The Chilling Truth Behind Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’

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Lizzie Borden’s name has been a fixture in the minds of true crime fans since she became synonymous with a particularly gruesome crime over 130 years ago.

Now, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan have put their own spin on the violent tale in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.

The fourth instalment of Murphy and Brennan’s Monster anthology stars Ella Beatty as Borden, who was accused of murdering her father, Andrew Borden, and stepmother, Abby Borden, with an axe in their Massachusetts home in 1892. 

The series also stars Vicky Krieps, who plays the family’s maid, Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan, and Charlie Hunnam and Rebecca Hall, who take on the roles of Andrew and Abby.

Then there’s Murphy favourite Sarah Paulson, who also makes an appearance as serial killer Aileen Wuornos, despite the two women living almost a century apart.

The Lizzie Borden Story is notable as the first instalment of Monster to centre on a female figure. Previous seasons have focused on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, 2022), the Menendez brothers (The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, 2024) and serial killer Ed Gein (The Ed Gein Story, 2025),

The Monster anthology, while beloved by true crime fans, has caused plenty of controversy in the past, particularly with the families of victims who have been portrayed. The season featuring Dahmer was branded “disrespectful” by relatives of his victims after Murphy chose to depict their suffering on screen.

While the loved ones of the victims are no longer alive to object to the Lizzie Borden story, there are questions about how much of it is accurate versus completely fabricated. Here’s what we know.

What Is Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story About?

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story explores the life of Lizzie Borden, who was accused and later acquitted of killing her father and stepmother in 1892. The series begins four months before the murders, showing what Lizzie’s life was like in a household where emotional abuse and oppression were everyday occurrences.

The case has been a significant part of American true crime ever since, with portrayals across music, radio, film, theatre and television. There’s even a nursery rhyme about the killings.

But while most people know Lizzie’s name, what happened inside the Borden home is still a matter of debate.

Is Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Based On A True Story?

Murphy and Brennan have made some major changes.

On August 4, 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were found brutally murdered inside their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Abby had been struck 19 times with an axe, while Andrew had been struck 11 times. There were no witnesses to the murders, and suspicion soon fell on their 32-year-old daughter, Lizzie.

Lizzie was arrested and charged with both murders, but was ultimately acquitted in 1893. No one else was ever convicted, meaning exactly what happened inside the Borden home that morning remains a mystery.

Monster, however, gives viewers a much more definite version of events. In the series, Lizzie kills Andrew and Abby with the help of Bridget Sullivan, the family’s maid, but in reality, there’s no evidence the two committed the murders together.

That doesn’t mean the entire story was invented. Bridget really did work for the Bordens, Lizzie was questioned by police, and the victims’ skulls were presented during her trial. 

However, Murphy is infamous for fabricating the smaller details in order to make for an entertaining series, so it’s worth taking the show with a grain of salt rather than a work of non-fiction. 

Neither Murphy nor Brennan are claiming this is a 100 per cent true depiction of Lizzie Borden’s story, with Beatty admitting to Netflix that the character in Monsters is an interpretation. 

“It’s a very disputed case,” Beatty told Netflix. “A lot of people have a lot of different points of view of what could have happened.”

“I felt my job was to explore the character that Ian and Ryan had created and take all of the source material about the real person’s life, and then translate that into the very fictionalised version of the woman.”

What Happened During The Investigation Into Lizzie Borden?

Lizzie was never convicted of murdering her father and stepmother, and the investigation helps explain why the case still attracts so much attention.

In the days after the murders, police interviewed the people who had been at the house.

Lizzie’s answers became more contradictory as time went on, while her apparent lack of emotion also drew scrutiny. When asked about Abby, for instance, rather than expressing grief she was quick to point out that she was her stepmother, not her mother.

While police searched the house, certain things like Lizzie’s persoal items weren’t thoroughly investigated, as according to Michael Martins of the Fall River Historical Society, looking through a woman’s “private” belongings was frowned upon at the time.

Investigators did find hatchets in the basement, including one that appeared to have been used recently. They also came across a pail filled with bloody cloths. Lizzie said she had her period, which her family doctor confirmed. As a result, the pail wasn’t examined further.

