Separated by more than 60 years, Lizzie Borden and Aileen Wuornos remain two of the most infamous women in true crime history.
Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story intertwines their stories, portraying Wuornos—a Florida serial killer suspected of murdering seven men—as being fascinated by her predecessor. The series even depicts Wuornos visiting the historic Massachusetts house where Borden’s father and stepmother were killed.
Borden was ultimately acquitted in the sensational murder case against her, while Wuornos was convicted and later executed.
The Netflix drama takes its fictional connection between the women into the afterlife. In the final moments of the eight-episode series, Borden approaches Wuornos and tells her, “All is forgiven. All is understood. At last,” before leading her into the beyond.
But did Lizzie Borden and Aileen Wuornos have any real-life connection?
Here’s what is known about whether the two women were ever linked outside the Netflix series:
Who is Aileen Wuornos?
Wuornos experienced a troubled childhood in Michigan before moving to Florida at age 20. According to court records, she supported herself as a sex worker along Florida highways. Wuornos said customers had “maced, beaten and raped” her, and maintained that she killed some of the men in self-defense.
“You go in those woods and go through what I went through with these scum,” she said in an interview featured in Oxygen’s Snapped: Notorious. “And then you tell me if I deserve life in prison or death row at all.”
Wuornos was convicted in 1992 of killing Richard Mallory. She later pleaded no contest to five additional murders, according to earlier Oxygen reporting, and was suspected in a seventh killing, though she was never charged in that case.
What Was Lizzie Borden Accused of?
More than a century earlier, Borden was accused of murder herself.
On Aug. 4, 1892, she was accused of killing her father and stepmother with a hatchet, a crime that horrified the otherwise quiet Fall River, Massachusetts, community.
At the time, many people doubted that a woman could commit such a brutal act. With little physical evidence tying her to the killings, Borden was acquitted in 1893, according to Biography.
Did Aileen Wuornos Have Any Connection to Lizzie Borden?
Borden died in 1927, nearly three decades before Wuornos—portrayed by Sarah Paulson in the Netflix series—was born in 1956.
There is no known real-life connection between the women, and no evidence that Wuornos knew about Borden.
In Murphy’s fictional retelling, however, Borden occupies Wuornos’ thoughts even as she is strapped to a gurney ahead of her lethal injection.
“Meeting my maker,” Wuornos says in the series. “Also that Lizzie Borden, ’cause she’s the one who got away with it.”
The story then shifts back to the early 1900s as Borden’s narrative concludes. After Wuornos dies in the execution chamber, she awakens to find Borden and her housekeeper, Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan, waiting to guide her into the afterlife.
Did Aileen Wuornos Ever Really Visit Lizzie Borden’s Home?
In Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, Wuornos and her girlfriend make a memorable trip to the Fall River home where Borden’s father, Andrew Borden, and stepmother, Abby Borden, were hacked to death. The pair even have sex on the couch where Andrew died.
The historic property now operates as a bed and breakfast that promises a “hauntingly good time” to guests willing to spend the night. However, there is no evidence that Wuornos ever visited the house.
Why Was Aileen Wuornos in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story?
As for why Murphy and Brennan’s anthology series, chose to intertwine the two women’s stories, Ella Beatty—who plays Borden in Monster—offered her thoughts.
“The show is exploring a legacy of female rage and reaction to the set of circumstances that they are presented with,” she told Tudum. “I think there’s a connection [between Borden and Wuornos] that Ryan and Ian were interested in mapping and exploring.”
She went on to add that incorporating Wuornos into the story helped address the broader question of “why women kill.”
“Every season of Monster has been an exercise in understanding the person’s psychology,” she said. “Are they born or are they made? I knew from the beginning that Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan were really interested in exploring what brings a woman to the point of violence.”
Brennan added that he believed Wuornos was a “fascinating character.”
