WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:12.400 Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers bring you the first lady of suspense, Miss Agnes Moorhead, 00:12.400 --> 00:14.640 in a true story of murder. 00:14.640 --> 00:19.960 Tonight's presentation of Suspense. 00:19.960 --> 00:28.880 Tonight, Auto Light presents a dramatization of the most famous unsolved American murder 00:28.880 --> 00:35.360 mystery, Miss Agnes Moorhead as Lizzie Borden in The Fall River Tragedy. 00:35.360 --> 00:44.160 Hey, uh, Hap, why the downcast look? 00:44.160 --> 00:47.480 My battery's dry hollow and my car won't start. 00:47.480 --> 00:51.160 Well, Hap, that's one of the big reasons you should have an Auto Light Staple battery, 00:51.160 --> 00:55.240 the famous battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. 00:55.240 --> 00:56.240 You mean... 00:56.240 --> 01:00.600 The Auto Light Staple has over three times the liquid reserve of batteries without Staple 01:00.600 --> 01:05.200 features and this helps prevent one of the major causes of battery failure. 01:05.200 --> 01:09.760 The Auto Light Staple gives longer life, as proved by tests conducted according to accepted 01:09.760 --> 01:11.280 life cycle standards. 01:11.280 --> 01:12.840 That's the battery for me, Harlow. 01:12.840 --> 01:16.000 Well, then, see your neighborhood Auto Light battery dealer. 01:16.000 --> 01:20.560 He's equipped to give you the best service money can buy on all makes of batteries. 01:20.560 --> 01:24.400 To quickly learn his location, just call Western Union by number... 01:24.400 --> 01:26.600 And ask for me, Operator 25. 01:26.600 --> 01:30.440 I'll gladly tell you the address of your nearest Auto Light battery dealer. 01:30.440 --> 01:36.240 And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light. 01:36.240 --> 01:42.680 And now, with the Fall River Tragedy and the performance of Miss Agnes Moorhead, Auto Light 01:42.680 --> 01:46.000 hopes once again to keep you in... 01:46.000 --> 01:56.000 Suspense. 01:56.000 --> 02:09.000 Just a moment. 02:09.000 --> 02:13.360 Just a moment, I'm coming. 02:13.360 --> 02:15.880 I was just bringing some tea from the pantry. 02:15.880 --> 02:17.360 You're Mr. Lippert from the magazine? 02:17.360 --> 02:19.000 Yes, I'm Elizabeth Borden. 02:19.000 --> 02:20.000 Won't you come in? 02:20.000 --> 02:22.000 Come on in. 02:22.000 --> 02:23.840 I thought we might sit in the morning room. 02:23.840 --> 02:25.240 I have all the things in there. 02:25.240 --> 02:28.360 The newspaper, clippings, and pictures about the trial. 02:28.360 --> 02:30.320 You may sit there, if you will. 02:30.320 --> 02:35.320 Linden Borden took an ax and gave her mother forty-waks. 02:35.320 --> 02:40.040 Then he took another one and gave her mother forty-one... 02:40.040 --> 02:42.000 That child followed you here. 02:42.000 --> 02:45.320 They follow anybody who comes and shout their words. 02:45.320 --> 02:46.840 That has been part of my punishment. 02:46.840 --> 02:49.280 My whole life since the trial has been a punishment. 02:49.280 --> 02:52.800 The worst punishment that anyone innocent or guilty could ever face. 02:52.800 --> 02:53.800 They think I'm guilty. 02:53.800 --> 02:54.800 ...and gave her mother forty-waks... 02:54.800 --> 02:55.800 Everyone does. 02:55.800 --> 02:56.800 They always did, but I'm not. 02:56.800 --> 02:57.800 ...and gave her mother forty-one... 02:57.800 --> 02:58.800 The jury said I wasn't. 02:58.800 --> 02:59.800 You must forgive me. 02:59.800 --> 03:05.800 I'll pour you tea and tell you all about it. 03:05.800 --> 03:10.400 It was my father and my stepmother who were killed, if you'll remember. 03:10.400 --> 03:16.400 It was a long time ago, father, where he lay on a couch in the living room and my stepmother 03:16.400 --> 03:20.760 upstairs where she'd been attending to the making of the beds. 03:20.760 --> 03:26.040 First, Dr. Bowen came over and then in a little while the police were there too. 03:26.040 --> 03:29.960 After some time had passed, I was arrested and brought to trial. 03:29.960 --> 03:43.320 And all my friends were witnesses against me. 03:43.320 --> 03:48.440 May it please your honor, Mr. Foreman and gentlemen of the jury. 03:48.440 --> 03:53.160 Upon the fourth day of August, an old man and an old woman, husband and wife, each without 03:53.160 --> 03:58.360 a known enemy in the whole world, in their own home, upon a frequented street in the 03:58.360 --> 04:03.800 most popular city of this county, under the light of day and in the midst of its activities, 04:03.800 --> 04:08.760 were first one then another, severely killed by unlawful human agency. 