Francine Hughes

Francine Hughes
Born(1947-08-17)August 17, 1947
Stockbridge, Michigan, U.S.
DiedMarch 22, 2017(2017-03-22) (aged 69)
Leighton, Alabama
Occupation(s)Nurse, LPN
Known forKilling her husband after years of abuse, and being found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity

Francine Moran Hughes (later Wilson; August 17, 1947 – March 22, 2017)[1] was an American woman who, after thirteen years of domestic abuse, set fire to the bed in which her live-in ex-husband Mickey Hughes was sleeping, on March 9, 1977, in Dansville, Michigan. Mickey was killed and the house destroyed in the resulting fire. At trial, Hughes was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity in one of the first cases involving "battered-woman syndrome" as a defense.[2][3]

  1. ^ Outlaw, Maureen (2012). "Francine Hughes (1947-)". In Jensen, Vickie (ed.). Women Criminals: An Encyclopedia of People and Issues. Vol. 2. pp. 479–482. ISBN 9780313337130. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  2. ^ Langer, Emily (April 1, 2017). "Francine Hughes Wilson, whose 'burning bed' became a TV film, dies at 69". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  3. ^ Carr, Tom (2016). Blood on the Mitten (First ed.). Chandler Lake Books / Mission Point Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN 9781943338078.