# Lizzie Borden

> Lizzie Andrew Borden was charged with killing her father, Andrew J. Borden, and her stepmother, Abby Durfee Borden, in their house in Fall River, Massachusetts, on Aug. 4, 1892. A jury in New Bedford acquitted her in June 1893. No one else was ever charged, and she lived in Fall River until her death in 1927.

- Case: Commonwealth v. Lizzie A. Borden · New Bedford, Massachusetts · 1893
- Section: historical case (closed; the defendant has died)
- Outcome: Acquitted. Acquitted of both murders by a jury on June 20, 1893. The acquittal is final. No one else was ever charged with the killings. She died in Fall River on June 1, 1927.
- Died: June 1, 1927
- Last updated: 2026-10-16
- Editorial review: approved 2026-10-16
- Web page: https://criminalbackstories.com/history/lizzie-borden/
- All defendants are presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of law. Charges and allegations described on this site are not proof of guilt.

## Why this case is remembered

The case is before a large new audience with *Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story*, the fourth season of Netflix's *Monster* anthology, released Sept. 17, 2026, with Ella Beatty as Borden.[19][20] Biography.com wrote that the trailer takes "many creative liberties," showing Borden conspiring with the family's maid.[19] The verse about her that is still sung appeared in the series' teaser, and the *Boston Globe* examined its origins the week of the premiere.[21] The Fall River house where the killings happened operates as a bed-and-breakfast and museum with tours and overnight stays.[22][23]

## Case at a glance

- Charges: Murder, one count for each victim, in an indictment returned Dec. 2, 1892[1]
- Victims: Andrew Jackson Borden, her father, and Abby Durfee Borden, her stepmother, killed Aug. 4, 1892, in their house in Fall River[1][4]
- Arrested: Aug. 11, 1892, at the close of the inquest[6]
- Trial: June 5–20, 1893, in New Bedford, before Chief Justice Albert Mason and Justices Caleb Blodgett and Justin Dewey[1][9][13]
- Prosecution: District Attorney Hosea M. Knowlton and William H. Moody[1][13]
- Defense: George D. Robinson and Andrew J. Jennings[13]
- Verdict: Not guilty, June 20, 1893[11]
- Died: June 1, 1927, at her home in Fall River, of pneumonia[18][17]

## The backstory

### The household

In August 1892, Andrew Jackson Borden lived in a house on Second Street in Fall River with his second wife, Abby Durfee Borden, his younger daughter, Lizzie, and a servant, Bridget Sullivan, who had worked for the family for nearly three years.[1] His elder daughter, Emma, was away visiting in Fairhaven.[1] The *Fall River Herald* described Andrew Borden as a bank president and "a very wealthy man."[4] John V. Morse, the brother of Andrew Borden's first wife, arrived on Wednesday, Aug. 3, and stayed the night.[1]

According to the prosecution's opening statement, Andrew and Abby Borden became violently ill on the night of Tuesday, Aug. 2, Lizzie to a lesser degree, and Bridget Sullivan not at all.[1] The *Boston Globe* reported that the prosecution told the court Mrs. Borden had sent for a doctor, saying she had been poisoned.[8] The district attorney said that on Wednesday evening Lizzie visited a friend, Alice Russell, and said, "I cannot shake it off," describing a feeling that something was going to happen.[1]

### Thursday, Aug. 4, 1892

The prosecution's account of the morning, given in its opening statement, was that the household had breakfast, Morse left at about 7:45, and Andrew Borden went downtown between 9 and 9:30.[1] Abby Borden told Lizzie she was going upstairs to put pillowcases on the pillows in the guest room, and, in the district attorney's words, she "never left that room alive."[1]

Bridget Sullivan testified that at about 9 o'clock Mrs. Borden told her to wash the windows, and she began at once.[7] She testified that she let Mr. Borden in when he came back from downtown and had trouble with the locks on the front door, and that Lizzie, at the head of the stairs or in her room, laughed.[7] By her testimony, Lizzie told her that Mrs. Borden had gone out on a sick call, and Sullivan then went up to her own room and lay down.[7] She testified that she heard the City Hall clock strike 11, and that a short time later Lizzie called her downstairs, saying her father had been killed.[7]