Lizzie may have escaped notice if a pharmacy employe hadn’t come forward and told police she had recently enquired about buying prussic acid, commonly known as cyanide.

According to Lizzie, she enquired about the poison because she wanted to clean her sealskin cape. Investigators were not convinced and Lizzie became the prime suspect.

What Happened During The Lizzie Borden Trial?

Before the 13-day trial, Lizzie gave evidence at an inquest where she contradicted herself and struggled to remember where she had been before the murders. She also avoided answering certain questions. Her detached behaviour raised suspicions. Lizzie’s family doctor later testified that he had prescribed her morphine which could have explained her flat demenour but again, prosecutors didn’t buy it.

Lizzie was jailed on August 11, 1892. In December, she was indicted on three counts of murder: one for Andrew, one for Abby and one for the pair together. The trial began the following June, with the Borden family’s attorney, Andrew Jennings, and former Massachusetts governor George D. Robinson representing her. Robinson had previously appointed one of the three judges presiding over the case, Justice Justin Dewey.

According to The Strange Case of Lizzie Borden, Jennings coached Lizzie on how to appear more feminine and innocent, as if there was no possible way she could have committed the murder. In the end, it was her femininity that proved to be the most helpful when it came to her acquittal.

Her inquest testimony was also ruled inadmissible because she did not have a lawyer with her at the time. The pharmacy employee’s testimony was excluded, too: Lizzie’s alleged inquiry about poison was considered too remote from the murders, and neither Andrew nor Abby had been poisoned.

With no eyewitnesses and a case built on circumstantial evidence, the jury found Lizzie not guilty.

Did Aileen Wuornos Really Go To Lizzie Borden’s House?

Paulson’s Aileen Wuornos might seem like an unexpected addition to a story set in the 1890s. She was a female serial killer active in the late 1980s, a good century later. That’s because her scenes take place almost a century later.

Wuornos was a real-life serial killer who killed seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. In Monster, she becomes fascinated by Lizzie and travels with her girlfriend to stay at the Borden house.

The house is now a bed and breakfast, but there’s no evidence Wuornos stayed there or was particularly interested in Lizzie. It also wasn’t operating as a bed and breakfast at the time depicted in the series.

Their connection was created purely for the show with Beatty telling Netflix that the series explores a “legacy of female rage” through the two women.

“I think there’s a connection [between Borden and Wuornos] that Ryan and Ian were interested in mapping and exploring,” she said. “I think the story of Aileen Wuornos also served that question and that exploration of why women kill.”

What Isn’t True In Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story?

The biggest departure is the relationship between Lizzie and Bridget. The series shows them committing the murders together, then going their separate ways before reconnecting and moving in together as a couple.

There’s no evidence they were romantically connected or that Bridget helped Lizzie kill Andrew and Abby. They’re also shown helping to get the 19th Amendment passed, though there’s no evidence of that either.

In real life, Bridget moved to Montana, where she married a man, according to The Sun Herald. She died there in 1948, while Lizzie died in 1927. The show also changes the timing of other events.

It depicts Lizzie’s friendship with actor Nance O’Neil during her trial, though they did not become friends until more than a decade after her acquittal. And while the series presents the murder of Bertha Manchester as an earlier crime committed by Lizzie and Bridget, Manchester was killed after the Bordens.

There’s no evidence, either, that Lizzie looked after a dovecote in the family garden. In the series, Abby slaughters the birds with an axe after growing frustrated with their noise, and Andrew’s support for her actions leads Lizzie to plan their murders.

Abby’s story has also been changed. The show portrays her as unable to have children and resentful of her stepdaughters, before having her ask Andrew for a divorce so she can start a new life in New York City. He agrees and gives her half his fortune. There’s no evidence Abby was infertile or that she asked Andrew for a divorce.

Where To Watch Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story

All eight episodes of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is streaming on Netflix in Australia.

Watch The Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Trailer

The post The Chilling Truth Behind Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ appeared first on ELLE.

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