In Fall River, Massachusetts, on a hot August day in 1892, Andrew Borden and his wife Abby were murdered, struck multiple times in the head with a hatchet. The only person home at the time of the attacks was Andrew's daughter Lizzie, who was later charged with two counts of murder. Juliana looks over the infamous North American case to consider if Lizzie Borden really "took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks" before finishing off her father with forty-one blows to the head, and why the question of her guilt or innocence continues to be debated to this day. Listeners are advised this episode contains depictions of murder and historical racist attitudes that some listeners may find disturbing.