Andrew Borden was found on the lounge in the sitting room on the first floor.[4] Abby Borden was found in an upstairs bedroom.[4][1] A neighbor, Adelaide Churchill, came to the house, and the police were called by telephone.[4] The district attorney said the alarm reached the police station at about 11:15.[1]

### Her accounts of the morning

The prosecution told the jury that Lizzie said her stepmother had received a note from someone who was sick, and called that account "a lie."[1] At the inquest she testified that Mrs. Borden told her she had had a note from someone who was sick, and that she herself never saw it.[3]

According to the district attorney, she first told people she had gone to the barn for a piece of iron or tin, or for lead, and heard a noise; in a later, fuller account, she said she went up to the barn loft, ate pears and looked over lead for fishing sinkers.[1] At the inquest she testified that she ate some pears in the loft.[3] The prosecution relied on a police officer, Medley, who said the dust in the loft was undisturbed except for his own marks.[1] Defense witnesses later cast doubt on that account, according to legal historian Douglas Linder.[14]

### The medical evidence

Dr. William Dolan, the medical examiner, testified that Abby Borden had eighteen wounds on her head and one on her back, and that Andrew Borden had ten wounds, all on the head.[2] He testified that Mrs. Borden had died first, by about an hour to an hour and a half.[2] He also testified that he found undigested food in Mrs. Borden's intestines, while Mr. Borden's were comparatively empty.[2]

### The weapon and the dress

The indictment charged that both were killed with "a sharp cutting instrument," whose name and description the grand jurors said were unknown to them.[1] Edwin Porter, a police reporter for the *Fall River Globe*, wrote in 1893 that officers found four hatchets in the cellar and sent them to Prof. Edward Wood of Harvard for examination.[12] According to *Smithsonian*, a Harvard chemist testified that he found no blood on two axes and two hatchets the police took from the cellar.[16] At trial the prosecution produced the head of a hatchet whose handle had broken off, and the defense asked where the missing handle was.[14][9]

The district attorney told the jury that the most rigorous examination had found no blood on the dress Lizzie gave the police, apart from "one minute spot," and that a witness would say it was not the dress she wore that morning.[1] He said that on the Sunday after the killings she burned a dress, saying it was covered with paint.[1]

### The inquest and arrest

An inquest was held behind closed doors before Judge Josiah Blaisdell from Aug. 9 to Aug. 11, 1892, and District Attorney Hosea Knowlton questioned Borden on all three days.[3][6][16] She had no defense lawyer present.[16] At the close of the inquest on Aug. 11, she was arrested on a warrant charging her with killing her father and stepmother.[6] She was held in the jail at Taunton.[14] A grand jury indicted her on Dec. 2, 1892, and on May 8, 1893, she pleaded not guilty.[1]

### The trial

The trial opened in New Bedford on June 5, 1893, before three justices: Chief Justice Albert Mason, Caleb Blodgett and Justin Dewey.[1][13] William H. Moody gave the prosecution's opening statement, and Knowlton tried the case with him.[1] George D. Robinson, a former governor of Massachusetts, and Andrew J. Jennings defended her.[13][8][16] The jury was twelve men.[14]

### The excluded evidence

The prosecution offered Borden's inquest testimony. The court excluded it, and the *Boston Globe* reported that Chief Justice Mason had sustained the defense on the point.[11] According to Linder's account, the justices concluded that she had been, in substance, a prisoner charged with the murders when she testified, so her statements were not voluntary.[14] Her inquest testimony therefore never went before the jury.[14]

The prosecution also offered testimony from Eli Bence, a drug clerk, that the day before the killings Borden asked for "ten cents worth of prussic acid" to clean a sealskin cape and was refused without a prescription.[1][8] Robinson objected that the experts found no poison in either body and that the indictment charged a killing with a cutting instrument, not poison; Moody answered that the attempt showed premeditation.[8] With the jury out of the room, the prosecution called druggists, furriers and chemists on the properties and uses of the acid.[14][9] Chief Justice Mason then ruled: "It is the opinion of the court that the preliminary proceedings have not been sufficient; the evidence is excluded."[9] *Smithsonian* wrote that the justices found the prosecution had not refuted that the acid had innocent uses.[16] The prosecution rested after that ruling.[14]

