Francine Wilson, subject of major spousal abuse case, dies

DETROIT >> Francine Wilson, whose trial for killing her abusive husband became a landmark spousal abuse case and the subject of the 1984 TV movie “The Burning Bed,” has died. She was 69.

Wilson died March 22 of complications from pneumonia, said Jim Hughes, one of her children. A memorial service was held for her Wednesday in Alabama, where she had been living in the town of Leighton.

Wilson, whose last name was then Hughes, killed her husband, James “Mickey” Hughes, in 1977 by setting fire to their Dansville, Michigan, home while he slept.

At her trial, Wilson described years of abuse at the hands of her husband. Her defense attorney, Arjen Greydanus, said Friday that Wilson’s testimony about the horrors she endured was effective and the jury found her not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.

“Temporary insanity — at the time — was not a recognized defense,” said Greydanus. “It was a hook I used to obtain a not-guilty verdict. I did not feel that a traditional self-defense approach would have resulted in a not-guilty verdict.”

The case changed the way domestic violence would be viewed, Greydanus said, describing it as “a catalyst for the creation of virtually all legislation regarding domestic abuse and the approaches law enforcement now uses to deal with incidences of domestic abuse.”

Jim Hughes, 50, remembers his father as “being kind of a monster looming over and everybody being frightened.”

“There were good times, but the bad outweighed the good,” Hughes told The AP from his home in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

LANSING STATE JOURNAL VIA AP Francine Wilson and her laywer Arjen Greydanus talk during a news conference in Lansing, Mich. Wilson, whose Michigan spousal abuse case was the subject of a 1984 television movie called “The Burning Bed,” has died at age 69.