Karen Kilgariff

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.

So when the case begins, Francine's lawyer argues that after years of Mickey's relentless abuse, Francine experienced temporary insanity when she killed him. The timing of this case is very important because at the time, feminist groups had already spent years trying to raise awareness and organize around the issue of spousal abuse and domestic violence.

So when the case begins, Francine's lawyer argues that after years of Mickey's relentless abuse, Francine experienced temporary insanity when she killed him. The timing of this case is very important because at the time, feminist groups had already spent years trying to raise awareness and organize around the issue of spousal abuse and domestic violence.

And writer Faith McNulty will later put it, quote, had it occurred a decade earlier, the facts underlying the crime would probably have never been widely known. But in the 70s, there was a new willingness to listen to a story such as Francine's. Wow. Interesting.

And writer Faith McNulty will later put it, quote, had it occurred a decade earlier, the facts underlying the crime would probably have never been widely known. But in the 70s, there was a new willingness to listen to a story such as Francine's. Wow. Interesting.

And I think that new willingness had to do with basically enough women, like you're saying, like women talking to each other, women telling each other stories. you're not alone and you don't have to stay there and we'll figure something out or just like maybe the basic empowerment of you can have a checking account and maybe figure something out.

And I think that new willingness had to do with basically enough women, like you're saying, like women talking to each other, women telling each other stories. you're not alone and you don't have to stay there and we'll figure something out or just like maybe the basic empowerment of you can have a checking account and maybe figure something out.

Because you think of stories after this where women being abused, saving money in like a secret checking account to get away.

Because you think of stories after this where women being abused, saving money in like a secret checking account to get away.

So obviously this case becomes national news. The big networks fled Francine's small Michigan town. And the New York Times writes that Francine's case becomes a, quote, cause celeb for the feminist movement. Yay, feminists. But also, I don't know. I just get the tone of like, oh, it's a cause celeb. It's like she had to kill him to get him to stop hitting her. Right, right.

So obviously this case becomes national news. The big networks fled Francine's small Michigan town. And the New York Times writes that Francine's case becomes a, quote, cause celeb for the feminist movement. Yay, feminists. But also, I don't know. I just get the tone of like, oh, it's a cause celeb. It's like she had to kill him to get him to stop hitting her. Right, right.