Lizzie Borden House sold to ghost-loving owner with big plans, revisiting the bloody ax murders in Massachusetts
The Fall River, Massachusetts, home of alleged murderer Lizzie Borden has now found a new owner. It has now been reported that after being on the market for just a few months, the infamous Lizzie Borden House was sold to Lance Zaal.
Zaal, who owns US Ghost Adventures, reportedly made an offer after the historic home went up for $2 million earlier this year. With the new transaction, it is time we revisit the Lizzie Borden ax murder case that gave the house its own fan following.
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"It's not official yet. We still have to go through closing," Zaal reportedly said. "It's certainly a process. We’re buying the property as well as the business." At the moment, the house also functions as a macabre museum and bed and breakfast that has been owned by Donald Woods and Lee-ann Wilber since 1998.
New plans for the old house
"We’ll be adding several different events for both visitors and locals. We want this to be a place where people can kind of come in just to have a good time as well," Zaal said.
His company US Ghost Adventures offers “entertaining, historic and authentic ghost tours” in 33 cities across the United States. According to some other reports doing the rounds, Zaal might add an ax-throwing course as an attraction. "We really want to give more people a reason to go there - so more activities and more events."
Zaal also added that he intends to keep as much of the current bed and breakfast staff around, and even hopes to add more. "A lot of the staff has been there for a long time. They’re very dedicated and they have a lot of passion for the house, and they really care about it," he said.
Lizzie Borden's alleged murders
On August 4, 1892, Lizzie Borden was arrested over allegations she was responsible for the double-murder of her parents seven days prior. Her parents - Abby Borden, her stepmother, and father Andrew Borden - were axed to death with Abby bearing 18 hits to her head - at least 17 direct ones to the back of her head. Her father, on the other hand, was struck 10 or 11 times with a hatchet-like weapon and one of his eyeballs had been split cleanly in two.
There was a grand jury indictment and Borden's trial went on for days before she was infamously acquitted at trial in 1893. It is one of the nation’s most infamous unsolved mysteries.
What worked in her favor was another ax murder that occurred in Fall River five days before the trial's commencement - the victim was Bertha Manchester, who was found hacked to death in her kitchen. Jurors noted the similarities between the Manchester and Bordens' murders. However, a Portuguese immigrant named Jose Correa de Mello was later convicted for Manchester's murder in 1894 and reportedly had nothing to do with the Borden murders.
The Fall River Historical Society said on its website that despite the jury’s not-guilty verdict, "the specter of suspicion remained ever-present". “Although acquitted of the charges against her, the question of whether Lizzie Borden committed the murders remains to this day,” the US Library of Congress said.
Upon exiting the courthouse, Lizzie told reporters she was "the happiest woman in the world". But the double murder would go on to haunt her for the rest of her life.