04:08.760 --> 04:15.680 Today, Lizzie A. Borden, the own daughter of one of the victims, is at the bar of this 04:15.680 --> 04:21.080 court, accused by the grand jury of this county of these crimes. 04:21.080 --> 04:26.160 As spokesman for the Commonwealth, it is my purpose to explain to you the grounds and 04:26.160 --> 04:30.000 the basis for that accusation. 04:30.000 --> 04:35.120 I believe the best way to do that is to call the first witness, Dr. S. W. Bowen. 04:35.120 --> 04:37.240 Dr. S. W. Bowen? 04:37.240 --> 04:39.440 Yes, I'm here. 04:39.440 --> 04:42.320 Raise your hand on the book. 04:42.320 --> 04:45.240 Do you sound this word, tell the truth, the whole truth, over the truth, to help your 04:45.240 --> 04:46.240 God? 04:46.240 --> 04:47.240 I do. 04:47.240 --> 04:50.240 Please be seated. 04:50.240 --> 04:53.560 Dr. Bowen, where do you live? 04:53.560 --> 04:54.960 91 Second Street. 04:54.960 --> 04:55.960 That is in Fall River. 04:55.960 --> 05:00.960 Am I right in believing that address is directly across Second Street from where the Borden 05:00.960 --> 05:01.960 family lives? 05:01.960 --> 05:02.960 Yes, that is correct. 05:02.960 --> 05:04.240 Do you know the Borden family? 05:04.240 --> 05:08.360 Yes, I had been a physician and friend for 25 years. 05:08.360 --> 05:11.800 Did you know Mr. Borden's financial situation? 05:11.800 --> 05:12.800 Financial situation? 05:12.800 --> 05:14.360 Did you know if he were wealthy or not? 05:14.360 --> 05:20.040 Mr. Borden's estate, I do not hesitate to say, is considerably more than $300,000. 05:20.040 --> 05:22.600 To be inherited by whom, do you know? 05:22.600 --> 05:25.320 According to his will, to be inherited by his wife. 05:25.320 --> 05:28.120 And upon the condition of her death? 05:28.120 --> 05:30.160 To be inherited by his two daughters. 05:30.160 --> 05:34.320 His two daughters, that is the prisoner Miss Lizzie Borden and Miss Emma Borden? 05:34.320 --> 05:35.320 Yes. 05:35.320 --> 05:37.000 I see. 05:37.000 --> 05:40.000 On the morning of the 4th of August, where were you? 05:40.000 --> 05:41.920 I was working in the front garden. 05:41.920 --> 05:43.720 How long had you been working there? 05:43.720 --> 05:49.120 Between 9.30, if I can remember, and the time I was called to the Borden house. 05:49.120 --> 05:51.240 Had you seen anyone enter the house? 05:51.240 --> 05:52.240 Only Mr. Borden. 05:52.240 --> 05:53.240 The deceased. 05:53.240 --> 05:54.400 What time was that? 05:54.400 --> 05:57.280 Some minutes before 11, say 10 before. 05:57.280 --> 05:58.600 Tell us what you noticed. 05:58.600 --> 06:01.200 I saw him first coming up street. 06:01.200 --> 06:04.960 He turned through his gate and then I heard him knocking on his door. 06:04.960 --> 06:05.960 The door was locked? 06:05.960 --> 06:06.960 Yes. 06:06.960 --> 06:09.960 I could see that he had tried to unlock it with his key, but the door must have been locked 06:09.960 --> 06:10.960 from the inside. 06:10.960 --> 06:14.840 Presently, he was let in by the maid, Brigid Sullivan. 06:14.840 --> 06:17.040 Had you ever known that to happen before? 06:17.040 --> 06:18.040 No. 06:18.040 --> 06:20.840 And you saw no one else enter the house the morning of the 4th? 06:20.840 --> 06:21.840 No. 06:21.840 --> 06:24.920 Now, Dr. Bourne, how did you learn of the trouble? 06:24.920 --> 06:27.200 The maid, Brigid Sullivan, told me. 06:27.200 --> 06:32.680 She came across and said Lizzie had found her father and had called her to go for help. 06:32.680 --> 06:34.560 And you returned to the house with her? 06:34.560 --> 06:35.560 Yes. 06:35.560 --> 06:36.560 Who was there when you arrived? 06:36.560 --> 06:40.080 We went in the side entrance, which led to the kitchen. 06:40.080 --> 06:43.040 Miss Lizzie Borden and her neighbor, Mrs. Churchill. 06:43.040 --> 06:45.520 You remember what was said at that moment? 06:45.520 --> 06:46.520 Yes, I do. 06:46.520 --> 06:50.000 I saw Lizzie and I said, Lizzie, what's the matter? 06:50.000 --> 06:52.440 She said, Father's been killed or stabbed. 06:52.440 --> 06:53.440 I said, where is he? 06:53.440 --> 06:55.800 And she told me, in the sitting room. 06:55.800 --> 06:58.520 Is that all she said in that conversation at that time? 06:58.520 --> 07:00.720 Yes, I went into the sitting room. 07:00.720 --> 07:03.840 Will you describe what you saw in the sitting room? 07:03.840 --> 07:06.920 Mr. Borden was on the couch. 07:06.920 --> 07:11.600 He had the appearance of a man who had been killed while he slept. 07:11.600 --> 07:13.400 Could you explain that, Dr. Bourne? 07:13.400 --> 07:19.560 There was no facial constriction such as is found in cases where the victim fought death. 07:19.560 --> 07:22.120 Were there signs of a struggle in the room? 07:22.120 --> 07:23.120 None. 07:23.120 --> 07:25.920 And when you went out, did you speak to Miss Lizzie Borden again? 