Lizzie Borden’s ‘forgotten’ sister Emma had a surprising role in the infamous case as Ryan Murphy's new Monster doc hits Netflix this week
Ryan Murphy's latest instalment in his Monster series drops on Netflix tomorrow (17 September).
After the first three seasons, The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022), The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (2024) and The Ed Gein Story (2025), true crime fanatics are looking forward to watching The Lizzie Borden Story, starring Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden, a loose interpretation of the 1892 axe murders murder of her father and stepmother, Andrew and Abby.
The TV series, which also stars Sarah Paulson, Charlie Hunnam and Billie Lourd, follows Lizzie, the repressed daughter of a wealthy New England family and her rebellious maid, Bridget Sullivan, who find themselves trapped in a house built on humiliation and cruelty.
Watch the official Netflix trailer here:
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The pair later escape into 'a fantasy of sex, power, and revenge', Tudum states.
"The gruesome unsolved murders that follow don’t just shock the world — they give birth to an icon who refuses to live imprisoned in a cage, choosing instead to forge her own legend: shocking, monstrous, and gloriously free," Tudum continues, adding that Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story tells the story of 'how one young woman changed what the world believed a killer could be'.
Lourd, who has starred in several of Murphy's other projects, plays Lizzie's older sister Emma, bringing fresh attention to an often overshadowed figure in the chilling true crime case.
Now, the real Emma Borden, born in 1851, was nine years older than Lizzie and, after their mother Sarah's death, she reportedly made a promise to look over her younger sibling.
The two sisters had a third sister, Alice, who sadly died in childhood.
When Andrew and Abby were murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts, home on August 4, 1892, Emma was miles away from the scene of the crime.
She had been staying with a friend around 17 miles away in Fairhaven, giving Emma an alibi which Lizzie never had.
Lizzie and Bridget, her maid, were the only other people inside the house at the time of the murders.
Despite prosecutors building a strong circumstantial case pointing to Lizzie, she was later acquitted of the 1892 murders of her father and stepmother in a sensational 1893 trial.
The all-male jury deliberated for just an hour before acquitting Lizzie, an upper-class churchwoman, leaving the murders officially unsolved.
Emma stood by Lizzie's side during her murder trial and continued to live with her for years afterwards, surprisingly many at the time.
However, the pair had a falling out in 1905, resulting in Emma moving out. The exact reason as to why remains unknown.
The two sisters never reconciled, and Emma passed away just 10 days after Lizzie in June 1927.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story will be available to watch on Netflix this Thursday (17 September).
Topics: Crime, True Crime, TV And Film, Netflix, US News
Rhiannon Ingle