Halloween Cold Case Murder Challenge
Part Two: The Lizzie Borden Case
Two Sisters. One Household. A Web of Family Tensions.
On August 4, 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were brutally murdered inside their home in Fall River, Massachusetts.
In Part One, we examined the murder timeline, the household environment, and the planetary transits occurring on the morning of the murders.
One particularly interesting pattern emerged: transiting Mars at approximately 12° Aquarius opposed Lizzie Borden’s natal Moon at approximately 13° Leo.
But Lizzie was not the only family member experiencing significant planetary activations.
Her older sister, Emma, had natal Mercury and Mars conjunct at approximately 17° Aquarius, placing the murder-day Mars transit within five degrees of both planets.
This creates an intriguing astrological connection between the sisters.
Could their natal charts and the planetary transits reveal something about the psychological tensions within the Borden household?
To investigate, we must examine the relationships, family expectations, financial circumstances, and possible motives surrounding the murders.
The birth times used in this investigation are provisional estimates. Astrology is being used as a symbolic interpretive framework, not as evidence of criminal guilt.
CARD ONE — LIZZIE BORDEN: THE QUESTION OF MOTIVE
Cancer Sun | Leo Moon | Scorpio Rising
Lizzie’s natal chart combines emotional sensitivity with a strong emphasis on pride, recognition, independence, and personal identity.
Her Cancer Sun represents attachment to family, emotional security, and belonging.
Her Leo Moon emphasizes dignity, recognition, loyalty, and the need to feel respected.
Mercury and Saturn in Leo introduce additional themes involving personal authority, communication, and restrictions surrounding self-expression.
Her Scorpio Ascendant adds symbolic themes of privacy, intensity, emotional self-protection, and sensitivity to power dynamics.
From an evolutionary astrology perspective, these placements raise an important question.
What happens when an adult’s need for independence conflicts with the authority and financial control exercised within the family?
Historical accounts describe tensions involving property, inheritance, and the relationship between Andrew Borden’s daughters and their stepmother.
These circumstances provide a foundation for examining possible motives.
THE MURDER-DAY TRANSITS
On August 4, 1892:
Transiting Sun at approximately 12° Leo was conjunct Lizzie’s natal Moon at approximately 13° Leo.
Transiting Mars at approximately 12° Aquarius opposed her natal Moon within approximately one degree.
Transiting Jupiter at approximately 24° Aries formed a trine to her natal Saturn at approximately 25° Leo.
The Sun conjunct the Moon can symbolize heightened emotional awareness and matters involving personal identity.
Mars opposing the Moon can represent tension between emotional needs, external pressures, and the desire to assert independence.
Jupiter trine Saturn may symbolize an interaction between opportunity, authority, and existing structures.
Taken together, these aspects provide a symbolic picture of emotional pressure and questions of control.
However, these patterns do not establish that Lizzie committed either murder.
CARD TWO — EMMA BORDEN: THE OLDER SISTER’S ROLE
Pisces Sun | Aquarius Moon | Leo Rising
Emma’s natal chart reveals a different psychological orientation.
Her Pisces Sun symbolizes sensitivity, imagination, and emotional awareness.
Her Aquarius Moon represents independence, intellectual processing, and a possible preference for emotional distance.
One of the most significant features of her chart is the conjunction of Mercury and Mars at approximately 17° Aquarius in her seventh house.
Mercury governs communication, thought processes, interpretation, and decision-making.
Mars represents initiative, assertion, confrontation, and the ability to act.
Together, these planets can symbolize strong convictions, direct communication, and the tendency to respond decisively when personal boundaries are challenged.
The seventh house traditionally governs partnerships, interpersonal relationships, open disagreements, and the way individuals interact with others.
This placement therefore becomes particularly relevant when examining Emma’s relationships within the family.
THE MURDER-DAY TRANSITS
On August 4, 1892, transiting Mars at approximately 12° Aquarius was approaching Emma’s natal Mercury–Mars conjunction.
This transit symbolically emphasizes communication, assertion, and interpersonal tensions.
