Innocent or guilty?
by Maxine
On June 20 in 1893, the verdict was announced in the trial of Lizzie Borden who was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an ax. It was the first murder trial to be covered by the national media. All the evidence against Lizzie was circumstantial since no one had actually witnessed the murder and no weapon was found. All that could be proven was that Lizzie had been at the house at the time of the murder, had a lot of money to gain and that she had recently bought poison at a local pharmacy.
Lizzie was found innocent and no one else was ever tried for the murder. Even though the New York Times wrote that the trial had been cruel and unjust, there were many other writers of articles and books who still accused her of the murder and the trial has become an icon for sensationalized crime coverage to this day.
Blog Post