The Shocking Reason Lizzie Borden Walked Free Despite Overwhelming Evidence
Netflix’s Monster series finally flips the script in its fourth season, zooming in on a woman’s story after three thrilling tales of male killers. Enter Lizzie Borden—the Massachusetts lady famously accused of axe-murdering her own father and stepmother back in 1892. But here’s the kicker: despite a pile of suspicious evidence, Lizzie walked out of court not guilty. How does one possibly get away with wielding a hatchet more times than a lumberjack on overtime? Was it skillful courtroom maneuvers, Victorian charm, or just plain old luck? This unresolved century-old mystery keeps us guessing, and Netflix’s dramatization injects fresh life into the debate. So, sharpen your curiosity (and maybe your axe), because this story slices deep into the murky waters of fact, fiction, and fascinating doubt. LEARN MORE
Netflix’s Monster world has finally turned its attention to a woman after telling the stories of three infamous male k*llers.
The fourth season, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story,arrived on Netflix on September 17, with Ella Beatty playing Lizzie Borden, the Massachusetts woman accused of slaying her father and stepmother with an axe in 1892.
- Lizzie Borden was acquitted of slaying her father and stepmother in 1893.
- Much of the evidence that raised suspicion could not be used at trial.
- Lizzie’s defense emphasized her character and respectability, while the prosecution failed to prove her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
More than a century later, the case remains unresolved, and one question continues to fascinate people: if so much evidence seemed to point to Lizzie, why did a jury find her not guilty?
Lizzie Borden was accused of slaying her father and stepmother
On August 4, 1892, Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby, were found brutally slain inside their home in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Andrew had been struck with a hatchet as many as 11 times, while Abby had suffered up to 19 blows to her head and neck, per Smithsonian Magazine.
No one reported seeing an intruder enter the home, and Lizzie, Andrew’s 32-year-old daughter, soon became one of the main suspects.
The timeline of that morning also placed Lizzie inside the house around the time of the ki*lings.
According to maid Bridget Sullivan’s testimony, Andrew returned shortly before 11 a.m. Sullivan heard Lizzie laughing upstairs and believed she was close to where Abby’s body was later found.
Lizzie gave a different account of where she had been.
Shortly afterward, Andrew was kil*ed while resting on a sofa, and Lizzie discovered his body minutes later.
Police quickly began looking closely at Lizzie.
Her answers changed during questioning, and investigators reportedly became suspicious of her behavior.
She also made a point of calling Abby her stepmother, not her mother.
The investigation then uncovered several troubling pieces of evidence.
During the investigation, police found a hatchet and a bucket of bloody clothes
Investigators searched the Borden home and found a box of hatches in the basement. One had a broken handle and appeared to have been recently used, per CBS News.
It was also covered in ash, leading investigators to believe it may have been washed and then deliberately covered with soot.
Police also discovered a bucket containing bloody clothes.
That could have been important evidence, but Lizzie said she was menstruating at the time, and her family doctor confirmed it.
The bucket was never properly examined, leaving investigators without an answer about what was inside.
Another suspicious detail involved a local drugstore.
A druggist said Lizzie had recently asked about buying prussic acid, a highly dangerous p*ison.
She reportedly said she wanted it to clean a sealskin cape, but the druggist refused to sell it without a prescription.
Lizzie was eventually arrested and became the central suspect in the case.
But when the m*rder trial finally began, the prosecution had a major problem. Much of the evidence that looked suspicious during the investigation could not be used against her in court.
Lizzie’s first major questioning happened during an inquest shortly after the slaying
Lizzie spent three days answering questions under oath, but she did not have a lawyer with her.
During that questioning, she sometimes gave contradictory answers and struggled to explain exactly where she had been before the slaying.
That testimony might have been extremely damaging to the prosecution.
But the court later ruled it inadmissible because Lizzie had not had a lawyer present during the questioning.
The druggist’s testimony about the prussic acid also could not be used.
The court considered it too remote from the murders, especially because Andrew and Abby had been k*lled with a weapon rather than p*ison.
That left prosecutors with a case based largely on circumstantial evidence.
There were no eyewitnesses who saw Lizzie attack her father or stepmother. There were also no blood traces directly connecting her to the murders.
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