Cinema VinesRyan Murphy’s acclaimed true‑crime anthology Monster returns for a fourth season, this time exploring the infamous Lizzie Borden case. The new season will premiere on Netflix on September 17, bringing the 19th‑century mystery to a fresh audience of streaming viewers.
Lizzie Borden, a 32‑year‑old woman from Fall River, Massachusetts, was tried and acquitted in June 1893 for the murders of her father Andrew and stepmother Abby. The case, which remains one of the most enduring unsolved crimes in American history, has long captured the public imagination, inspiring books, movies and now a Netflix drama.
According to the BBC, the murders occurred in August 1892. Abby, Andrew’s second wife, was 64 and Andrew was 56. Lizzie’s older sister Emma was 41, and neither sister was married. The killings were carried out with a hatchet, not an axe as the popular rhyme suggests, and the number of blows was exaggerated in the rhyme. The first victim, Abby, was struck first on a hot summer morning; more than an hour later Andrew was found dead on the living room sofa after 11 hatchet blows.
Initially, authorities did not suspect Lizzie, who appeared to be a mild, quiet woman who taught at a local church. However, during the inquest she gave conflicting accounts of her whereabouts that morning, and the only people present in the house were her and the family maid, Bridget Sullivan. A local pharmacist later testified that Lizzie had tried to purchase poison the day before the murders, and a friend testified that she burned a dress in the stove days after the killings. These pieces of evidence led to her arrest and subsequent charges.
Despite the mounting evidence, the case against Lizzie was not strong enough to secure a conviction. The murder weapon was never recovered, and much of the evidence was deemed inadmissible in court. With most of the evidence being circumstantial, the jury acquitted her after a brief deliberation. “There’s something about an acquittal that’s open‑ended,” said author Cara Robertson of The Trial of Lizzie Borden. “The case has all the elements of a detective story: a limited number of suspects, alibi timing, and deep psychological drama.”
Lizzie Borden’s story continues to fascinate, having inspired numerous adaptations, including the 1975 film The Legend of Lizzie Borden starring Elizabeth Montgomery and the 1978 film Lizzie Borden Took an Ax. The upcoming Netflix series promises to add another layer to this enduring mystery, offering a fresh take on a case that has intrigued audiences for more than a century.
