“Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother forty whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one,” folk rhyme.
“Casey Anthony took duct tape, placed it on her baby’s face; when she saw what she done, she partied each day, thirty-one,” Charisse Van Horn.*
Is Casey Anthony the Lizzie Borden of the twenty-first century? While some have likened Casey Anthony’s first-degree, death penalty, murder trial to that of O.J. Simpson and Jodi Arias, there may be none other case that bears a striking resemblance to Casey Anthony’s than that of Lizzie Borden. While both women were acquitted of murder, the belief in their guilt continued to dominate their lives. Lizzie Borden was charged with the Aug. 4, 1892, murders of her father, Andrew Jackson Borden, and stepmother, Abby Borden and subsequently acquitted on June 20, 1893. As people more than a century later continue to believe that Lizzie Borden murdered her father and stepmother in cold blood, one must ask if the same fate rests for Casey Anthony.
The Borden and Anthony cases were similar in the aspect that both women appeared guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, minor characters were involved whom could have played a bigger role in the crime, and both women were acquitted. Additionally, many in the public have their own views, theories and opinions on who committed both crimes; even if those opinions differ from a jury’s verdict. Lizzie Borden was ostracized from the Fall River, Massachusetts community she lived in, even after her acquittal.
In the above rhymes, both women are considered guilty of murder, even though they were acquitted of the heinous acts. Casey Anthony, it appears, is headed for the same type of fame as Lizzie Borden. One can only ask if whether a century from now, rhymes like the one penned above, will be uttered while children skip jump ropes and bounce balls.
What do you think? Do you feel Casey Anthony is the Lizzie Borden of the twenty-first century?
*The above rhyme was written in jest, as a poetical creation, similar to the century-old, folk rhyme written about Lizzie Borden. It is not a representation of a legal declaration of guilt or innocence. On July 5, 2011, Casey Anthony was acquitted on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse. The rhyme is the author’s fictitious creation to show the similarities between the Lizzie Borden and Casey Anthony murder trials and acquittals.
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