Lizzie Borden

American homicide suspect in the brutal murders of her parents after their bodies were found hacked beyond recognition on 8/04/1892, Fall River. Lizzie spent almost a year in jail before her trial, which lasted for 13 days before her acquittal on 6/20/1893. Much of the evidence was inadmissible and there was a general public opinion that an upper class, respectable Christian woman and Sunday school teacher could never have committed an act of such brutality. Borden was two and her sister Emma was 11 when their mother died; their father later remarried a disliked step-mother. With their inheritance, Lizzie and Emma moved out of their home to a bigger one on "the Hill," the wealthier section of Fall River. Despite initial support, the community generally shunned Lizzie for the rest of her life. She often visited Boston and other cities, and made friends with an actress, Nance O'Neil. The sisters lived together in an ostentatious mansion until they experienced a rift over Lizzie's friendship with O'Neil, a relationship which was suspected to be lesbian. In 1905, Emmy moved to her own home in New Hampshire. Lizzie had a history of irrational fits during her menses, which only occurred four times a year. A theory was later proposed that she suffered from temporal epilepsy. She died alone and friendless on the morning of 6/01/1927 in Fall River reportedly from complications of gall bladder surgery. Emma, who had moved away, died 11 days later and the two were buried together in the family plot. Lizzie left the bulk of her fortune to a fund for animals. Link to Wikipedia biography