Who Was “Todd Lunday”?

The Fall River Historical Society (FRHS) is to reveal who the real “Todd Lunday” was in its new book:  Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and Her Fall River.

Here’s a “teaser” from their site:

“Todd Lunday, the pen name for . . .

Portrait of _______ (1858-1923)

The “Mystery” will soon be “Unveiled” . . .

“Since 1893, the true identity of Todd Lunday, the author of The Mystery Unveiled:—The Truth About the Borden Tragedy, has been just that; a mystery!

Countless researchers, historians, and Borden afficionados have searched extensively, but to no avail.  Now, for the first time, the identity of Todd Lunday will be “unveiled.”

This book was first published by J. A. & R. A. Reid, Providence, Rhode Island in 1893.  It was re-printed in facsimile form in 1989 with a one page Foreward by Robert A. Flynn, King Philip Publishing Co. and limited to 1,000 copies.   In the Foreward, Mr. Flynn wrote:   (Click on image for larger view.)

In the “teaser” by the FRHS, (shown under the blank portrait frame) are what would be the birth and death years of the true author:  1858-1923. This means the author was 35 years old when the 56-page book was published,  and 65 years old when he died in 1923, four years previous to Lizzie’s own death.

By process of elimination we can now discard some of those previously thought by Bordenia scholars as the identity of “Todd Lunday”.  These are in no particular order.

1849-1930:  Albert Enoch Pillsbury, Mass. Attorney General at time of Trial.  Reluctant to personally prosecute this capital case, he was an anti-feminist undistinguished as Attorney General.

1861-1920:  Dr John William Coughlin, Mayor of Fall River at time of murders.

1864-1904:  Edwin H. Porter, police reporter for Fall River Globe, wrote The Fall River Tragedy: A History of the Borden Murders published in 1893.

1846-1923:  Leontine Lincoln, FR banker, President of Kilburn, Lincoln & Co.,  and grandfather of author Victoria Lincoln (A Private Disgrace, Lizzie Borden by Daylight).

1847-1902:  Hosea Morrill Knowlton, District Attorney who prosecuted Lizzie.

1863-Unknown:  Professor John Henry Wigmore, lifelong professor of Law at Northwestern University, he wrote critical essays on the Borden charge to the jury.

1853-1917:  William Henry Moody, assisted Knowlton;  subsequently became U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

1846-1905:  Edward Stickney Wood, Harvard medical doctor who testified as to no poison found in the stomachs, blood evidence, etc. at the Trial.

Unknown-1918:  James Dennan O’Neil, Managing Editor of the Fall River Globe (and my previous personal favorite).

1858-1922:  Dr. William Andrew Dolan, FR Medical Examiner – my second personal favorite.   (The dates are the closest and Dolan *did* have that quality of sarcasm, but unless the FRHS death year is wrong, he’s also not in the running).*

1848-1916: John Fleet, FRPD Inspector and later Chief of Police, early on suspected Lizzie.

1859-1893:  Philip Harrington, FRPD officer who also suspected her in the beginning of the investigations.

1853-1917:  William H. Medley, FRDP officer and later Chief of Police. His confusion in trial testimony did not deter him from future promotions.  (Note the same birth and death years as William Moody)

1849-1912:  Rufus Bartlett Hilliard (City Marshal 1886-1909)

1849-1923:  Andrew Jackson Jennings (Lizzie’s family attorney – no joke, I know people who believe it was him!)

I suspect the true author will turn out to be someone whose true name has not appeared in the better books on the case, i.e., The Knowlton Papers, Lizzie Borden Past & Present, but one who had a legal, medical or law enforcement background – or a combination of the three.  It will also be someone who had a firm grasp of the case and a caustic sense of humor.

*The FRHS could have gotten the date(s)  wrong, as they did with Mary Doolan, “the Kelly maid”, listed in The Knowlton Papers, p428, as being born in 1893 and died 1896.

P.S.  I have this book in digital format.  If you’d like to read it, send me an email. phaye@npgcable.com

LIZZIE’S ARREST RECORD BOOK

Fall River Police Chief John M. Souza

On the wall of the Administrative offices at the Fall River Police Department are these photographs of the past City Marshal’s and Police Chiefs.

• Rufus B Hillard – City Marshal – 1886-1909 (top left)
  

• John Fleet – City Marshal – 1909-1915 (bottom left)
  

• (Change from City Marshal to Chief of Police)

• William Medley – Chief of Police – 1915-1917 (center)
  

• Martin Feeney – Chief of Police – 1917-1931 (top right)
  

• Abel Violette – Chief of Police – 1931-1946 (bottom right)
  source: http://www.frpd.org/history.htm

Four of the five were involved in the Lizzie Borden case and had been in her house. Lizzie damn near outlived them all.

On November 14, 2000, through the courtesy of then Lt. Charles Cullen of the Fall River Police Department, I was allowed access to the police records books of the mid 1880’s through the early 1900’s. They were under the control and possession of Administration Lt. (now Deputy Chief) Cathleen Moniz.

When I arrived she had them laid out on her desk along with “all the remaining documents we have on the Lizzie Borden case”, which was miniscule at best. She was kind enough to let me handle, research and photograph these important ledger books. Lt. Cullen had also arranged for me a tour of the new police facilities (completed in March of 1997) which included their huge evidence room. High on a shelf was the camera long thought to have been “the” camera which photographer James Walsh took of Andrew and Abby – the crime scene photos – both just prior to and after the initial autopsies done at 92 Second Street around 4:00 pm, August 4, 1892. As has been learned, while the camera in possession of the FRPD is indeed a police photographer’s camera very similar to that one used on August 4th, it is not the camera, but one donated by a family member of a deceased police photographer.

In March of 2007, I contacted Deputy Chief Moniz once again and asked if she could arrange for the Arrest Record Book be brought out again so as to show to my friend, Shelley Dziedzic. Again, Deputy Chief Moniz had them laid out and allowed us to take pictures. She even gratiously took a photo of Shelley and me with the book.

Unexpectedly, having heard of our visit and plans to do a Lizzie Borden Conference, Police Chief John M. Souza, Fall River Police Chief since 2000, came into the room and spent an hour discussing the Borden case with us as well as other high profile murder cases. We delighted in his conversation regarding police forensic investigations as contrasted in the Borden case of 1892, to modern police forensic techniques used today. He instructed Deputy Chief Moniz to take us down to the “vault” where “historical” police records are stored. (For security reasons, I’ll refrain from describing the room or it’s safeguards.) While there it was interesting to learn that most all of the historic police files were lost in flood damage and, where the Borden case is concerned, also due to pilferage decades ago. Now the Department has rigid policies and procedures to protect and preserve case documents.

