Inside the Lizzie Borden House: How a 48 Hours Team Spent the Night at the Infamous Crime Scene

More than a century after one of American history's most notorious double homicides, the physical reality of the crime scene continues to raise unsettling questions. In the summer of 2019, a reporting team from the CBS News program "48 Hours," including producers and correspondent Erin Moriarty, traveled to Fall River, Massachusetts. Their objective was to spend the night inside the very house where Andrew Borden and his second wife, Abby Borden, were brutally killed on August 4, 1892.

The victims met violent ends in the middle of the day. Seventy-year-old Andrew Borden and sixty-four-year-old Abby Borden were hacked to death inside the structure, located on Second Street. Suspicion immediately fell upon Andrew's thirty-two-year-old daughter, Lizzie Borden. Investigators focused on Lizzie because she was home at the time of the killings and maintained a notoriously strained relationship with her stepmother.

The nature of the violence suggested that the perpetrator was someone familiar with the couple. Authorities believed a small hatchet discovered in the basement served as the murder weapon. Despite substantial circumstantial evidence pointing toward Lizzie, the legal outcome surprised many observers. Following a high-profile two-week trial in 1893, an all-male jury deliberated for slightly over an hour before acquitting her.

The enduring mystery has cemented the case in popular culture, inspiring numerous books, films, and the famous nursery rhyme claiming Lizzie struck her parents dozens of times. While historical record corrects the myth—noting the weapon was not technically an ax and Abby was stabbed fewer than a dozen times—the brutality of the event still resonates. The true-crime fascination continues to expand, with projects like Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's Netflix anthology series exploring the narrative.

Today, the structure has been preserved and operates as the Lizzie Borden House and Museum. Functioning also as a bed and breakfast, the 180-year-old green-frame building welcomes guests willing to stay among macabre decor, which includes actual black-and-white crime scene photographs showing Abby Borden's body on the upper-floor bedroom floor.

During their 2019 visit, the "48 Hours" team walked through the cramped rooms, noting physical layouts that cast doubt on statements Lizzie made to investigators. Lizzie claimed she was on the first floor when the attack occurred and heard nothing. However, the residence features thin walls and floors, with the dining room situated directly beneath Abby's bedroom. Observers noted it seems highly improbable that the victim would not have cried out, or that Lizzie would have heard nothing during the assault.

The compact dimensions of the home also generate logistical questions regarding how the crimes were executed. Investigators then and now wondered how an assailant could commit such violent acts without leaving an extensive blood trail or severe spatter, or how Lizzie could have cleaned up and changed clothes so rapidly without traces remaining, especially given testimony suggesting a dress may have been destroyed.

When bedtime arrived, members of the crew retired to separate spaces. The reporter settled into the second-floor front bedroom where Abby's body had been found, choosing to sleep in running gear in case a hasty exit became necessary. Despite the current owners' suggestions that the property is haunted, the night passed uneventfully, with uninterrupted sleep through the morning.

Reflecting on the historical investigation, modern observers emphasize how rudimentary forensic science was in 1892. Contemporary investigators would immediately secure the perimeter and utilize advanced techniques to detect microscopic traces of blood on clothing or skin. Analysts suggest that modern juries might evaluate the evidence and the defendant through a very different lens compared to the twelve nineteenth-century male jurors who found it difficult to believe an affluent, educated single woman could commit such acts.