Case file · Superior Court, Bristol County (sitting at New Bedford), Massachusetts, United States

Lizzie Andrew Borden: charges, verdict and sentence

Lizzie Borden was arrested in Fall River, Massachusetts, in August 1892 and indicted by a Bristol County grand jury on murder charges arising from the deaths of her father and stepmother. A jury in New Bedford acquitted her on 20 June 1893.

Charges and outcomes

Sentence

None. She was acquitted.

Court record, stage by stage

1. 9 August 1892
   indictmentClosed inquest held from 9 to 11 August 1892¹

   Fall River inquest
2. 11 August 1892
   arrestArrested by the Fall River city marshal^1,2
3. 12 August 1892
   indictmentEntered a plea of not guilty and was held at the jail in Taunton¹

   Fall River District Court
4. 22 August 1892
   indictmentAt a preliminary hearing on 22 and 23 August, Judge Josiah Blaisdell found probable cause to hold her for trial¹

   Fall River District Court
5. 2 December 1892
   indictmentIndicted for murder by a Bristol County grand jury empanelled on 7 November 1892²

   Bristol County grand jury
6. 5 June 1893
   trialJury trial opened at the New Bedford courthouse^1,2

   Superior Court, New Bedford
7. 20 June 1893
   verdictAll male jury returned a verdict of not guilty^1,2

   Superior Court, New Bedford
8. 1 June 1927
   deathDied at age 67¹

Sources

1. Famous Trials, Professor Douglas O. Linder, UMKC School of Law, The Trial of Lizzie Borden: A Chronology
2. ABA Journal, Dec. 2, 1892: Grand jury indicts Lizzie Borden

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