Transiting Sun at approximately 12° Leo was also close to Emma’s proposed Ascendant at approximately 11° Leo.
The Sun near the Ascendant can symbolize increased emphasis on identity, personal circumstances, and one’s relationship with the outside world.
These contacts are especially interesting when compared with Lizzie’s natal chart.
However, historical accounts place Emma away from Fall River when the murders occurred. Her chart cannot establish that she was physically present or involved.
CARD THREE — THE SISTERS: THE AQUARIUS–LEO OPPOSITION
The natal synastry between Lizzie and Emma reveals one of the most interesting patterns in this investigation.
Emma’s Mercury and Mars at approximately 17° Aquarius oppose Lizzie’s Moon at approximately 13° Leo.
The orb is approximately four degrees.
Emma’s Mercury–Mars conjunction also opposes Lizzie’s Mercury at approximately 22° Leo, within approximately five degrees.
This creates a significant symbolic relationship between emotional expression, communication, and assertion.
The Aquarius–Leo axis represents the relationship between individuality and collective principles, emotional recognition and intellectual independence, and personal dignity and objective reasoning.
Lizzie’s Leo Moon may emphasize the emotional experience of family disagreements.
Emma’s Aquarius Mercury–Mars conjunction may emphasize principles, independence, and the need to act upon personal convictions.
These differences could create tension, but they could also provide complementary strengths and mutual understanding.
THE MOST SIGNIFICANT TRANSIT CONNECTION
On August 4, 1892, transiting Mars at approximately 12° Aquarius activated this existing natal opposition.
Mars approached Emma’s Mercury–Mars conjunction while opposing Lizzie’s natal Moon.
At the same time, transiting Sun at approximately 12° Leo was conjunct Lizzie’s Moon and close to Emma’s Ascendant.
This produces a concentrated activation of the Aquarius–Leo axis shared by the sisters.
From an evolutionary astrology perspective, this pattern raises questions about family loyalty, autonomy, communication, authority, and different responses to emotional pressure.
It does not establish a confrontation or shared involvement in the murders.
CARD FOUR — BRIDGET SULLIVAN: THE SERVANT CONNECTION
One of the questions in the Borden investigation concerns Bridget Sullivan, the family’s domestic servant.
Bridget was present in the household during portions of the morning of August 4, 1892.
Her movements and testimony became important elements of the subsequent investigation.
However, my original astrological examination identified a placement in Abby Borden’s natal chart that deserves attention.
ABBY’S VENUS IN THE SIXTH HOUSE
Using Abby’s proposed birth time of January 21, 1828, at 8:15 PM, her natal Venus falls in Aquarius in the sixth-house region.
In traditional astrology, the sixth house governs daily work, service, employees, servants, and the routines that maintain a household.
Venus represents cooperation, harmony, goodwill, diplomacy, and the desire to establish pleasant relationships.
When Venus occupies the sixth house, it can symbolize a preference for cooperative working relationships and harmonious interactions with those who provide services.
In Abby’s case, this placement raises an interesting possibility.
Could she have maintained a relatively positive relationship with Bridget Sullivan?
Could Venus in the sixth suggest that Abby valued cooperation and goodwill within the domestic working environment?
This was one of the reasons my original astrological interpretation placed less emphasis on Bridget as a potential suspect.
Rather than identifying a strong symbolic pattern of hostility between Abby and her household servant, Venus in the sixth suggested the possibility of a more cooperative relationship.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SIXTH HOUSE
The sixth house is especially relevant in this case because Bridget’s employment placed her directly within the daily operations of the Borden home.
She would have been familiar with household routines, movement between rooms, and the family’s ordinary patterns of behavior.
That familiarity makes her testimony important to the reconstruction.
But familiarity with a crime scene does not establish criminal responsibility.
Likewise, Abby’s Venus in the sixth house cannot prove that their relationship was harmonious or that Bridget was innocent.
It is an astrological consideration that must be compared with historical accounts and physical evidence.
