On February 17 February, 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham, 36, was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of his three children.
The charge was laid in connection with a fire which occurred on 23 December 1991, at his Corsicana home in which his three children -- 2-year-old Amber Kuykendall and 1-year-old twins Karmon and Kameron Willingham, died of smoke inhalation.
Strong doubts have hovered over Willingham's execution since the Chicago Tribunal ran an investigation of the prosecution which made a compelling case that the fire blaze was an accident;
In a recent development, the Texas Forensic Science Commission hired an expert to review the evidence - in what has been called "the first state-sanctioned inquiry into a Texas execution;"
This Blog will monitor developments in the Willingham case - in view of the fact that Larry Swearingen remains on death row in the State of Texas which apparently boasts that it has never executed an innocent man;
Four pathologists have taken issue with the pathological evidence called by prosecutor's at Swearingen's trial - and contend that the scientific evidence in the case indicates that he could not have committed the crime because he was locked up in prison when it was committed;
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"ANOTHER REPORT ISSUED IN 2006 BY A PANEL OF NATIONAL ARSON EXPERTS BROUGHT TOGETHER BY THE INNOCENCE PROJECT CONCLUDED THAT THE FIRE THAT KILLED TODD’S THREE DAUGHTERS WAS AN ACCIDENT. THE REPORT SAYS THAT TODD’S CASE IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE CASE OF ERNEST WILLIS, WHO WAS CONVICTED OF ARSON MURDER AND SENTENCED TO DEATH IN 1987. WILLIS SERVED 17 YEARS IN PRISON BEFORE HE WAS EXONERATED IN 2004 – THE SAME YEAR TODD WAS EXECUTED. THE REPORT SAYS THAT NEITHER OF THE FIRES WHICH TODD AND ERNEST WILLIS WERE CONVICTED OF SETTING WERE ARSON. THE REPORT NOTES THAT THE EVIDENCE AND FORENSIC ANALYSIS IN THE WILLINGHAM AND WILLIS CASES "WERE THE SAME," AND THAT "EACH AND EVERY ONE" OF THE FORENSIC INTERPRETATIONS THAT STATE EXPERTS MADE IN BOTH MEN'S TRIALS HAVE BEEN PROVEN SCIENTIFICALLY INVALID. IN OTHER WORDS, TODD WAS EXECUTED BASED ON “JUNK SCIENCE”."
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The following letter was sent by members of Cameron Willingham's family to Texas Governor Rick Perry;
"We are the family of Cameron Todd Willingham. Our names are Eugenia Willingham, Trina Willingham Quinton and Joshua Easley," the letter. dated October 28, 2006, began;
"Todd was an innocent person executed by Texas on February 17, 2004," it continued;
"We have come to Austin today from Ardmore, Oklahoma to stand outside the Texas Governor’s Mansion and attempt to deliver this letter to you in person, because we want to make sure that you know about Todd’s innocence and to urge you to stop executions in Texas and determine why innocent people are being executed in Texas.
Todd was not the only innocent person who has been executed in Texas. There have been reports in the media that Ruben Cantu and Carlos De Luna were also innocent people who were executed in Texas. It is too late to save Todd’s life or the lives of Ruben Cantu or Carlos De Luna, but it is not too late to save other innocent people from being executed. We are here today to urge you to be the leader that Texas needs in order to make sure that Texas never executes another innocent person. There is a crisis in Texas regarding the death penalty and we ask you to address the crisis. Because the public can no longer be certain that Texas is not executing innocent people, we urge you to stop all executions.
Strapped to a gurney in Texas' death chamber, just moments from his execution for setting a fire that killed his three daughters, our son/uncle, Todd Willingham, declared his innocence one last time, saying "I am an innocent man, convicted of a crime I did not commit. I have been persecuted for 12 years for something I did not do." Todd is now dead and can no longer speak for himself, so we have come to Austin to speak for him.
Before Todd’s execution, you were given a report from a prominent fire scientist questioning the conviction, but you did not stop the execution. The author of the report, Gerald Hurst, has said, "There's nothing to suggest to any reasonable arson investigator that this was an arson fire. It was just a fire."
Another report issued in 2006 by a panel of national arson experts brought together by the Innocence Project concluded that the fire that killed Todd’s three daughters was an accident. The report says that Todd’s case is very similar to the case of Ernest Willis, who was convicted of arson murder and sentenced to death in 1987. Willis served 17 years in prison before he was exonerated in 2004 – the same year Todd was executed. The report says that neither of the fires which Todd and Ernest Willis were convicted of setting were arson. The report notes that the evidence and forensic analysis in the Willingham and Willis cases "were the same," and that "each and every one" of the forensic interpretations that state experts made in both men's trials have been proven scientifically invalid. In other words, Todd was executed based on “junk science”.
Please look into our son/uncle’s case and ask the District Attorney in Corsicana to reopen the investigation into the crime for which my brother was wrongfully executed. You should also establish an Innocence Commission in the next session of the Texas Legislature that could investigate my brother’s case, as well as other cases of possible wrongful executions, such as Ruben Cantu and Carlos De Luna.
Please ensure that no other family suffers the tragedy of seeing one of their loved ones wrongfully executed. Please enact a moratorium on executions and create a special blue ribbon commission to study the administration of the death penalty in Texas. Texas also needs a statewide Office of Public Defenders for Capital Cases. Such an office will go a long way towards preventing innocent people from being executed. A moratorium will ensure that no other innocent people are executed while the system is being studied and reforms implemented.
We look forward to hearing from you and we pledge to work with you to ensure that executions of innocent people are stopped."
The letter was signed by Eugenia Willingham, Stepmother of Cameron Todd Willingham who raised him from the age of 13 months, Trina Willingham Quinton, niece of Cameron Todd Willingham, and Joshua Easley, nephew of Cameron Todd Willingham.
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;