SALEM, MASS (AP).- A museum in Massachusetts devoted to the macabre legacy of Lizzie Borden has closed after about 2 1/2 years in business. In that time the museum sparked a lawsuit and questions over its location.

Owner Leonard Pickel tells The Salem News that his 40 Whacks Museum faced steep rent and high utility costs at a time of year when tourist traffic slows.

His museum opened in 2008 and was originally called The True Story of Lizzie Borden. But he was sued by the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast in Fall River, where Borden, a former Sunday school teacher, was accused of using an ax to murder her father and stepmother in 1892. The museum eventually changed its name.

Others questioned why a museum about something that happened in Fall River was even located in Salem, a city about 70 miles north that's famous for its witch trials.


Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.