Lizzie Borden: The real story behind Netflix’s Monster, explained

Lizzie Borden killed her father. Lizzie Borden killed her stepmother.

And now Lizzie Borden is on Netflix.

The newest episodes of the streaming giant’s smash-hit true-crime series – Monster – tells the story of a young woman from Fall River, Massachusetts, who woke up August 4, 1892, and by noon ‘gave her mother forty whacks’ with a hatchet. And ‘when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one’.

Did Lizzie Borden kill her father? Did Lizzie Borden kill her stepmother?

The court ruled ‘no’.

Lizzie Borden murders

In June 1892 the then 32-year-old Lizzie Borden was charged with killing Andrew Borden and Abby Borden; Abby was first, the prosecution said, hacked to death in a guest room on the first floor, while Andrew was killed in the downstairs living room.

But no amount of investigation could yield a murder weapon – the broken hatchet head found buried in a box of ash in the basement was not it. There was plenty to tease the authorities – she tried buying prussic acid the day before the killings, and three days after the deaths she was spotted trying to burn a dress.

Timeline, part 1, of the Lizzie Borden case (For high-res image, click here)

Did plans for a less macabre murder go awry? Was she trying to get rid of a dress on which blood had splattered after handing out 81 ‘whacks’ with a hatchet?

But all of that evidence, it was soon apparent, was circumstantial.

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There were no eyewitnesses, tests on the hatchet head showed no traces of blood, and the attempt to buy prussic acid was ruled inadmissible in court.

In simple terms, the prosecution had motive (an inheritance) and opportunity (Lizzie Borden was alone at home with her stepmother and father).

Timeline, part 2, of the Lizzie Borden case (For high-res image, click here)

But they didn’t have the means – the weapon – and that was enough for reasonable doubt. And so in 90 minutes an all-male jury – that later commentators pointed out would have had a hard time believing a woman guilty of this crime – freed Lizzie Borden.

The Case For Guilt The Case for Doubt

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Motive: an inheritance from her father's estate

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Opportunity: Lizzie was alone at home with her stepmother and father when both were killed

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She had tried to buy prussic acid — a poison — the day before the killings

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Three days after the deaths, she was spotted trying to burn a dress

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The house is small — visitors have long noted it would have been difficult not to overhear the attack taking place

Taken together, this reads like a strong circumstantial case — but circumstantial is exactly what it stayed.

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No murder weapon: the broken hatchet head found buried in a box of ash in the basement was ruled not to be it

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Tests on that hatchet head showed no traces of blood

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There were no eyewitnesses to either killing

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The attempted prussic acid purchase was ruled inadmissible in court

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Prosecutors had motive and opportunity — but not the means. Every piece of evidence remained circumstantial

Without a weapon, a witness, or admissible forensic proof, "circumstantial" was enough for reasonable doubt.

Now You Be the Jury

Based on the case above, what's your verdict?

Guilty Not Guilty

Your call was Guilty — but the real jury saw it differently. In just 90 minutes, they acquitted Lizzie Borden, ruling that motive and opportunity weren't enough without a weapon, a witness, or a confession. The case remains formally unsolved to this day.

Your call was Not Guilty — and that matches the historical record. The real jury took just 90 minutes to acquit Lizzie Borden, citing the lack of a murder weapon, eyewitnesses, or admissible forensic evidence. The case remains formally unsolved to this day.

Note: This presents the circumstantial case and the grounds for doubt as reported; it is not a claim of guilt or innocence. The court's verdict — acquittal — stands as the formal legal outcome. The "jury" feature above reflects only your own choice; it does not track or display how other readers have voted.

She moved back to her home – 92 (now 230), Second Street. Weeks later, with her father’s inheritance, she bought a larger house on French Street and lived there till she died in June 1927.

And that was it, really.

Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one.Story continues below this ad

From murder house to must-visit

Today, nearly 130 years later, the house on Second Street is one of the US’ more unusual tourist attractions, right up alongside the Winchester House in California and the LaLaurie Mansion in Louisiana.

Within each is a horrific murder story.

And, if you are a believer, within each lurk ghosts and demons.

Video credit: YouTube/US Ghost Adventures

The house on Second Street was reborn in 1996 as a bed-and-breakfast and museum, a macabre shrine to a still unsolved murder mystery.

Fancy a night in the room in which Abby Borden was hacked to death? Or want to sit in the chair Andrew Borden was sitting when he was butchered? Or a visit to the cellar where the hatchet head was found?

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Video credit: YouTube/US Ghost Adventures

Or, if you’re not quite so brave, you can take a daytime tour.

It’s not a big house, really. And that is an interesting aside because – as many who visited it have commented – it would have been difficult to have not overheard the hacking and screaming.

Chandrashekar is a senior editor with over 17 years of experience in reporting, writing, editing, and curating digital news content. He has worked with leading media organisations, including NDTV and Hindustan Times, handling high-impact coverage across politics, international affairs, conflict, and public policy. Over the years, he has written and edited news reports, explainers, analyses, profiles and opinion pieces for diverse audiences, focusing on breaking news, political forces shaping India and the world, economic policy, and global security. He has also helped shape editorial guidelines and train junior writers and editors. His expertise includes headline writing, search and audience optimisation, content packaging, and developing editorial standards for fast-changing news environments. His approach to journalism is rooted in accuracy, context and the belief good analysis should help readers what happened and why it matters. ... Read More

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