
Andrew Borden had been struck 10 or 11 times with a hatchet-like weapon. One of his eyeballs had been split cleanly in two, suggesting he had been asleep when attacked. Soon after, as neighbors and doctors tended Lizzie, Abby Borden's body was discovered in the upstairs guest bedroom, her skull crushed by 19 blows.
Lizzie was arrested on August 11. A grand jury began hearing evidence on November 7 and indicted her on December 2. The trial took place in New Bedford the following June. After her release from the prison in which she had been held during the trial, Borden chose to remain a resident of Fall River, Massachusetts for the rest of her life, despite facing significant ostracism.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts elected to charge no one else with the murder of Andrew and Abby Borden, and speculation about the crimes continues into the 21st century.