Dark truth of Netflix’s Lizzie Borden drama…’lesbian flings’, double killer ‘cover-up’ & unanswered ‘sex abuse’ probe

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WITH manicured lawns and a stars and stripes flag hanging from the wood-clad three-storey property at 230 Second Street, it looks like any normal American home.

But up to 300 people flood the Lizzie Borden House every single day to see the site of a 134- year-old double murder so infamous it has been dubbed “the 19th Century’s OJ Simpson Trial”.

Back in 1892, the bloodied bodies of wealthy Andrew Borden, 69, and his second-wife Abby, 64, were discovered in Falls Down, Massachusetts after being hacked to death with an axe – collectively hit more than 29 times.

Andrew’s daughter Lizzie Borden, 32, was in the frame for the gruesome murders due to it being alleged that she hated her stepmum, whom she considered a gold digger, and it was only the testimony of the family maid Bridget Sullivan that exonerated her.

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Speculation swirled around the time of the trial and conspiracy theories have emerged en masse since, including that the house-help covered for Lizzie because they were in a secret relationship or that Andrew may have sexually abused Bridget so his daughter sought revenge.

The claims were popularised in the 2018 film Lizzie, starring Twilight actress Kristen Stewart, and now Netflix is releasing its own retelling of the tale, titled Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story on Thursday (Sept 17).

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That would be a surprise to many considering the seismic effect it had on young Bridget’s life. She was believed to be in her 20s when the violent killings took place.

The case is so infamous that school children across the US were known to have sung a four-line skipping-rope chant about the double murder.

It goes: “Lizzie Borden took an axe. And gave her mother 40 whacks. When she saw what she had done. She gave her father 41.”

While the number of wounds in reality were dramatically lower, it highlights the curiosity surrounding the case – despite it being more than 100 years old.

Part of the questions relate to Lizzie’s apparent hatred of her step-mum and that she changed her story when speaking to different police interrogators.

To one, she claimed to have heard groaning, a scraping noise and a distressed sound before discovering her dad’s body. To another, she insisted there were no unusual sounds at all.

There were also questions surrounding where she was at the time of the killings with her stating she was in the backyard to one but in the loft to another.

Bridget’s testimony in court remains another point of contention.

She had been working for Andrew’s family for three years when the murders took place. On the day of the killings she woke up early with a “dull headache” and went downstairs.

Bridget started her duties – making a fire and bringing in the milk from outside and soon was instructed by Abby to make mutton broth, coffee and a type of flatbread known as johnnycakes for breakfast.

Soon after she was instructed to clean the windows and before heading outside met Lizzie, who told her she “needn’t lock the door” because she was staying at the home.

It’s alleged Lizzie believed her stepmum was only with her dad for his money – with it reported that he was worth $300,000, roughly $1.03million (£761,000) today.

Bridget headed to the barn to fetch a handle for the brush to clean and began work. She didn’t see anyone else outside, nor did she hear anyone open the noisy doors.

Upon finishing, she went into the house to clean the inside of the windows. She heard Lizzie laughing upstairs – a moment prosecutors claimed was shortly after she hacked step-mum Abby to death, striking her with an axe 18 times.

Around that time, Bridget heard someone struggling to unlock the door due to it being bolted. It was Andrew, who promptly went into the living room and sat down on a chair. It’s not known who locked the door.

Lizzie emerged to say Abby had left a note stating she had gone out. Soon after, she asked Bridget if she had plans to go out during the afternoon. Due to being unwell, she was unsure.

With her illnesses worsening, Bridget went upstairs to lie-down. She was disrupted by Lizzie yelling: “Maggie, come down!”

Lizzie continued: “Come down quick, father’s dead, somebody came in and killed him.”

She claimed to have heard a groaning sound and spotted the front door had been left wide-open. Her father lay dead on the sofa, having suffering 11 axe blows to his head and body.

Bridget was instructed to summon a doctor, who declared Andrew dead immediately. Allegedly the medical professional stated: “He is murdered, he is murdered!”

Soon after Lizzie asked Bridget to investigate upstairs, telling her: “I am almost positive I heard her coming in, won’t you go upstairs to see.”

Accompanied by a neighbour, who heard the commotion, the duo went upstairs and found Abby’s body at the foot of the bed. She had been butchered by an axe too.

In court, the prosecution said to Bridget: “Let me ask you if anyone to your knowledge came to that house on the morning of August 4th with a message or a note for Mrs Borden?”

The message or note referred to Lizzie’s claim of one arriving, which prompted Abby to leave the house in the morning.

“No sir, I never (sic) seen nobody,” Bridget replied.

The prosecution hoped that Briget would be their star witness and would detail Lizzie’s alleged long-held hatred for Abby, but she refuted claims of any feud.

While she conceded that Lizzie and her elder sister Emma, 41 – who was visiting friends at the time of the killing – rarely ate with Andrew and their step-mum, she disputed claims they didn’t get along.

Lizzie was found innocent by the jury in half-an-hour due to there being ‘no motive’ to support the double killing.

Conspiracy theories have since emerged that Lizzie was romantically involved with Bridget – a relationship that would have resulted in a £73 to £730 fine and, or, up to five years imprisonment, if publicly known.

It has also been speculated that Andrew may have sexually abused Bridget and Lizzie may have taken revenge. Bridget may have even been an accessory to murder.

There is no evidence to support the theories and Bridget never reported any romance with Lizzie or that she’d been abused by Andrew in court.

Bridget is known to have left Massachusetts shortly after the trial ended to live in Montana. There she married a man in 1905 and died in 1948.

There is no recorded evidence of Lizzie having spoken about the killings and Bridget remained silent, never even mentioning the murder to her family.

Yet the case remains of widespread fascination to the public and that will only be renewed by this new Netflix series. It will further fuel speculation about the case.

Lizzie’s only-known, yet extremely distant, cousins, Ellen and Barbara Borden say the family have long-moved on from the incident.

Both of them even donned 19th Century attire for a 2015 The Herald News interview, when Ellen said: “There are no more tears to shed. This happened so long ago.”

They remember the family discussing the case while growing up. When strangers doubt their story, Barbara playfully quips: “I promise I won’t kill anyone.”