Lizzie’s arrest entry

Subsequent to the Preliminary Hearing of probable guilt, the entry of “Prob.” was handwritten over the standard “Guilty” column.

Jose Corriero murdered Bertha Manchester in Fall River with an axe on May 30, 1893. The papers reported this other hatchet murder the following day prior to the Borden Trial jury being sequestered. On June 3rd, 19 year old Jose was arrested and booked. (Note different spellings of his name. I took note of the fact he was born on January 8th, same as me.) The year of his birth is recorded as 1874, which would make him 19 on June 3, 1893, but the ledger shows age 18.

That a suspect was in custody was not known to the jury as they had been sequestered by the time it was reported in the papers, which they were not allowed to read. Thus, in the minds of these mostly farmer jurors, a hatchet yielding maniac was still on the loose and could have been – by golly – the same one that murdered old Andrew and Abby.

Tags: chief john souza, fall river police department

Lizzie Borden and the Month of June

Partial extracts from my historic timeline for the month of June follows.    It helps one gain a perspective on what influenced Lizzie Borden and the world she lived in.   Well, sort of.  One can also watch old films like Pollyanna to get a peek into the mores, customs, societal hierachy of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Speaking of Pollyanna, I watched it the other day and was particularly struck by its accurate depiction of the power the founding families had within their communities, including the Church.  Just as Polly Harrington (Jane Wyman)  dictated what her church minister (Karl Malden) would trumpet from the pulpit, made me wonder if the Bordens and Durfees influenced what their ministers would speak on for the Sunday sermons at the Central Congregational Church.

June 20, 1635	John Borden, wife, and two children set sail for America.
June 9, 1772	First naval battle of the Revolutionary War, British customs schooner Gaspee is burned off Rhode Island.

June 17, 1775

Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston.

June 18, 1804	Name of “Fallriver” changed to “Troy”
June 2, 1832	Caleb Blodgett (later Judge at Borden Trial) is born in Dorchester, New Hampshire.
June 12, 1836	Justin Dewey, later Judge at Borden Trial, is born.
June 26, 1838	Mary Augusta Demarest is born in NYC; later writes “My Ain Countrie”.
June 9, 1861	John W. Coughlin born; later three-term Mayor of Fall River.
June 19, 1863	Earl P. Charlton born in Chester, Conn.  (Later becomes richest man in Fall River).
June 9, 1863	Ricca Allen is born in Canada, later friend of Nance O’Neil and Lizzie Borden.
June 6, 1865	Andrew Borden, 43, marries Abby Durfee Gray, 37, (43 days before Lizzie’s 5th birthday).  Emma is 16.
June 16, 1867	Helen Leighton born in Millbridge, Maine.
June 28, 1870	Jerome C. Borden marries Emma Tetlow. (Did 10 yr old Lizzie go to wedding?)
June 19, 1874	Andrew has running water installed in the Second Street house with service from city.
June 25, 1876	General Custer and entire regiment killed at “Battle of the Little Big Horn.”
June 29, 1876	Mill #2 of the American Linen Company, foot of Ferry St., suffered fire damage in the two upper stories.
June, 1879	Spinner’s strike, major summer long strike of mill workers.
June 11, 1885	William Almy dies in Fall River.
June 17, 1885	The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, arrives in the U.S.
June 2, 1886	President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in Blue Room of the White House.
June 15, 1887	Dedication of BMC Durfee High School.  William Lambert is first principal.
June 4, 1890	Lizzie signs her passport application for Grand Tour to Europe.
June 16, 1890	The first Madison Square Garden, designed by McKim, Mead & White, opens in New York City.
June 21, 1890	Lizzie sails on S.S. Scythia from Boston to Liverpool, England, embarking on 19 week long “Grand Tour”.
June 24, 1891	Daylight “robbery” at the Bordens.      (KP74)
May/June 1892	Andrew kills pigeons roosting in the barn.  Morse visits end of June.
June 30, 1892	Morse spends one day at Bordens; takes Butcher Davis’ daughter & Emma for a ride.            (CI 96)
June 1, 1893	Grace Hartley graduates from Fall River High School.      (FRHN 3/21/2004)
June 3, 1893	Jose Correiro arrested in Manchester case. (Jury is sequestered and does not learn of this arrest.)
June 3, 1893	Lizzie transfers to New Bedford Jail on Ash Street.
June 5-20, 1893	THE TRIAL OF LIZZIE BORDEN
June 1893	Grace Hartley graduates from Fall River High School.      (FRHN 3/21/2004)
June 5, 1893Monday	Court convened at 11:28 am.  111 questioned before the 12 jurymen are were selected.  Charles I. Richards chosen as jury Foreman.
June 6, 1893 Tuesday	Indictment is read; William Moody opens for the Prosecution.  Lizzie faints and is revived.
June 6, 1893 Tuesday	Civil Engr. Thomas Kieran called, gives measurements, testifies a man could have hid in front entry closet.