07:25.920 --> 07:26.920 Yes. 07:26.920 --> 07:27.920 You'll remember what you said. 07:27.920 --> 07:32.160 Yes, I asked her if she had seen anyone and she said no. 07:32.160 --> 07:33.160 Then I said, where were you? 07:33.160 --> 07:35.680 And she said, in the barn to get some lead. 07:35.680 --> 07:39.360 Dr. Bourne, who discovered the body of Mrs. Borden? 07:39.360 --> 07:40.360 I did. 07:40.360 --> 07:41.360 When? 07:41.360 --> 07:44.640 And I went upstairs to get a sheet to cover the body of Mr. Borden. 07:44.640 --> 07:48.600 I saw her body when I reached the top of the front stairs. 07:48.600 --> 07:51.040 You could see her body from the stairway? 07:51.040 --> 07:52.040 Yes. 07:52.040 --> 07:53.480 Could you see it from the hallway upstairs? 07:53.480 --> 07:54.480 Yes. 07:54.480 --> 07:55.480 Did you examine the body? 07:55.480 --> 07:59.400 Yes, she'd been killed the same way as Miss Borden. 07:59.400 --> 08:01.960 You know, sir, which of them died first? 08:01.960 --> 08:08.120 I believe it has been proved by Dr. Wood that Mrs. Borden died approximately an hour before 08:08.120 --> 08:09.800 her husband did. 08:09.800 --> 08:10.800 Thank you, Dr. Bourne. 08:10.800 --> 08:25.600 That will be all. 08:25.600 --> 08:27.400 This lawyer's name was Mr. Moody. 08:27.400 --> 08:29.480 Oh, he was just full of hate. 08:29.480 --> 08:34.040 And he had a way to fill everybody else with hate, with the questions we asked. 08:34.040 --> 08:37.120 He made all my friends witnesses against me. 08:37.120 --> 08:41.400 Miss Russell, who lived next door south, and Miss Churchill, who lived next door north. 08:41.400 --> 08:45.360 Mr. Moody made them say things to make the jury believe that no one could have gone into 08:45.360 --> 08:48.880 the house without being seen, and that no one had, yet. 08:48.880 --> 08:52.040 So the murders were committed by someone who was there. 08:52.040 --> 08:54.640 And Bridget Sullivan was the only other one there. 08:54.640 --> 08:57.600 But there wasn't anybody who suspected her. 08:57.600 --> 09:12.000 She was just a witness against me, like the rest of them. 09:12.000 --> 09:17.720 Bridget Sullivan, how long have you known the prisoner? 09:17.720 --> 09:20.400 I worked at that house for almost three years. 09:20.400 --> 09:22.760 Would you say they were a happy family? 09:22.760 --> 09:23.760 No, sir. 09:23.760 --> 09:26.040 Can you explain what you mean, please? 09:26.040 --> 09:29.960 There were feelings between Mrs. Borden and the two girls. 09:29.960 --> 09:31.760 Miss Lizzie and Miss Emma? 09:31.760 --> 09:32.760 Yes. 09:32.760 --> 09:34.720 Mrs. Borden was a stepmother. 09:34.720 --> 09:35.720 They didn't like her. 09:35.720 --> 09:39.200 Well, did they show their dislike in any definite way? 09:39.200 --> 09:41.840 Well, Miss Lizzie never called her mother. 09:41.840 --> 09:44.440 She always called her Mrs. Borden. 09:44.440 --> 09:47.840 Do you know why she did that, or what started the feeling? 09:47.840 --> 09:48.840 Yes. 09:48.840 --> 09:52.320 There was an argument about some property. 09:52.320 --> 09:54.600 Mr. Borden gave some over to Mrs. Borden. 09:54.600 --> 09:58.320 Miss Lizzie thought his property should go to his own flesh and blood. 09:58.320 --> 10:00.440 How do you know this happened? 10:00.440 --> 10:02.560 I heard her arguing with her father. 10:02.560 --> 10:05.440 You remember the words that were spoken? 10:05.440 --> 10:11.480 They argued about the property, and Mr. Borden said, Mother has a right to it. 10:11.480 --> 10:13.480 And Miss Lizzie said, Don't call her mother. 10:13.480 --> 10:15.720 She's a mean old thing, and we hate her. 10:15.720 --> 10:18.760 By we, she meant her sister and her? 10:18.760 --> 10:19.760 Yes. 10:19.760 --> 10:23.360 And from that time, Miss Lizzie never called Mrs. Borden mother? 10:23.360 --> 10:25.160 Never that I heard. 10:25.160 --> 10:28.440 Miss Sullivan, what were you doing the morning of the murder? 10:28.440 --> 10:30.040 I'd been washing windows. 10:30.040 --> 10:32.640 Who was in the house that morning? 10:32.640 --> 10:35.200 Miss Emma was not. 10:35.200 --> 10:38.600 She'd been gone since the day before with her two friends. 10:38.600 --> 10:41.400 Mr. and Mrs. Borden had breakfast, and then he left. 10:41.400 --> 10:42.400 What time was that? 10:42.400 --> 10:43.400 Near nine o'clock. 10:43.400 --> 10:44.400 What about Mrs. Borden? 10:44.400 --> 10:45.400 She was dusting. 10:45.400 --> 10:46.400 She told me to wash the windows. 10:46.400 --> 10:47.400 Then I never saw her again. 10:47.400 --> 10:48.400 Will you repeat that, please? 10:48.400 --> 10:49.400 I'll repeat it. 10:49.400 --> 10:54.400 I never saw her again. 