BLACK DAHLIA
Beauty is often a reason for a mystery to remain with us, such as small time actress Elizabeth Short – known as the Black Dahlia for her liking of black clothes– found mutilated at the age of 22 in Los Angeles on 15 January 1917.

Soon afterwards, a parcel was sent to the police containing her belongings and an address book with a page torn out. Over the following years, some 50 people confessed to her murder, drawing themselves into a story of beauty and – perhaps the real mystery here – the tragedy of Elizabeth’s life.
A juvenile delinquent, she bedded servicemen to escape her pathetic life. Eventually getting engaged to a soldier, he was killed in World War Two, and she turned to drink.
Getting the odd movie bit-part, she slowly moved towards prostitution. Hence, her horrific death became symbolic of a life which failed to live the American Dream.

JACK THE RIPPER
The most famous murder mystery of all began on the night of 30 August 1888 when a policeman found the body of Mary Ann Nichols in Buck’s Row, Whitechapel, in London. She had had her throat cut. A week later, ‘Dark Annie’ Chapman met a similar fate near Spitalfields Market. Rumours abounded of a monster on the loose, heightened by the first of many letters delivered to Fleet St and other places from Leather Apron, and later Jack the Ripper. He advised the next victim would have her ears chopped off. On the morning of 30 September two further bodies were found – Elizabeth ‘Long Liz’ Stride and Catherine Eddowes. Situated within 15 minutes of each other, the former was not mutilated, but the latter was; her ears had also been partially chopped off. The final victim of Jack the Ripper – a killer who removed organs from his victims in a frenzied manner – was murdered in her room on 9 November. Mary Kelly was different to the rest. She was younger and her body had been mutilated to a much greater extent, even being partially skinned.

Speculation remains to this day as to who Jack the Ripper was. A Jew was suspected when police chief Sir Charles Warren had removed from a wall where a blooded rag was found following the Eddowes murder, the words: ‘The Juwes are not men to be blamed for nothing.’ Others blamed Queen Victoria s grandson, the Duke of Clarence, Warren’s actions suggesting conspiracy to hide the fact. In the 1980s a variation put the killings down to royal physician Sir William Gull and coachman John Netley to prevent a scandal involving the Duke, a shop girl and an illegitimate child, the killings being merely a screen.

Failed lawyer Montague John Druitt made the mistake of drowning himself in the Thames in December 1888, thus guaranteeing his place in the list of suspects. Mary Kelly’s lover, fish seller Joseph Barnett also found himself dragged in for questioning. In 1995 suspicion fell upon doctor, Francis Tumbelty, who was in London at the time, and murders seemed to follow him wherever he went until his death in 1903.

With the publication of the now infamous diary of Jack the Ripper, suspicion recently fell on Liverpool cottonbroker James Maybrick, who often visited London and was murdered by his wife shortly after the murders. However, the main reason for suspicion is now repeated in Patricia Cornwell’s candidate, artist Walter Sickert. Both Sickert and Maybrick (if he wrote the diaries) had a morbid fascination with the deaths.

OSCAR SLATER
Mystery surrounded the battering to death of 82 year old Marion Gilchrist in her Glasgow flat on 21 December 1908. Her maid Helen Lambie returned to find a neighbour investigating a noise. A man walked calmly out of the flat as they went in. A cheap brooch had been stolen, but not her valuable diamonds.

Five days later, police identified German Jew and gem dealer Oscar Slater as prime suspect. He had pawned a similar brooch and had cleared off on the Lusitania. Arrested in New York, his Scottish trial resulted in conviction.
Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fought for Slater’s innocence when he discovered the brooch had been pawned a fortnight before the woman’s death. But Slater still served 18 years, finally receiving £6,000 in compensation. Conan Doyle was convinced a prominent Glaswgian was the real killer, rather than the known womaniser and gambler, Slater.

LIZZIE BORDEN

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Image by Jef Nickerson via Flickr

One unsolved crime is the murder of Andrew Borden and his second wife Abby at Fall River, Massachusetts in August 1892. Suffering a frenzied axe attack in their home, their daughter Lizzie, 32, called out to maid, Bridget Sullivan, ‘come down, quick, father’s dead.’

