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When the residents of Saco, Maine, discovered the body of a dead 20 year old woman tied up and floating in the river, they dubbed her "Mary Bean" and opened up a murder investigation. The year was 1850, and the much-publicized case unearthed issues that were as pertinent to the time as they are to our modern age. Mary Bean had died of a botched abortion, and her doctor was charged with murder. We'll hear the whole story and what it reveals about the US as it first began to grapple with issues of urbanization, mass media and discrimination.

Our guest is Elizabeth A. De Wolfe, author of the new book The Murder of Mary Bean and Other Stories. She's chair of the History Department at the University of New England.

You can read more about Dr. De Wolfe's work here and here.