Episode 217: The Murder of Mary Bean

On this week’s episode of True Crime New England, take a trip back in time to 1850's Maine where Katie and Liz share the infamous story of Mary Bean, “The Factory Girl.” This tale involves a young woman from Quebec named Berengera Caswell, who left home with her sisters to work in the ever-expanding textile mills in New England. After she met a young machinist at the same mill she was employed at, she became pregnant. As premarital sex was harshly stigmatized in society in the 19th century, Berengera and her partner sought out a locally known abortionist to help remedy their problem. This turned out to be fatal, leading to a trial that became widely publicized in the region. Tune in to hear the details of navigating this unnecessary death and how society viewed such a case.