Who Was Bridget Sullivan? All About Lizzie Borden’s Maid, Known as Maggie in Netflix’s Monster

When Andrew and Abby Borden were murdered in their home on in August 1892, there were only two other people seen in the home. Andrew’s daughter Lizzie Borden quickly became the prime suspect. The Bordens’ live-in maid, Irish immigrant Bridget Sullivan, was the witness to the alleged crime.Sullivan, whose testimony centered around her habits of locking the doors while doing her chores, placed Lizzie inside the locked home at the time of the crimes. She would become the prosecutions star witness before her testimony debunked the theory that Lizzie and Abby Borden had a hostile relationship. Lizzie was acquitted during the 1893 trial.Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story offers a fictional take on Lizzie’s relationship with the family maid. Here’s what we know about the real-life Bridget Sullivan.Who Was Bridget Sullivan?Bridget Sullivan was an Irish immigrant who came to the United States around 1886, first to Newport, Rhode Island. At the time of the Borden murders, she was the Borden’s live-in maid. In her trial testimony on June 7, 1893, Sullivan shared she was 26 years old, unmarried, and had been working for the family for two years and nine months at the time of Andrew and Abby’s deaths.The Borden family previously had another maid, Maggie, and Sullivan was sometimes called her predecessor’s name by Emma and Lizzie. Sullivan was the only domestic servant in the Borden household, hired to help keep the Borden home clean.“My work was washing, ironing and cooking and sweeping. I did not have the care of any of the bedchambers except my own,” she testified. “The milk was left at the door every morning at five or half-past. I washed a can every day and left it on the doorstep at night; the milkman took that can and left a full one, so there was an exchange of cans everyday.”Where Was Bridget Sullivan When Andrew and Abby Borden Were Killed? On August 4, 1892, Sullivan and Lizzie were the only people seen in the family home when the murders took place. Sullivan testified Abby instructed her to wash the windows that morning, which she began sometime after 9 a.m.“...and went down cellar and got a pail for to take some water. I didn't see anybody in the rooms. I got a brush in the kitchen closet, filled my pail and took it outdoors,” she said. Prior to the murders, everyone in the house was sick, likely due to food poisoning. Sullivan reported still feeling ill that morning. So after she was done washing the windows, she went to lie down in her room just before 11 a.m.“She had been lying there 10 or 15 minutes when Miss Lizzie called to her from downstairs in a voice suggesting alarm or terror,” a newspaper covering the trial reported. “She is reported to have seen Lizzie in the kitchen, who said either ‘Father’s dead; go for the doctor’ or ‘Father’s hurt; go for the doctor.’”Sullivan followed Lizzie’s instructions, and went to get the family’s physician, Dr. Bowen, who was not home. She was also instructed to get a neighbor, Miss Russell.“When I got back to the house, after going for Miss Russell, Miss Lizzie was in the kitchen,” Sullivan testified in court. “After I came downstairs, she was on the lounge in the dining room. I did not see any blood on her. Not on her face or hands, or anywhere. As far as I can remember, her hair was in order.”Did Bridget Sullivan Testify Against Lizzie Borden?Lizzie’s trial began on June 5, 1893. On the second day, the prosecution, led by District Attorney Hosea Knowlton and co-counsel William H. Moody, began to lay out its case against Lizzie, claiming a strained relationship with her stepmother. (Andrew married Abby when Lizzie was just 4 years old.)While Sullivan’s testimony did put Lizzie at the scene of the crime, she ultimately dispelled rumors of a hostile relationship. During her cross-examination by Lizzie’s defense attorney, Sullivan was asked if she ever saw any conflict in the family or quarreling of any kind. To both questions she replied, “No sir.”Things were “pleasant” between Lizzie and her stepmom, according to Sullivan, who added that the two women "talked over things at Christmas, and if anything was the matter with Mrs. Borden, Lizzie did all she could for her."When Sullivan was asked: “Did you know of any trouble between Miss Lizzie and her mother?” Sullivan allegedly replied, “No sir, never a word in my presence.”And on the day of the murders, Sullivan testified all was well when she was asked if she had noticed any “trouble that morning.” She replied, “No sir, I did not see any trouble with the family.”On June 20, 1893, Lizzie was found not guilty after 90 minutes of deliberations by the jury.What Happened to Bridget Sullivan After the Murder Trial?At some point following the trial, Sullivan moved to Anaconda, Montana, where she lived a quiet life. According to the Anaconda Leader, it’s likely she relocated in 1897, and married a man named John Sullivan in 1905. She was described as a “kind and sweet woman” by those who knew her in Montana.Sullivan’s great-niece, Agnes Holm, described her as “tall, bent, and she used a cane.” Holm added that her great aunt did mention Lizzie Borden, and that she had worked for her.“That didn’t mean anything to me then because I was just a high school girl when she lived with us,” Holm told the outlet. “Besides, she never mentioned any murder.”Records from 1925 showed she was “domestic” help for Judge George Winston. Sullivan died in a Butte, Montana, hospital in 1948. She is buried in Anaconda.How to Watch Monster: The Lizzie Borden StoryMonster: The Lizzie Borden Story revisits the Borden murders, weaving in a fictionalized romantic relationship between the Bordens’ maid, known as Maggie (Vicky Krieps), and Lizzie (Ella Beatty). The eight-episode series is now streaming on Netflix.