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| Is Bertha Manchester Based on a Real Person? The Truth Behind Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. |
Bertha Manchester was a real murder victim, but Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story dramatically reshapes her story to make her part of Lizzie Borden’s increasingly violent path. In the eight-episode series, Bertha is presented as an elderly acquaintance of Abby Borden whose connection to Lizzie and Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan leads to another axe murder before the infamous deaths of Andrew and Abby Borden. The real case, however, is considerably different — and the timeline alone makes one thing very clear: Lizzie Borden did not kill Bertha Manchester.
The Netflix series turns Bertha into an older woman living alone, with Abby supposedly sending Maggie to work additional hours at her home as punishment. Things become considerably darker when Bertha is portrayed as cruel towards Maggie, including physically abusing her with a whip. Lizzie then becomes involved, and what begins as revenge eventually becomes a grim test of whether she can actually use an axe against someone. Maggie freezes when the moment arrives, leaving Lizzie to carry out the killing herself.
It is a neat piece of storytelling, at least from the show's perspective, because Bertha's death becomes another stepping stone in Lizzie's transformation. The problem is that almost none of that relationship existed in the historical record. Netflix takes a real murder, moves the pieces around and slots it into Lizzie's story like a particularly grim jigsaw puzzle.
The real Bertha Manchester was 22 years old, not an elderly woman who knew Abby Borden. She lived on a farm in Fall River, Massachusetts, with her father, Stephen Manchester, and her brother, Frederick. There is also no known evidence establishing a connection between the Manchester family and the Bordens, despite the series making their worlds overlap for dramatic purposes.
Most importantly, the dates completely rule Lizzie out. Bertha Manchester was killed on May 30, 1893, roughly nine months after Andrew and Abby Borden were murdered on August 4, 1892. By then, Lizzie was already under arrest and preparing for her own trial, which was due to begin only days later. So while Netflix can make the two cases unfold as part of one escalating story, reality was not quite so obliging.
Bertha was found dead inside her family's kitchen after her father and brother returned from making milk deliveries. She had suffered numerous axe wounds, with contemporary accounts of the investigation and autopsy describing 23 wounds around and on her skull, along with injuries consistent with an attempt to defend herself. The axe believed to have been used was later found near a woodpile outside the property. Money and a watch were also reportedly missing.
The investigation eventually led authorities to Jose Correa de Mello, a Portuguese labourer who had been employed on the farm. He was reportedly unhappy with Bertha's father, who was said to have had a reputation for paying workers poorly. De Mello initially pleaded not guilty before changing his plea to guilty to second-degree murder. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
That makes the Netflix version particularly different. There is no real-life record of Lizzie secretly visiting Bertha, no evidence of Maggie being sent to Bertha's home by Abby, and no indication that Lizzie and Maggie used the murder as some sort of rehearsal for what would happen to Andrew and Abby. The Bertha Manchester storyline is essentially a fictional invention built around a genuine historical murder.
The timing of the real murder did, however, create an uncomfortable coincidence during Lizzie's trial. Bertha was killed in a remarkably similar manner to the Bordens, with an axe used against a victim inside a home. Her murder also happened only about a week before Lizzie's trial was due to begin. That similarity naturally attracted public attention, particularly when Jose Correa de Mello was arrested.
People began wondering whether the same person could have been responsible for both cases. It was the sort of theory newspapers could easily turn into a headline, because apparently one notorious axe murder in Fall River was not enough drama for the summer of 1893.
Still, Bertha Manchester's murder was not used by Lizzie's defence as proof that she was innocent. The case was mentioned in passing, but there was no courtroom argument establishing that the similarities meant someone else must have killed the Bordens. Nor can anyone say with certainty that the Bertha case helped Lizzie secure an acquittal.
The public reaction is easier to understand. Lizzie's case had already generated enormous attention, and then another young woman was killed with an axe under circumstances that seemed eerily familiar.
With the trial approaching, the coincidence practically invited speculation. But a striking similarity between two crimes is not the same thing as evidence linking them, and the historical record does not establish that the person responsible for Bertha's death was connected to the Borden murders.
Netflix instead uses Bertha for a very different purpose. Her murder gives the series a way to show Lizzie crossing another psychological and moral boundary before the deaths of Andrew and Abby. By turning Bertha into someone within Abby's orbit and creating an abusive relationship with Maggie, the series gives Lizzie a personal motive, an emotional trigger and an opportunity to discover what she is capable of doing. Historically, none of that is supported.
The biggest irony is that the real Bertha Manchester's story was already strange enough without Netflix adding another layer to it. She was a 22-year-old woman murdered on her family's farm, while Lizzie Borden was already facing charges for an entirely separate double murder. The two cases later became linked in public discussion because of their similarities and timing, but that is very different from Lizzie personally knowing Bertha or killing her.
As for the question of whether Lizzie Borden really killed Bertha Manchester, the answer is no. There is no evidence that she did, and the chronology makes the Netflix version impossible as a literal account of what happened. Lizzie was already in custody when Bertha was murdered, while Jose Correa de Mello was ultimately convicted of Bertha's death. The series has simply taken a real historical case and woven it into its fictionalised interpretation of Lizzie's life.
Bertha storyline is one of those moments where historical drama basically says, “We found a fascinating coincidence, now let's make it much messier.” The real case has enough intrigue on its own: a young woman, an axe murder, another notorious case hanging over the town and a trial happening almost immediately afterwards.
That is already a pretty wild collection of circumstances without turning Bertha into Lizzie's neighbour, Abby's friend and Maggie's tormentor. As a storytelling device, though, I can see why the writers went there. It gives Lizzie's character a clear escalation and makes the later Borden murders feel like part of a disturbing progression.
The catch is that viewers unfamiliar with the history could easily walk away believing the Bertha connection was genuine. That is where the distinction between historical fact and Netflix storytelling really matters. Personally, I think the real timeline is far more interesting because it leaves that uncomfortable coincidence sitting there without forcing an answer. And sometimes history is better when it refuses to behave like a perfectly plotted television script.
So, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story does not present the real Bertha Manchester story. It borrows her name, her tragic death and some broad details of the crime, then builds an entirely different relationship around her for the series. If you watched the episode and assumed Bertha was genuinely part of Lizzie's life, that is one historical detail worth correcting. What do you make of Netflix changing the case so heavily — does it make the story more compelling, or would you rather the series had stuck closer to what actually happened?