10:54.400 --> 11:00.000 I even asked Miss Lizzie where she was, and she told me she went out. 11:00.000 --> 11:02.800 Miss Lizzie told you her stepmother had gone out? 11:02.800 --> 11:03.800 Yes. 11:03.800 --> 11:08.560 She said a note had come, and that Mrs. Borden had gone to see a sick friend. 11:08.560 --> 11:10.280 Did you see the note? 11:10.280 --> 11:11.280 No, sir. 11:11.280 --> 11:13.760 No, I never saw it. 11:13.760 --> 11:16.000 Did you see Mrs. Borden leave? 11:16.000 --> 11:17.400 No, sir. 11:17.400 --> 11:20.640 If she had indeed left, which door would she have gone out? 11:20.640 --> 11:22.160 The front door, sir. 11:22.160 --> 11:27.120 And yet that was the door you unlocked and opened to admit Mr. Borden a few minutes before 11:27.120 --> 11:28.120 eleven. 11:28.120 --> 11:29.120 Yes, sir. 11:29.120 --> 11:30.120 How was it locked? 11:30.120 --> 11:32.280 It was bolted from the inside. 11:32.280 --> 11:33.280 Did you lock it? 11:33.280 --> 11:34.360 No, sir. 11:34.360 --> 11:38.000 And obviously no one going out that way could lock it from the outside. 11:38.000 --> 11:39.400 No, sir. 11:39.400 --> 11:40.400 What about the other doors? 11:40.400 --> 11:41.400 They were locked. 11:41.400 --> 11:42.400 You're sure of that? 11:42.400 --> 11:43.400 Yes, sir. 11:43.400 --> 11:47.840 So no one could have come into the house that morning? 11:47.840 --> 11:49.840 I don't think so. 11:49.840 --> 11:50.840 All right, Miss Sullivan. 11:50.840 --> 11:54.840 Now, when you heard Mr. Borden knock on the door, you went to it. 11:54.840 --> 11:55.840 Yes, sir. 11:55.840 --> 11:59.440 Miss Sullivan, where was Lizzie Borden at that moment? 11:59.440 --> 12:02.160 Upstairs or on the stairway. 12:02.160 --> 12:05.280 How do you know that's where she was? 12:05.280 --> 12:10.280 Because when I was walking to the door, I heard her laugh. 12:10.280 --> 12:12.280 You heard her laugh? 12:12.280 --> 12:14.040 Yes, sir. 12:14.040 --> 12:17.920 And she came down the front stairs after I let her father in. 12:17.920 --> 12:19.040 What was she laughing at? 12:19.040 --> 12:20.040 I don't know, sir. 12:20.040 --> 12:21.040 She didn't say. 12:21.040 --> 12:25.240 Tell us what happened then after Mr. Borden came in. 12:25.240 --> 12:26.960 I heard her ask how he felt. 12:26.960 --> 12:27.960 He'd been sick. 12:27.960 --> 12:32.080 And I heard her get the couch ready so he could lie down. 12:32.080 --> 12:35.800 By that time, I'd gone through the kitchen to the rear stairway where I went up to my 12:35.800 --> 12:36.800 room. 12:36.800 --> 12:37.800 Now, how long did you stay there? 12:37.800 --> 12:38.800 Twenty minutes, I think. 12:38.800 --> 12:45.280 And Miss Lizzie called from downstairs to say that her father had been killed. 12:45.280 --> 12:47.280 Did you speak to Miss Lizzie? 12:47.280 --> 12:48.800 Yes, sir. 12:48.800 --> 12:52.160 When she told me her father was killed, I asked her where she was. 12:52.160 --> 12:54.200 And how did she answer? 12:54.200 --> 12:59.440 She said, I was up in the barn. 12:59.440 --> 13:00.440 Thank you, Miss Sullivan. 13:00.440 --> 13:01.440 That will be all. 13:01.440 --> 13:18.040 This lawyer, this Mr. Moody, was awfully clever. 13:18.040 --> 13:22.840 You understand the Commonwealth had no physical evidence nor any witnesses to the murders. 13:22.840 --> 13:26.480 And Mr. Moody was trying to eliminate the possibility that anyone else could have done 13:26.480 --> 13:28.600 it, as they say. 13:28.600 --> 13:33.000 And I realized that innocence or guilt didn't make any difference anymore. 13:33.000 --> 13:35.520 Mr. Moody would have tried to do the same thing no matter what. 13:35.520 --> 13:50.360 To turn my friends against me, my doctor and my servants. 13:50.360 --> 13:55.760 Captain Harrington, being in charge of the investigation of the day of the murders, did 13:55.760 --> 13:57.720 you question Miss Lizzie Borden? 13:57.720 --> 13:58.720 I did. 13:58.720 --> 14:01.640 When I got there, I asked her if she knew anything about it. 14:01.640 --> 14:03.040 She said she did not. 14:03.040 --> 14:06.040 That she'd found him when she came into the house. 14:06.040 --> 14:10.600 I asked her where she'd been, and she said she'd been in the loft in the barn. 14:10.600 --> 14:13.840 I asked her how long, and she said she thought it had been 20 minutes. 14:13.840 --> 14:15.560 Did you investigate that statement? 14:15.560 --> 14:16.560 I did. 14:16.560 --> 14:18.360 I went to the loft in the barn. 14:18.360 --> 14:21.040 The floor was thick with dust. 14:21.040 --> 14:25.280 When I walked across it, I left footprints. 14:25.280 --> 14:28.240 But there were no other footprints up there. 14:28.240 --> 14:32.800 There was no evidence that anyone else had been there? 