Frontline: Death By Fire TV - Cameron Willingham - Cameron Willingham online
A story of a fire. A man accused. An execution. And a question of guilt. That sparked a national debate. Frontline: Death By Fire, PBS 2010
Cameron Todd Willingham was in his house with his three children when the fire started. ibid.
Willingham’s lack of serious injuries and a night of partying after the fire fuelled rumours. ibid.
Witnesses who had been at the fire also told police that Willingham did nothing to rescue his children. ibid.
Investigators came to believe that this was a crime scene ... Twenty indicators of arson. ibid.
The case went to trial in August of 1992. ibid.
Prosecutors called Willingham’s wife Stacy who reluctantly testified about the abuse. ibid.
Jurors heard that Willingham was a violent psychopath ... Psychiatrist Dr James Grigson [Dr Death] testified Willingham was a severe sociopath. ibid.
But during those years there had been a dramatic change in the science of arson investigation. ibid.
[Dr] Hurst reviewed the report line by line ... Hurst concluded the original investigators had not eliminated accidental causes. Hurst had come to believe Todd Willingham was not guilty. ibid.
[Dr Craig] Beyler agreed with other experts that there was no evidence of arson. ibid.
Willingham’s case is now at the heart of the national debate about the death penalty. ibid.
I am an innocent man. Cameron Willingham
Eight years after Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for setting a fire that killed his three children, in a case now widely faulted for its use of flawed arson science, his relatives are seeking a posthumous pardon from state officials.
In 2010, Judge Charlie Baird wrote an order that would have exonerated Todd Willingham. As the Huffington Post reported, ‘Baird’s order clearing Willingham’s name never became official, because a higher court halted the posthumous inquiry while it considered whether the judge had authority to examine the capital case.’
This Court orders the exoneration of Cameron Todd Willingham for murdering his three daughters. In light of the overwhelming, credible, and reliable evidence presented by the Petitioners, this Court holds that the State of Texas wrongfully executed Cameron Todd Willingham. Cameron Willingham online article