Lizzie Borden

1860-1927

Lizzie Borden was an infamous murder suspect who was accused of killing her parents in a brutal hatchet attack. In August 1892, her father and stepmother—Andrew and Abby Borden—were found murdered in their home Fall River, Massachusetts. Lizzie was arrested and tried for the axe murders, but was acquitted in 1893. The case was never solved, and she went on to live an isolated life in Fall River until her death in June 1927.

FULL NAME: Lizzie Andrew Borden
BORN: July 19, 1860
DIED: June 1, 1927
BIRTHPLACE: Fall River, Massachusetts
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer

Lizzie Andrew Borden was born on July 19, 1860, in Fall River, Massachusetts, to Sarah and Andrew Borden. The youngest of three, she grew up with her older sister Emma, while her sister Alice died in infancy. The Borden family was struck by more loss when Lizzie’s mother died in 1863. Her father, a prominent businessman in the fields of real estate and manufacturing, remarried two years later, and her stepmother Abby Borden (née Gray) proceeded to raise her and Emma.

Raised in a wealthy yet frugal home, Lizzie had a comfortable upbringing in Fall River. Andrew’s financial success allowed him to employ servants to keep their home in order, but he was otherwise strict about spending money, which Lizzie and Emma resented.

Both Borden sisters lived with their father and stepmother into adulthood, though their relationship with Abby was not close. They greeted her as “Mrs. Borden” and grew concerned her family sought to gain access to their father’s money. Emma was protective of Lizzie and, together, the two sisters helped to manage the rental properties owned by their father.

An active and respected member of the Fall River community, Lizzie had a bustling social life. She attended Central Congregationalist Church, where she taught Sunday school to children of immigrants and participated in both the Christian Endeavor Society and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.

On the morning of August 4, 1892, Andrew and Abby were murdered and mutilated in their Fall River home. Lizzie, then 32 years old, alerted the maid, Bridget Sullivan, to her father’s dead body. He’d been attacked and killed while sleeping on the sofa. A search of the home led to the discovery of the body of Abby Borden in an upstairs bedroom. Like her husband, Abby was the victim of a brutal hatchet attack. Abby was struck 18 times and was presumably killed first, and Andrew was struck 10 to 11 times.

Police called to the scene suspected Lizzie immediately, although she was not taken into custody right away. Her sister was out of town at the time of the murders and never considered a suspect. During the week between the murders and her arrest, Lizzie burned a dress that she claimed was stained with paint. Prosecutors later alleged the dress was stained with blood and that Lizzie had burned the dress in order to cover up her crime.

During a police inquest just days later, Lizzie gave inconsistent accounts of her whereabouts and around the time of the murders. She first told authorities she was out back in the hot, unventilated barn looking for fishing sinkers for 15 to 20 minutes when her parents were killed. Later, she claimed she was in the barn eating pears. Afterward, she said she went back in the house, where she found her father dead in the sitting room.

Lizzie said she made no attempt to look for her stepmother in the house, believing Abby had left after allegedly receiving a note requesting she tend to a sick friend. But this too changed, with Lizzie later claiming she thought her stepmother was sewing upstairs. She asked her neighbor, Adelaide Churchill, to look for Abby, whose body was soon found in the second-floor guest room.

In her testimony, Lizzie also alluded to having a strained relationship with Abby, revealing she stopped referring to her as “mother” five or six years earlier, following a disagreement about Abby’s half-sister, for whom Andrew had secretly purchased a house.

Lizzie’s inquest testimony only aroused further suspicion, with authorities believing she had opportunity and motive to kill her parents. She was arrested on August 11, 1892. She was formally indicted by a grand jury on three counts of murder that December.

Six months later, in June 1893, Lizzie went on trial for the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The high-profile trial was extensively covered by newspapers across the country, including The Boston Globe and The New York Times. Lizzie did not take the stand in her own defense, and her inquest testimony was not admitted into evidence because she had not received proper legal counsel. Additionally, she was under the influence of morphine when she was questioned, which was prescribed by her doctor. Without this, the prosecution’s case was entirely circumstantial.

Since there was no murder weapon or physical evidence, prosecutors relied on witnesses. Their star witness, the Borden’s maid Bridget Sullivan, testified that Lizzie was in the Borden family home at the time of the murders. However, Sullivan also revealed she never witnessed any fights or disagreements between Lizzie and Abby.

Another key witness, Lizzie’s friend Alice Russell, said she saw her burn a blue dress three days after the murders. While prosecutors suggested the dress may have been bloody, Lizzie insisted the fabric had been ruined with paint. Russell also said the day before the killings, Lizzie revealed she and her parents had been ill and suspected their milk had been poisoned. According to Russell, Lizzie’s suspicions stemmed from her fear that someone held a grudge against her father because of how “discourteous” he was to people.

A drug store clerk also claimed Lizzie tried to buy prussic acid the day before the murders, but this was determined unrelated.

In her defense, Lizzie’s attorneys argued she was a respectable woman who was incapable of committing violence. At one point in the trial, she fainted when prosecutors produced Abby and Andrew’s skulls, which incidentally played into the defense’s strategy.

Ultimately, the prosecution was unable to prove her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. On June 20, 1893, an all-male jury acquitted Lizzie of the murders after just 90 minutes of deliberations. No one else was ever charged in the case.

Despite her acquittal, Lizzie lived a lonely and isolated life after her trial. Lizzie and Emma inherited a significant portion of their father’s estate, allowing them to purchase a new home together, which they called Maplecroft. The Borden sisters lived together for the following decade. Although free, Lizzie was considered guilty by many of her neighbors, and thusly never enjoyed acceptance in the community following her trial. She changed her name to Lizbeth, but her reputation was further tarnished when she was accused of shoplifting in 1897.

In 1905, Emma abruptly moved out of the house she shared with her sister. The two never spoke again. Emma may have been uncomfortable with Lizzie’s close friendship with another woman, Nance O’Neil, although her silence on their falling out fueled speculation she learned new details about the murders of her father and stepmother. No member of the household staff ever offered additional information on the rift, even following Lizzie’s death.

On June 1, 1927, Lizzie died of pneumonia in her Fall River home at age 66. Emma died just days later in Newmarket, New Hampshire. Both sisters were buried next to their parents in Oak Grove Cemetery.

For more than a century, Lizzie and the Borden murders have transfixed the public’s attention, beginning with the famous schoolyard rhyme. Her life and trial have been depicted in several movies over the years, including The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975), Lizzie Borden Took an Ax (2014) starring Christina Ricci, and Lizzie (2018).

The notorious murder suspect will next be portrayed by actor Ella Beatty in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, which premieres on Netflix in September 2026.

• I did not see his face, because he was all covered with blood.
• I always went to my sister, because she was older and had the care of me after my mother died.
• I don’t know what I have said. I have answered so many questions and I am so confused I don't know one thing from another.

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!

Biography.com Editors

Staff Editorial Team and Contributors

The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us

Catherine Caruso

Associate Profiles Editor

Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024, having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new story, you can find her reading, hitting the gym, or watching too much TV.