14:32.800 --> 14:34.960 No evidence at all. 14:34.960 --> 14:36.560 That will be all, Captain Harrington. 14:36.560 --> 14:37.560 Thank you. 14:37.560 --> 14:45.760 I would like to ask the jury to pause for a moment and weigh the testimony heard thus 14:45.760 --> 14:46.760 far. 14:46.760 --> 14:51.960 I'd like to remind you that it was given by persons who would rather not speak against 14:51.960 --> 14:57.040 the prisoner and who spoke only the truth under oath. 14:57.040 --> 15:21.680 Now, I should like to ask the prisoner, Miss Lizzie Borden, to take the stand. 15:21.680 --> 15:27.560 Auto Light is bringing you Miss Agnes Moorhead as Lizzie Borden, with Joseph Kearns as Mr. 15:27.560 --> 15:34.360 Moody in The Fall River Tragedy, tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater 15:34.360 --> 15:40.880 of thrills, Suspense. 15:40.880 --> 15:49.920 Say, Hap, where were we? 15:49.920 --> 15:53.000 Oh, you were telling me about the Auto Light Stay Full Battery. 15:53.000 --> 15:58.040 Oh, yes, the famous battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. 15:58.040 --> 15:59.040 Good starter, Harlow? 15:59.040 --> 16:01.000 Ah, at the very best, Hap. 16:01.000 --> 16:05.680 Why, every positive plate in the Auto Light Stay Full is protected by fiberglass retaining 16:05.680 --> 16:11.240 mats to reduce shedding and flaking and give longer life, as proved by tests conducted 16:11.240 --> 16:13.960 according to accepted life cycle standards. 16:13.960 --> 16:15.320 You've sold me, Harlow. 16:15.320 --> 16:18.840 I'm on my way to get a new Auto Light Stay Full Battery. 16:18.840 --> 16:23.680 So, friends, have your battery checked soon by your neighborhood Auto Light Battery dealer 16:23.680 --> 16:26.400 who services all makes of batteries. 16:26.400 --> 16:31.800 He'll gladly tell you whether your battery is right for these cold starting days. 16:31.800 --> 16:35.800 And if a replacement is needed, your Auto Light Battery dealer has an Auto Light Stay 16:35.800 --> 16:38.100 Full Battery for your car. 16:38.100 --> 16:41.960 To quickly learn his location, just call Western Union by number... 16:41.960 --> 16:43.760 And ask for me, Operator 25. 16:43.760 --> 16:47.560 I'll tell you the name of your nearest Auto Light Battery dealer. 16:47.560 --> 16:51.960 There you can be sure of getting an Auto Light Stay Full Battery, the battery that needs 16:51.960 --> 16:56.360 water only three times a year in normal car use. 16:56.360 --> 17:02.560 And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light. 17:02.560 --> 17:08.400 And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage, Miss Agnes Moorhead as Lizzie 17:08.400 --> 17:16.520 Borden in Elliot Lewis's production of The Fall River Tragedy, a true story well calculated 17:16.520 --> 17:20.480 to keep you in suspense. 17:20.480 --> 17:33.960 Lizzie Borden took an extra day off from either 40-way... 17:33.960 --> 17:38.280 Oh, I remember the day so clearly when I was called to the stand. 17:38.280 --> 17:41.720 None of my friends would look at me, nor my sister. 17:41.720 --> 17:50.240 And then I realized that my father and my stepmother were more fortunate than I would 17:50.240 --> 17:53.240 ever be. 17:53.240 --> 17:57.640 Are you Lizzie A. Borden? 17:57.640 --> 18:00.640 Swear to tell the truth, the whole truth of your garden? 18:00.640 --> 18:01.640 I do. 18:01.640 --> 18:06.640 Please be seated. 18:06.640 --> 18:15.240 Miss Borden, did you ever have any trouble with your stepmother? 18:15.240 --> 18:16.240 No. 18:16.240 --> 18:21.640 Miss Borden, do you mean not within that past year? 18:21.640 --> 18:24.040 No, about two years ago. 18:24.040 --> 18:26.480 Then you did have trouble with her? 18:26.480 --> 18:28.160 If you wish to call it that. 18:28.160 --> 18:31.600 What was it about? 18:31.600 --> 18:33.680 About my stepmother's step-sister, Miss Whitehead. 18:33.680 --> 18:36.880 Was it a violent expression of feeling? 18:36.880 --> 18:40.240 It was simply a difference of opinion. 18:40.240 --> 18:41.240 In regard to what? 18:41.240 --> 18:42.240 To property. 18:42.240 --> 18:47.360 Her father's house was to sale on 4th Street, and my father bought her step-sister's share 18:47.360 --> 18:48.640 and gave it to her. 18:48.640 --> 18:49.640 To your mother? 18:49.640 --> 18:50.640 My stepmother. 18:50.640 --> 18:54.040 We thought what he did for her he should do for his own flesh and blood. 18:54.040 --> 18:58.960 Did you at that time say to your father, don't call her mother, she's a mean old thing and 18:58.960 --> 19:02.720 we hate her? 19:02.720 --> 19:05.120 I don't know, I may have, but I don't remember. 19:05.120 --> 19:07.400 Were you always cordial with your stepmother? 19:07.400 --> 19:10.280 That depends upon one's idea of cordiality. 