The court also excluded some defense evidence, including testimony about a man reportedly seen with a bloody hatchet, and Jennings took an exception.[10] Defense witnesses testified that they had seen a strange man near the Borden house that morning.[14] By June 16 the defense had rested.[10]

### Her statement, the charge and the verdict

Borden did not testify at trial.[18][13] Asked whether she had anything to say, she told the jury, "I am innocent. I leave it to my counsel to speak for me."[13] Justice Dewey charged the jury that if the evidence fell short, "it would be your plain duty to return a verdict of not guilty."[13] The *Globe* called the charge "a plea for the innocent."[11] *Smithsonian* noted that Robinson, as governor, had appointed one of the three justices who presided over the trial.[16]

On June 20, 1893, the foreman answered the clerk, "Not guilty."[11] The *Globe* reported that Borden sank into a chair, put her face on her hands at the rail and cried.[11]

### Theories

No one else was ever charged with the killings.[19] *Smithsonian* reported that Knowlton believed she was guilty but "realized the long odds against conviction."[16] Her defense attributed the killings to an outside attacker, and Robinson told the jury they "must have been committed by a maniac or a devil."[14] Some writers have speculated that she was protecting her sister Emma, a theory *Great American Trials* says has no proof behind it.[13] The jury's verdict is the only legal finding in the case.[11]

## Personal backstory

### Early life

Lizzie Andrew Borden was born in Fall River on July 19, 1860.[15][19] Her mother, Sarah Morse Borden, died on March 26, 1863, when Lizzie was 2.[15] Her father married Abby Gray on June 6, 1865.[15] The *Boston Herald* reported in 1892 that she went to the Morgan Street school for the primary and grammar grades and later entered the high school.[5] The same article quoted friends describing her "modesty of manner" and "unswerving sincerity," and said that about five years earlier she had begun to take part in church life.[5]

### The family before 1892

At the inquest, Borden testified that she had stopped calling her stepmother "mother" about five or six years earlier, after a family dispute; asked why, she answered, "Because I wanted to."[3] Linder writes that her sister Emma admitted lasting resentment over their father's transfer of a house to Abby Borden and her sister.[14] The district attorney told the jury the relationship between Lizzie and her stepmother was strained.[1]

### After the trial

Borden and her sister bought a house in the Hill section of Fall River and named it Maplecroft.[22][14] She changed her first name to Lizbeth, and *Yankee* wrote that she avoided Fall River society and lived in what it called "internal exile."[17] *Yankee* reported that much was made of her friendship with the actress Nance O'Neil, and that Emma moved out in 1905, after which the sisters rarely spoke.[17] About four years after the trial, a warrant was issued for her in Providence; *Yankee* reported it concerned two paintings on porcelain and was never served, and *Smithsonian* reported that she apparently made restitution.[17][16]

### Death

Borden died of pneumonia at her home in Fall River on June 1, 1927.[18][17] Friends held a small funeral at Maplecroft, and she was buried in the family plot at Oak Grove Cemetery.[17] Her largest bequest, $30,000 in cash plus some stock, went to the Fall River Animal Rescue League.[17] Emma died days later and was buried in the same plot.[16]

## Myth and record

- Claim: A rhyme handed down for generations says Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks, then gave her father forty-one.[16][21]
  The record: The indictment alleged twenty wounds to Abby Borden and ten to Andrew Borden.[1] The medical examiner, Dr. William Dolan, testified that Mrs. Borden had eighteen wounds on the head and one on the back, and that Mr. Borden had ten wounds, all on the head.[2] The indictment named the weapon only as "a sharp cutting instrument," whose name and description were unknown to the grand jurors.[1]
- Claim: The rhyme calls Abby Borden Lizzie's mother.[16]
  The record: Abby Borden was her stepmother. Lizzie's mother, Sarah Morse Borden, died in 1863, and Andrew Borden married Abby Gray in 1865.[15][1]
- Claim: The rhyme treats Borden's guilt as settled. Historian Megan Alves told the *Boston Globe* that the verse "clearly has the assumption of guilt" and was likely written before the trial ended.[21]
  The record: The jury found her not guilty on June 20, 1893.[11] Who wrote the rhyme is not known; the *Globe* reports that historians generally believe it came from the press, and its earliest appearance in that paper was in 1933.[21]

