Lifetime okays Borden series

US cablenet Lifetime has greenlit a six-hour miniseries about a real-life 19th century American woman who was acquitted for the axe murders of her father and stepmother.

Lizzie Borden: The Fall River Chronicles will see Christina Ricci (Casper) reprise her titular role as the notorious murder suspect she portrayed in Lifetime’s TV movie Lizzie Borden Took an Ax, with Clea DuVall also to return has her on-screen sister.

The 6×60’ series will be a fictionalised account of actual events and people surrounding Borden’s life after her controversial acquittal of the horrific double murder of her father and stepmother in 1892, when the exonerated figure enjoys a life of newfound celebrity.

The drama, to air on Lifetime in 2015, will be produced by Sony Pictures Television and exec-produced by Judith Verno (Lizzie Borden Took An Ax) and Ricci.

Penning the limited series are Greg Small and Rich Blaney (Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret), Barbara Nance (House of Lies), Jason Grote (Mad Men) and David Simkins (Grimm).

Stephen Kay (Sons of Anarchy) will direct episodes one and two.