Lizzie Borden: Why was she acquitted and what happened to her after the trial?

The fourth instalment of Ryan Murphy's Monster anthology has arrived, this time looking at the intriguing case of Lizzie Borden.

Previous outings of the Netflix show have focussed on the often gruesome cases of infamous killers like Jeffrey Dahmer, Lyle and Erik Menendez and Ed Gein.

However, the 1892 case of Lizzie Borden is different. Although she was accused of killing her father, Andrew Borden, and her stepmother, Abby Borden, she was actually found not guilty of the crime.

Because of this diversion from the other Monster shows in the series, viewers are wondering just why she was acquitted and what Lizzie went on to do with the rest of her life after the scandal.

Why was Lizzie Borden acquitted?

In August 1892, Lizzie's father and stepmother were brutally attacked with a hatchet and found dead at their Massachusetts home they shared with Lizzie and her sister, Emma.

Lizzie and the family maid were the only people home at the time of the murders. The maid, Bridget "Maggie" Sullivan was ruled out of the investigation because her whereabouts at the time of the attack was accounted for and Lizzie was accused instead.

Ultimately, Lizzie was acquitted because evidence against her was circumstantial and not enough to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Also, gender and class bias played a role in her going free.

As an upper class woman who was a Sunday school teacher and respected member of the church, the jury couldn't believe that a woman of her standing would be able to carry out such a savage attack.

Evidence gathered against Lizzie included her initial statements to police being erratic and contradictory. Her changing accounts of her whereabouts and actions at the time of the murders aroused suspicion.

One example includes claiming that at the time of the attack, she was in a barn at the property looking for equipment for an upcoming fishing trip.

When searched, police found the incredibly hot, unventilated loft of the barn where the equipment was kept, to be covered in a thick layer of undisturbed dust with no footprints or signs that anyone had really been in the space.

Lizzie later changed this story to say she hadn't been in the barn loft, but just in the lower part of the barn eating pears. She later altered that to say she'd never been in the barn at all and had been in the back garden at the time of the murders.

Other evidence against her included a friend of the Borden family, Alice Russell, saying she'd witnessed Lizzie burning a blue dress - the one she had been wearing on the day of the murders.

On top of that, local drugstore worker Eli Bence, suggested Lizzie had visited the shop to attempt to buy the poison prussic acid a day before the killings.

During Lizzie's trial in June 1893, Judge Justin Dewey announced that her initial confusing statements made to police would be excluded from the evidence.

This was because she didn’t have an attorney present when they were made, and the statements were rendered inadmissible.

Her defence team also argued that because her Lizzie's doctor had prescribed a large dose of morphine to calm her nerves in the days following the killings, the opioid had made her confused and this also accounted for the conflicting stories she gave.

The testimony from Eli Bence was also blocked and he was banned from telling the jury anything about it.

This was due to the defence and judges agreeing that because Andrew and Abby had been killed with a hatchet and no poison found in their systems, Lizzie's attempt to buy poison was irrelevant.

Alice Russell's account of witnessing Lizzie burning the dress she was wearing on the day of the murders, did however make it to the trial.

Although considered the star witness in the case, under cross examination Alice was ultimately unable to confirm that dress she saw Lizzie burning on a stove was the exact one she'd been wearing when her father and step-mother died.

Lizzie explained that she was getting rid of an old dress that had been ruined by paint after work carried out their house. This story was backed up by her sister Emma, who said she'd been the one to suggest to Lizzie that she dispose of the old dress by burning it to get it out of the house.

Lizzie's trial concluded on June 20, 1893, and after deliberating for 90 minutes, the all-male jury found her not guilty.

No other suspects were ever identified in the case, which remains unsolved over 130 years later.

What happened to Lizzie after her trial?

Lizzie and her sister Emma inherited a substantial amount of money from their father's estate, and they bought a mansion together in an affluent neighbourhood in Fall River, near to where they'd been brought up.

Lizzie began using the name "Lizbeth," but could not escape the controversy that surrounded her after the trial, despite not being found guilty.

Shunned by locals in the surrounding area, Lizzie began travelling to Boston and New York to attend theatre shows, something she had a huge interest in. She found comfort in the anonymity of being away from Fall River.

In the early 1900s she met a theatre performer named Nance O'Neil, and a great friendship grew. However, speculation arose that the friendship had developed into something romantic, and more controversy followed Lizzie around.

Around this time, she fell out with Emma who moved out of the home they bought together and although reasons for their falling out were never made clear, it was speculated to be something to do with Nance.

The sisters did not reconcile. Lizzie's friendship with Nance also eventually broke down and she mostly lived a private life at her mansion afterwards.

Following gallbladder surgery and ongoing health problems, Lizzie died at her Fall River home on June 1, 1927, at the age of 66.

Emma died nine days later, and the sisters were buried at the family plot along with Andrew and Abby.

Neither sister married or had children, and both left their fortunes to various charities and good causes.

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story airs on Netflix from September 17.