After 13 years of verbal and physical abuse Ms. Hughes, as she was known then, doused her sleeping husband with gasoline and set him on fire. She was charged with first-degree murder, but a jury found her not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. The case helped transform the public’s understanding of domestic violence and inspired a book and a television movie, both titled “The Burning Bed,” which starred Farrah Fawcett as Ms. Hughes.

Source: New York Times April 07, 2017 21:11 UTC