My evening was spent trying to watch some documentaries and a made-for-TV movie starring Elizabeth Montgomery back in the 70s. I say "trying" because I could never get the DVDs to play. . . .I think it was because of some paranormal activity that interfered with the electronics. Around 10pm I go upstairs to read a little before falling asleep. Nothing unusual happens and around midnight I finally turn out the lights. I slept with my door open, but I had earlier moved the doorstop away to change and forgot to replace it. After I had drifted off, I am awakened by the door shutting. . . .I think it no big deal, get out of bed to open it, and noticed a drastic drop in the room's temperature. I go back to sleep but am awakened by the feel of icy, cold fingers on my cheek. I am paralyzed with fear and frozen to the bone by the sub-zero temperature in the room. This was not caused by the draft from the howling winds. . . .as I lie there with chills running up my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight up, I hear a voice in the darkness asking, "why, Lizzie, why. . . .?" It is a man's voice--the voice of Mr. Borden. . . .
Okay, so maybe I'm being a little dramatic. But, I really couldn't get the DVDs to work and I was awakened around midnight with the chills and an "odd" feeling, but I think it really was the wind creeping in through the cracks. My house in Newport is similar, you can feel the cold creeping in through the windows. Overall, it was a boring, quiet night. However, the manager/owner did have some interesting paranormal stories to tell. . . .who, by the way, believes Lizzie did, in fact, commit the murders.

After breakfast I ventured to the cemetary where the whole family is buried--to include Mr. Borden, his first wife, his second wife, Lizzie, her sister Emma, and other extended family members. I'm inclined to believe that she did it, but I don't know enough about the case to say why or what her true motivations were. (without being swayed by the movie that implies she was mentally unstable). Although a violent murder, we have to be careful about imposing our modern sensibilities on a different era. An axe may simply have been the best tool she had available--it does not necessarily imply she was a deranged psychopath.

Here, I am sitting on the couch where Mr. Borden was murdered. The owner told me that people do not like to sit on it, so, of course, I had to. This picture was taken the morning after, but you'll see in the video below that I sat on it the first chance I got once I was left alone.

Unfortunately, this picture does not do the house justice, but this is the house Lizzie and her sister moved into after she was acquitted. What I didn't know was that her father was wealthy, worth about $8 million dollars in today's currency. The house is now privately owned and painted white, but at the time it was a "painted lady", a Victorian house painted in blue and beige. It was simply huge. Lizzie and her sister Emma lived in it after the trial for a few years but Emma eventually moved out. However, this is the home that Lizzie died in when she was in her 60s. I just find it odd that she never left Fall River, though she was shunned the rest of her life. Enjoy the video. . .unfortunately, I have a second video, but it's too large to upload. I'll try to figure something out. . . .