He lay dead in a downstairs room. His wife was found upstairs. A frugal, if wealthy family, several members were suspected, Lizzie being arrested, but found innocent. She claimed to be in a barn at the time of the murders. However, she became immortalised in the ditty: ‘Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother 40 whacks When she saw what she had done She gave her father 41.’

Built in 1886, ” Hotel Crescent ” is believed to be the most haunted hotels in America because it haunted.  The story started when the hotel went bankrupt and for the first time in ‘ tranformasikan ‘ as a school.  In 1937 the hotel was bought by Norman Baker, a doctor, he also established the foundation to cure cancer.  Baker eventually change the hotel into a healthy home.  Even so, the patients who come for treatment does not go away and eventually died at the hotel.  Since then, the roaming spirits of patients and often appeared in front of our guests.

2. Queen Mary Hotel

Former ” Queen Mary “is a luxury yacht.  Voyage for the first time in 1936.  Queen Mary sailing even able to cross the Atlantic ocean.  Because of the speed and ‘ the performance ‘ a tough no doubt if the Queen Mary became famous and is the most expensive yacht in the world in his day.  Call it the names of celebrities who is famous for atrocities such as Clark Gable, Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo and even Winston Churchill, had sailed with this luxurious ship.  But unfortunately, when the war occurred in the British ship was taken over by the military forces of “The Grey Ghost ” to cross the Atlantic by a mission of war.  It was also the Queen Mary collided with the ship HMS Curacao causing the ship split into two vessels and 300 crew died.  Queen Mary is believed as one of the many haunted hotel.

3. Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast

The hotel is believed to be haunted since August 4, 1892, when a boy named Lizzie Borden were brutally murdered father and stepmother to use an ax.  Abby Borden, her stepmother were found dead between bed and a closet near the living room while his father who also got beat axes lying dead under the couch.  Lizzie punished because his actions in Fall River and eventually died in 1927.  Three of them recognized paranormal spirits often roaming the place.

4. The Old Spot Hotel

” The Old Spot Hotel ” is the first building built by the town of Gawler, South Australia 1980.  The building was then used as the office with various business activities.  After a few years later the place was renovated and changed into the hotel.  Since its transformation into a hotel, the building is often raised with bizarre events such as ghost sightings, even the guests who come to this hotel are often given a discourse that wandering ghosts, one little boy ghost sightings.  In mid- 1990 just a hotel guest capture 3 images in the camera odd that no other ghost images.

5. Hotel Del Coronado

This Victorian -style luxury hotel located disebrang port of San Diego, California.  The hotel is often visited by famous guests such as Thomas Edison, L.  Frank Baum, Charlie Chaplin, Charles Lindbergh, American presidents, and a guest who is not clearly named ” Kate Morgan ” who eventually spent the night in room 302 [ now 3327 ].  Morgan ’s death at the hotel due to his cancer pain, but many say that Morgan died of suicide.  Ghost Morgan would often appear before the guests Hotel Del Coronado.

Image by dbking via Flickr

Lizzie Borden took an axe

And gave her mother forty whacks.

When she saw what she had done

She gave her father forty-one.

In 1892, Andrew Borden and his wife Abby were hacked to death with a hatchet, a crime that was immediately sensationalized not only in the Fall River, Massachusetts, area where the murders were committed, but also in the national landscape of late 19th Century America.

Andrew’s daughter, Lizzie, was arrested, tried, and acquitted for the murders and despite the acquittal she lived as an outcast for the remainder of her life.  While there have been a number of other suspects considered as the perpetrator of the murders (including maid, Bridget Sullivan, and William Borden, Andrew’s illegitimate son) no one has ever been convicted.  As such, the notoriety Lizzie gained as a result of the murders has carried over into the 21st century with little expectation of that notoriety waning.

People love a good mystery, and if the Lizzie Borden mystery is one that captures your attention, you can visit The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast / Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts, for your fix.

The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast / Museum is located in the Borden house where the murders took place and has been restored and decorated in Victorian style to bring it as close as possible to its state during the late 19th century.  Built in 1845, the house offers 8 themed bedrooms related to the Lizzie Borden case to choose from should you be brave enough to spend the night.

