"While Willingham awaited his execution day, virtually every piece of physical evidence against him was reviewed and pronounced inadequate by independent fire expert Gerald Hurst. Hurst has spent years arguing that hard science needs to be brought into fire investigations. "They said they found 20 indicators of arson. There were zero indicators of arson," said Hurst. "The Willingham case is like a hundred other cases I've seen, except that they executed him. The others are rotting away in prison.""
REPORTERS JAY SCHADLER AND THOMAS BERMAN: ABC NEWS 20/20;
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BACKGROUND: (Wikipedia); Cameron Todd Willingham (January 9, 1968 – February 17, 2004), born in Carter County, Oklahoma, was sentenced to death by the state of Texas for murdering his three daughters—two year old Amber Louise Kuykendall, and one year old twins Karmon Diane Willingham and Kameron Marie Willingham— by setting his house on fire. The fire occurred on December 23, 1991 in Corsicana, Texas. Lighter fluid was kept on the front porch of Willingham’s house as evidenced by a melted container found there. Some of this fluid may have entered the front doorway of the house carried along by fire hose water. It was alleged this fluid was deliberately poured to start the fire and that Willingham chose this entrance way so as to impede rescue attempts. The prosecution also used other arson theories that have since been brought into question. In addition to the arson evidence, a jailhouse informant claimed Willingham confessed that he set the fire to hide his wife's physical abuse of the girls, although the girls showed no other injuries besides those caused by the fire. Neighbors also testified that Willingham did not try hard enough to save his children. They allege he "crouched down" in his front yard and watched the house burn for a period of time without attempting to enter the home or go to neighbors for help or request they call firefighters. He claimed that he tried to go back into the house but it was "too hot". As firefighters arrived, however, he rushed towards the garage and pushed his car away from the burning building, requesting firefighters do the same rather than put out the fire. After the fire, Willingham showed no emotion at the death of his children and spent the next day sorting through the debris, laughing and playing music. He expressed anger after finding his dartboard burned in the fire. Firefighters and other witnesses found him suspicious of how he reacted during and after the fire. Willingham was charged with murder on January 8, 1992. During his trial in August 1992, he was offered a life term in exchange for a guilty plea, which he turned down insisting he was innocent. After his conviction, he and his wife divorced. She later stated that she believed that Willingham was guilty. Prosecutors alleged this was part of a pattern of behavior intended to rid himself of his children. Willingham had a history of committing crimes, including burglary, grand larceny and car theft. There was also an incident when he beat his pregnant wife over the stomach with a telephone to induce a miscarriage. When asked if he had a final statement, Willingham said: "Yeah. The only statement I want to make is that 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. From God's dust I came and to dust I will return - so the earth shall become my throne. I gotta go, road dog. I love you Gabby." However, his final words were directed at his ex-wife, Stacy Willingham. He turned to her and said "I hope you rot in hell, bitch" several times while attempting to extend his middle finger in an obscene gesture. His ex-wife did not show any reaction to this. He was executed by lethal injection on February 17, 2004. Subsequent to that date, persistent questions have been raised as to the accuracy of the forensic evidence used in the conviction, specifically, whether it can be proven that an accelerant (such as the lighter fluid mentioned above) was used to start the fatal fire. Fire investigator Gerald L. Hurst reviewed the case documents including the trial transcriptions and an hour-long videotape of the aftermath of the fire scene. Hurst said, "There's nothing to suggest to any reasonable arson investigator that this was an arson fire. It was just a fire."
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"Arson charges can be difficult to rebut," The May 4, 2010 ABC NEWS 20/20 story by reporters Jay Schadler and Thomas Berman begins, under the heading, "Evidence Under Attack in Two Texas Arson Convictions: Expert Says Two Convictions, One of Which Led to Execution, Based on 'Junk Science.'"
"But getting a conviction overturned can seem almost impossible -- even when the stakes are a matter of life and death," the story continues.
"Todd Willingham may be a prime example. In 1992 he was convicted and sentenced to death for killing his three children in an arson firein Corsicana, Texas.
