Lizzie Borden Took an Ax

On a scorching-hot summer day in 1892 Fall River, Massachusetts, Lizzie Borden returns to the home she shares with her father Andrew, sister Emma, and stepmother Abby, to encounter the bloody scene of her violently-murdered parents. Police quickly question multiple suspects in town, but evidence keeps pointing to seemingly-wholesome Sunday-school teacher Lizzie, the Bordens' younger daughter, as the prime suspect. Her lawyer, Andrew Jennings, proclaims her innocence, arguing that a woman could never commit the heinous crime of murdering her family with an ax. Lizzie is put on trial for the murders, both in the courtroom and in the press, sparking a widespread debate about her culpability. As the case rages on, the courtroom proceedings fuel an enormous amount of sensationalized stories and headlines in newspapers throughout the country, forever leaving Lizzie Borden's name in notoriety. —Anonymous