# Lizzie Borden and a divorce suit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 24, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lizzie-borden-and-a-divorce-suit/296085 "2005-03-24T20:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lizzie-borden-and-a-divorce-suit/296085/1 "2005-03-24T20:34:19Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlizzieborden.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlizzieborden.html) > [@](#): > > But I can’t find any evidence that Lizzie was ever named in a divorce suit. Given the publicity that followed her arrest for shoplifting, it’s hard to imagine a lid could have been kept on scandals involving divorce and lesbianism. What divorce suit? I am not understanding this report. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lizzie-borden-and-a-divorce-suit/296085/2 "2005-03-24T20:53:12Z")
QUOTE: That’s the conjecture of the book Lizzie by Evan Hunter (real name: Salvatore Lombino–he’s also famous for writing under the name Ed McBain). WHOOSH: Evan Hunter/EdMcBain writes novels. They are fiction. “LIZZIE” was never intended to be a factual book. An interview with Hunter on the subject: [http://www.lizzieandrewborden.com/WritersCorner/Interviews/InterviewEvanHunter.htm](http://www.lizzieandrewborden.com/WritersCorner/Interviews/InterviewEvanHunter.htm) ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lizzie-borden-and-a-divorce-suit/296085/3 "2005-03-24T21:20:34Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > QUOTE: That’s the conjecture of the book Lizzie by Evan Hunter (real name: Salvatore Lombino–he’s also famous for writing under the name Ed McBain). > > WHOOSH: Evan Hunter/EdMcBain writes novels. They are fiction. “LIZZIE” was never intended to be a factual book. > > An interview with Hunter on the subject: [http://www.lizzieandrewborden.com/WritersCorner/Interviews/InterviewEvanHunter.htm](http://www.lizzieandrewborden.com/WritersCorner/Interviews/InterviewEvanHunter.htm) Ahh…I see. From that URL: “At the turn of the century, a man divorcing his wife on charges of lesbianism named Lizbeth A Borden of Fall River as corespondent. Judge William Trowbridge Forbes of the Probate Court in Worcester County dismissed the charges as frivolous.” This allegation in a divorce suit that Lizzie was a lezzie came a number of years after the murder. And, the judge just tossed this out as being frivolous. That staff report should be more clear that Evan Hunter/EdMcBain wasn’t an serious researcher about Lizzie Borden, but a fiction writer. This is just sheer speculation. In particular as I am unaware of any suggestion that Bridget (the maid) was inclined to lesbianism. Also, there were no locks on doors in this house that they lived in? If so, quite unlikely that Lizzie’s stepmother would walk in and catch them in bed having sex. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lizzie-borden-and-a-divorce-suit/296085/4 "2005-03-24T21:28:42Z")
And also at that URL: “Bridget Sullivan died in Butte, Montana, in March of 1948, at the age of eighty-two. She had gone west fifty-one years earlier, had settled in Anaconda, married a man whose last name was also Sullivan and—according to at least one report—had numerous children.” While Bridget could have been bi-sexual (or, Lizzie paid her as a prostitute for lesbian sex), what factual evidence exists points to her being hetero.