Quick Facts
Biography
Francine Hughes (born August 1947) is an American woman who, after thirteen years of domestic abuse, set fire to her ex-husband Mickey Hughes' bed, on March 9, 1977. Mickey was killed and the house destroyed in the resulting fire.
On the night of the incident, Francine, who had moved back in with Mickey after he was in a serious car accident, told her four children 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 trial in Lansing, Michigan, Francine was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. It is widely believed that the judge and the jury largely sympathized with Francine and her plight and felt that the killing of her husband was justified and as a result found her not guilty.
Francine Hughes' story was made into a book and a subsequent film in 1984 titled The Burning Bed starring Farrah Fawcett.
Folk singer Lyn Hardy also created a song about these events entitled "The Ballad of Francine Hughes".