Lizzie Borden Netflix Real Story: Inside the Disturbing Evidence That Still Doesn't Prove She Killed Her Parents

Netflix's Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story gives viewers a dramatic answer to a mystery that has survived for more than 130 years, but the real Lizzie Borden case is considerably less certain.

Borden was accused of brutally murdering her father and stepmother inside their Massachusetts home, yet some of the most disturbing evidence against her never proved she wielded the weapon.

What Happened to Andrew and Abby Borden?

On 4 August 1892, Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby, were killed inside their home in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Abby, Lizzie's stepmother, was attacked in an upstairs guest room. She suffered 19 blows. Andrew returned home later and was killed while resting on a sofa downstairs. He received around 11 blows.

The actual injuries were therefore far removed from the famous rhyme claiming Lizzie gave her mother '40 whacks' before giving her father 41.

Lizzie and the family's maid, Bridget Sullivan, were at the property during crucial periods that morning. Lizzie's sister Emma was away.

Why Was Lizzie Borden Suspected?

Investigators became increasingly suspicious of Lizzie after questioning her about her movements. Accounts she gave to police contained inconsistencies, while investigators struggled to establish exactly where she had been during key moments surrounding the murders.

Another potentially damaging development involved prussic acid, a highly toxic substance.

A drugstore employee identified Lizzie as the woman who had attempted to purchase the poison shortly before the killings. The evidence later became a major legal issue and was ultimately excluded from her murder trial.

Then came the burned dress.

Lizzie's friend Alice Russell testified that she saw her burning a dress in a stove several days after the murders. Lizzie said the garment was covered with paint. Russell's disclosure helped lead to Lizzie's indictment.

The Evidence Prosecutors Could Not Find

Despite the suspicious circumstances, investigators faced a major problem: they lacked direct physical evidence proving Lizzie killed Andrew and Abby.

Police recovered axes and hatchets from the Borden property, but prosecutors could not definitively establish one as the murder weapon. A Harvard chemist reported finding no blood on two axes and two hatchets examined during the investigation.

Clothing also presented problems for the prosecution.

The dress Lizzie said she had worn on the morning of the killings contained only a tiny blood spot. Her defence could therefore point to the absence of blood-covered clothing despite the extreme violence of both attacks.

There was also no eyewitness who saw Lizzie commit either murder.

Why Was Lizzie Borden Found Not Guilty?

Lizzie was arrested on 11 August 1892 and eventually faced trial the following year.

Prosecutors built a largely circumstantial case, but some potentially significant evidence never reached the jury. Judges excluded testimony concerning the attempted prussic acid purchase, while Lizzie's earlier inquest testimony was also kept out.

Her defence emphasised what prosecutors did not have: a definitively identified murder weapon, incriminating bloody clothing or an eyewitness.

On 20 June 1893, the jury acquitted Lizzie.

Lizzie Borden Netflix Story vs the Real Case

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story turns several disputed elements surrounding the case into a dramatised narrative, including Lizzie's relationship with Bridget 'Maggie' Sullivan and her role in the killings.

The Netflix series also portrays the prussic acid episode as part of an attempted poisoning and treats other contested circumstances more definitively than the surviving evidence allows.

Its portrayal of actress Nance O'Neil influencing Lizzie during her trial is another dramatic invention. Lizzie and O'Neil became friends years after the 1893 proceedings.

The biggest difference remains the murders themselves. Netflix can provide its version of who killed Andrew and Abby Borden, but history cannot.

Lizzie was acquitted, nobody else was convicted of the killings, and the evidence never conclusively established who carried out one of America's most notorious double murders.