The Trial of Lizzie Borden(21)
On Thursday, August 25, the preliminary hearing resumed. Crowds formed early and the reporters, nearly fifty in all, “touched elbows all around as they wrote.” Despite the importance of the occasion, regular business consumed the first part of the morning: “The entrance of Bridget Sullivan at ten minutes before 10 o’clock transferred the interest of the spectators from the trial of a Sunday liquor seller.” The alleged liquor merchant argued that “he had purchased many hogsheads of beer to celebrate the accession of Gladstone to power, and had no intention of selling the stuff.” The man’s creative excuse that he was toasting the fourth premiership of British Liberal stalwart William Gladstone was amusing but the audience eagerly awaited the entrance of the prisoner, the sight denied them on Monday.
Accompanied by a few select friends, Lizzie Borden arrived in court “calm and self possessed, with less apparent agitation than the throng of men and women who were watching her.” Indeed, one reporter observed: “If the prisoner had been a spectator idly drawn by curiosity to the scene, she could not have been more self-controlled.” He continued: “As she came in from the outer corridor and passed through the doorway on the right of the judge’s bench she straightened her back, assumed an air of haughty concern, and with nerves steeled for the encounter, came before the throng.” The actual spectators, “a majority of whom were women . . . dressed in holiday attire,” seemed unfazed by the gravity of the occasion, chattering away in the audience. By the afternoon, the temperature in the packed courtroom became “almost unbearable.”
To prove Lizzie Borden “probably guilty,” Knowlton intended to show that only Lizzie Borden had the motive and opportunity to commit the murders. He opened his case, calling the Bristol County medical examiner, Dr. William Dolan. Barely thirty-five years old and “somewhat inclined to be stout,” Dr. Dolan was in his first year as medical examiner; the Borden murders were his baptism by fire. He described the sight of Andrew’s head as “ghastly.” All in all, the direct examination went well: “Possessing a very gentlemanly manner, a clear voice and excellent command of English, he gave his testimony on the direct examination with confidence and distinctness.” He explained that he had examined both Andrew’s and Abby’s bodies on August 4. As he began to read a description of the wounds from his notes, he was halted by Jennings’s objection. So he recited the wounds from memory.
Dr. William Dolan, courtesy of Fall River Historical Society
Knowlton then asked him what was, for him, the essential point: Had Abby been dead for at least two hours before the examination? This time Adams objected. Knowlton insisted he had asked such a question in every case he had tried. Displaying his sardonic wit, Adams retorted: “There were a number of bad habits the District Attorney had acquired which could be corrected.” But Judge Blaisdell permitted the question. Before Dr. Dolan could answer, Jennings objected, leading Knowlton to point out that “the habit of arguing after a decision was not one of his bad ones, and Mr. Adams objected to Mr. Knowlton’s hitting him over Mr. Jennings’ shoulder.” As a reporter summarized the testy exchange: “Frequent wrangles took place between the lawyers, in which the court occasionally took a hand . . . Col. Adams’ audacious retorts brought smiles to the face of the prisoner, who then appeared more comfortable than at any time during the day.”
Dolan’s unflustered demeanor withered under Adams’s “scathing attack” during his cross-examination. Adams questioned the manner in which the autopsy was first conducted, and lacerated Dolan for the lack of a full report in an attempt to make the medical investigation appear inadequate and “bungling.” According to the Boston Globe, “Mr. Adams was at times very severe in his manner of questioning, and made Dr. Dolan apparently very uncomfortable.” Another observer characterized the lawyers’ differing styles: “District Attorney Knowlton takes it easily, as is his custom; Mr. Jennings scowls, as is his custom; and Mr. Adams shoots queries as though he had an inexhaustible supply of them.”
But the sensation of the day had little to do with the legal case. In response to a question from Mr. Adams, Dr. Dolan revealed that the Bordens’ heads had been removed, the skulls “cleaned” and “in his possession.” The Fall River Daily Herald summarized: “This announcement created a mild sensation in the court. Everybody’s eyes turned toward the sisters to see how they took the announcement that their father’s body had been buried headless. Emma’s eyes filled with tears and her head sank upon her hand. Lizzie appeared for an instant startled and quickly looked toward her sister . . . A moment afterward there was the same unmoved interest in the case as might have been expected of a spectator in the benches a dozen feet away.”
The following morning, Dr. Dolan returned to the witness stand, but his tenure was mercifully brief. Most of the morning revolved around a flurry of witnesses testifying to Andrew Borden’s last morning walk and fixed the time of his return to Second Street. John V. Morse, the houseguest whose bedchamber had been the site of Abby’s slaughter, also gave his account of events. Morse explained that he had arrived after lunch on Wednesday, August 3, left about 3:00 p.m. to visit Andrew Borden’s Swansea farm, and returned that evening. On cross-examination, he said that everyone in the house was sick and volunteered that “Mr. Borden said the milk might have been poisoned.”