Annie Aves was a famous abortionist from the 1930s. She was tried four times but each time the jury failed to reach a verdict. Her career finally came to an end when she was shot and killed by the boyfriend of a woman who'd sought her services.

Content Warning: This podcast deals with abortion and infanticide. Some may find it distressing.

On October 3, 1938 the city of Napier was in an uproar. That night, a 51 year old woman in the upmarket suburb of Westshore had been gunned down in her front doorway after she opened the door to a stranger.

The funeral for the woman drew a big crowd. It followed the hearse through the street and covered her coffin in flowers, but when the man who shot this woman was sentenced the judge all but said the victim had brought her death on herself.

That's because Chief Justice Sir Michael Myers knew this woman very well - she was Annie Aves, the famous abortionist who had been tried four times for "using an instrument with intent to procure a miscarriage".

All four juries failed to reach a verdict.

Annie was orphaned at an early age. Her father committed suicide while she was still in the womb and her mother died when she was three years old.

After school she went into domestic service and married Hawke's Bay grape grower, John Craike. The pair had two children but separated after 12 years of marriage. After John's death in 1931 Annie remarried. This time to a music teacher called Charles Aves.

Otago University historian Barbara Brookes says it was probably around this time that Annie began her illegal trade in abortion. It was the middle of the Great Depression - Annie would have needed the money and women needed her services.

"Many women said they just couldn't afford another mouth to feed," Barbara says. "Young women were often very vulnerable. If you were a domestic servant in a house and you got pregnant you lose your job."

So-called 'back-street' abortionists could make a lot of money as long as they weren't caught. Annie's records suggest that over an 18 month period she dealt with 183 clients and what would have translated into more than $200 thousand.

She used a method called the "sea tangle tent" where a stick of seaweed is inserted into the mouth of the uterus to induce a miscarriage. It was a relatively safe technique which is still sometimes used today by obstetricians to help bring on labour.

But the law caught up with Annie Aves in June 1936. "There is a tip-off to the police and the police raid her premises. They find 22 sets of foetal remains," Barbara says…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details