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Fall River, Massachusetts – More than 130 years after the father and stepmother of American woman Lizzie Borden were ax murdered in this Massachusetts city, true crime lovers, ghost hunters and history buffs all flock to the home where the double homicides took place.
Located at 230 Second Street in eastern Massachusetts is The Historic Lizzie Borden House, now a working bed and breakfast.
Lance Zaal, the owner of the Lizzie Borden house and president of U.S. Ghost Adventures, closed on the sale of the dwelling in May 2021.
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"The reason I bought the house is [that] it fit perfectly with what we do with spooky haunted tours across the United States," Zaal told Fox News Digital in an in-person interview.
"We had plans to do more with physical locations — and the Lizzie Borden house was the perfect opportunity to do that."
A sign hangs outside The Historic Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Massachusetts, dubbed one of the "Top 10 Haunted Places in America." (Fox News Digital)
Zaal said it’s the customers’ reactions that fulfill him as he operates the tourist attraction.
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"I love people’s excitement, how people think through the crime scene. They can retrace the steps of the people that lived here and of course they can remember the victims who didn’t receive the justice that they deserved."
Andrew Borden (left) and his second wife, Abby Borden (right), were murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts, home on the morning of Thursday, Aug. 4, 1892. (Getty Images)
The murders took place in Fall River on the morning of Aug. 4, 1892, according to Britannica.
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Lizzie Borden’s mother died when she was a child.
Her businessman father, Andrew Borden, later remarried; his new wife's name was Abby Borden.
Guests can stay in the John Morse room — where it is said that Abby Borden was murdered with an ax. (Fox News Digital)
It’s said that Abby Borden went upstairs to make a bed — and at some point during the morning hours, she was attacked with an ax-like weapon.
Guests of the bed and breakfast today have the option to sleep overnight in that room, just inches away from where Abby Borden's body was found.
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The head of the ax — the murder weapon — was later found in the basement of the Borden home, according to Zaal.
Near this brick wall in the Lizzie Borden house — photographed on July 27, 2023 — is where the head of an ax was found after the murders. (Fox News Digital)
Andrew Borden came home early that day and was murdered on the couch after his wife was murdered.
While the amount of blows the couple suffered isn’t clear, it’s been estimated by various sources that they may have been struck 10 to 20 times.
The only people who were home, aside from the two victims, were Lizzie Borden and the family’s 25-year-old maid, Bridget Sullivan, whom the family called Maggie, according to staff members who currently work at The Historic Lizzie Borden House.
In June 1893, Lizzie Borden stood trial, and was later acquitted, for killing her father and stepmother with an ax. The house where the crimes took place is now a working bed and breakfast; it's run by a man named Lance Zaal. (Donna Hageman/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Several facts in the case suggest that Lizzie Borden may have been guilty, as written in an online article published by the UMKC School of Law titled, "Fourteen Reasons to Believe Lizzie Murdered Her Parents."
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Lizzie Borden reportedly had a "strained relationship" with stepmother Abby Borden, and some money and property disputes existed in the family.
Also, Lizzie Borden was witnessed attempting to buy poison at a local drugstore, one day before the murders.
Overnight visitors can sleep in this bed, which sits in the actual bedroom that once belonged to Lizzie Borden. (Fox News Digital)
Lizzie Borden became a prime suspect. She was arrested on Aug. 11, 1892, according to the Library of Congress.
She was found not guilty on June 20, 1893, in a trial by a jury of 12 men.
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Staff members at the house say the evidence was circumstantial.
"Although acquitted of the charges against her, the question of whether Lizzie Borden committed the murders remains to this day," the Library of Congress wrote online.
Andrew Borden reportedly had purchased his family home in 1872 due to its convenient location to his business.
"Today, the house is just as it was," The Historic Lizzie Borden House website states. "The furnishings retain their rightful place, the décor has been painstakingly duplicated, and the original hardware and doors are still intact."
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"Artifacts from the murder case are displayed while memorabilia from the era line shelves and mantel tops," says the site. "A visitor is literally transported back to that morning when a perfect storm of events culminated in a double murder."