The available rooms:

• Lizzie Borden Room – Accused murderess
• Emma Borden Room – Lizzie’s sister
• John V. Morse Room – Lizzie’s uncle
• Andrew Borden Room – Lizzie’s father
• Abby Borden Room – Lizzie’s stepmother
• Bridget Sullivan Room – Borden family maid
• Andrew Jennings Room – Lizzie’s lawyer during the infamous trial
• Hosea Knowlton Room – District Attorney and Lizzie’s trial prosecutor

Room prices range from $150 – $250 per night, depending on the room and time of year, and each comes complete with free WiFi and a double bed.  Additionally, the entire house can be rented for up to 20 people at a time for $1500 per night. 

Tours run from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., so guests staying in all rooms except the Andrew Jennings and Hosea Knowlton rooms will need to make them available during those times. 

For more information, please visit The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast / Museum.

Lizzie Andrew Borden, born on July 19th, 1860, was a resident of Fall River, Massachusetts who came to public prominence when she became the prime suspect in the hatchet murders of her father and stepmother on August 4th, 1892.  The murders, trial, and notoriety of the incident has not only become part of American pop culture, it has made Lizzie a veritable icon of evil and treachery.  And although acquitted, (no one else was ever arrested or tried), Lizzie remains notorious in American folklore as the woman who “took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks, and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.”

Image via Wikipedia

According to testimony, on August 4th, 1892, Andrew Borden went into town to run errands at the bank and post office, returning home about 10:45 am.  Lizzie found his bloodied body about thirty minutes later.  According to Bridget Sullivan, the twenty-six-year old Borden maid who’d been lying down in her room at the time, she heard Lizzie calling to her shortly after 11:00 am, saying someone had killed her father.  His body was found slumped on the couch in the downstairs sitting room, his face turned to the right, appearing to be asleep.  A short time later while Lizzie was being tended by the family doctor, Sullivan discovered the mutilated body of Andrew’s wife Abbie upstairs in the guest bedroom. The two had both been bludgeoned with a hatchet, having suffered numerous blows to the head, with Andrew Borden’s left eyeball neatly split in half.

Image via Wikipedia

Lizzie was arrested on August 11th, 1892, and her trial began ten months later.  Depositions showed that during the police investigation, a hatchet was found in the basement and subsequently assumed to be the murder weapon even though it had no traces of blood.  But in that most of the handle was missing, the prosecution argued that it had been intentionally broken off because it was covered with blood.  Police officer Michael Mullaly, however, stated that he found the missing handle piece lying next to a hatchet and it had no blood.  A forensics expert testified that there was no time for the hatchet to have been cleaned or the handle broken off after the murder.  And although the forensic technology of fingerprinting was known at this time, the Fall River police put no stock in this new science and refused to take prints from the hatchet.  Further weakening the State’s case against Lizzie was that her blood-soaked clothing was never found, although few days after the murder, Lizzie admitted to having burned a blue dress in the kitchen stove, claiming it had been ruined when she brushed against fresh paint.

Despite inconsistencies and incriminating circumstances (and suspicion from much of the courtroom), Lizzie Borden was acquitted on June 20th, 1893, after an hour and a half of jury deliberation.  The fact that no murder weapon had been found and that no blood evidence was discovered just minutes after the second murder, provided enough reasonable doubt.  Adding to her defense, her lawyers managed to have her entire original deposition barred from the trial (said to have been quite incriminating), which also excluded testimony regarding her attempt to purchase prussic acid a few days before the murders.  Adding to the jury’s doubt was the fact that another axe murder had recently taken place in the area, perpetrated by José Correira–even though Correira was proven not to have been in the country when the Borden murders took place.

After the trial, Lizzie and her sister Emma moved to a new house that Lizzie dubbed “Maplecroft.” The two settled all civil claims against them from Abby’s side of the family, giving them everything they wanted to avoid further lawsuits. In June of 1905, after twelve years together, the two became estranged over lifestyle differences, Lizzie said to have used her celebrity to garner public attention. It is said that shortly after an argument over a party Lizzie had given for her theater friends, Emma moved out to live with her close friend Alice Lydia Buck. Lizzie Borden began using the name “Lizbeth” A. Borden from that time on.

Lizzie Borden died of pneumonia on June 1st, 1927, in Fall River, Massachusetts, after a year of gallbladder illness. She never married.  The details of her funeral were never made public and only few people attended her burial. Lizzie was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery under the name Lizbeth Andrew Borden, her footstone was inscribed “Lizbeth.”

