Karen Kilgariff

It starred Farrah Fawcett. Okay. Now, this was Farrah Fawcett when I was a young girl. She was one of the stars of Charlie's Angels. Legendary. And she herself legendary. But for like a Charlie's Angels, I was on the love boat. She was basically the most beautiful woman in America. She did movies and stuff, but she wasn't known for acting first. She was known for beauty first. Right.

It starred Farrah Fawcett. Okay. Now, this was Farrah Fawcett when I was a young girl. She was one of the stars of Charlie's Angels. Legendary. And she herself legendary. But for like a Charlie's Angels, I was on the love boat. She was basically the most beautiful woman in America. She did movies and stuff, but she wasn't known for acting first. She was known for beauty first. Right.

This changed that. Wow. She stars in it and does such an unbelievably amazing job. It was like no one could believe it. It was truly incredible. I just I remember not being able to believe what I was looking at. Wow. The other part of it was this thing was, you know, I don't know if you had a lot of experience with made for TV movies or that like CBS Friday Night at the Movies or whatever. Yeah.

This changed that. Wow. She stars in it and does such an unbelievably amazing job. It was like no one could believe it. It was truly incredible. I just I remember not being able to believe what I was looking at. Wow. The other part of it was this thing was, you know, I don't know if you had a lot of experience with made for TV movies or that like CBS Friday Night at the Movies or whatever. Yeah.

but it was usually kind of family oriented, you know, kind of like this is a true story of a horse or whatever.

but it was usually kind of family oriented, you know, kind of like this is a true story of a horse or whatever.

Someone, everyone could watch it. It would be like either inspirational or yeah, romantic or whatever. This was like a true crime documentary. It was so upsetting. It was so harsh. It was so realistic. And the abuse scenes were unlike anything anyone had done before.

Someone, everyone could watch it. It would be like either inspirational or yeah, romantic or whatever. This was like a true crime documentary. It was so upsetting. It was so harsh. It was so realistic. And the abuse scenes were unlike anything anyone had done before.

No, quite the opposite. And for the time, it was totally revolutionary. Okay. I would say, although this is my opinion, it shocked the nation. You could use that phrase. The day after it was what everyone was talking about.

No, quite the opposite. And for the time, it was totally revolutionary. Okay. I would say, although this is my opinion, it shocked the nation. You could use that phrase. The day after it was what everyone was talking about.

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.