In the trailer for the new Ryan Murphy Netflix series "Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story," actor Vicky Krieps portrays one of the early witnesses to the 1892 Borden hatchet slayings in Fall River – and possibly an accessory to murder herself.
Krieps co-stars as the Bordens' Irish maid at their Second Street home, Bridget Sullivan, despite the actor's noticeable German accent.
It remains to be seen how accurate "Monster" will be to the historical record of 1890s Fall River. But there are a few details we know about the real Bridget Sullivan and her role in what happened to Andrew and Abby Borden.
Here are five things to know about her:
What to know before you watch: Will 'Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story' be accurate?
Sullivan was an Irish immigrant employed by the Bordens since 1889 to do fairly light housework. During her years with the Bordens, she may have sensed tension Emma and Lizzie Borden had with their stepmother, Abby, and felt uncomfortable by it.
"More than once, Bridget attempted to leave the employ of the family, only to be coaxed into staying, with Mrs. Borden on at least one occasion raising her wages," write Michael Martins and Dennis Binette in their seminal book of Fall River history "Parallel Lives."
According to the Boston Post of 1892, Bridget also said that Abby was "too good for them and they did not like her."
Emma and Lizzie, who didn't do much housework, tended to refer to Bridget as "Maggie" instead of her real name. The exact reasons for this aren't known, while some have speculated it's perhaps a sign they didn't think much of her personally.
However, people from higher social classes calling servants by different names would have been somewhat common at the time.
In the days before Aug. 4, 1892, several members of the Borden family had been feeling ill, likely from food-borne illness, it being a hot summer and the Bordens having inadequate refrigeration. Legend has it the Bordens ate spoiled mutton for breakfast, though according to testimony the family had already been sick before the mutton was ever cooked.
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On the morning of the murders, even Sullivan was overcome by nausea. According to her testimony, shortly before 9 a.m., after she had served breakfast to the household, she went outside to the yard to vomit.
After recovering for a few minutes, she was soon back to cleaning windows – while nearby Abby and Andrew Borden would be slain in their home.
Salacious retellings of the Lizzie Borden story have focused on a relationship between Lizzie and Bridget – a lesbian tryst that perhaps led them to join forces and murder the Bordens.
It's a theory explored in Evan Hunter's 1984 novel "Lizzie," the 2018 film "Lizzie" starring Chloe Sevigny and in the new Netflix version.
But there's no historical evidence to suggest Sullivan was a lesbian or that her relationship with Lizzie was anything more than servant and employer.
Post-trial, Sullivan returned to Ireland for a short time, but soon moved back to the United States – but not to Fall River.
Instead, by 1897 Sullivan had moved out west to the small town of Anaconda, Montana. In 1905, she married John Sullivan, a laborer and an Irish immigrant himself. The couple had no children. Her husband died in 1939, while she lived until 1948.
She evidently refused to speak about the horrific crime she'd witnessed, or the notoriety that followed. Rumors have swirled that on her deathbed she confessed to being paid off by Lizzie to protect her, but this is pure speculation.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Did Lizzie Borden and the maid have a secret affair? 5 things to know