FALL RIVER, MASS. · THURSDAY, 4 AUGUST 1892
Two dead. One suspect. You decide.
Twelve men acquitted Lizzie Borden in about an hour. More than 130 years later the case is still argued over, and millions of people have just watched Netflix’s version of it. So hear the real evidence and take the empty chair in the jury box.
Lizzie Borden took an axe hatchet
And gave her mother stepmother forty 18 or 19 whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one 10 or 11.
…and a jury said it wasn’t proven that she did it.
The jingle turned an unsolved double murder into a playground chant. The real case is stranger: a locked house, a note nobody ever saw, a laugh on the stairs, a dusty hayloft and a dress burned in the kitchen stove.
Take the fact-or-fiction quiz →Monster made you wonder. Here’s the record.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story arrived on Netflix on 17 September 2026 and went straight to number one worldwide, with 12.1 million views in its first four days. Since then “Lizzie Borden” has been one of the most-read articles on Wikipedia.
The series takes big creative liberties, including a romance with the maid that the record doesn’t support. This site sticks to what was actually testified, found and argued, so you can make up your own mind.
Four ways in
The Trial
Weigh 14 to 17 real exhibits, cast your verdict, then argue with twelve fictional jurors in three rounds. You’ll leave with a unanimous verdict or a hung jury, plus a juror card to share.
Three modes: 1893 Courtroom, Full Case File, Quick Trial →The House on Second Street
Scrub through the murder morning on floor plans of the cellar, ground floor, upstairs, attic and yard, and watch who was where at 9:30 and at 11:00.
19 moments · 5 floor plans →Rhyme vs Record
Fact or fiction? You get twelve statements from a deck of 42, each with the real story behind the answer. See if you can beat a friend’s score.
Reshuffled every round →The Suspect Board
Lizzie, the maid, the uncle, the sister, a phantom son, a stranger, or the Netflix theory. Rank seven suspects and share your prime suspect.
7 theories, for and against →The empty chair is waiting.
Could you have sent a woman to the gallows on this evidence? Or would you have walked her out of the courthouse as “the happiest woman in the world”?