What Happened To Lizzie Borden's Sister?

We have it on good authority that Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her father forty whacks. According to our sources, when she saw what she had done, she hacked up her mom pretty good as well.

Like Ring Around the Rosie and the "One, Two, Freddy's Coming For You" song, there's a core of truth to the old playground rhyme about Lizzie Andrew Borden. On August 4th, 1892, her father and stepmother were the recipients of a severe hatcheting: her stepmom was hit in the back of the head roughly 17 times, and her father, who was apparently asleep on the couch at the time, took about ten blows to the face. Lizzie was 32 at the time and still living at home, so yeah, somebody was going to get killed.

Also living in the Borden residence was Lizzie's older sister, Emma. Emma was never considered a suspect by the police since she was out of town when the murders took place, and she stayed close to Lizzie through the trial. When Lizzie was acquitted, the two moved into a new house together, with Lizzie changing her name to Lizbeth Borden. You know, so nobody would know who she was. Look, she wasn't exactly James Moriarti.

Emma and Lizzie remained inseparable until 1905 when, according to Biography, they up and split all of a sudden. Emma packed her bags and never spoke to her sister again, then refused to tell anyone why. There is speculation that their falling out had something to do with Lizzie's close friendship with another woman. There's also the theory that you can only live with a crazy-eyed axe murderer for so long before you start searching Zillow listings. Whatever the case, the two never managed to bury the hatchet.

Still, it wouldn't be a story about the Bordens without a creepy ending: on June 1st, 1927, Lizzie died of pneumonia. The same day, her estranged sister fell and broke her hip. Nine days later, Emma died of chronic nephritis, and was buried next to her sister, stepmother, and father, because family is family.

Sweet dreams.