19:10.280 --> 19:13.960 Was it cordial according to your ideas of cordiality? 19:13.960 --> 19:14.960 Yes. 19:14.960 --> 19:20.040 I didn't regard her as my mother, I stopped calling her mother after the affair regarding 19:20.040 --> 19:21.040 her step-sister. 19:21.040 --> 19:22.720 Why did you leave off calling her mother? 19:22.720 --> 19:24.200 Because I wanted to. 19:24.200 --> 19:26.920 Have you any other reason to give me? 19:26.920 --> 19:27.920 No. 19:27.920 --> 19:31.560 Well, then that will have to be sufficient. 19:31.560 --> 19:35.720 Now Miss Borden, we come to the morning of August 4th. 19:35.720 --> 19:39.920 That morning, did you breakfast with your father and stepmother? 19:39.920 --> 19:43.760 No, I came downstairs at about nine. 19:43.760 --> 19:45.760 They had finished eating. 19:45.760 --> 19:46.760 Did you see your father? 19:46.760 --> 19:50.120 Yes, he was in the sitting room reading the Providence Journal. 19:50.120 --> 19:51.120 And your stepmother? 19:51.120 --> 19:56.560 I saw her in the dining room, she had a dusting cough. 19:56.560 --> 19:58.000 That was about nine. 19:58.000 --> 19:59.960 When did you see your stepmother again? 19:59.960 --> 20:03.640 After I'd eaten a pear and come back into the dining room. 20:03.640 --> 20:08.200 She told me she had had a note and was going out to see a sick friend. 20:08.200 --> 20:09.440 She said she'd got the dinner. 20:09.440 --> 20:10.440 Did you see the note? 20:10.440 --> 20:11.440 No, no sir. 20:11.440 --> 20:12.880 Did you see your stepmother leave? 20:12.880 --> 20:13.880 No sir. 20:13.880 --> 20:14.880 Or did you hear her leave? 20:14.880 --> 20:15.880 No, no sir. 20:15.880 --> 20:16.880 How long did you stay downstairs? 20:16.880 --> 20:20.400 Oh, I'm not sure. 20:20.400 --> 20:24.480 I ate a pear and drank a cup of tea and then went back to my room. 20:24.480 --> 20:27.520 Your room, that's up the front stairs to the rear, is that correct? 20:27.520 --> 20:28.520 Yes. 20:28.520 --> 20:31.680 And then you walked the hallway and a few paces to the rear of the room where your stepmother's 20:31.680 --> 20:34.320 body was later found. 20:34.320 --> 20:37.640 How long did you stay in your room? 20:37.640 --> 20:41.040 I don't know, it must have been an hour. 20:41.040 --> 20:42.960 Did you see anyone up there? 20:42.960 --> 20:43.960 No sir. 20:43.960 --> 20:44.960 Did you hear anything? 20:44.960 --> 20:45.960 No sir. 20:45.960 --> 20:48.440 What were you doing? 20:48.440 --> 20:50.680 I was sewing a piece of lace on a garment. 20:50.680 --> 20:55.880 Do you know that medical examination has proved that your stepmother was killed approximately 20:55.880 --> 20:58.680 an hour before your father? 20:58.680 --> 20:59.680 Yes. 20:59.680 --> 21:04.240 Do you understand that to mean she was killed at approximately ten o'clock? 21:04.240 --> 21:05.240 Yes. 21:05.240 --> 21:08.000 Were you in your room at ten o'clock? 21:08.000 --> 21:09.000 I think I was. 21:09.000 --> 21:14.760 But you heard nothing, nothing like the sound of a person being struck down a few paces 21:14.760 --> 21:15.760 away. 21:15.760 --> 21:16.760 No sir. 21:16.760 --> 21:17.760 That is extraordinary. 21:17.760 --> 21:22.760 Now Miss Warden, you insist that you did not leave your room for close to an hour. 21:22.760 --> 21:23.760 Yes. 21:23.760 --> 21:26.200 Where is your father? 21:26.200 --> 21:30.400 He had left, he went downtown after nine. 21:30.400 --> 21:34.200 Do you understand that the front door and all the doors were locked from the inside 21:34.200 --> 21:36.560 when he returned a few minutes before eleven? 21:36.560 --> 21:37.560 Yes. 21:37.560 --> 21:38.560 Did you lock it? 21:38.560 --> 21:39.560 No sir. 21:39.560 --> 21:46.160 Do you understand that the witness, Miss Bridget Sullivan, testified that she did not lock it? 21:46.160 --> 21:47.160 I heard her say that. 21:47.160 --> 21:48.240 Well then who locked it? 21:48.240 --> 21:49.600 I don't know. 21:49.600 --> 21:52.520 Did you hear your father try to get in? 21:52.520 --> 21:53.520 Yes sir. 21:53.520 --> 21:55.080 Were you still in your room? 21:55.080 --> 21:56.800 I was coming down. 21:56.800 --> 21:59.760 You had passed the spare room and were on the stairs. 21:59.760 --> 22:00.760 Yes sir. 22:00.760 --> 22:03.160 Did you see anything? 22:03.160 --> 22:06.360 If I had looked in I should have seen Miss Warden. 22:06.360 --> 22:08.200 I didn't look in. 22:08.200 --> 22:09.760 I didn't see anything. 22:09.760 --> 22:10.760 What did you laugh at? 22:10.760 --> 22:12.120 I did not laugh. 22:12.120 --> 22:15.640 Did you hear a witness's sworn statement that you did laugh? 22:15.640 --> 22:16.640 Yes. 22:16.640 --> 22:19.160 Must have been mistaken. 