Did Lizzie Borden have seizures, why she was found not guilty? Bertha Manchester case impact explained amid Netflix show

Lizzie Borden was accused of killing her parents with an ax but was found not guilty and Bertha Manchester's murder might have impacted the jury decision.

Lizzie Borden faced trial for the ax murder of father, Andrew, and stepmother, Abby. The two were killed on August 4, 1892. While Lizzie and the family maid Bridget Sullivan were the only two people in the house at the time, Lizzie was acquitted of the charges.

Lizzie Borden was found not guilty in the 1892 ax murders of her father and stepmother. (X/@RafalutionXXII)

No other suspect was formally charged and the case officially remains unsolved. The sensational double murder in Fall River, Massachusetts has returned to public attention with Netflix's Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, which premiered on September 17.

This has also put focus on several theories surrounding the Borden case, including Lizzie suffering from seizures. Here's all you need to know about Lizzie Borden's alleged medical condition and why she was found not guilty in the murder trial.

Did Lizzie Borden suffer from seizures?

There is no confirmed evidence that Lizzie Borden had seizures or was epileptic. However, later retellings of the murder have sometimes shown Borden with epilepsy.

“Some theorizers eager to unravel the mystery of the Borden murders have turned to the notion that Lizzie Borden suffered from epilepsy and that she was having a seizure when she committed the first murder,” TIME magazine noted in 2018, adding her epilepsy diagnosis was unsubstantiated.

An article in a 1986 issue of Muskogee Phoenix also explores the possibility of ‘brain disorder’ being a possible cause for violence. Dr. Anneliese Pontius of Harvard Medical School examined a man who had allegedly killed his brother while in a seizure. “The man, like Lizzie Borden, had earlier been committed to a mental institution by his parents, and that association coupled with a disorder in the region of his brain called the limbic system, led to the seizure,” the doctor had said at the time.

This led to speculations that Borden might have also killed her parents while she was in the midst of a seizure, but there is no verifiable information about her medical condition. Further, as per a jury, Borden was also found not guilty in the murders of her parents.

Why was Lizzie Borden found not guilty?

The jury acquitted Lizzie Borden, finding her not guilty. They concluded that the prosecutors had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Borden killed her father and stepmother.

While the prosecution was able to present a lot of suspicious circumstances, physical evidence was inconclusive, and other evidence that might have aided their case was excluded on the judge's instructions. Justice Justin Dewey also emphasized on presumption of innocence to the jurors.

They deliberated for about 90 minutes on June 20, 1893, before finding Borden not guilty. Some of the evidence that was deemed inadmissible included testimony from a local drugstore clerk.

Eli Bence had said that Borden attempted to buy prussic acid, a deadly poison, the day before the murder. She claimed she wanted to clean a sealskin cape; however, the clerk had refused to sell it to her since Borden lacked a doctor's prescription.

Borden's own testimony from the August 1892 inquest was also excluded since the judge ruled her statements being used against her would violate the constitutional protections granted. This was because Borden was already a focus of suspicion when she was compelled to testify and was not represented by counsel at the time. Limited forensics of the time also hampered investigators from building a stronger case against Borden.

Another aspect that might have helped the defense was the murder of Bertha Manchester.

How Bertha Manchester's case might have impacted Borden's

Days before Borden's trial began, a woman named Bertha Manchester was found killed with an ax in Fall River. Borden was behind bars at this time awaiting trial.

Later, a Portuguese laborer was convicted for the murder. While this case was not directly linked to the Borden ax murders, it might have complicated the idea that only Borden was capable of launching such a brutal attack, A&E TV reported. However, the outlet noted that there is not much evidence to suggest that the jury was too swayed by Manchester's murder when reaching a verdict in Borden's case.