Why is Aileen Wuornos in 'The Lizzie Borden Story'? Inside 'Monster's killer crossover

Primary Journalistic Dispatch & Direct Reporting

Sarah Paulson plays the notorious killer in Netflix's series about the 1892 ax murders. Sure, why not?

The Lizzie Borden Story , the fourth installment in Murphy's Monster franchise, is now streaming on Netflix and, well, you shouldn't go into it expecting a history lesson. This season explores the life and alleged crimes of Lizzie Borden, who was accused and acquitted of brutally murdering her father, Andrew, and stepmother, Abby, with an ax in 1892. Like other Murphy productions, including The Ed Gein Story and American Horror Story , The Lizzie Borden Story anachronistically incorporates other notorious killers into its tale. Elizabeth Báthory is one, and Aileen Wuornos, who wasn't born until nearly 30 years after Lizzie's death, is another.

In The Lizzie Borden Story , Wuornos is positioned as something of a kindred spirit to Lizzie who nurses a fascination with the accused ax murderer. But who, exactly, was Aileen Wuornos? And was she obsessed with Lizzie in real life?

In-Depth Developments & Factual Context

Entertainment Weekly is here to explain how Wuornos fits into The Lizzie Borden Story.

Aileen Wuornos was one of the most notorious female serial killers in American history, ultimately receiving six death sentences for first-degree murder. Born in 1956, Wuornos was abandoned by her mother as a young child and raised by her maternal grandparents. Her biological father, whom she never knew, later died by suicide while incarcerated after being convicted of a sex crime against a child. Wuornos later claimed that her grandfather abused her and that she had a sexual relationship with her older brother.

Wuornos became pregnant at 14 through what she said was rape and gave birth to a son shortly after turning 15; the baby was placed for adoption. As a teenager, she dropped out of school and eventually left home, hitchhiking around the country and supporting herself largely through sex work.

Industry Impact & Strategic Analysis

Wuornos briefly married a much older man in 1976, a union that lasted only a matter of weeks. Her lengthy arrest record grew over the following years, and in 1981 she was imprisoned after robbing a convenience store. After her release, she continued drifting until 1986, when she met Tyria Moore. The two began a romantic relationship that would last several years.

Three years later, Wuornos began her killing spree, fatally shooting seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. She was arrested in January 1991 and confessed to all seven killings, initially claiming she had acted in self-defense after the men assaulted or attempted to assault her. Wuornos was convicted by a jury of murdering Richard Mallory in 1992 and subsequently pleaded no contest or guilty in five other murder cases, receiving six death sentences in total.

In 2002, Wuornos was executed by lethal injection at the age of 46. Since her death, Wuornos' story has been told and retold numerous times in popular culture, most notably in the 2003 biographical crime drama Monster , starring Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci as Wuornos and Moore, respectively.

Forward Outlook & Market Perspective

In episode 4, the show pivots briefly from Lizzie Borden to Wuornos. The opening scene, set in Florida in 1988, depicts Wuornos being picked up by a male driver. She offers him sexual services, and the two pull over in a secluded area, where a consensual encounter turns violent and Wuornos shoots and kills him.

Soon after this scene, Wuornos is shown with her girlfriend in a motel room, where the two are reading from a book about Lizzie Borden. Wuornos expresses an ardent fascination with Lizzie's life. "Here's Lizzie Borden," Wuornos waxes rhapsodically. "She's just giving them exactly what they had coming to 'em. I mean she gave the world a warning that women shouldn't stand for this shit anymore." Wuornos links Lizzie's treatment by men with her own.

In episode 6, Wuornos and her girlfriend visit the Lizzie Borden house, where the episode intertwines two narratives: Wuornos spending the night at the Borden house, and the aftermath of Andrew and Abby's deaths. We see their bodies being discovered, Lizzie being questioned by authorities, and suspicion increasingly falling on her. In the present-day storyline, Wuornos believes she is witnessing some of these past events, eventually hallucinating a conversation with the spirit of Lizzie.

Later, in her dying moments, Wuornos sees Lizzie beckoning to her. "In a way, Lizzie has a happy ending, and Aileen didn't," co-creator Ian Brennan told Tudum . "She didn't get away with anything. So it felt right to land on her and give her, if not a happy ending, one that is satisfying."

Ultimately, the show attempts to draw a parallel between Lizzie Borden and Aileen Wuornos, portraying them as two women abused and mistreated by society who dared to fight back. In the series' telling, Wuornos is effectively inspired by Lizzie's alleged actions before embarking on a killing spree of her own. Whether the show draws that connection successfully is up to viewers at home to decide.

Wuornos is played by longtime Ryan Murphy collaborator Sarah Paulson . Paulson first worked with Murphy in a 2004 episode of Nip/Tuck, before reuniting with him in 2011 as Billie Dean Howard on American Horror Story: Murder House. She would go on to appear in eight more seasons of AHS, plus the upcoming AHS: 13 . She also starred in Murphy's The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Feud: Bette and Joan, Impeachment: American Crime Story, Ratched, and All's Fair.

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