A photo of Lizzie Borden hangs today in the Lizzie Borden house, located in Fall River Massachusetts. The entire home is decorated in 1890s decor. (Fox News Digital)
Fox News Digital got a look inside the three-floor home, which has no hallways at all. Any visitor must go through one bedroom to get to another.
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Photos of the Borden family grace the walls — and images of the actual crime scenes are even displayed in the rooms where the ax murders occurred.
Seen on the top right is Lizzie Borden's Maplecroft Mansion where she lived for nearly 35 years after she was acquitted of the murders. Lizzie Borden is photographed at the mansion (bottom left), and the Borden family gravestones are seen at Oak Grove Cemetery, in Fall River, Massachusetts. (Fox News Digital)
The restoration done to the house provides an eerie sense of what it must have been like to be present that day in 1892.
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Zaal and his staff of Borden aficionados run daily tours and overnight stays.
Rates start around $200 per night depending on the room chosen.
Seen here is the side door that leads to the kitchen of the Lizzie Borden house in Fall River, Massachusetts. (Fox News Digital)
Guests can stay in the Lizzie and Emma suite (Lizzie Borden and her sister's rooms, which are separated by one door only); the Andrew and Abby suite; the Andrew Jennings room (dedicated to the defense attorney for Lizzie Borden); the John Morse room (Andrew Borden's brother, who was staying at the house during the murders); the Hosea Knowlton room (in the attic, dedicated to the lead prosecutor in the Borden trial); or the Bridget Sullivan room (where the family's maid slept).
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Zaal noted that the room of Bridget Sullivan, the family's maid, is where guests report a ton of paranormal activity — with claims of music boxes sounding off and furniture being found moved across the room without a human in sight.
This is the "Andrew and Abby suite," where guests can sleep overnight at the Lizzie Borden house in Massachusetts. (Fox News Digital)
Check-in is at 5:00 p.m. and check-out is at 10:00 a.m.
To receive breakfast, guests must be seated in the dining room by 8:30 a.m. The cost is an additional $20 per person and includes "a mix of what the Bordens had that morning" such as mutton and johnnycakes, according to the Historic Lizzie Borden House website. Pancakes, eggs, salad, bacon, oatmeal and fruit are also served.
The entire home or a floor can also be rented for events such as weddings or other occasions.
Zaal said that summer and the Halloween seasons are typically the busiest, which explains why October is booked solid this year.
Some rooms are typically available on certain dates after Halloween for those who are still searching for a spooky experience before winter arrives this year.
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"I would say in the most popular month in October, we have probably seen 6,000 visitors coming through the house," Zaal previously told Fox News Digital.
"We've added new experiences here at the house and one of those is a ghost hunt that we offer nightly from 10:00 p.m. to midnight. And we just added ghost hunts from midnight to 2:00 a.m."
The Bridget Sullivan room sits on the very top floor in the Lizzie Borden house. Lance Zaal, owner of the house (seen here), gives a tour. (Fox News Digital)
Zaal's company, U.S. Ghost Adventures, is currently in 80 cities across America with various creepy-cool offerings for people to experience.
But with his acquisition of the Lizzie Borden house, Zaal and his team created a special ghost tour to explore the city of Fall River.
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"[The] Lizzie Borden house is just part of the city and just part of the city's story," he said. "We wanted to tell more about that story, about where Lizzie Borden was from, and where her family was from," Zaal said.
A mug showing a photo of Lizzie Borden is for sale at the gift shop inside what used to be a shed in the back of the house. (Fox News Digital)
The gift shop sells hats, T-shirts, a "bloody" ax, mugs, bumper stickers, a Lizzie Borden board game, a bobblehead doll, refrigerator magnets and more.
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Zaal said he plans on expanding guests’ experiences with more nightly ghost tours of the home, outdoor ax throwing, Victoria-era murder mystery nights and much more.
Lance Zaal, owner of the Lizzie Borden house and president of U.S. Ghost Adventures, closed on the sale of the home in May 2021. Zaal has big plans and fun, spooky guest experiences planned in the months and years to come. (Fox News Digital)
Zaal promises an immersive, enjoyable and hauntingly good time with an accommodating staff that's chock-full of Lizzie Borden knowledge.
He also encourages visitors to record any spine-chilling encounters that may occur while they're sleeping in the Lizzie Borden house.
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