Lizzie Borden acquitted in mock retrial

TAUNTON, Mass. -- Lizzie Borden has been found innocent of using an ax to hack her father and stepmother to death -- again.

Borden was acquitted 123-48 by the audience at a mock trial in Taunton on Thursday night to mark the 150th anniversary of Massachusetts Superior Court.

Joan Fund and Bristol Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne served as Borden's defense team, while Francis O'Boy and Thomas Gay were the prosecutors. Actors dressed in period attire played Borden and witnesses from the original 1893 trial.

Fund said in her closing statement that there was "no murder weapon, no blood, no bloody clothing, no investigation."

O'Boy countered that Borden had motivation and opportunity.

Borden was charged with the August 1892 slayings, but although she was acquitted, many people thought she was guilty.

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