He was Lizzie Borden’s maternal uncle, and his testimony became part of the prosecution’s case during the sensational 1893 trial. John V.
Morse was not a stranger who happened to be at the Borden home before the murders.
The series premiered on September 17, 2026, with Ella Beatty playing Lizzie Borden. During his trial testimony on June 7, 1893, Morse identified himself as John Vinnicum Morse, said he was about 60 years old and testified that Andrew Borden’s first wife was his sister. He arrived at the Borden home on August 3 at about 1:30 p.m, according to his testimony. He ate a meal, left the house between 3 and 4 p.m. and returned at about 8:30 that evening. Morse said he woke around 6 a.m. and went downstairs.
Joey Pollari portrays John Morse. Morse’s real-life connection to the Borden family was close. That made him the uncle of Lizzie and her older sister Emma. Morse testified that he did not see Lizzie when he arrived and did not see her before returning to the house the following day after the murders. He testified that Andrew and Abby subsequently joined him and that the three ate breakfast together.
The renewed interest in Morse comes as Netflix revisits one of America’s most famous murder cases in “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story,” the fourth season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Monster anthology. He said he spent the evening with Andrew and Abby before going upstairs to sleep. He also said that while downstairs that night, he heard someone enter through the front door and go upstairs toward Lizzie’s room, although he did not see who it was. His sleeping arrangements later became significant to the testimony: Morse said he slept in the guest chamber over the parlor, the room where Abby Borden’s body was discovered the next day.
