Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story shows Lizzie being accused of killing her father and stepmother, but what actually gave prosecutors enough evidence to send her to trial? Lizzie Borden was suspected almost immediately after Andrew and Abby Borden were found murdered at their Fall River, Massachusetts, home on August 4, 1892. But police initially had no bloody weapon or bloodstained clothing linking Lizzie directly to the killings. The case against her was largely circumstantial. Then Alice Russell came forward with one detail that changed everything. So, which evidence sent Lizzie Borden to trial? Credit: Netflix Alice Russell was a close friend of Lizzie’s who had stayed at the Borden house after the murders. She had already given evidence at the inquest and preliminary hearing, but she had not mentioned what she saw Lizzie do with the dress. According to the Smithsonian, Alice became worried that she had left out something important, so she spoke to a lawyer and was told to tell the district attorney. On December 1, 1892, she returned to the grand jury and described seeing Lizzie with a dress in the kitchen. Alice said Lizzie told her, “I am going to burn this old thing up. It is covered with paint.” Alice then warned her, “I wouldn’t let anybody see me do that, Lizzie.” The dress was described as a cheap cotton Bedford cord with a light-blue ground and a small dark figure. Alice said she saw Lizzie holding it near the stove, but she did not actually see Lizzie put the dress into the fire. Alice also did not see blood on it. When asked at trial whether there was even a speck of blood, she answered, “No sir.” She later made it even clearer, saying, “I saw no blood on that dress. Not a drop.” Still, the fact that Lizzie had decided to destroy a dress just days after the murders became hugely important to the prosecution. Alice’s new testimony came on December 1, and Lizzie was indicted the following day, December 2, 1892. Although we see Lizzie burn her dress in Netflix’s Monster, Alice Russell is not mentioned, nor is the fact that her testimony about the dress helped send Lizzie to trial. For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