June 6, 1893 Tuesday	Jurors travel to Fall River; visit Kelly’s house, Wade’s store, Crowe’s stone yard, Chagnon’s house, Kirby’s yard, Alice Russell’s house, Gorman’s store, Clegg’s store and banks.  Tour finished at 4:00 pm.
June 6, 1893Tuesday	Jurors taken to Mellen House, Franklin & North Main Street where they spend the night.
June 7, 1893 Wednesday	James A. Walsh, photographer testifies as to the accuracy of the pictures he had made of the victims and the house on the day of the killing.
June 7, 1893 Wednesday	John Vinnicum Morse examination conducted by Moody, not different from that as in the Preliminary Hearing.  Lizzie smiled as her uncle tried to calculate her age and shook her head vigorously when he stated she was “33.”   (She was only 6 weeks shy of 33),
June 7, 1893 Wednesday	Abraham G. Hart, Treasurer of Union Savings Bank, testifies as to Borden’s movements on morning of the 8/4.
June 7, 1893	Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, dies.  Had home in Middletown, RI.
June 9,  893Friday	John Minnehan, patrolman assigned to follow John Morse on August 5, 1892, dies at age 48 in Fall River.
June 12, 1893 Monday	Lizzie’s Inquest Testimony ruled inadmissible.
June 13, 1893 Tuesday	AG Pillsbury arrives by train from Boston, consults with Knowlton & Moody & returns same evening.
June 14, 1893 Wednesday	John T. Burrill, Cashier of  Union National Bank, Everett M. Cook, Cashier of the First National Bank, Jonathan Clegg, a hat dealer, Joseph Shortsleeves, a carpenter, and John Maher, a carpenter give testimony as to Andrew’s movements August 4th.
June 14, 1893	Judges ruling excludes Eli Bence’s prussic acid testimony .
June 14, 1893	At Knowlton’s request during Dr. Draper’s testimony, Dr. Dolan brings in the skulls of Andrew & Abby. Lizzie is allowed to retire from the courtroom.                                (TT1046)
June 14, 1893 Wednesday	9th Day: C. C. Potter’s son (Freddy) finds hatchet w/gilt on roof of Crowe’s barn.  Carpenter Carl McDonnel claims it is his hatchet; prussic acid testimony (Eli Bence) ruled inadmissible.
June 15, 1893	FR Evening News reports hatchet found on roof of John Crowe’s barn.                           ( FREN18)
June 15, 1893 Wednesday	Opening statements by Defense are given by Andrew Jennings.
June 16, 1893 Wednesday	Emma Borden testifies.
June 16, 1893	Governor Robinson reads from Bridget’s Inquest Testimony (a missing document)                (TT)
June 17, 1893	Carpenter McDonald claims Crowe’s roof hatchet is his.   (FRHN)
June 18, 1893	Carrie Poole, Lizzie’s friend residing 20 Madison Street, New Bedford, dies.
June 19, 1893 Wednesday	Governor Robinson gives closing arguments; Knowlton begins his closing.
June 20, 1893 3:24 pm	13th Day: The Jury retires to deliberate.
4:32 pm	Lizzie Borden pronounced “Not Guilty” at 4:35 pm.                                         (TT1928)
8:15 pm	Lizzie & Emma arrive by coach w/Mrs. Holmes at 67 Pine St. in FR; small reception follows.  Lizzie spends night there.  Large crowd gathered at 92 Second St.                             (CaseBook228)
June 22, 1893	Reupholstered sofa is delivered back to the house on Second Street.                                                                         (LR1111-112)
June 23, 1893	Lizzie visits the Wm. Covel’s in Newport, RI, has classic picture of her “standing behind the chair” taken.
June 23, 1893	Morse attempts to get mileage reimbursement from Iowa to New Bedford from Co. Treasurer.                                                (FRHN)
June 27, 1893	Lizzie & Emma go to Taunton to visit Sheriff Wright’s wife.
June 4, 1900	Mary Howe (Baker) is born, daughter of Grace and Louis Howe.
June 5, 1905	Newspaper article states Lizzie writing play for Nance O’Neil.                      (Spiering p208)
June 5, 1905	Boston Globe reports Emma moving out of “Maplecroft”.
June 21, 1905	Bridget Sullivan marries John M. Sullivan in Anaconda, MT.
June 2, 1906	Emma Borden departs on White Star liner RMS Cymric, departing from Boston for Queenstown & Liverpool, enroute to Scotland.
June 30, 1908	Lizzie writes to Asst. Supt R. I. Hospital re her maid Hannah B. Nelson.                                             (Gateway Mag. Summer 1997)
June 15, 1909	Marshal Hilliard retires.
June 19, 1911	Opening Day of Fall River’s Cotton Centennial
June 23, 1911	President Howard Taft arrives in Fall River for Cotton Centennial celebration.
June 10, 1912	Grisly axe murders of 2 adults and 6 children, all while they sleep, in Villisca, Iowa.
June 25, 1914	Animal Rescue League of Fall River established as a corporation (Later becomes Faxon Animal Rescue League).
June 29, 1914	Austrian Prince, Archduke Ferdinand shot by Serbian assassin, in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, leading to World War I.
June 28, 1915	Patrick Doherty (Captain, FRPD) dies in Fall River, Mass.
June 15, 1918	Lizzie and Emma sell 230 Second St. (changed from #92)  to John W. Dunn.              (LR557)
June 19, 1919	Naval Fighting Ship commissioned “Moody” launched. William H. Moody’s sister, Mary E. Moody, sponsored the ship.
June 22, 1922	Emma Borden signs the Codicil to her Will.
June 1, 1923	Leontine Lincoln dies. (Grandfather of Victoria Lincoln and a founder of Fall River Historical Society).
June 1, 1927	Lizzie Andrew Borden dies of heart failure at 8:30 pm at her home “Maplecroft” in (59 days short of her 67th birthday).
June 4, 1927	Nance O’Neil’s interview about Lizzie appears in New Bedford Standard.
June 7, 1927	Lizzie’s Will is filed in Taunton Probate Court.
June 10, 1927	Emma Borden dies in Newmarket, New Hampshire at age 76.
June 12, 1927	Helen Leighton interview saying Lizzie was bitterly unhappy, suffered from depression.                                                  ( FRHN)
June 13, 1927	Emma Borden is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery.
June 30, 1927	Emma’s Will is filed in Taunton Probate Court.
June 3, 1939	Arthur Sherman Phillips writes to son of Defense Attorney Robinson asking to be forwarded Lizzie’s answers to the questions he posed her back in 1892.
June 23-27, 1936	Grace Hartley Howe attends Democratic Nat’l Convention in Philadelphia as a Delegate At-large.
June 14, 1955	Grace Hartley Howe, Lizzie’s cousin and legatee, dies at the age of 80 in Fall River.         (FRHN)
June 1, 1961	Adelaide Churchill home destroyed by fire.              (LR44)
June 13, 1981	Author Victoria Lincoln Lowe dies at age 76.  Her body given to Science at John Hopkins University.
June 22, 1994	Josephine Vohnoutka McGinn (wife of John) dies in Fall River.
June 1, 2001	Jules Ryckebusch retires from Bristol Community College and names Gabriela Schalow Adler Publisher of The Lizzie Borden Quarterly.
June 2, 2004	Robert Dube files for variance to convert garage to single family residence on Maplecroft property.
June 7, 2004	FR Herald News reports 92 Second Street purchased by Donald Woods of Portsmouth, RI.; says he will tear down “Leary Press”, increase parking & rebuild the barn.
June, 2008	Lizzie Borden Took an Axe, or Did She? – A Rhetorical Inquiry by Annette Holba is published.
June, 2008	Leonard Pickel announces he will open a Lizzie Borden Gift Shop & “Museum” in Salem, MA.

