened the sitting room door and saw doctors and the policeinside.He walked in and glanced at Andrew s body, and then he wentupstairs to see Abby s in the very guestroom in which he had slept thenight before.WORD OF THE DOUBLE MURDER SPREADSBy this time, news of the double murder had started to spread.Curi-osity seekers began arriving at Second Street and congregating outsidethe Borden house.They were soon joined by reporters from morningnewspapers from Boston and the New York Times.Telegraph opera-tors were kept busy transmitting stories.A police officer was stationedat the residence s front door, another at the back door, and a thirdwas dispatched to keep the crowd at bay and the street clear in front ofthe house.The bodies of the two victims were still lying on the dining roomtable at 7 PM when Emma returned from visiting overnight in Fairhaven.Sullivan went to sleep at a neighbor s home, and Russell stayed in thehouse with Lizzie, Emma, and John Morse.Sullivan returned to thehouse the next morning, but she packed up her things two days afterthe murder and never returned.The day after the double slaying, the Borden family offered a $5,000reward to anyone who helped find the murderer(s) and secure a convic-tion.In the meantime, police searched for but did not find a note from asick friend asking Abby to visit.Lizzie said that Mrs.Borden tore it upafter reading it and burned it.Bits of charred paper were found in thestove, but police couldn t determine if it was that note.Nobody knew Bloody Murder: The Death of Abby and Andrew Borden (1892) 31who had sent the message, and no one stepped forward despite theensuing publicity.Then came what police believed was a break in the case.AtD.R.Smith s Drug Store, clerk Eli Bence said that Lizzie had beenin the store within 36 hours before the double slaying and had askedto purchase prussic acid, but he refused to sell it to her without a pre-scription.He didn t know her by name, but he positively identifiedher when police officers brought him to the Borden house and hesaw her there.Lizzie denied that she had been to the drugstore, butinvestigators were suspicious.The bodies of Abby and Andrew Borden remained in the family din-ing room until they were buried on August 6, 1892, in a private cer-emony at Oak Grove Cemetery.They were laid to rest in two plainblack caskets.An ivy wreath was placed beside Andrew s body, and abouquet of white roses and fern leaves tied with a white satin ribbonwas placed next to Abby.About 75 people attended the service in thehouse, which consisted of readings from the Scriptures and prayers.About 3,000 to 4,000 people gathered in front of the house at about11 AM for the funeral, and 20 police officers kept order
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