I have always had a strange, macabre fascination about unsolved crimes and catastrophic tragedies. Jack the Ripper is a constant fascination for me or, more specifically, the fact that he or she was never caught. I actually had to leave the theater at one point because I thought I was going to throw up. To have the opportunity to do Titanic: The Musical was almost too much for my brain to process. The Salem witch trials are another source of wonder for me, as well.
When I travel on the road, I try to take any opportunity I can to see places of interest β especially if they appeal to my sick sense of curiosity. One such opportunity arose when I was out on tour doing Junie B.
Jones in the spring of as we passed through Fall River, Massachusetts. On August 4, β years ago today β tiny little Fall River became the focus of the nation when two bodies β those of Andrew Borden and his second wife, Abby β were discovered in 92 Second Street.
The skull of Mrs. Borden, who was found upstairs in the guest room, had been crushed by 19 blows. Lizzie was the main suspect in the case β one of the first times a woman had ever been accused of such a crime β and the case became a national sensation. Somehow, Lizzie was acquitted of the crime and the case remains unsolved all these years later.
The house in which the murders took place is now a bed and breakfast in Fall River. They had been in the sitting room, sitting on a replica of the sofa where Mr. Borden was murdered β watching horror movies on the roll-away TV that lived in the sitting room closet. The only DVDs in the house were either documentaries about the Borden murders or slasher films and the bookshelves were lined with books about Lizzie and the events that transpired in that house.