            In 1892, the Borden house consisted of Lizzie and her younger sister Emma, their father Andrew, his second wife and their stepmother Abby, and the housemaid Bridget Sullivan (who was known as Maggie by Lizzie). This rather large family lived on 92 Second Street in Fall River Massachusetts. At the time of the murders, Lizzie’s uncle John Morse was visiting them for a long weekend. He was the only friend that Andrew had. But this seemingly happy family was in reality, not happy at all. Lizzie was considered a terror by Abby, who had accused her of stealing a number of times. Also, Abby and Lizzie did not get along at all, nor did Lizzie and her father. In fact, just a short time before the double murder, Lizzie and Emma had gone and stayed the night in a nearby town.

            On a hot day in August 1892, Bridget Sullivan heard a cry from Lizzie just as the clock struck 11 am. Lizzie was screaming that her father was dead and that someone had come in and killed him. Investigators found Andrew Borden “hacked almost beyond recognition”, and began looking for evidence. While they were searching the house, they discovered Abby Borden. Her body was found cold, while Andrew’s was discovered warm, which insinuated that Abby had been killed at least an hour and a half before Andrew. At the beginning of the investigation, police said that it could have only been a tall man that killed them, and by coming from behind. Then it came to attention that Lizzie might be the culprit. Police came to the conclusion that the murders had been committed within the Borden home, but were puzzled at the lack of blood and the fact that they couldn’t find the murder weapon,.

Although nearly everyone can recite the rhyme,many people are unfamiliar about the details of the case.Who in fact was Lizzie Borden?

There have been few cases that have attracted as much attention as the gruesome hatchet murders of Andrew Jackson Borden and his wife,Abby on that tragic Thursday,August 4th,1892 in Fall River,Massachusetts.In what was termed the “Trial of the Century”,Lizzie Borden was acquitted despite the strong evidence against her.The fact that Lizzie Borden was found to be not guilty,leaving the case forever unresolved,only adds to the mystique and our continuing obsession with the mystery.

Andrew Borden’s bloody corpse was discovered downstairs on his favorite sofa.At the age of seventy,he was one of the richest men in the city,though not well liked.He had been attacked with a sharp object presumed to be an axe,and at first could not positively be identified.Eleven blows had gashed his face,crushed his skull,one eye had been cut in half and his nose completely severed.It looked as though he had been attacked from above and behind.

Abby Borden’s body was found upstairs,struck from behind while on her knees presumably making the bed.The autopsy revealed that there had been nineteen blows to the head.The blood on the body dark and congealed leading them to believe that she had been killed first before her husband.It was reported that she only looked like the form of a person.

Though tried,and acquitted,Sunday School Teacher,Murderer,or both?Here are some interesting facts about this notorious woman you may not have known!……………………………………………………………..

