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Francine Hughes Wilson, abused Michigan wife who inspired 'The Burning Bed,' dies at 69
PERSONAL NOTE TO YOUNGER DU'ERS: Read this and you'll understand why the "gender card" is still so important to may women in America.LANSING, Mich. — For more than 12 years, Francine Hughes endured physical abuse at the hands of James "Mickey" Hughes.
It was 40 years ago March 9 that Hughes walked into the Ingham County Jail in Mason and confessed that, fearing for her life, she had set fire to her home in Dansville, where her ex-husband was sleeping.
On March 22, Francine Wilson — she had remarried and taken the last name of her second husband Robert Wilson — died after a bout with pneumonia in Leighton, Ala. She was 69.
A jury of 10 women and two men found her not guilty by reason of insanity of Hughes' murder.
The case would became a turning point in the growing movement against domestic violence. It inspired the bestselling book The Burning Bed, the TV movie of the same name starring Farah Fawcett and Paul Lemat, a folk song and a hit for country star Martina McBride (Independence Day).
It was 40 years ago March 9 that Hughes walked into the Ingham County Jail in Mason and confessed that, fearing for her life, she had set fire to her home in Dansville, where her ex-husband was sleeping.
On March 22, Francine Wilson — she had remarried and taken the last name of her second husband Robert Wilson — died after a bout with pneumonia in Leighton, Ala. She was 69.
A jury of 10 women and two men found her not guilty by reason of insanity of Hughes' murder.
The case would became a turning point in the growing movement against domestic violence. It inspired the bestselling book The Burning Bed, the TV movie of the same name starring Farah Fawcett and Paul Lemat, a folk song and a hit for country star Martina McBride (Independence Day).
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/03/31/abused-michigan-wife-who-inspired-burning-bed-dies-69/99859402/
5 replies
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This was a local story, here in mid-Michigan, covered daily by the local news. It showed me very clearly where my life was headed, and I heeded it's warning sirens.
Vaya con Dios, Francine. 
