Karen Kilgariff

Francine can hear her kids crying upstairs and yelling down, Mommy, are you all right? So at one point during this assault, one of Francine's daughters ends up calling the police. By the time they arrive, he stopped beating her again because the police don't witness anything firsthand. They don't arrest him. This is despite Mickey threatening Francine's life right in front of them.

Francine can hear her kids crying upstairs and yelling down, Mommy, are you all right? So at one point during this assault, one of Francine's daughters ends up calling the police. By the time they arrive, he stopped beating her again because the police don't witness anything firsthand. They don't arrest him. This is despite Mickey threatening Francine's life right in front of them.

One of the responding officers later testifies, quote, he told her it was all over for her because she called me. He made numerous threats that he would kill her and he made threats to me. What the fuck? Yeah. I'm sure for those cops too, they're like, this is a drunken monster that we don't want to deal with. And like, and what's going to happen anyway? They're just going to bring them back here.

One of the responding officers later testifies, quote, he told her it was all over for her because she called me. He made numerous threats that he would kill her and he made threats to me. What the fuck? Yeah. I'm sure for those cops too, they're like, this is a drunken monster that we don't want to deal with. And like, and what's going to happen anyway? They're just going to bring them back here.

Like they know the system, there's no process in place to fix this. Right. So like, they're just kind of like, well, this is your problem. That was probably the like morally easiest thing to do is kind of be like that. But I'm sure then at this point, They know it's just like, what is there to do now? Yeah. So we can assume the cop talks Mickey down or the cops talk Mickey down.

Like they know the system, there's no process in place to fix this. Right. So like, they're just kind of like, well, this is your problem. That was probably the like morally easiest thing to do is kind of be like that. But I'm sure then at this point, They know it's just like, what is there to do now? Yeah. So we can assume the cop talks Mickey down or the cops talk Mickey down.

They make a report. They leave. His abuse continues. He forces Francine to make a new dinner for him. Then he rapes her. Afterwards, he falls asleep in a drunken haze. Francine, though, is done. She says, quote, I was thinking about all the things that had happened to me, all the times he'd hurt me, how he'd hurt the kids. I stood still for a moment hesitating and a voice urged me on.

They make a report. They leave. His abuse continues. He forces Francine to make a new dinner for him. Then he rapes her. Afterwards, he falls asleep in a drunken haze. Francine, though, is done. She says, quote, I was thinking about all the things that had happened to me, all the times he'd hurt me, how he'd hurt the kids. I stood still for a moment hesitating and a voice urged me on.

It whispered, do it, do it, do it. So she puts her kids in her car. Then she goes to the garage and gets a can of gasoline. She goes to the bedroom where Mickey's passed out, douses the area around the bed, lights a match, tosses it at the gas-soaked floor, runs out of the house as it goes up in flames. Holy shit. And now she's in the car with her kids.

It whispered, do it, do it, do it. So she puts her kids in her car. Then she goes to the garage and gets a can of gasoline. She goes to the bedroom where Mickey's passed out, douses the area around the bed, lights a match, tosses it at the gas-soaked floor, runs out of the house as it goes up in flames. Holy shit. And now she's in the car with her kids.

She drives straight to the county jail and turns herself in.

She drives straight to the county jail and turns herself in.

No. This is my only option. Yeah. You knew it. This is the best case scenario for my kids. Well, I finished it. Nobody else seemed to be able to.

No. This is my only option. Yeah. You knew it. This is the best case scenario for my kids. Well, I finished it. Nobody else seemed to be able to.

Firefighters, of course, are deployed to the Hughes home. By the time they get there, Mickey's dead. And Francine Hughes is charged with first-degree murder and put in jail. Francine willingly and admittedly murdered her husband while he was sleeping.

Firefighters, of course, are deployed to the Hughes home. By the time they get there, Mickey's dead. And Francine Hughes is charged with first-degree murder and put in jail. Francine willingly and admittedly murdered her husband while he was sleeping.

As one officer put it, there was no question that the system had failed her, but in our system, the excuse for system failures is not to commit first-degree murder. Well, thank you for that wonderful lesson. It's like calling a system failure. It's like, this isn't like we had a gas leak. Right.

As one officer put it, there was no question that the system had failed her, but in our system, the excuse for system failures is not to commit first-degree murder. Well, thank you for that wonderful lesson. It's like calling a system failure. It's like, this isn't like we had a gas leak. Right.

This is a man who for a decade punches his wife in the face and everyone knows it and no one does shit about it. Yeah.

This is a man who for a decade punches his wife in the face and everyone knows it and no one does shit about it. Yeah.