Why were Lizzie Borden's parents killed? Inside the infamous unsolved murders as ‘Monster’ set to stream on Netflix

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is the fourth season of the Netflix crime drama, and the first to focus on an alleged female suspect.

The upcoming installment of the popular true crime anthology series ‘Monster‘ is set to explore the infamous life and trial of Lizzie Borden. Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is the fourth season of the crime drama, where Ella Beatty will star as Lizzie.

Inside the infamous Lizzie Borden case as ‘Monster’ is set to stream on Netflix (Netflix/YouTube)

Lizzie was tried and acquitted of the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. The series also stars Vicky Krieps, Charlie Hunnam, Rebecca Hall, Jessica Barden, Joey Pollari, Billie Lourd and Sarah Paulson. It is the first installment of the anthology to focus on an alleged female suspect.

All the eight episodes will be released worldwide on Netflix on Thursday, September 17.

Deep Dive

What were the circumstances surrounding the murders of Lizzie Borden's parents?

Why did Lizzie Borden become a suspect in her parents' murder case?

How did the jury reach a verdict in Lizzie Borden's trial?

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Lizzie was tried and acquitted of the murder of her father and stepmother in June 1893. The shocking case became one of the most notorious unsolved mysteries in the United States. It also became the subject of novels and films, and now, a Netflix drama.

The case is so infamous that schoolchildren in America still recite the ditty: "Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother 40 whacks / And when she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41."

The rhyme, however, misidentifies the killer and exaggerates the number of blows and the weapon – it was actually a hatchet.

Why were Lizzie Borden's parents killed?

Lizzie’s 64-year-old stepmother, Abby Borden, was murdered first on a hot summer morning in Fall River. Abby was the stepmother of Andrew Borden’s two unmarried daughters Emma, 41, and Lizzie, 32.

When Andrew returned home from running errands over an hour later, he met his tragic end too. After being summoned by Lizzie, police found Andrew on the living room sofa, having suffered 11 hatchet blows.

Initially, Lizzie, who taught at Fall River's Central Congregational Church, was not suspected by authorities. However, as the investigation progressed, she kept changing her account of her movements on the morning of the murders, when she and Bridget Sullivan, the family's Irish maid, were at the house. At the time, Emma was away on holiday and a house guest had gone out, per the BBC.

Lizzie and her sister denied any involvement. However, friends and neighbours claimed that there were tensions in the Bordens’ house. Andrew, a wealthy man, was believed to have forced his daughters to live in a shabby part of town and scrimp on household expenses. However, he allegedly gave money to his new wife’s family.

Amid the investigation, a local pharmacist claimed that Lizzie had tried to buy poisonous prussic acid on the day before parents were killed. A judge subsequently had her arrested and jailed.

A friend later testified that Lizzie had burned a dress, believed to be her own, in the stove a few days after the killings. Lizzie was later formally charged with murder, and a trial date was set.

The murder weapon was never found. The pharmacy visit was also ruled inadmissible. Therefore, the case against Lizzie remained circumstantial.

The jury was ultimately convinced that Lizzie did not possess the physical strength or the depravity to be what the prosecution called a "feral… insane fiend.” She was acquitted after a brief deliberation.

The murders remain unsolved to this day, and no one knows who killed Lizzie’s parents and why. No one else was ever tried for the murders, and the case still continues to fascinate the world.

"There's something about an acquittal that's open-ended," Cara Robertson, author of The Trial of Lizzie Borden, told the BBC. "And the case has a lot of what we look for in a detective story: limited number of suspects, it hinges on alibis of timing, and if we are saying that Lizzie Borden is the killer, then this is really a story of deep psychological drama."

For the rest of her life, Lizzie lived under suspicion of many in her hometown, who shunned her. She died of pneumonia on June 1, 1927, in Fall River, at the age of 66.