While Willingham awaited his execution day, virtually every piece of physical evidence against him was reviewed and pronounced inadequate by independent fire expert Gerald Hurst. Hurst has spent years arguing that hard science needs to be brought into fire investigations.
"They said they found 20 indicators of arson. There were zero indicators of arson," said Hurst. "The Willingham case is like a hundred other cases I've seen, except that they executed him. The others are rotting away in prison."
Last year a scathing report by Dr. Craig Beyler for the Texas Forensic Science Commission concluded the Willingham arson investigation was "nothing more than a collection of personal beliefs that have nothing to do with science-based fire investigation."
Nevertheless, one of the original fire investigators in the case, Doug Fogg, remained adamant.
"I have no doubt the fire was deliberately set," he told ABC News.
Among the evidence Fogg used to support his conclusion was something called "crazed glass" -- tiny cracks in glass that sometimes show up in the aftermath of a fire.
Arson expert John Lentini described the phenomenon.
"This used to be evidence of arson," said Lentini. "It was a myth. They used it on Todd Willingham. They said we know this fire was a rapid fire 'cause we've got this crazed glass."
Turns out such glass breakage has nothing to do with an intentionally-set fire, even one in which an accelerant such as gasoline was used heavily.
"You cannot make crazed glass by heating it rapidly," said Lentini, "but you can by cooling it rapidly" -- as often happens, he said, because of the spray of firefighters' hoses.
Fogg was not convinced.
"They're going to take it to these labs and they're going to 'blah, blah, blah' and try to disprove it," said Fogg. "Well, I'll take it to the lab and disprove it... but come to the real world sometime, go out and let the beast get a hold of it."
Texas Gov. Rick Perry refused to stop the execution of Todd Willingham. The prisoner died by lethal injection Feb. 17, 2004.
Lentini said he was not guilty.
"No question," said Lentini. "Everything about that fire that they pointed to as evidence of arson was wrong."
Arson: The Severns Case
Lentini also says another man serving a sentence for an arson conviction in Texas is not guilty.
His name is Curtis Severns, and his story was first investigated by The Texas Observer.Severns is serving 17 years after being convicted of setting fire to his gun shop in Plano, Texas. No one died in the fire.
Sue Severns only occasionally gets to speak to her husband by phone these days. He and Sue were married just one year.
"He was convicted on junk science," Sue Severns told ABC News. "Yet we were married at a science museum. The irony is just a little bit much to bear ... He would not have set that fire any more than Mother Theresa would have set that fire."
The government's key evidence in the case was a pattern of burning that the prosecution argued indicated three separate fires -- and arson.
"I think there was an electrical fire," said Lentini, who was part of Severns' defense team. A frayed cord on a fan in the gun shop's cluttered workshop probably ignited the blaze, Lentini thinks. Nearby aerosal cans could have exploded -- setting off multiple fires.
Prosecution experts said that was impossible, and the jury convicted Severns.
"I walked into trial, maybe even cocky," Severns told ABC News in a phone interview from prison. "I don't know. I thought this is nuts, we'll be able to tell the story and it's no big deal. It just didn't turn out that way... When I heard 'guilty,' I shook and my legs gave way."
But a few months later, Lentini discovered a videotape that he claims the prosecution should have known about.
The video showed a test fire involving aerosol cans. Sure enough, as the cans heat up in the video, they burst and fly around the room. Slowing the tape shows clearly that the flaming cans touch off new fires wherever they land.
"The fact is [the prosecution] misrepresented the science during [Severns'] trial, and they ridiculed me for trying to bring it up," said Lentini.
Armed with the tape, Severns' lawyer appealed. But the judge said the video would have made no difference to the jury and denied the appeal.
If the tape had been shown at trial, Sue Severns said, "the outcome would be completely different. The jury would have been able to see a TV show, a video, a movie of how the aerosol cans can create the appearance of multiple origins ... It would have been a wonderful testament."
The federal prosecutor in the case, who declined ABC News' requests for interview, offered Severns a plea deal prior to his conviction.
Severns said his reason for refusing the deal was simple.
"'Cause I didn't do it!" he said."
The story - with a wealth of supporting materials - is found at:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/texas-arson-evidence-based-junk-science-expert/story?id=10541272
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
