Post From Deceased Former Manager of Fall River’s Lizzie Borden B&B Confuses Friends, Family

In what appears to be some sick joke, the Facebook account for the longtime manager of Fall River’s Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, the late Lee-ann Wilber, shared a post that has left friends and family in shock, and wondering who would do such a thing.

Wilber passed away suddenly in early June, just days after closing on the sale of what is now known as the Lizzie Borden House to Lance Zaal and his company U.S. Ghost Adventures. She had previously been a partner in the business and the manager of the house since 2004.

Just a few weeks after passing, Wilber’s beloved cat Max also passed away. The two were inseparable and Wilber often referred to the elderly cat as her “son.”

At 1:45 p.m. today, Wilber’s Facebook account posted “Hello All!!! I am doing well in the place I am. Max is here and being the best boy ever. I wish to thank you all for caring for him until we were able to be together. I wish to thank you all for the love and energy you are sending!!! Love to each and every one!”

Friends also report that around that same time, Wilber’s account “liked” posts and photos on their own Facebook timelines.

It didn’t take long for the comments to come in on the post on Wilber’s account from those who really knew her, and knew that this post sounded nothing like Wilber and had to come from someone that wasn’t very close to her.

“My reaction when I saw the post was WTF?!?!?” wrote psychic medium Chip Coffey of TV’s Kindred Spirits and Psychic Kids, who knew Wilber and has investigated the Lizzie Borden House multiple times.

“This is not right,” wrote Borden researcher and author Stefani Koorey, who also knew Wilber. “Whoever you are, please stop this.”

“If I saw something like this posted by my loved one who had passed, I would find it painful. This is insensitive,” wrote Rebecca Pittman, an author who wrote the book The History and Haunting of Lizzie Borden and knew Wilber personally.

“Omg, stop!” Suzanne St. John, who works as a tour guide at the Lizzie Borden House and started her time there under Wilber’s ownership, and was also the realtor involved in the sale of the house as well as the listing agent for Lizzie’s later home, Maplecroft. “This is beyond a sick joke, disgusting.”

“Not funny. Not endearing. Not respectful. Just asinine by some sick (expletive),” wrote Borden scholar and collector Faye Musselman, another friend of Wilber.

Musselman also told this writer that it was important to note “how Lee-ann was a very private person and would not come back for any ‘haha’ moment such as this even if she could.”

Perhaps the most heartbreaking was seeing Wilber’s own mother commenting on the post.

“I don’t know who is posting as Lee-ann but please post as yourself and not my daughter,” Maryann Enos wrote.

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We reached out to a number of former tour guides and friends of Wilber, as well as her longtime partner in the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, former owner Donald Woods, and none of them had any idea who would have posted from the account. With family and friends eliminated, many were left to assume it was some kind of hack, but why?

"Usually when the account of a loved one who has passed gets hacked, it's by some bot trying to scam people," Amy Bruni, star of Kindred Spirits and host of the new podcast Haunted Road, told us. Bruni was a longtime friend of Wilber and visited the Lizzie Borden House many times. "This is an actual human somewhere and it's just gross."

“That would be very strange for someone to hack an account and all they do is post about her passing,” wrote Wilber’s longtime friend Ann Aballo. “If someone was going to hack an account there is usually malicious intent. This does not seem to be malicious.”

As for any possibility that a computer was left signed into Wilber’s account following the sale of the business, or a password stored, St. John said it wasn’t possible.

“I’ve been here all day doing tours,” she said. “Her computer was taken to her home before (the sale of the business). And no one has been upstairs (in the office) today. This is very disturbing.”

We also reached out to the Lizzie Borden House management through its website, and they too had no idea how it could have happened.

“Unfortunately, I have no idea who posted it, however I'd be happy to ask the staff here if they know anything about it,” Jared Robinson of the Lizzie Borden House replied in an email inquiring if perhaps someone from the house had posted on Wilber’s account. “I could imagine that being overwhelming and upsetting for her family.”

A message to Wilber’s Facebook account has not been marked “read” as of this writing.