Production has started on the fourth season of Ryan Murphy’s hit Netflix anthology series Monster, which will tell the story of Lizzie Borden. The new season will star Ella Beatty as the Massachusetts woman famously accused of the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother. The case remains one of America’s most enduring murder mysteries.
Who Is Lizzie Borden?
Lizzie Andrew Borden was born on July 19, 1860, in Fall River, Massachusetts. Her mother died when she was young, and her father, the wealthy and frugal Andrew Jackson Borden, remarried Abby Durfee Gray. Lizzie and her older sister, Emma, lived with their father and stepmother into adulthood, and reports indicate they had a strained relationship with Abby, often refusing to eat meals with their parents and referring to her as “Mrs. Borden.”
Lizzie was actively involved in her church and community, teaching Sunday school and participating in groups like the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. This respectable public image stood in stark contrast to the brutal crime that would make her infamous.
The Borden Murders of 1892
On the morning of August 4, 1892, a gruesome discovery was made at the Borden home. Abby Borden was found murdered in an upstairs guest room, struck 18 times in the head with a hatchet-like weapon. About an hour and a half later, Andrew Borden was found dead on a first-floor sofa, killed by 10 or 11 similar blows to his head and face.
The only other people believed to be in the house at the time were the family’s live-in maid, Bridget Sullivan, and Lizzie Borden. Lizzie’s sister, Emma, was out of town visiting a friend. The murders sent shockwaves through Fall River and quickly became a national media sensation.
The Suspicion and Trial
Lizzie Borden quickly became the prime suspect. Her accounts of where she was during the murders were inconsistent; she first said she was in the barn loft, but police found no evidence anyone had been there recently. The maid, Sullivan, testified that she heard Lizzie laugh from the upstairs landing around the time Abby was killed.
Other suspicious actions included Lizzie’s attempt to purchase prussic acid, a powerful poison, from a local druggist the day before the murders. A few days after the killings, she was seen burning a dress in the kitchen stove, which she claimed was stained with paint.
Despite the circumstantial evidence, the murder trial in June 1893 lacked a definitive “smoking gun.” There was no murder weapon conclusively linked to the crime, and no blood-soaked clothing was found. The jury, composed of 12 men, deliberated for only 90 minutes before acquitting Lizzie Borden. Many historians note that her social standing as a respectable, upper-class woman made it difficult for the jury to believe she was capable of such a violent act.
Life After the Acquittal
Although found not guilty, Lizzie was widely believed to be guilty in the court of public opinion. She and her sister Emma inherited their father’s considerable estate, and Lizzie spent the rest of her life in Fall River, often ostracized by the community.
The sisters eventually had a falling out in 1905 over Lizzie’s friendship with actress Nance O’Neill and reportedly never spoke again. Lizzie Borden died of pneumonia on June 1, 1927, just days before her sister Emma passed away.
The Cast of Monster Season 4
The upcoming season of Monster has assembled a star-studded cast to bring this historical case to life. Ella Beatty, who previously appeared in Ryan Murphy’s Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, will take on the lead role of Lizzie Borden.
They will be joined by Charlie Hunnam, who is returning to the franchise after starring as Ed Gein in the just-released third season. Hunnam will play Lizzie’s father, Andrew Borden. The cast also includes Rebecca Hall as stepmother Abby Borden, Billie Lourd as sister Emma Borden, and Vicky Krieps as the maid Bridget Sullivan. Jessica Barden will play Lizzie’s actress friend, Nance O’Neill.
A Story That Still Captivates
The Borden murders have remained a part of American pop culture for over a century, inspiring books, plays, films, and a famous, though inaccurate, schoolyard rhyme:
Lizzie Borden took an ax
And gave her mother forty whacks;
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.
The rhyme is wrong on several counts: the weapon was likely a hatchet, not an ax; Abby was her stepmother, not her mother; and the number of blows was about half of what the rhyme claims. The enduring fascination with the case ensures a built-in audience for the new series, which will offer its own interpretation of the unsolved mystery.
Production for the new season is now underway in Los Angeles. Max Winkler, who directed the first episode of Monster: The Ed Gein Story, will return to direct the premiere episode of the Lizzie Borden season.
Also Read: Monster: The Ed Gein Story – which storylines were pure fiction?: Details explored