THE MURDER-DAY TRANSITS
Transiting Mars at approximately 12° Aquarius was moving through Abby’s natal fifth house, while Mercury at approximately 8° Virgo was conjunct her proposed Virgo Ascendant.
These placements provide additional symbolic themes involving personal circumstances, communication, and interpersonal interactions.
However, without a reliable natal chart for Bridget, we cannot directly examine the synastry between Abby and her servant.
The sixth-house Venus interpretation therefore remains a hypothesis about Abby’s possible approach to working relationships.
CARD FIVE — ABBY BORDEN: AUTHORITY, PROPERTY, AND FAMILY EXPECTATIONS
Aquarius Sun | Aries Moon | Virgo Rising
Abby’s natal chart introduces another important psychological dimension.
Her Aquarius Sun symbolizes independence, personal principles, and the desire for autonomy.
Her Aries Moon suggests direct emotional expression and a strong instinct for self-determination.
Her Moon is closely conjunct Pluto in Aries in the eighth house.
In evolutionary astrology, the eighth house governs shared resources, financial dependence, inheritance, vulnerability, power, and psychological transformation.
The Moon–Pluto conjunction may symbolize emotionally intense experiences surrounding security, control, and dependency.
Her Virgo Ascendant adds themes of organization, practical responsibility, and attention to everyday routines.
Taken together, these placements invite questions about how Abby approached household responsibilities, financial arrangements, and personal authority.
However, they cannot establish whether she was demanding, accommodating, controlling, or compassionate in her actual relationships.
THE MURDER-DAY TRANSITS
At approximately 9:30 AM on August 4, 1892:
Transiting Mercury at approximately 8° Virgo was conjunct Abby’s natal Ascendant at approximately 9° Virgo.
Transiting Mars at approximately 12° Aquarius was moving through her natal fifth house.
Transiting Saturn at approximately 27° Virgo was moving through her natal first house.
Mercury conjunct the Ascendant symbolically emphasizes immediate circumstances, communication, and personal interactions.
Mars in the fifth house can symbolize intensified self-expression or assertion.
Saturn in the first house may symbolize responsibilities, restrictions, and confrontation with limitations.
These transits provide symbolic themes for investigation, not evidence of the circumstances of Abby’s death.
PART TWO — THE PSYCHOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION
The three women occupied very different positions within the Borden household.
Abby was Andrew Borden’s wife and the stepmother of his adult daughters.
Lizzie was an unmarried adult daughter whose financial independence remained connected to her father.
Emma was the older sister, with her own history, loyalties, and relationship to the family home.
Their natal charts suggest different symbolic approaches to emotional security, authority, independence, and interpersonal relationships.
The Aquarius–Leo opposition between Emma and Lizzie becomes particularly interesting because it was activated by the Sun and Mars on the day of the murders.
Meanwhile, Abby’s eighth-house Moon–Pluto conjunction raises themes of financial dependence, shared resources, and psychological vulnerability.
Her sixth-house Venus introduces a different consideration: the possibility of cooperation and goodwill in relationships involving domestic service.
This placement was an important part of my original reasoning for considering Bridget Sullivan a less compelling suspect from an astrological perspective.
Nevertheless, no natal placement can establish innocence or guilt.
PART TWO — CLOSING REFLECTION
The Borden murders raise questions extending far beyond the immediate crime scene.
They involve family loyalty, financial dependence, inheritance, personal autonomy, domestic authority, and the relationships that develop behind closed doors.
The natal charts and murder-day transits reveal several intriguing symbolic patterns.
Perhaps the most striking is the activation of the Aquarius–Leo axis shared by Lizzie and Emma.
But Abby’s Venus in the sixth house also deserves consideration because it introduces the possibility that her relationship with the household servant was more cooperative than confrontational.
These interpretations do not solve the murders.
Instead, they provide a structured astrological approach to examining the psychological and relational questions surrounding the case.
IN PART THREE
We return to the Borden residence to examine the competing theories, the movement timeline, the possibility of an intruder, and the final question:
Who could have committed both murders, and what does the available evidence actually support?
Cosmic Clocks — Forensic & Evolutionary Astrology