Karen Kilgariff

It essentially ripped off the mask of wife beater jokes because it exposed the true horrifying nightmare of living life with a violent abuser and what years of life with a violent abuser can actually lead to. The toll it takes. It's so...

It essentially ripped off the mask of wife beater jokes because it exposed the true horrifying nightmare of living life with a violent abuser and what years of life with a violent abuser can actually lead to. The toll it takes. It's so...

So this is the story of Francine Hughes and the Burning Bed murder, a case that forced the issue of domestic violence out of the shadows and into popular culture.

So this is the story of Francine Hughes and the Burning Bed murder, a case that forced the issue of domestic violence out of the shadows and into popular culture.

The main sources used today are the book The Burning Bed by Faith McNulty, a 2020 mini documentary from the Retro Report and The New Yorker entitled The Domestic Violence Case That Turned Outrage Into Action, a 1984 People magazine article by Gioia Diliberto, entitled A Violent Death, A Haunted Life, and the rest of the sources are in our show notes.

The main sources used today are the book The Burning Bed by Faith McNulty, a 2020 mini documentary from the Retro Report and The New Yorker entitled The Domestic Violence Case That Turned Outrage Into Action, a 1984 People magazine article by Gioia Diliberto, entitled A Violent Death, A Haunted Life, and the rest of the sources are in our show notes.

So our story begins in Michigan in August of 1947, and that's when Frances Hughes is born. Her dad, Walter, is a blue collar laborer who works on farms and in factories. Her mom, Hazel, is a waitress. They have six children, including Francine. They live in poverty, which, of course, is made worse because Walter squanders everything they have on alcohol and gambling.

So our story begins in Michigan in August of 1947, and that's when Frances Hughes is born. Her dad, Walter, is a blue collar laborer who works on farms and in factories. Her mom, Hazel, is a waitress. They have six children, including Francine. They live in poverty, which, of course, is made worse because Walter squanders everything they have on alcohol and gambling.

And he's also physically abusive towards Hazel. Francine leaves her parents' house as soon as she can when she's 16 years old. She drops out of high school and marries a man named Mickey Hughes, who's three years older than her. So a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old.

And he's also physically abusive towards Hazel. Francine leaves her parents' house as soon as she can when she's 16 years old. She drops out of high school and marries a man named Mickey Hughes, who's three years older than her. So a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old.

Yeah. Right.

Yeah. Right.

women were so at this time which would have been like what late 50s early 60s women's independence like was almost impossible it was so restricted right yeah you couldn't get a bank account under your own name couldn't get it with not without your dad or your husband and then you have a dad like, let's go ahead and name him, Walter.

women were so at this time which would have been like what late 50s early 60s women's independence like was almost impossible it was so restricted right yeah you couldn't get a bank account under your own name couldn't get it with not without your dad or your husband and then you have a dad like, let's go ahead and name him, Walter.

So Walter's the guy that if you don't have somebody better than Walter in your life, then you're just screwed. Totally. So Francine says, quote, I thought he was so sophisticated. He had his own car and most people I knew didn't. So within weeks of their wedding, Mickey's behavior toward Francine changes. She will later remember, quote, I bought some new clothes. He ripped them off me.

So Walter's the guy that if you don't have somebody better than Walter in your life, then you're just screwed. Totally. So Francine says, quote, I thought he was so sophisticated. He had his own car and most people I knew didn't. So within weeks of their wedding, Mickey's behavior toward Francine changes. She will later remember, quote, I bought some new clothes. He ripped them off me.

I don't know whether I look too pretty or what, but he didn't want me to look that way. I was shocked because I'd never been treated like that before. What do you do when you're 16 years old and you had to beg your parents to let you get married? Of course, he said, I'm sorry. Forgive me. It'll never happen again. And I believed him. But it did happen again.

I don't know whether I look too pretty or what, but he didn't want me to look that way. I was shocked because I'd never been treated like that before. What do you do when you're 16 years old and you had to beg your parents to let you get married? Of course, he said, I'm sorry. Forgive me. It'll never happen again. And I believed him. But it did happen again.

And by that time, I was pregnant and felt like I had to make the best of it. Baby angel. Tough. So by the time Francine's 22, she has four children with Mickey. Wow. Two daughters and two sons. But Mickey can't hold down a job. The money he does earn goes to his growing drinking habit, not his family's. So now Francine is stuck in the same cycle her own mother was stuck in.

And by that time, I was pregnant and felt like I had to make the best of it. Baby angel. Tough. So by the time Francine's 22, she has four children with Mickey. Wow. Two daughters and two sons. But Mickey can't hold down a job. The money he does earn goes to his growing drinking habit, not his family's. So now Francine is stuck in the same cycle her own mother was stuck in.