Francine Hughes

Francine Hughes (August 1947 – March 22, 2017) was an American woman who, after thirteen years of domestic abuse, set fire to the bed of her live-in ex-husband Mickey Hughes, on March 9, 1977. Mickey was killed and the house destroyed in the resulting fire.

Although Francine had moved out after their divorce was finalized in April 1971, Mickey had moved back in with her after he was involved in a serious car accident that summer. Francine later testified in court that although she was reluctant to have him return to the home, she felt she could not refuse as she did not want to "hurt him more...than he already had been", referring to the severity of his injuries from the accident.

The abuse persisted and escalated in the years after Mickey's recovery. Francine felt that she could not remove Mickey from the home or move out herself, fearing that he would kill her. She obtained her GED and, in 1976, enrolled in a secretarial course in an effort to retain some independence.

On the day of the fire, March 9, 1977, Francine returned from her secretarial course in the afternoon and found Mickey intoxicated and irate. He 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. He began to physically assault her. The police attended and spoke to the pair, but left after refusing to arrest Mickey as he had not assaulted her in front of them.

Francine again attempted to make dinner for herself and the children, but Mickey became irate and swept the food onto the ground. He forced Francine to the ground by bending her arm behind her back and made her clean the mess with her hands. When she was finished, he dumped out the trash can on the floor and forced her to clean it again. Finally, he forced her to agree to quit school.

Francine then made Mickey dinner. After eating, he fell asleep in his bed. Some hours passed, during which Francine debated leaving with the children. However, she decided to wait for her youngest child Dana to return home. When he did not return after some time, Francine decided to burn the house down to prevent her from returning to her life with Mickey again.

She told the three children that to put on their coats and wait in the car. She then poured gasoline around Mickey's bed and lit the gasoline on fire. The resulting fire consumed the home. In the meantime, with her children in the car, Francine drove to the police station so she could confess to the killing.

After a trial in Lansing, Michigan, Francine was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. Both the prosecution and the defense agreed that Francine's plight was sympathetic. However, no jurors have ever confirmed publicly whether that was a factor in their decision. The concept of jury nullification may apply here.

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