## The two sides

- Prosecution: William H. Moody told the jury that Borden had a strained relationship with her stepmother, that she had tried to buy prussic acid the day before the killings, that her account of a note calling Mrs. Borden to a sick friend was false, that her account of being in the barn loft was doubtful, and that she burned a dress days after the killings.[1] The prosecution argued that the attempt to buy poison showed premeditation.[8]
- Defense: Her lawyers argued that no trace of poison was found in either body, that the state could not produce the weapon or connect her to it, and that witnesses saw a strange man near the house that morning.[8][9][14] In closing, George Robinson argued that the killings "must have been committed by a maniac or a devil."[14]

## Timeline

- July 19, 1860: Lizzie Andrew Borden is born in Fall River.[15][19]
- Mar. 26, 1863: Her mother, Sarah Morse Borden, dies.[15]
- June 6, 1865: Andrew Borden marries Abby Gray.[15]
- Aug. 4, 1892: Andrew and Abby Borden are killed in their house in Fall River.[1][4]
- Aug. 9–11, 1892: Borden testifies at a closed inquest; she is arrested on the last day.[3][6]
- Dec. 2, 1892: A grand jury indicts her for both killings.[1]
- May 8, 1893: She is arraigned in New Bedford and pleads not guilty.[1]
- June 5, 1893: The trial opens in New Bedford.[1]
- June 1893: The court excludes her inquest testimony and the prussic acid evidence.[9][11][14]
- June 20, 1893: The jury finds her not guilty.[11]
- 1905: Her sister Emma moves out of the house they shared.[17][19]
- June 1, 1927: Borden dies at home in Fall River.[18]
- Sept. 17, 2026: Netflix releases *Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story*.[19][20]

## What came after

After the acquittal, Borden and her sister Emma bought a house on the Hill in Fall River, which Lizzie named Maplecroft.[22][14] She began using the name Lizbeth.[17] About four years after the trial, a warrant was issued for her in Providence, R.I.; *Yankee* magazine reported that it concerned two paintings on porcelain and was never served, and *Smithsonian* reported that she "apparently made restitution."[17][16] Emma moved out in 1905.[17] Lizzie died on June 1, 1927, and Emma died days later.[18][16] The inquest testimony the trial court excluded has since been published, and it remains the only account she gave under oath.[3][16] No one else was ever charged with the killings.[19]

