Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story shows Lizzie killing her father, Andrew, and her stepmother, Abby. The real case never reached that conclusion. A jury acquitted Lizzie in 1893, no one else was convicted, and the murders remain unsolved.
The series keeps the real names, the Fall River setting, and the famous trial. It also turns disputed ideas into plot: a romance with the family maid, that maid urging Lizzie toward violence, and scenes connecting Lizzie to Aileen Wuornos decades later. Ella Beatty, who plays Lizzie, has described the character as a highly fictionalized version of the real woman.
What happened to Andrew and Abby Borden?
Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby, were killed inside their home in Fall River, Massachusetts, on August 4, 1892. Andrew was Lizzie’s father. Abby was her stepmother, despite the schoolyard rhyme calling her Lizzie’s mother.
Lizzie was arrested one week later. Her trial began on June 5, 1893, and the jury found her not guilty on June 20. The verdict ended the case against Lizzie, but it did not identify another killer. The deaths of Andrew and Abby have never been officially solved.
Why was Lizzie Borden acquitted?
The prosecution built a circumstantial case. It did not produce a murder weapon tied conclusively to Lizzie or physical evidence proving she struck the fatal blows. Lizzie’s testimony from the coroner’s inquest was also excluded from the trial.
The jury decided the state had not proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Lizzie was accused and acquitted. She was never convicted. Public suspicion continued, but suspicion is not a court finding.
What does Netflix’s Monster change?
Netflix picks a side. Its official description says Lizzie kills her father and stepmother, while the trailer presents Andrew and Abby as cruel parents and Maggie as the person who encourages Lizzie to act. The season gives the crime a culprit, a motive, and a strong outside influence that the real trial never established.
The first footage from Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story made that bloody direction clear. This is a scripted drama from creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, not a documentary or a new legal finding.
Were Lizzie Borden and Maggie Sullivan really lovers?
Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan was a real person. She worked as the Bordens’ live-in maid and testified during Lizzie’s trial. Netflix turns Lizzie and Maggie, played by Vicky Krieps, into lovers and shows Maggie pushing Lizzie toward the murders.
There is no established historical proof that Lizzie and Sullivan had a romantic relationship or planned the killings together. That relationship is one of the show’s clearest fictional choices.
Why is Aileen Wuornos in the series?
Aileen Wuornos had no connection to the Borden case, and their timelines never overlapped. Sarah Paulson appears as Wuornos in scenes set decades later. The series uses her to show how Lizzie’s public image influenced later stories about women and violence, not to suggest she was part of the 1892 murders.
Who is in the cast?
Ella Beatty leads the season as Lizzie Borden. Vicky Krieps plays Maggie Sullivan, Charlie Hunnam plays Andrew Borden, and Rebecca Hall plays Abby Borden. Billie Lourd appears as Lizzie’s older sister, Emma, while Jessica Barden plays actor Nance O’Neil and Sarah Paulson plays Aileen Wuornos.
When does Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story premiere?
All eight episodes arrive on Netflix on September 17, 2026. This is the fourth story in the Monster anthology, after seasons about Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez brothers, and Ed Gein. Each season stands alone, so no previous viewing is required.
Go in expecting a dramatized theory, not a verdict. Lizzie left court acquitted, and the identity of the person who killed Andrew and Abby remains unknown.
