William Amor; Illinois; Out-dated/discredited arson investigative techniques; Bulletin: Innocence Project: Outdated Arson Methods raised in Monday's court hearing..."In 1997, 41-year-old William Amor was convicted of killing his mother-in-law in a house fire. Through a confession he made to the police, Amor said that he’d started the fire to collect insurance money. But lawyers from the Illinois Innocence Project argued in court on Monday that new arson technology reveals that Amor’s confession was false; the fire was an accident and Amor was wrongfully convicted, they said."..."“It is now known that a fire cannot start that way,” stated Amor’s attorneys in a release, wrote the Naperville Sun. “The methods used by the original fire investigators are no longer accepted as a scientifically reliable methodology in fire investigations. . . . In fact, the National Fire Protection Association’s Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigation . . . does not support the findings in this case.” Based on this new evidence, Amor’s attorneys are asking to have his conviction overturned. Amor has been in prison for 18 years."Leads Illinois Murder Case Back to Court' Innocence Project:

"In 1997, 41-year-old William Amor was convicted of killing his mother-in-law in a house fire. Through a confession he made to the police, Amor said that he’d started the fire to collect insurance money. But lawyers from the Illinois Innocence Project argued in court on Monday that new arson technology reveals that Amor’s confession was false; the fire was an accident and Amor was wrongfully convicted, they said. According to the Naperville Sun, Amor’s attorneys called on Doug Carpenter from Combustion Science and Engineering Inc. as an expert witness. In his testimony, Carpenter said that the techniques used to investigate the fire in Armor’s case are out of date and discredited. New standards and methods in arson investigation over the past 20 years make the initial conclusions about how the fire was started—with vodka and a lit cigarette—invalid. “It is now known that a fire cannot start that way,” stated Amor’s attorneys in a release, wrote the Naperville Sun. “The methods used by the original fire investigators are no longer accepted as a scientifically reliable methodology in fire investigations. . . . In fact, the National Fire Protection Association’s Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigation . . . does not support the findings in this case.” Based on this new evidence, Amor’s attorneys are asking to have his conviction overturned. Amor has been in prison for 18 years."
http://www.innocenceproject.org/illinois-amor-arson-case/

See Naperville Sun story at the link below: "A fire expert called by attorneys seeking to overturn the conviction of a Naperville man found guilty of murdering his mother-in-law in 1995 testified this week the blaze that killed the woman was an accident, and not arson. Doug Carpenter, an expert with Combustion Science and Engineering Inc. of Maryland, testified for a second day Tuesday in DuPage County Circuit Court in the case of William E. Amor, who has spent 19 years in prison for killing his mother-in-law, Marianne Miceli..........Illinois Innocence Project lawyers, in a release, said Amor's confession "came after two weeks in jail, immediately followed by being served divorce papers at the station, and 15 hours of questioning."..."The confession included details as to how Amor purportedly started the fire with vodka and a lit cigarette," the release declared. "It is now known that a fire cannot start that way."
 http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/crime/ct-nvs-naperville-arson-hearing-st-1213-20161212-story.html