On a steamy August morning in 1892, Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby, were found slaughtered in their Fall River, Mass., home. The murder weapon was never found and people had been in and out of the home all morning. His daughter Elizabeth was accused and arrested a week after the killings.

The crime caught the eye of the public and Lizzie Borden of Fall River became a pop culture icon and the subject of children’s rhymes. Just in time for Halloween and the spooky fall season, Sequim High School is presenting the whodunit mystery as its all-school play.

By many accounts, Lizzie Borden was an active feminist, admired by many but hated by others who were more than happy to point the finger at the daughter.

"You watch her life get completely ruined by this rumor," said Stephanie Gooch, a SHS drama club member who plays Mrs. Churchill, a Borden neighbor and hater of Lizzie. "Lizzie has many enemies that don’t like her."

While Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murder, the crime remained unsolved, so the play never reveals a killer.

"You have to decide who did it yourself," said Darrelynne Sutton, stage manager for the play, who has a keen personal interest in the story: She wrote a paper on the murders while she was in junior high school.

A host of supporting characters surround Lizzie Borden in the play: her stern father, her "wicked" stepmother, her sister Emma, her loyal best friend Alice, the family maid Bridget, Lizzie’s Aunt Vinney, Lizzie’s possible love interest the Rev. Aaron Jubb, Lizzie’s nemesis and neighbor Mrs. Churchill, the workman’s wife Carlotta Souza, Lizzie’s lawyer Mr. Jennings, police Lt. Harrison and curious newspaper reporter Amy.

The entire play takes place on one set, the parlor of the Borden home, where Lizzie Borden held women’s rights meetings before her parents’ deaths and where her family mourns afterward.

The play opens at 9 p.m. Halloween night. Other show times are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1; 6 p.m. Nov. 6 and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8. Tickets – $8 general admission and $6 for students with ASB cards, children under 13 and seniors over 65 – are available at the box office 30 minutes before the performance.

"Lizzie Borden

of Fall River"

Sequim High School’s

all school play

Debuts 9 p.m., Oct. 31

7:30 p.m., Nov. 1; 6 p.m.,

Nov. 6 and 2 p.m. and

7:30 p.m., Nov. 8

Tickets: general admission, $8, $6 with ASB card