Fall River – A City Overwhelmed in an Economic Crisis

While towns and cities across the nation suffer during this economic crisis, Lizzie Borden’s Fall River with its nearly 17% unemployment (more than twice the State’s average)  has laid off nearly 150 city workers of which the majority are police and fire personnel.   When a community starts laying off  “first responders” you know they are in deep trouble.  Police patrol levels are down to 1976 levels and most special services have been eliminated or seriously cut back.

Click HERE for a brief video from Boston.com on what is happening to Fall River.  This is a very graphic and depressing report, and certainly does the City no favors in attracting new business or residents.

Even the arts community is suffering from lack of civic support and must deal with inept, unresponsive city officials lacking vision, ethical leadership and appreciation for what the City once had, what it has left, and what still can be saved.

Local activists recently held a rally against the Fall River Redevelopment Authority’s action on proposals to renovate the old Durfee Textile School.  The activists wanted the building to be primarily for artists with no low income housing.  That very afternoon the City went with Peabody Associates (which the group did NOT want) who will have mixed use of condos and arts.  So the group lost.

Stefani Koorey recites a metaphoric poem in the video where she is introduced as “Goofy” and begins by declaring she chose to move to Fall River. The video is about 35 minutes long but once you click it to start and it comes on, slide the bar to 14 minutes, 48 seconds (14.48) and Stefani will be introduced.

Of more importance to Borden buffs who have visited Fall River – but what is off the town’s radar in terms of project priorities – is the bank foreclosure on Abbey Grill, aka the “Central Congregational Church”.

Side view 2008

When the Fall River Herald News reported the closure of the Abby Grill most online citizen comments seemed in agreement that this historic and beautiful and unique edifice  should be torn down and made into a parking lot!

The property will be the subject of an auction next week but given there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in needed repairs and upgrades, prospects for saving it from the wrecking ball seem slim.  This structure is as iconic to Fall River as is the Braga Bridge, Battleship Cove, St. Anne’s and many of the old mills with their towering smoke stacks.

Front view 2006

Fall River’s golden decade was the 1870’s but it never fully recovered from the mid 1920’s when most of the mills had failed.  Today it suffers from lack of industry, severely reduced police and fire services, closing schools, increased crime, high unemployment and a general population that cares little for the historic fabric that made  Fall River  so important to America’s Industrial Age.

Running silent and unseen beneath the surface of  the City,

the Quequechan River empties out into the Bay.

Quiet too are the tears that flow by those who love Fall River

Tears that grieve for its yesteryears

and saddened for its Today.

Fall River Police Dept

Fall River, MA., like so many other cities across the nation struggling to provide necessary services in the face of ominous budgetary shortfalls, is laying off 149 employees.  Even worse, 98 of those are policemen and firemen.  Now when a city lays off  “first responders” you know it’s in trouble.

With its unemployment already nearly 14% (and we all know with high unemployment comes an increase in crime) Fall River is reverting back to its 1976 levels of uniformed police coverage.  Even Lizzie Borden would not be pleased.

From the Fall River Police Department website here is their Uniform Police Compliment of 1976.

In 1976,  they had 12 men in patrol cars, 10 on walking beats and 1 K-9 unit.   The Fall River Herald News reported there would be only 10 patrol cars, no walking beats, and special police services cut or eliminated altogether.  This is not good news, and my heart goes out to those men and women losing their jobs.  An unpopular mayor is looking at restructuring departments,  and outside challenges to look closer at salvaging some of these jobs is still being raised.

Having worked for the Long Beach (Ca.) Police Department for 11 years in a non-sworn capacity (Vice, Narcotics and the  Deputy Chief’s office) and having a father who’s a retired Watch 3 Captain (night Chief) and several cousins who are police officers and sheriff’s, I know about the “culture of cops”, aka “the brotherhood.”   Unless you are a law enforcement officer or someone in your immediate family is one, it’s very difficult for the average citizen to truly realize and appreciate the job they do.

Old Station on Bedford Street

I’ve met several Fall River police officers over the years, beginning in 1977 at the old station on Bedford Street. Police Chief Henry Ramos led the Department during the turbulent times of the mid and late 1970’s and was, in fact, the incumbant Chief  when I was first there.    I remember going inside  the old Station, cramped and dingy as it was,  and inquired if they had any police records on the Lizzie Borden case.  And yes, I got the eye-rolling look but the officer at the counter near the front door was courteous and chatted up the case with me for some time before directing me to the public library.

During Lizzie Borden’s Day, the image below was the Central Police Department from officers were dispatched to 92 Second Street.  After investigations, trial and her acquittal, those officers progressed within the department, several becoming Police Chiefs, and Lizzie outlived most of them.  But can you imagine the conversations these men had over the decades talking about that incredible case in which they all took part.   Would love to see some of *their* private correspondence!

Central Police Station

City Marshal Rufus B Hillard (1886-1909) Arresting officer of record Lizzie Borden

	Born in Maine on May 5th, 1849 Appointed May 15th 1879, went on duty May 21st 1879 Appointed Day Patrolman March 1880 Appointed Sergeant in February 1882 Appointed Asst. City Marshal March 2nd 1883 Appointed City Marshal March 29th 1886 Retired on a pension of $950 year June 15th 1909, to be paid weekly. Died Monday morning December 30th 1912
	City Marshal John Fleet (1909-1915)
	Born in England on March 29th 1848 Appointed February 27th 1877, went on duty March 5th 1877 Appointed Day Patrolman on March 1st 1879 Appointed Sergeant on Feb 1st 1881 Appointed Captain on March 1st 1882 Appointed Asst. City Marshal December 22nd 1886 Appointed City Marshal November 8th 1909 Retired on pension of one-half pay in effect May 31st 1915 Died at his home at 12:30 PM May 10th 1916 NOTE: This is the transition period from City Marshal to Chief of Police.
	Chief William N Medley (1915-1917)
	Born in England on January 6th 1853 Appointed Steward February 2nd 1880, went on duty February 18th 1880 Appointed Patrolman on March 1st 1882 Transferred to Day Patrolman on April 1st 1886 Appointed Inspector with the rank of Lieutenant on February 10th 1893 Transferred to Night-Lieutenant at the 3rd Division as Inspector Appointed Assistant City Marshal on January 21st 1910 Promoted to the rank of Chief of Police on September 27th 1915 Killed in an automobile accident at intersection of Linden and Locust Sts on September 15th1917
	Chief Martin Feeney (1917-1931)
	Born in England on January 1st 1886 Appointed Patrolman on December 30th 1885, went on duty January 1st 1886 Appointed to the permanent force on July 12th 1886 Promoted to Inspector with the rank of Lieutenant on February 10th 1893 Promoted to Chief Inspector with the rank of Captain Reduced to rank of Lieutenant when rank of Chief Inspector was abolished on May 18th 1895 Transferred to the 1st Division as Day Lieutenant on February 18th 1903 Promoted to the rank of Captain to command the 3rd Division on November 2nd 1903 Transferred to command the 1st Division days on February 24th 1905 Transferred to command the 4th Division on November 5th 1909 Transferred to command the 1st Division on December 12th 1914 Promoted to the rank of Deputy Chief of Police on November 5th 1915 Promoted to the rank of Chief of Police on November 5th 1917 Retired on February 9th 1931 on half pay

