William Henry Moody
The Trial of Lizzie Borden
After losing a run in 1886, Moody was elected district attorney for the Eastern District of Massachusetts in 1889 and reelected in 1892.
​
As a district attorney, Moody was tough and honest, and he became nationally known when he served as one of the prosecutors for the 1893 Lizzie Borden murder trial. Lizzie Borden was on trial for the axe murder of her father and stepmother in Fall River.
​
Lizzie Borden was the last person to see Andrew and Abby Borden alive, but only circumstantial evidence tied her to their murders.The trial was held in June 1893 in New Bedford, MA. Moody and the prosecution focused on Lizzie’s difficult relationship with her stepmother. Although the prosecution lost the case, Moody gained national notice.
Clinedinst, B. West , Artist. The Borden murder trial--A scene in the court-room before the acquittal - Lizzie Borden, the accused, and her counsel, Ex-Governor Robinson / drawn on the spot by B. West Clinedinst. Fall River Massachusetts, 1893. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/99403183/. (Accessed September 14, 2017.)