{"id":9232,"date":"2026-09-19T12:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T11:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/?p=9232"},"modified":"2026-09-18T21:25:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:25:50","slug":"monster-the-lizzie-borden-story-netflix-barbaric-true-story-bertha-manchester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2026\/09\/19\/monster-the-lizzie-borden-story-netflix-barbaric-true-story-bertha-manchester\/","title":{"rendered":"The barbaric truth behind Bertha Manchester’s death that Monster: Lizzie Borden left out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bertha Manchester is the Borden family\u2019s despicable neighbour in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story<\/a>, and while she meets a grisly end in the Netflix show, her real life death is even more disturbing. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ryan Murphy<\/a> and Ian Brennan\u2019s true crime anthology series has never been known to stick closely to the facts. We saw it with Dahmer, the Menendez brothers, and Ed Gein, but perhaps even more so with Lizzie Borden<\/a>, in part due to the time in which the crimes took place. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lizzie\u2019s father Andrew and stepmother Abby were brutally murdered with a hatchet all the way back in 1892, when photography was cumbersome, filming was brand new technology and forensic science was only just starting to emerge. <\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, there are a<\/span> lot <\/span><\/i>of gaps in what we know about the case, and Monster<\/a> certainly isn’t afraid to fill them. One of many changes is the story of Bertha Manchester.<\/span><\/p>\n

What happens to Bertha Manchester in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story<\/h2>\n
\"Bertha
Credit: Netflix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Played by Linda Reiter, Bertha is introduced as the hateful neighbour of the Bordens\u2019. To make up the numbers, she and her pet dog join a dinner Andrew hosts for his late wife Sarah\u2019s brother, John Morse (Joey Pollari). <\/span><\/p>\n

During their dinner, Abby (Rebecca Hall) offers up Bridget \u201cMaggie\u201d Sullivan\u2019s<\/a> (Vicky Krieps) services to Bertha after Bridget poisoned her and Andrew with dodgy oysters. What they don\u2019t know is that the oysters were put in their meal on purpose to try and kill them, but their attempt failed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Later, when Bridget and Lizzie<\/a> are alone, they start making new plans for how they\u2019re going to get rid of Abby and Andrew. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bridget reveals to Lizzie that Bertha had whipped her with a cat o’ nine tails simply for looking at her in a way Bertha deemed inappropriate. But it soon becomes clear that Bertha is actually attracted to Bridget herself, and rather than confront her own sexual desire, she blames Bridget for supposedly tempting her. <\/span><\/p>\n

This version of Bertha is, frankly, despicable, and so Bridget comes up with a plan: they\u2019ll first kill Bertha as a practice run. \u201cWe have to make sure we know what we\u2019re doing, and that we have our courage,\u201d she says. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lizzie
Credit: Netflix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And so, on their chosen evening, they lure Bertha downstairs. Out of the darkness, Lizzie emerges, swinging her axe right into Bertha\u2019s stomach. The scene is as gruesome as you\u2019d expect from Monster – the axe gets stuck in her stomach, and Lizzie spends an agonising minute trying to pull it back out as Bertha screams in pain. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bridget freezes, and so Lizzie grabs the hatchet from her hand before plunging it into Bertha\u2019s head, finally killing her. When the police find her around a week later, they put it down to a robbery and arrest an innocent man for the crime. <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Bertha\u2019s story ends in Monster, and it\u2019s safe to say the show took some creative liberties.<\/span><\/p>\n

The disturbing case of the real Bertha Manchester <\/h2>\n

Bertha Manchester was a real person and she really was brutally murdered with an axe in Fall River – but Lizzie and Bridget had absolutely nothing to do with her death, and she lived around eight miles from the Bordens.<\/span><\/p>\n