Other officers involved in the case:
Captain Patrick H. Doherty (1896)

Captain Desmond

Captain Francis L. Edson

Arthur Sherman Phillips – Lizzie Didn’t Do It

Arthur Sherman Phillips wrote the impressive 3-Volume History of Fall River and was a junior attorney assisting on Lizzie’s defense team. The case haunted him all his life and he never gave up on the belief that she was innocent.

As late as June 3, 1939, he wrote to Homans Robinson (1894-1973) of the Robinson-Donovan law firm. He was the son of 3-times Governor George Robinson, Lizzie’s lead attorney at her Trial.   In his 3-page letter shown below, Phillips cites so many of the sources of speculative theories surrounding this case and ones that surface repeatedly in books, articles, and arguments towards her innocence.

It is not known if Homans Robinson, a 1916 graduate of Amherst college, replied to this letter. Surely if he had complied with Phillips request for a copy of the questions Attorney George Robinson presented to Lizzie, along with her answers, something would have been published in that regard by now.

Clearly, that document still resides in the private files on the case with this law firm, still in existence in Springfield, MA.

Note that in the second paragraph of the third page, Phillips tells of someone speaking to Uncle John Morse the morning of the murder as he was walking up Pleasant Street towards Flint Village. Morse did, in fact, visit his relatives at the Emerys on Weybosset Street in Flint Village, about a mile from the Borden home.

AUGUST 3 & 4, 1892 – THE BORDEN MURDERS TIMELINE

I’ve been in Fall River the past 2 days and will be here nearly a week staying at the B&B doing my usual research jaunts to environs near and not-so-near.  My buddy Carl and his wife Linda, whom I met in 1989 and live in Swansea, went with me to Oak Grove cemetery around 9 pm last night and dang if the gates weren’t wide open!  When I was here in April  they were were closed and locked at night.  Robert Doherty, Jr. visited The House recently (great grandson or great-great-grandson, hmmm?)  Also last night there was a couple from Canada staying at 92 Second Street and the husband subscribes to the “Lizzie did it in the nude” theory.  I find men, in particular, are partial to that.   Fall River Herald News got the wrong “Andrew Borden” pic up in today’s write-up on the Victorian Mourning “live theatre” to be performed on Saturday, but hey, as they say any publicity for The House is good publicity.  Weather is absolutely beautiful today in Fall River, unfortunately I’ve spent most of the morning in the Fall River Room at the library…and so now another Bordenia blog.  “We blog.  Therefore we are.”

 

Let us remember:

“It was a horrible crime. It was an impossible crime. And yet it happened.”  

-Hosea Knowlton, District Attorney

-As we approach yet another onslaught of redundant “On this date” media mentions and website wordsmithing concerning America’s 115 year old classic unsolved crime, here’s an extract from my work-in-progress Timeline.

The What is a given. The Who and the How badger our brains for a solution. Well, for some anyway. For me, it’s less a Who-dunnit than a How-dunnit. But let us examine this resource for the When of things.

It should first be mentioned that times given are based on various testimonies taken from the Fall River Police Witness Statements, Coroner’s Inquest, Preliminary Hearing and Superior Court Trial and are approximated as close as possible. It is nearly impossible to construct an absolutely correct Timeline for the following reasons:

1. Witnesses often changed their statements among any two or more of the above cited source documents and, having forgotten or realized their times were off, may have knowingly changed their testimony in order to be more credible.

2. Clocks and watches were not all in sync, and not all testified as to how they fixed the time.

3. Witnesses often drew their recollection of the time based on their routine daily schedules which cannot be precise day-to-day.

Conflicting testimonies from the same witness are sometimes shown and cited here. It is important to realize that there are three – and only three – times that definitively establish the window of opportunity for Andrew’s murder, the explosive first knowledge of the crime and subsequent entry into the house by “outsiders”. These 3 times are :

1. Bridget hearing the City Hall clock strike 11:00.

2. Officer Allen noting the time as 11:15 when City Marshal Hilliard received the call.

3. The 11:32 am timestamp on the telegram Dr. Bowen sent to Emma.

All others are at the least conjecture in comparison, or at the most best-guess estimates – much like the following:

AUGUST 3, 1892
THE DAY BEFORE THE MURDERS:

8:00 am Abby goes to see Dr. Bowen & tells him she fears she’s been poisoned. 9:00-10:00 Dr. Bowen gos to check on the Bordens notices Lizzie rushing up the stairs. Bowen is rebuked by Andrew for his unsolicited professional call.
10:00-11:30 am Lizzie visits Smith’s pharmacy on Main & Columbia Street & attempts to buy prussic acid from pharmacist Eli Bence. (PH310)
12:00 Noon Lizzie joins Andrew and Abby for the supper in the dining room.
12:35 am Uncle John Vinnicum Morse takes the train from New Bedford to Fall River. (CI98)
1:30 pm Morse walks from the train station to the Borden house.
2:00-4:00 pm John Morse and Andrew talk in Sitting Room; Lizzie hears their conversation. (TT141)
4:00 pm John Morse hires horse and wagon at Kirby’s Stable and drives to Swansea in late afternoon. (CI 99)
7:00 pm Lizzie visits Alice Russell with telling her she’s afraid “something will happen”.
8:45 pm Morse returns from Swansea, talks in sitting room with Andrew and Abby. (CI99)
9:00 pm Lizzie returns from Alice Russell’s, enters and locks the front door and goes immediately up to her room without speaking to her father or uncle.
9:15 pm Abby Borden retires to bed.
10:00 pm Andrew and Morse retire to bed.

AUGUST 4, 1892
THE DAY OF THE MURDERS:

6:15 am Bridget goes downstairs, gets coal and wood in cellar to start fire in kitchen stove, and takes in milk.