• The police were reluctant to suspect Lizzie of these heinous murders as it was against perceived social understanding of the era that a woman such as she could have possibly committed such a gruesome devious act.But she in fact burned a dress in the kitchen stove only three days after the murders claiming it had paint on it!This event itself resulted in her being charged with the murders!She gave police a silk dress and told them it was the garment she had been wearing the morning of the murders.Since no properly brought up New England girl wears a silk dress in the morning while doing household chores,it was obviously not the one she had been wearing.The burned dress of course was beyond recall.
• Lizzie claimed that her menstrual cycle brought on a seizure which blacked out her memory of the events during this tragedy.
• Lizzie was 32 years old and of unblemished reputation,a quiet demure Sunday School Teacher who also did volunteer work for local charities.Yet she never shed a single tear or showed any signs of emotions during the horrendous double murder investigation,nor at the trial which was to come.Her father Andrew Borden had always discouraged any prospective gold diggers paying court to his sweet young heiresses.Lizzie was 32 and her older sister,Emma was already in her foriteis.It was clear thry would end their days as full time spinsters who would need their fathers money.
• Lizzie’s father,Andrew Borden had been tansferring some of his assets(mostly property)to the Durfees,Abbys family.He was also in the process of getting around to write his will.He was worth a cool million even in the nineteenth cntury,possibly more.
• After a twelve day trial with an impressive amount of incriminating evidence presented by the prosecution,the jury took less than an hour to acquit her.Gentleman jurors refused to believe that a good,fine,upstanding,Christian woman of such high social standing would be capable of committing such a gruesome crime.They refused to believe that a “woman” could have did this.
• Lizzie pointedly reminded the investigators that Abby Borden was her Step Mother,and not her real Mother.She coolly corrected an officer who had mistakenly called Abby her Mother.Lizzie,by her own story had to be in the house at the time of her stepmothers murder,yet was unable to explain why she had not seen or heard anything.She detested her Stepmother,she and her sister Emma.Abby Durfee Borden detested the two sisters also.
• Lizzie’s statements were not only contradictory,but also bizarre:She claimed she had been in the loft eating pears for 20-35 minutes,yet it was a sweltering hot day!Yet another version of this was that she had been up in the loft in that stifling atmosphere searching in a small box for some lead to make sinkers for fishing.These sinkers were easily obtainable for mere pennies at the shop.An officer upon hearing her story visited the hayloft,and saw no footprints in the heavy dust on the floor-except his own!
• It was a peculiar custom in the house to always keep doors locked.Even the doors between certain rooms upstairs were usually locked,Mr. Borden had said this was in case of intruders trying to rob them.They never went out without locking up,even though someone would still be home.The front door had three different types of locks,and the last thing Andrew Borden picked up literally was another lock.
• Lizzie Bordeen interesting facts can be found in local libraries,various books,and all over the web.Did she do it?What do you think?

Poltergeists (“noisy spirits”) are said to make noise, move objects and appear as apparitions. These apparitions generally resenble humans, but are tranparent and sometimes able to move through walls/objects. Ghosts may also represent the souls of people who have died in a sudden or tragic way and are unable to move onto the next life because of unresolved issues or a desire for vengeance. Other sinister presences may be attributed to demonic forces or other supernatural creatures.

Scientists and paranormal researchers have been trying for decades to quantify and rationalise the countless ghost sightings which occur every year. Some of the earliest tangible proof of the existence of disembodied spirits came from the work of William H Mumler, who was an American spirit photographer active in the 1860’s and 70’s. Mumler’s portraits showed several people accompanied by pale translucent beings in the background of the picture when they were developed. The most famous one of these is of Mary Todd Lincoln with the spirit of her husband Abraham Lincoln. Mumler was later claimed to be a fraud, using double exposure to take advantage of people suffering from grief and clouded judgement.

Several houses all over the world are purported to be haunted, eg. The Lizzie Borden house in America; the site of a double murder, and the Hollywood sign; which actress Peg Entwistle jumped off to commit suicide. The inhabitants of these houses may be suffering from a host of ailments which would explain their claims.

Some scientists have reported a link between geomagnetic changes in the earth’s crust and activation of the temporal lobe of the brain. Stimulation of this area of the brain can cause the person to feel vigorously religious or feel as if there is an ethereal presence in the room. It can also cause hallucinations which take the form of pop culture motifs, most commonly UFOs and aliens.

Low frequency sounds may also be responsible for the subjective feelings of a haunting. Sounds lower than 20 hertz are generally inaudible by humans, but can create feelings of anxiety, sorrow, the chills or the sensation of being watched.

Carbon Monoxide poisoning can also cause abnormalities in visual and auditory perception. Symptoms of poisoning include listlessness, depression, dementia, emotional disturbamces and hallucinations. Phenomena associated with haunted houses including strange visions and sounds, feelings of dread and the sudden and inexplicable deaths of the occupants can be attributed to carbon monoxide leaks from furnaces or gas water heaters.

Pareidolia is the tendency to see patterns within random perceptions. Fpr example, shadows or tricks of the light can be seen to resemble human faces. In other cases, people who expect or want to see ghosts can inaccurately attribute everyday events to supernatural causes, like changes in air pressure resulting in doors slamming, or the headlights of a car reflected in mirrors perceived as sudden flashes of light. In addition, peripheral vision is very sensitive and can be easily mislead, especially at night or when the person is tired – this would account for ghostly apparitions being seen “out of the corner of the eye”.

More research is needed, but as yet, there is no definitive evidence to confirm or deny the existence of ghosts. Subjective experience is the only experience we have of paranormal phenomena and it is yet to be disproven.