Francine Moran Hughes 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.
17 Facts About Francine Hughes
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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.
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Francine Hughes's mother named her Francine after a French musician.
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At age 16, Francine left high school to marry James "Mickey" Hughes.
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Francine Hughes felt that she could not remove Mickey from the home or move out herself, fearing that he would make good on his constant threats to kill her.
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Francine Hughes obtained her GED and, in 1976, enrolled in a secretarial course in an effort to obtain some independence.
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Francine Hughes refused to allow her to make food for their four children, and berated her for some time about quitting school, which she refused to agree to, even after Mickey forced her to burn her schoolbooks.
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Francine Hughes again attempted to make dinner for herself and the children, but Mickey swept the food onto the floor.
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Francine Hughes forced Francine to the floor by bending her arm behind her back and made her clean the mess with her hands.
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Francine Hughes decided to wait for her youngest child, Dana, to return home.
11.
When he did not return after some time, Francine Hughes decided to burn the house down to prevent a return to life with Mickey.
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Francine Hughes told the three children to put on their coats and wait in the car.
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Francine Hughes then poured gasoline around Mickey's bed and lit the gasoline.
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In 1980, Francine Hughes married Robert Wilson, a country musician, and became a nurse.
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Francine Hughes was an LPN and worked at several nursing homes.
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Francine Hughes died in Leighton, Alabama, on March 22,2017, from complications of pneumonia that she developed in late 2016.
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Francine Hughes set a legal precedent with her case and began a new wave of fighting for domestic abuse to be recognized as a serious issue.