6:20 am Morse goes downstairs to Sitting Room.
6:30 am Abby comes downstairs, gives orders for breakfast to Bridget
6:40-6:50 am Andrew goes downstairs, empties slops, picks up pears and goes to barn.
6:45 am Bridget opens side (back) door for iceman.
7:00 am Bordens and Morse have breakfast in Dining Room. (Lizzie is still upstairs).
7:15 am Bridget sees Morse for first time at breakfast table.
7:30 am Bridget eats her breakfast, and then clears dishes.
7:45-8:45 Morse and Andrew talk in Sitting Room; Abby sits with them a short while before beginning to dust.
8:30 am Morse sees Abby go into the front hall.
8:45 am Andrew lets Morse out side door, invites him back for dinner.

8:45 am Morse leaves for Post Office and then to visit niece at Daniel Emery’s #4 Weybosset Street.
8:45-9:00 am Andrew goes back upstairs and returns wearing collar and tie, goes to sitting room
8:45-9:00 am Abby tells Bridget to wash windows, inside and out.
8:45-8:50 am Lizzie comes down and enters kitchen
8:45-9:00 am Bridget goes outside to vomit.
9:00 am Andrew leaves the house.
9:00 am Bridget returns, does not see Lizzie, sees Abby dusting in dining room, does not see Andrew.
9:00 am Abby goes up to guest room.
9:00-9:30 am Bridget cleans away breakfast dishes in kitchen.
9:30-10:00 am Abby Borden dies from blows to the head with a sharp instrument.
9:30 am Abraham G. Hart, Treasurer of Union Savings Bank, talks to Andrew at Bank.
9:30 am Morse arrives at #4 Weybosset Street to visit his niece and nephew.
9:30 am Bridget gets brush from cellar for washing windows
9:30 am Lizzie appears at back door as Bridget goes towards barn; Bridget tells Lizzie she need not lock door.
9:30-10:05 Andrew visits banks.
9:45 am John P. Burrill, Cashier, talks to Andrew at National Union Bank.
9:40 am Morse arrives at the Emery’s on Weybosset Street.
9:50-10:00 am AJB deposits Troy Mill check with Everett Cook at First Nat’l Bank; talks with William. Carr. (WS29)
9:30-10:20 am Bridget washes outside windows, stops to talk to “Kelly girl” at south side fence.
10:00-10:30 am Mrs. Churchill sees Bridget outside washing NE windows. 10:15-10:30 am Andrew stops to talk to Jonathan Clegg, picks up old lock; Southard Miller (at Whitehead’s Market) sees AJB turn onto Spring St; Mary Gallagher sees AJB at corner of South Main & Spring with a small package in his hand (WS10); Lizzie Gray sees AJB turning north on Second Street. (WS10, 43)
10:20 am Bridget re-enters house from side door, commences to wash inside windows.
10:29 am Jonathan Clegg (fixed time by City Hall clock) stated Andrew left his shop heading home. (TT173)
10:30-10:45 Joseph Shortsleves& James Mather finish talking with Andrew on Main St. as he heads towards Spring Street. (WS10)
10:30-10:40 am Joseph Shortsleeves sees Andrew.
10:40 am James Mather sees Andrew leave shop (fixes time by City Hall clock)
10:40 am Mrs. Kelly observes Andrew going to his front door.
10:40 am Andrew Borden can’t get in side door, fumbles with key at front door, and let in by Bridget
10:40 am Bridget hears Lizzie laugh on the stairs as she says “pshaw” fumbling with inside triple locks.
10:40 am Bridget sees Lizzie go into Dining Room and speak “low” to her father.
10:40-10:43 am Andrew goes upstairs to his bedroom and returns in a few minutes, going to Sitting Room sofa.
10:45 am Mary Chase, residing over Wade’s store, sees man on Borden fence taking pears. (WS45)
10:45-10:55 am Lizzie puts ironing board on dining room table as Bridget finishes last window in the dining room
10:45-10:55 am Lizzie asks Bridget in kitchen if she’s going out, tells her of note to Abby & sale at Sargeants.
10:50-10:55 Mark Chase observes man with open buggy parked just beyond tree in front of Borden house.
10:55-10:58 am Bridget goes up to her room in attic and lies down on her bed. (WS3)
10:55-11:00 am Andrew Borden dies from blows to the head with a sharp instrument.
11:00 am Addie Churchill leaves her house for Hudner’s grocery store on South Main. (WS8)
11:00 am Bridget hears City Hall clock chime 11:00.
11:05-11:10 am Hyman Lubinsky, peddling ice cream, drives his horse cart past the Borden house. (TT1423)
11:05-11:10 William Sullivan, clerk at Hudner’s Market notes Mrs. Churchill leaving the store. (WS10)
11:10 am Lizzie hollers to Bridget to come down, “Someone has killed father”. (TT244)
11:10-11:12 am Lizzie sends Bridget to get Dr. Bowen. (TT245)
11:10-11:13 am Bridget rushes back across the street from Bowen’s, tells Lizzie he’s not at home. (TT245)
11:10-11:13 am Lizzie asks Bridget if she knows where Alice Russell lives and tells her to go get her. (TT245)
11:10-11:13 am Bridget grabs her hat & shawl from kitchen entry way and rushes to Alice Russell’s. (TT245)
11:10-11:13 am Mrs. Churchill observes Bridget crossing street, notices a distressed Lizzie and calls out to Lizzie who says “someone’s killed father’. (PH281-282) 11:10-11:13 am Mrs. John Gormely says Mrs. Churchill runs through her house yelling “Mr. Borden is murdered!” (WS9)
11:10-11:12 am Mrs. Churchill goes to side door of Borden house, speaks briefly to Lizzie then crosses street looking for a doctor. (PH283)
11:12-11:14 am John Cunningham sees Mrs. Churchill talking to others then uses phone at Gorman’s paint shop to call Police.
11:15 am Marshall Hilliard receives call from news dealer Cunningham about disturbance at Borden house.
11:15 am Marshall Hilliard orders Officer Allen to go to Borden house. (Allen notes exact time on office wall clock).
11:16 – 11:20 am Mrs. Churchill returns from giving the alarm. (PH284)
11:16 – 11:20 am Dr. Bowen pulls up in his carriage, met by his wife, rushes over to Borden’s. (PH 273)
11:16-11:20 am John Cunningham checks outside cellar door in Borden back yard, finds it locked.
11:18-11:20 am Dr. Bowen sees Andrew, asks for sheet; alone with Lizzie for approx. one minute.
11:20 am Office Allen arrives and is met at door by Dr. Bowen. Sees Lizzie sitting alone at kitchen table.
11:20-11:21 am Allen sees Andrew’s body at same time Alice Russell and Mrs. Churchill come in. (Where was Bridget?)
11:20-11:22 am Allen checks front door and notes it bolted from inside, checks closets in dining room and kitchen.
11:20 am Morse departs Daniel Emery’s on Weybosset Street, takes a streetcar back to the Borden’s.
11-22-11:23 am Officer Allen leaves house to return to station, Bowen goes out with him. Allen has Sawyer guard back door.
11:23-11:25 am Dr. Bowen returns home, checks rail timetable, goes to telegram Emma, and stops at Baker’s Drug store. Telegram is time stamped at 11:32. (PH274)
11:25 am Off. Patrick Doherty, at Bedford & Second, notes City Hall clock time enroute to Station. (T589)
11:23-11:30 am Lizzie asks to check for Mrs. Borden; Bridget & Mrs. Churchill go upstairs, discover body. (PH29-30)
11:35 George Petty, former resident of 92 Second Street, enters the house with Dr. Bowen. (WSp21)
11:40 am Bowen returns to Borden house. Churchill tells him they’ve discovered Abby upstairs. (TT322)
11:34 am Bridget fetches Doctor Bowen’s wife, Phoebe. (T250)
11:35-11:40 am Officer Patrick Doherty & Deputy Sheriff Wixon arrive at house, see Manning sitting on steps, met at backdoor by Dr. Bowen, who lets them in. (T447)
11:35-11:40 am Francis Wixon and Dr. Bowen check Andrew’s pockets and remove watch.
11:35-11:40 Officer Doherty questions Lizzie who tells him she heard a “scraping” noise.
11:35-11:40 am Officer Doherty views Abby’s body with Dr. Bowen, pulls bed out to view her better. (PH330)
11:35-11:45 am Morse arrives at Borden house, first going to back yard.
11:39-11:40 am Officer Medley arrives at 92 Second Street. (T686)
11:40-11:45 am Doherty runs to Undertaker Gorman’s shop around corner and phones Marshall Hilliard. (PH331)
11:45 am Doherty returns; Officers Mullaly, Allen, Denny, and Medley arrive.
11:45 am Dr. Dolan arrives, sees bodies.
11:45 am Morse walks thru side gate, talks to Sawyer at side door, (later testifies he heard of murders from Bridget.)
11:45-11:50 am Morse sees Andrew’s body, then goes upstairs and sees Abby’s body.
11:50 am Morse speaks to Lizzie as she lays on lounge in dining room.
11:50-11:55 Lizzie goes up to her room.
11:55 am Asst. Marshall Fleet arrives; sees bodies; talks to Lizzie in her room w/Rev. Buck, says “…she’s not my mother, she’s my stepmother” (PH354)
11:55 am Morse goes out to back yard and stays outside most of the afternoon.
11:50 am -Noon Deputy Sheriff Wixon climbs back fence cutting his hand, and talks to workmen sawing wood in Chagnon yard. (TT452)
11:50-Noon Doherty, Fleet and Medley accompany Bridget to cellar where she shows them a handless hatchet in a box on a shelf.
12:15-12:20 pm Officer Harrington arrives at the Borden house. (WS6)
12:25 pm Officer Harrington interviews Lizzie in her bedroom (she wears pink wrapper). (WS6)
12:45 pm Marshall Hillliard & Officers Doherty & Connors drive carriage to Andrew’s upper farm in Swansea.
3:00 pm Bodies are photographed by Walsh. (PH160)
3:30 pm Crime scene photographs are taken of Andrew & Abby.
3:40 pm Emma leaves on New Bedford train for Weir Junction to return to Fall River. (CI107)
4:00 pm Stomachs of Andrew and Abby removed and sealed by Dr. Dolan.
5:00 pm Emma returns from Fairhaven and arrives at the Borden house. (TT1550)
5:00-5:30 pm State Detective George F. Seaver arrives from Taunton. (PH453)
5:30 pm Dr. Dolan “delivers” bodies of Andrew and Abby to Undertaker James Winward. (PH388)
6:00 pm Alice leaves 92 Second Street to return home for supper. (CI149)
8:45 pm Officer Joseph Hyde, observing from a northwest outside window, sees Lizzie & Alice go down cellar.
9:00 pm Officer Hyde observes Lizzie return to cellar by herself.
Sources:

