The Lizzie Borden House

June 1997
by Jane DohertyFall River, MA - On Friday the 13th, in June of 1997, I arrived in Fall River Massachusett at the house where the famous ax murder occurred way back in 1892. Lizzie Borden took an ax, and gave her mother 40 whacks, when she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41. That is the famous rhyme that is often chanted ever since Lizzie Borden, the daughter of Andrew Borden, step-daughter of Abby Borden and sister to Emma Borden, was accused of the crime. After making the arrangements to visit the house for the weekend, which is now a bed a breakfast, I expected a vision.

Screen capture of Haunted Journeys II: Lizzie Borden House Video

Whenever I thought of the Lizzie Borden house, a vision of a bearded man came into view. The man in the vision carried an ax and entered the house through the back entrance. He appeared to be a woodsman or outdoor type man. I didn't receive any information about his identity. I just knew he had something to do with the murder. I dismissed the vision as a clue.

I knew that once I investigated the house and conducted the seance, I would psychically receive the other pieces to the puzzle. So, I just waited for the anticipated day. My son and a couple of my friends were going to come along with me to take pictures and record the events. Our arrival at the Lizzie Borden house was not marked by any fan fare. A bus terminal across the street seemed oddly placed. The famous Lizzie Borden house just didn't seem to fit the immediate surroundings. Although,one glance at the house created an eerie feeling. After I went inside, Martha McGinn, the co-owner of the house showed me the upstairs. Midway through the door threshold my stomach reacted by contracting and visibly protruding as I entered the room. There definitely was spirit activity in this room and I had found the path of the spirit. The spirit roams between the two rooms. Martha explained to us that the room we were in was Abby's and Andrew's bedroom.

Lizzie's Bedroom

Since the Inn opened, this room seemed to be the most active. Guests experienced the closet door opening and closing during the night as well as hearing crying and weeping. The upright baseball-like bat standing in the corner of the room fell unprovoked at times. The bed vibrated while guests were sleeping and knocking noises were also heard. I then entered Lizzie's bedroom, which was directly behind Andrew and Abbey's room. As I walked in front of the foot board of the bed, my stomach protruded again as I reacted to spirit energy.

I continued walking into the adjoining bedroom, however the spirit energy released me. This room was Emma's room, Lizzie's older sister.

Garden Court at the Palace Hotel

I concluded that there was little spirit activity in there. I re-entered Lizzie's room and a picture on the wall caught my eye. I walked towards the picture and reacted. My stomach responded, but I also felt agitated. The face of the picture haunted my memory. Startled, I realized this was the image of the man in my vision. This man's image created a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Nauseated, I needed to turn away from the framed image on the wall. Before turning in a different direction I asked our tour guide Kathy Gunslov, "who is the man in the picture?" She responded, "Oh, that was Lizzie's Uncle........Uncle John. He was Lizzie's real mother's brother. He was a suspect at first, however, he had a solid alibi at the time of the murders." I looked at his image one more time before I quickly left the room. The cellar was the next area of investigation. My stomach reacted in two areas of the cellar. While walking towards the entrance to the cellar at the top of the steps my stomach went out again and I received a vision of the murderer going down the steps and out through the back. As I went further into the path of the spirit we reached the original back door of the house.

Kathy explained that the bolt on the door was always locked. It was the maid's job to check the bolted lock on that door. Emphatically, I stated that the door was purposely left unlocked the day of the murders. Kathy smiled cynically as she nodded in agreement. I then walked to the back area of the cellar where wood was once piled for the fireplace. Immediately gripped with a strong feeling, my stomach reacted again. "There is spirit activity in this area, but I don't like the heavy feeling of energy in this room," I stated. I psychically felt that there was sexual abuse committed in the cellar. I didn't know who but I felt very nervous about the energy in the cellar.

Lizzie is innocent
My struggle lessened which allowed me to receive more telepathic answers. In a very slow voice I repeated the telepahtic communication, " a man arranged the murders. It was Uncle John. Emma was aware of the plans. Lizzie did not do it. Abby was not killed in that position. She was drugged, murdered and then placed in that position. Emma tried to protect Lizzie. Lizzie learned of the murders after it was too late. The murderers entered and exited the house through the cellar. A man physically committed the murders. He had an accomplice. Howard is the name of a man involved or it is a name of a street." The name Willie came to mind and I said, "Willie could actually be the name of the murderer and Howard the accomplice."

The seance ended and we started getting ready for bed as we headed upstairs. Before climbing into bed my stomach reacted to a spirit at the doorway to Lizzie's bedroom. A chewing tobacco smell permeated the room and my stomach reacted strongly. However, I didn't receive any further impressions and it was getting late so we decided to retire for the evening. During the night, one of the people accompanying me was a radio DJ who happened to place a tape recorder in the room that we were sleeping in.

The next day he played the tape back for us, and between his snoring, there was a voice making a strange giggling sound. We kept repeating the sound on the tape and it was clear. It sounded like a woman giggling. I remembered that during the tour, Kathy had told us when the body of Abby Borden was found, the maid reported that Lizzie was laughing and giggling. It therefore stands to reason that this could be Lizzie Borden herself.

The entire investigation and the voice that was captured on tape can be viewed on the Haunted Journeys II Video available for purchase. The next day we went to the house that Lizzie and Emma stayed in after the murders and we ended the investigation by visiting their graves. There, we talked more about the history of Lizzie Borden with George Quigley the president of the historical society. He was present during the seance, and later after his interview he agreed with me that Lizzie was innocent and was impressed with what I had to say. The investigation of the Lizzie Borden house was absolutely fascinating and I feel that I helped shed light on the truth of Lizzie's innocence as well as helped to ease the pain and confusion for the spirit of Abby Borden.

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