On March 9, 1977, Francine Hughes, is brutally raped by her husband James Berlin "Mickey" Hughes, that's just s straw that broke the camel's back, after thirteen years being the victim of physical domestic abuse at his hands. She then pours gasoline around the bed in which Mickey is sleeping and burns him to death in their home in Dansville, Michigan. After the house catches fire, Hughes drives with her children to the local police station to confess her act.