1. 100 Years of The Boston Globe. Louis M. Lyons. 1971
2. A Fall River Incident, Jno. Gilmer Speed, 1895.
3. Constant Turmoil-Politics of Industrial Life in 19th Century. New England. Mary H. Blewett. 2000.
4. The Democrat & Chronicle Newspaper, Rochester, New York
5. Description and Biographical Record of Bristol County, MA. Hon. Alanson Borden. 1899.
6. Fall River – A Pictorial History. Judith A. Boss. 1982.
7. Fall River and Its Industries. Frederick M. Peck and Henry H. Earl. 1877.
8. Famous Front Pages from The Boston Globe, 1982-1972
9. History of Fall River, Massachusetts, Henry M. Fenner. Fall River Merchants Association, 1911.
10. Inquest Upon the Deaths of Andrew J. and Abby D. Borden, August 9 -11, 1892, Volume I and II. Fall River, MA: Fall River Historical Society
11. Lizzie Borden Murder Case Chronology. Neilson Caplain. Lizzie Borden Quarterly, Jan. & July 2001.
12. Lizzie Borden, Past & Present. Leonard Rebello. 1999.
13. LizzieBorden Sourcebook. David Kent and Robert A. Flynn. 1992.
14. Preliminary Hearing, Second District Court, Fall River. August 25-Sept. 1, 1892.
15. The Phillips History of Fall River, Fascicles I, II, and III. Arthur Sherman Phillips. 1941.
16. Trial Transcript (Commonwealth of Mass. vs. Lizzie Andrew Borden).
17. Victorian Vistas, Fall River 1865-1885. Philip T. Silvia, Jr. 1987.
18. Victorian Vistas, Fall River 1886-1900. Philip T. Silvia, Jr. 1988.
19. Victorian Vistas, Fall River 1901-1911. Philip T. Silvia, Jr. 1992.
20. Witness Statements (Fall River Police Department officer interview reports)
Key:
ASPI, II, III = The Phillips History of Fall River
AB = Arnold Brown
Beasley = David Beasley, McKee Rankin & Heyday of American Theatre
CI = Coroner’s Inquest
D-C = The Democrat & Chronicle Newspaper
DK = David Kent, Forty Whacks
ER = Edward Radin
ES = The Evening Standard (New Bedford)
Fenner = History of Fall River
FREN = Fall River Evening News
FRHN = Fall River Herald News
FRI = A Fall River Incident
HBW = Borden Genealogy, Hattie Borden Weld
KP = Knowlton Papers
KPC = Knowlton-Pearson Correspondence
LR = Leonard Rebello, Lizzie Borden Past and Present
NYT = New York Times
OG = Oak Grove (taken from Headstones)
PH = Preliminary Hearing
TT = Superior Court Trial Transcript
VL = Victoria Lincoln, A Private Disgrace
VVI = Victorian Vistas, Volume I
VVII = Victorian Vistas, Volume II
VVIII = Victorian Vistas, Volume III
WP = Washington Post
WS = Witness Statements