22:19.160 --> 22:20.720 I see. 22:20.720 --> 22:25.640 Now when your father came in through the door, Bridget Sullivan had unlocked. 22:25.640 --> 22:26.640 You came downstairs. 22:26.640 --> 22:27.640 Yes. 22:27.640 --> 22:29.720 Did you speak with your father? 22:29.720 --> 22:33.360 I asked him how he was feeling and he said he thought he would lie down. 22:33.360 --> 22:35.720 And that is when he went to the couch in the sitting room. 22:35.720 --> 22:36.720 Did you help him? 22:36.720 --> 22:37.720 Yes. 22:37.720 --> 22:39.920 Yes I went with him and covered him with a shawl. 22:39.920 --> 22:42.200 And then what did you do? 22:42.200 --> 22:44.920 I went up in the barn to get some lead. 22:44.920 --> 22:46.400 What kind of lead? 22:46.400 --> 22:47.400 For fishing sinkers. 22:47.400 --> 22:51.600 I was going to our farm in Marion and I was going to fish while I was there. 22:51.600 --> 22:55.000 When were you going fishing? 22:55.000 --> 22:56.120 Monday. 22:56.120 --> 22:58.160 The murders occurred on Thursday. 22:58.160 --> 23:00.320 You were going fishing on the next Monday? 23:00.320 --> 23:01.320 Yes. 23:01.320 --> 23:05.600 Miss Warden, why did you pick that particular time on Thursday to go to the loft in the 23:05.600 --> 23:07.240 barn to get sinkers? 23:07.240 --> 23:08.240 I don't know. 23:08.240 --> 23:11.760 It occurred to me so I went to the barn. 23:11.760 --> 23:15.520 Did you pick the loft in the barn as a place to keep sinkers? 23:15.520 --> 23:16.520 No. 23:16.520 --> 23:19.800 My father had once told me there was some lead up in the barn. 23:19.800 --> 23:23.880 You know that search for fishing apparatus in your house has shown there was none there? 23:23.880 --> 23:26.920 There had none there, but there was some at the farm. 23:26.920 --> 23:30.040 Then did not that apparatus include sinkers? 23:30.040 --> 23:32.760 No, there were no sinkers on the line. 23:32.760 --> 23:37.360 How long had it been since you used the apparatus? 23:37.360 --> 23:39.040 Three years. 23:39.040 --> 23:43.480 And you remembered all those years that there were no sinkers? 23:43.480 --> 23:44.480 Yes. 23:44.480 --> 23:45.480 I see. 23:45.480 --> 23:52.960 How long do you think you were occupied in looking for sinkers in the loft? 23:52.960 --> 23:54.840 About fifteen or twenty minutes. 23:54.840 --> 23:58.200 Did you do nothing besides look for sinkers in that twenty minutes? 23:58.200 --> 23:59.200 Yes, sir. 23:59.200 --> 24:00.200 I ate some pears. 24:00.200 --> 24:04.200 Would it take you all that time to eat a few pears? 24:04.200 --> 24:06.840 I do not do things in a hurry. 24:06.840 --> 24:08.960 Is that all you did? 24:08.960 --> 24:09.960 No. 24:09.960 --> 24:12.160 I went over to the window and I opened it. 24:12.160 --> 24:13.160 Why did you do that? 24:13.160 --> 24:14.160 Because it was too hot. 24:14.160 --> 24:18.480 I suppose that is the hottest place on the premises. 24:18.480 --> 24:19.480 Yes, sir. 24:19.480 --> 24:24.960 Do not you think it would have been more comfortable if you waited until late afternoon to look 24:24.960 --> 24:28.520 for your sinkers rather than choose the hottest hour of an August morning? 24:28.520 --> 24:29.520 Perhaps I would have. 24:29.520 --> 24:32.560 I am sure you would have. 24:32.560 --> 24:35.240 From the window, could you see the house? 24:35.240 --> 24:36.720 Yes, sir. 24:36.720 --> 24:40.200 How many pears did you eat in that twenty minutes? 24:40.200 --> 24:41.200 Three. 24:41.200 --> 24:45.760 Could you, standing at that window, see anybody enter the kitchen or the side door? 24:45.760 --> 24:46.760 No, sir. 24:46.760 --> 24:47.760 I thought you said you could see the house. 24:47.760 --> 24:49.760 Not after you pass a jog in the barn. 24:49.760 --> 24:53.400 It obstructs the view of that side of the house. 24:53.400 --> 24:58.720 Miss Borden, have you heard a witness, Captain Harrington, a policeman trained to make accurate 24:58.720 --> 25:04.920 observation, testify that there was no evidence whatsoever that anyone had disturbed the dust 25:04.920 --> 25:09.040 on the floor of the barn loft, that no one had been there? 25:09.040 --> 25:10.040 I heard him. 25:10.040 --> 25:13.720 Did you still insist that you were there for twenty minutes during which your father was 25:13.720 --> 25:14.720 killed? 25:14.720 --> 25:15.720 Yes, sir. 25:15.720 --> 25:18.200 Then how do you account for Captain Harrington's statement? 25:18.200 --> 25:19.920 I don't know. 25:19.920 --> 25:23.480 I'm afraid that Captain Harrington must have been mistaken. 25:23.480 --> 25:28.480 I was up in the barn. 25:28.480 --> 25:39.480 Oh, Mr. Moody was terribly clever. 25:39.480 --> 25:46.400 He suggested a motive, two motives, the hate for my stepmother and the inheritance. 