Who Was the Real Lizzie Borden? And Why Was She Never Convicted?

Netflix’s Monster has become one of the most talked-about true-crime anthologies of recent years. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the series first made headlines with 2022’s Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which became only the third title in Netflix history to surpass one billion viewing hours within its first 60 days. Its subsequent seasons turned to the Menendez brothers and Ed Gein; now, the anthology’s first female-led installment takes on one of America’s most enduring murder mysteries: the story of Lizzie Borden.

All eight episodes of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story arrived on Netflix on September 17. The series revisits the 1892 deaths of Andrew and Abby Borden in Fall River, Massachusetts. Andrew’s daughter, Lizzie, was accused of killing her father and stepmother with a hatchet, but was acquitted at trial. The case became a sensational 19th-century courtroom drama, shaped as much by the question of whether a respectable Victorian woman could commit such violence as by the lack of a definitive answer.

Its legend has since traveled far beyond the courtroom. The murders were transformed into a schoolyard skipping rhyme—albeit one that neglects accuracy—and Lizzie herself became a cultural figure suspended somewhere between accused killer, feminist folk hero, and enduring mystery. More than 130 years later, the case remains officially unsolved.

That uncertainty gives Netflix ample space to explore the theories, tensions, and unanswered questions surrounding the murders. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Brennan made clear that the series is not intended to be a straightforward reconstruction of the historical record. Instead, it uses the gaps in the evidence to imagine what might have happened behind the closed doors of the Borden household. As Brennan put it, “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”

Led by Ella Beatty, daughter of Hollywood heavyweights Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, the series brings a new, highly stylized version of Lizzie’s story to a global audience. But how much of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is rooted in fact, and where does Netflix begin to take creative freedom?

Who was Lizzie Borden?

Lizzie Andrew Borden was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1860. She was the younger daughter of Andrew Borden and his first wife, Sarah, who died in 1863. Andrew later married Abby Durfee Gray, who became Lizzie and her older sister Emma’s stepmother.

The surviving official stenographic report of Lizzie Borden’s 1893 trial, available via the Lizzie Andrew Borden Virtual Museum, states that the Borden family lived together at 92 Second Street. Andrew was a successful businessman and property owner, while Lizzie was involved in church and charitable activities. At the time of the murders, Lizzie was 32 and unmarried. Her sister Emma was away in Fairhaven, while the family’s live-in maid, Bridget Sullivan, was also at home.

The prosecution suggested that Lizzie and Emma had a difficult relationship with their stepmother, particularly over money and property. However, claims that Abby was definitively abusive or that the sisters plotted against her are theories rather than proven facts.

Was Lizzie Borden ever convicted of the murders?

Lizzie Borden was accused of murdering her father, Andrew, and her stepmother. However, she was not found to have committed any crime.

Per the digitized trial testimony and inquest materials, Abby was killed first in the upstairs guest bedroom and Andrew was later attacked while lying on a sofa downstairs. The indictment described their cause of death as 20 mortal wounds to Abby and 10 to Andrew.

A reproduced New York Times report from the trial says the evidence thus far shown against Lizzie was circumstantial. Prosecutors pointed to her inconsistent accounts of where she had been, her attempt to buy prussic acid the day before the murders, and her burning of a dress several days afterward. However, no eyewitness saw her commit the killings, no murder weapon was conclusively linked to her, and no blood was found on the clothing examined at trial.

Was Lizzie Borden romantically involved with Bridget Sullivan?

In the Netflix series, Lizzie Borden engages in a romantic relationship with her maid, Bridget Sullivan. The relationship is inspired by a later theory about the pair, but there is no historical evidence that Lizzie and Bridget were lovers.

The theory was popularized by Evan Hunter’s 1984 novel Lizzie, which imagined that the women were involved in a secret relationship discovered by Abby Borden. However, this was a work of fiction rather than a historical account. The surviving trial record contains no evidence of a romance between Lizzie and Bridget, and Bridget’s testimony made no such claim.

The idea has nevertheless continued to fascinate historians, writers, and filmmakers, partly because so much remains unknown about Lizzie’s private life. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Monster co-creator Ian Brennan acknowledged the creative decision, adding that the theory “seemed too rich to ignore,” describing it as “one of the smaller leaps” made by the series.

What did the jury in the Lizzie Borden case find?

Lizzie Borden was never convicted. She was arrested on August 11, 1892, and tried in New Bedford, Massachusetts, from June 5 to 20, 1893.

As per National Archives, on June 20, the jury found her not guilty of both murders after approximately an hour of deliberation. No one else was convicted, and the deaths of Andrew and Abby Borden remain officially unsolved.

When did Lizzie Borden die?

Lizzie Borden died on June 1, 1927, aged 66, at her home in Fall River. Casebond, the true-crime history newsletter, states Lizzie was buried at Oak Grove Cemetery alongside her father and stepmother. Her sister Emma died just days later.