Faye Musselman©1998 All Rights Reserved

“MR. ROBINSON! TEAR DOWN THAT FILE CABINET!”

Jun. 29th, 2007

 

 

George Dexter Robinson Blue Flo Plate of Gov. Robinson

3X Governor of Mass. private collection of Faye Musselman

Headed Lizzie’s defense team On loan to Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast

 

from South Coast Today April 14, 1998

“By Paul Edward Parker, Providence Journal-Bulletin

FALL RIVER — In a locked storage room on the 16th floor of a high-rise office building in Springfield, a five-drawer file cabinet may hold the secrets of Fall River’s most enduring mystery: Who killed Andrew and Abby Borden. Only one man has the key to that locked filing cabinet, an administrator in the law firm that, more than a century ago, represented Lizzie Borden when she was acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother. Since June 1893, the papers inside that filing cabinet have remained a secret between Lizzie and her lawyer, former Gov. George D. Robinson. But all that may soon change.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case involving former White House aide Vincent W. Foster, who committed suicide in 1993. Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr has demanded to see notes of a conversation between Foster and his lawyer just days before the suicide. The high court will hear oral arguments in that case on June 8, with a decision expected in late June or early July. The court will decide whether attorney-client privilege, which protects the secrecy of the relationship between lawyers and their clients, continues after the client dies. It is the attorney-client privilege that has kept the Robinson papers out of the public eye for 105 years. Though Lizzie is long gone, her lawyer lives on, in the form of Robinson, Donovan, Madden & Barry, the law firm that succeeded Governor Robinson’s firm.

The Supreme Court’s pending ruling opens a tantalizing possibility to historians and Borden buffs. “Would we like to look at Robinson’s papers? Absolutely, of course,” said George E. Quigley, president of The International Lizzie Borden Association.

Said Michael Martins, curator of the Fall River Historical Society: “Any documents that pertain to a case as notorious as the Borden case, a great unsolved murder mystery, would be of tremendous interest to researchers and scholars.” The historical society is home to the largest collection of Borden material, including the papers of prosecutor Hosea M. Knowlton and City Marshal Rufus B. Hilliard, Fall River’s police chief at the time of the murders. “I’m sure it’s an interesting collection,” Martins said of the Robinson papers, “but I doubt there’s anything that’s going to prove the case.”

The types of documents in the collection are as mysterious as what they might say.
Bruce Lyon, administrator at the Robinson firm, said the collection includes newspaper clippings and other materials that were publicly available. It also includes a lot more material, he said, all of which is privileged.

Around the time of the 100th anniversary of the murders, in 1992, the firm consulted with the Board of Bar Overseers, the agency that oversees the conduct of lawyers. The board informally advised that not only does the attorney-client privilege bar the firm from releasing the papers, it prevents the firm from disclosing the nature of what it holds. Lyon said the Robinson papers have been catalogued and placed in protective document holders, but he could not say anything more.

Speculation is that the files might contain letters between Lizzie and Robinson; letters between Robinson and other lawyers involved in the case; Robinson’s notes, both strategic preparations and documenting how the trial progressed; and other documents relating to testimony at the trial and preliminary proceedings.

Few expect to find anything directly incriminating Lizzie, such as a signed confession. But the papers may hold bits of information that may have seemed inconsequential at the time that, viewed with a modern understanding of the case, might bolster one or more theories of the crime.

“Some things in there might be historical,” Quigley said. “There might be statements in there that might be damning or might be helpful to her. There would be notes that Robinson wrote about the case that would be telling. Who knows.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling will probably only deal with whether lawyers can be ordered to divulge material relating to dead clients. A ruling paving the way for release of the papers would only be the first step to their becoming public. If the Robinson papers became publicly available and the law firm wanted to lend or donate them to the historical society, Martins would be happy to accept them, but added, “we wouldn’t go after them.”

Martins said the society, in such a case, would probably seek to publish the papers, a painstaking process involving years of transcribing handwritten notes. The society published prosecutor Knowlton’s papers in 1994, and has been preparing the roughly 600 documents in Hilliard’s papers, which are still several years from publication. Despite the keen historical interest in the material, even Martins and Quigley are hesitant to advocate that the Supreme Court extinguish the attorney-client privilege upon a client’s death.

Quigley noted that Foster has living relatives, who could be hurt by the release of confidential material. “Lizzie, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “She’s dead. She’s dead a long time.”

Martins thinks the privilege should be extended even to the long-dead accused ax murderess. “Personally, I think Lizzie Borden bought and paid for her defense,” he said. “Isn’t it important that they protect the documents of their former clients? I think it’s important that they do that.”

***********************
The Supreme Court, using the case of Vincent Foster, ruled that lawyers must still maintain the attorney-client privilege, even when the client is dead. Personally, I can see the merits of this with regards to private correspondence. But the firm most likely has what remains the only surviving copy of Bridget Sullivan’s Inquest Testimony. Testimony from all others called by District Attorney Knowlton has long since been made public via the “Jennings hip bath collection” sold by the Fall River Historical Society. The Inquest was a legal proceeding and if this firm does have Bridget’s testimony, it surely is not “material between lawyers and their client” and, IMHO, should be released and made public.

About 5 years ago I sent an email to attorney Jeffrey McCormick (no longer with the firm) following up on Jules Ryckebusch’s earlier plea in 1992 to release the files. I received a prompt and courteous email response citing their standard reply as indicated above.

The firm has evolved and grown, now known as Robinson Donovan P.C. Check out their website: http://www.robinson-donovan.com/index.epl

Tags: george dexter robinson, robinson donovan p.c., robinson law firm