On the morning of 4 August 1892, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and
11:00 a.m., Abby Durfee Borden and Andrew Jackson Borden were
murdered with an axe in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Why did
the case spark so much interest at the time? Why did throngs of people
literally block the street gawking at the Borden residence? Why did the
country’s leading newspaper devour and report the daily happenings in
this small New England town? Why, a century later, are ‘‘whodunit?’’
novels, plays, and films still being made about this gruesome double
murder?