25:46.400 --> 25:49.320 He suggested the story of being in the barn was false. 25:49.320 --> 25:53.120 He suggested that the story of the note and my stepmother leaving was false. 25:53.120 --> 25:55.760 He suggested that I was guilty, but I'm not. 25:55.760 --> 25:56.760 Jury said I wasn't. 25:56.760 --> 25:57.760 They found me not guilty. 25:57.760 --> 25:58.760 They didn't find the axe. 25:58.760 --> 26:04.480 They didn't find blood stains or destroyed clothes or anything, just circumstance. 26:04.480 --> 26:07.360 But it doesn't seem to matter what the jury said. 26:07.360 --> 26:09.360 Nobody else thinks I'm innocent. 26:09.360 --> 26:11.760 That's why they punished me. 26:11.760 --> 26:13.200 But I am innocent. 26:13.200 --> 26:16.640 No matter what people think, I stood trial and I am innocent. 26:16.640 --> 26:17.640 I swear I am. 26:17.640 --> 26:18.640 I swear I am. 26:18.640 --> 26:19.640 I'm sorry. 26:19.640 --> 26:20.640 Will you stop that? 26:20.640 --> 26:21.640 Stop it! 26:21.640 --> 26:22.640 He was not my mother! 26:22.640 --> 26:23.640 Oh, you're leaving. 26:23.640 --> 26:24.640 Don't, don't go. 26:24.640 --> 26:25.640 I haven't finished. 26:25.640 --> 26:26.640 I haven't showed you the pictures or the newspaper clippings. 26:26.640 --> 26:27.640 I saved them all to show somebody. 26:27.640 --> 26:28.640 Why are you leaving like this, Mr. Lippert? 26:28.640 --> 26:29.640 Just because you're a woman? 26:29.640 --> 26:30.640 I'm not a woman. 26:30.640 --> 26:31.640 I'm a woman. 26:31.640 --> 26:32.640 I'm a woman. 26:32.640 --> 26:33.640 I'm a woman. 26:33.640 --> 26:34.640 I'm a woman. 26:34.640 --> 26:35.640 I'm a woman. 26:35.640 --> 26:36.640 I'm a woman. 26:36.640 --> 26:37.640 I'm a woman. 26:37.640 --> 26:38.640 I'm a woman. 26:38.640 --> 26:39.640 I'm a woman, Mr. Lippert. 26:39.640 --> 26:40.640 You haven't even finished your tea. 26:40.640 --> 26:41.640 I didn't finish telling you my... 26:41.640 --> 26:42.640 You haven't even finished your tea. 27:12.640 --> 27:27.520 Suspense presented by Auto Light, tonight's star, the first lady of suspense, Miss Agnes 27:27.520 --> 27:29.480 Morehead. 27:29.480 --> 27:34.760 This is Harlow Wilcox speaking for Auto Light, world's largest independent manufacturer of 27:34.760 --> 27:37.280 automotive electrical equipment. 27:37.280 --> 27:41.400 Auto Light is proud to serve the greatest names in the industry. 27:41.400 --> 27:46.560 That's why during the early months of 1952, the Auto Light family will join together in 27:46.560 --> 27:51.280 saluting the leading car manufacturers who use Auto Light products. 27:51.280 --> 27:56.360 Our Auto Light family is made up of the nearly 30,000 men and women in 28 great Auto Light 27:56.360 --> 28:02.320 plants from coast to coast and in still other Auto Light plants in many foreign countries. 28:02.320 --> 28:06.640 Our family also includes more than 18,000 people who have invested a portion of their 28:06.640 --> 28:12.440 savings in Auto Light, as well as 96,000 Auto Light distributors and dealers in the United 28:12.440 --> 28:17.120 States and thousands more in Canada and throughout the world. 28:17.120 --> 28:22.720 Our Auto Light family will salute the Hudson Motor Car Company on the next Auto Light Suspense 28:22.720 --> 28:24.040 television program. 28:24.040 --> 28:28.640 If you live in a television area, check the day and time of Suspense on television so 28:28.640 --> 28:31.080 that you'll be sure to see this show. 28:31.080 --> 28:45.440 And remember, be with us next week for another thrilling Auto Light Suspense program on radio. 28:45.440 --> 28:50.240 Next week on Suspense, our star will be Mr. Richard Bassehart, who will portray a man 28:50.240 --> 28:57.280 who found it necessary to commit the perfect crime, a tale we call The Perfectionist. 28:57.280 --> 29:02.400 In weeks to come, we shall also present Mr. Charles Boyer, Mr. J. Carroll Nash, and Mr. 29:02.400 --> 29:11.480 James Mason, all on Suspense. 29:11.480 --> 29:16.040 Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis, with music composed by Lucian Morrowick 29:16.040 --> 29:18.240 and conducted by Lut Bluskin. 29:18.240 --> 29:22.600 The Fall River Tragedy was written for Suspense by Gil Dowd. 29:22.600 --> 29:28.320 In tonight's story, Joseph Kearns was heard as Mr. Moody, featured in the cast were Peggy 29:28.320 --> 29:34.560 Weber, Herb Butterfield, Ralph Sedan, Will Wright, and Stuffy Singer. 29:34.560 --> 29:40.600 Agnes Moorhead may currently be seen in the Wald-Krasna RKO production, The Blue Veil. 29:40.600 --> 29:47.840 And remember next week on Suspense, Mr. Richard Bassehart in The Perfectionist. 29:47.840 --> 29:57.400 This is the CBS Radio Network.