## Sources

1. [Trial of Lizzie Andrew Borden, Volume I (from the official stenographic report by Frank H. Burt, 1893)](https://lizzieandrewborden.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/TrialBorden1.pdf). Lizzie Andrew Borden Virtual Museum & Library, transcribed by Harry Widdows (2001, proofread 2003). (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
2. [Testimony of Dr. William Dolan in the Trial of Lizzie Borden, June 12–13, 1893](https://famous-trials.com/lizzieborden/1452-dolantestimony). Famous Trials (Douglas O. Linder), trial transcript excerpt. (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
3. [Inquest Testimony of Lizzie Borden, Aug. 9–11, 1892](https://famous-trials.com/lizzieborden/1444-inquest). Famous Trials (Douglas O. Linder), inquest transcript. (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
4. [Shocking Crime: A Venerable Citizen and His Aged Wife Hacked to Pieces in Their Home](https://crimearchives.net/1893_borden/html/1892-08-04_borden_news_fall-river-herald.html). Fall River Herald, Aug. 4, 1892 (transcribed by CrimeArchives). (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
5. [Lizzie Borden: Her School and Her Later Life](https://crimearchives.net/1893_borden/html/1892-08-06_borden_news_boston-herald.html). The Boston Herald, Aug. 6, 1892 (transcribed by CrimeArchives). (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
6. [Miss Borden Arrested](https://crimearchives.net/1893_borden/html/1892-08-11_borden_news_new-york-times.html). The New York Times, Aug. 11, 1892 (transcribed by CrimeArchives). (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
7. [Bridget Sullivan a Witness: The Bordens' Servant Tells Her Story of the Murders](https://crimearchives.net/1893_borden/html/1893-06-07_borden_news_new-york-times.html). The New York Times, June 7, 1893 (transcribed by CrimeArchives). (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
8. [Even So! What if Lizzie Did Ask for Acid?](https://crimearchives.net/1893_borden/html/1893-06-14_borden_news_boston-globe.html). Joe Howard, The Boston Globe, June 14, 1893 (transcribed by CrimeArchives). (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
9. [One Side: State Rests Upon Its Case](https://crimearchives.net/1893_borden/html/1893-06-15_borden_news_boston-globe.html). Joe Howard, The Boston Globe, June 15, 1893 (transcribed by CrimeArchives). (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
10. [Hopeful: Lizzie's Counsel Sustained](https://crimearchives.net/1893_borden/html/1893-06-16_borden_news_boston-globe.html). Joe Howard, The Boston Globe, June 16, 1893 (transcribed by CrimeArchives). (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
11. [Not Guilty! Miss Lizzie A. Borden is Acquitted](https://crimearchives.net/1893_borden/html/1893-06-20_borden_news_boston-globe.html). Joe Howard, The Boston Globe, June 20, 1893 (transcribed by CrimeArchives). (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
12. [Edwin H. Porter, The Fall River Tragedy: A History of the Borden Murders](https://gutenberg.org/files/57939/57939-h/57939-h.htm). Geo. R. H. Buffinton, Fall River, 1893 (Project Gutenberg edition). (book)
13. [Stephen G. Christianson, Lizzie Borden Trial: 1893, in Great American Trials](https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/lizzie-borden-trial-1893). Gale, via Encyclopedia.com. (book)
14. [Douglas O. Linder, The Trial of Lizzie Borden: An Account](https://famous-trials.com/lizzieborden/1437-home). Famous Trials (Douglas O. Linder, professor of law). (book)
15. [Douglas O. Linder, The Trial of Lizzie Borden: Chronology](https://www.famous-trials.com/lizzieborden/1441-chronology). Famous Trials (Douglas O. Linder, professor of law). (book)
16. [How Lizzie Borden Got Away With Murder](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-19th-century-axe-murderer-lizzie-borden-was-found-not-guilty-180972707/). Joseph Conforti, Smithsonian Magazine, July 23, 2019 (updated May 3, 2024). (news report)
17. [The Long Silence of Lizzie Borden](https://newengland.com/today/living/new-england-history/long-silence-lizzie-borden/). Don Weafer, Yankee Magazine, 1996 (republished online Jan. 7, 2022). (news report)
18. [Lizzie Borden's Trial](https://www.biography.com/crime/a73581416/lizzie-borden-trial). Biography.com, Sept. 4, 2026 (updated Sept. 15, 2026). (news report)
19. [Netflix's 'Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story': Release Date, Cast, Trailer, and Real People](https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/a73346578/monster-season-4-the-lizzie-borden-story). Catherine Caruso, Biography.com, Aug. 4, 2026 (updated Sept. 14, 2026). (news report)
20. ['Monster' Season 4: Everything You Need to Know About 'The Lizzie Borden Story'](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/monster-season-4-lizzie-borden-netflix-release-date-08-2026/). Kasey Moore, What's on Netflix, Aug. 20, 2026. (news report)
21. [Remember that creepy Lizzie Borden rhyme? Here's a working theory on the origins.](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/17/arts/lizzie-borden-40-whacks/). The Boston Globe, Sept. 17, 2026. (news report)
22. [Lizzie Borden's spirit still hovers over Fall River](https://bendbulletin.com/?p=844954). William Hageman, Chicago Tribune (Tribune News Service, via The Bulletin), Nov. 1, 2015. (news report)
23. [Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast Museum listed for $2M](https://abcnews4.com/news/offbeat/lizzie-borden-bed-and-breakfast-museum-listed-for-2m). Jessica A. Botelho, NBC 10 News (WJAR), Jan. 11, 2021. (news report)