More than 130 years after one of America’s most notorious murder trials, Lizzie Borden is returning to the spotlight. Netflix has teased the fourth season of its hit Monster anthology series, with the upcoming installment set to explore the story of the Massachusetts woman who was accused of killing her father and stepmother with an axe.
Borden was acquitted after a highly publicized trial in 1893, but the case never completely disappeared from the American imagination. The unanswered questions surrounding the murders helped turn her into one of the most recognizable names in the country’s criminal history.
Now, the case is becoming the subject of the next chapter of Netflix’s Monster series.
Who will play Lizzie Borden in Monster Season 4?
Ella Beatty will portray Lizzie Borden in the upcoming season. The cast also includes Charlie Hunnam as Andrew Jackson Borden, Lizzie’s father; Rebecca Hall as her stepmother, Abby Borden; Billie Lourd as Lizzie’s sister Emma; Jessica Barden as actress and confidante Nance O’Neill; and Vicky Krieps as Bridget Sullivan, the Borden family’s live-in maid.
The series is expected to revisit the events surrounding the 1892 murders and the trial that followed.
What happened to Lizzie Borden?
On August 4, 1892, Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby Borden, were found dead inside their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Both had suffered multiple blows from an axe.
Lizzie, who was 32 at the time, was in the house and soon became the primary suspect. Her older sister Emma was away, while the family’s maid, Bridget Sullivan, was also at the residence.
The murders quickly became a national sensation. Newspapers closely followed the investigation and subsequent trial, while the brutality of the killings and the lack of a definitive explanation helped keep the case in the public imagination.
Borden was arrested and eventually put on trial in 1893. Prosecutors presented circumstantial evidence, but the jury acquitted her after a trial that lasted about two weeks.
No one else was charged with the murders.
Her acquittal, however, did not end public fascination with the case. Borden continued to be associated with the murders throughout her life, even though she had been legally cleared.
Why was there tension inside the Borden family?
The family’s circumstances have been examined repeatedly by historians and writers trying to understand what happened before the killings.
Andrew Borden had become wealthy through business and property investments. At the time of his death, his estate was valued at about $300,000, a fortune worth several million dollars in today's money. Despite his wealth, Andrew was known for being frugal. The Borden family home was in an affluent part of Fall River, but it reportedly lacked indoor plumbing.
There were also tensions over property. Lizzie and Emma were unhappy about their father giving real estate to members of their stepmother Abby’s family. The sisters eventually purchased a property from Andrew for $1 and later sold it back to him for $5,000.
Family relationships were another source of speculation. Lizzie reportedly referred to Abby as “Mrs. Borden” rather than as her mother, and she believed Abby had married Andrew partly because of his wealth. How much these tensions contributed to the murders remains uncertain.
The household had also experienced illness shortly before the killings. Abby reportedly feared that members of the family had been poisoned, although the illness was later attributed by a family friend to food that had been left on the stove.
Who was Bridget Sullivan?
Bridget Sullivan, the family’s 25-year-old live-in maid, was an important witness in the case. Sullivan had emigrated from Ireland and was working in the Borden household when the murders took place. Her testimony became part of the evidence examined during the investigation and trial.
The relationship between the Borden sisters and their parents was also discussed during the proceedings. Sullivan testified that Lizzie and Emma did not regularly eat meals with their father and stepmother.
What happened to Lizzie Borden after the trial?
After her acquittal, Borden remained in Fall River for the rest of her life. She and Emma later lived together in a larger home, although the sisters eventually became estranged. Lizzie also became associated with the local theater scene and maintained friendships outside her family. Despite being acquitted, she could never completely escape the shadow of the murders.
Borden died of pneumonia at age 66. Her death came nine days before the death of Emma, her older sister.
How did the Lizzie Borden case become folklore?
The Borden case survived long after the courtroom proceedings ended because it contained many of the elements that tend to keep historical mysteries alive: a wealthy family, a violent double murder, conflicting evidence, family tensions and an accused woman who was ultimately acquitted.
Over the decades, books, plays, films and television programs revisited the case. The details have also become part of American folklore, sometimes making it difficult to separate documented evidence from stories that emerged later.
That distinction will be particularly interesting as Netflix turns to the case.
What is Netflix’s Monster series about?
Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, Monster began in 2022 with Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story , starring Evan Peters. The first season became one of Netflix’s most-watched English-language series and brought multiple award nominations and wins.
The second installment, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story , arrived in 2024 and focused on the Menendez brothers, who were convicted of killing their parents.
The third season, Monster: The Ed Gein Story , continued the anthology's focus on notorious American criminal cases.
