http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...,5812073.story


Cameron Todd Willingham case: Expert says fire for which father was
executed was not arson
Texas panel reviewing execution of father for setting deadly blaze

By Steve Mills

Tribune Newspapers

August 25, 2009


In a withering critique, a nationally known fire scientist has told a
state commission on forensics that Texas fire investigators had no basis
to rule a deadly house fire was an arson -- a finding that led to the
murder conviction and execution of Cameron Todd Willingham.

The finding comes in the first state-sanctioned review of an execution
in Texas, home to the country's busiest death chamber. If the commission
reaches the same conclusion, it could lead to the first-ever declaration
by an official state body that an inmate was wrongly executed.

Indeed, the report concludes there was no evidence to determine that the
December 1991 fire was even set, and it leaves open the possibility the
blaze that killed three children was an accident and there was no crime
at all -- the same findings found in a Chicago Tribune investigation of
the case published in December 2004.

Willingham, the father of those children, was executed in February 2004.
He protested his innocence to the end.

The Tribune obtained a copy of the review by Craig Beyler, of Hughes
Associates Inc., which was conducted for the Texas Forensic Science
Commission, created to investigate allegations of forensic error and
misconduct. The re-examination of the Willingham case comes as many
forensic disciplines face scrutiny for playing a role in wrongful
convictions that have been exposed by DNA and other scientific advances.

Among Beyler's key findings: that investigators failed to examine all of
the electrical outlets and appliances in the Willinghams' house in the
small Texas town of Corsicana, did not consider other potential causes
for the fire, came to conclusions that contradicted witnesses at the
scene, and wrongly concluded Willingham's injuries could not have been
caused as he said they were.

The state fire marshal on the case, Beyler concluded in his report, had
"limited understanding" of fire science. The fire marshal "seems to be
wholly without any realistic understanding of fires and how fire
injuries are created," he wrote.

The marshal's findings, he added, "are nothing more than a collection of
personal beliefs that have nothing to do with science-based fire
investigation."

Over the past five years, the Willingham case has been reviewed by nine
of the nation's top fire scientists -- first for the Tribune, then for
the Innocence Project, and now for the commission. All concluded that
the original investigators relied on outdated theories and folklore to
justify the determination of arson.

The only other evidence of significance against Willingham was another
inmate who testified that Willingham had confessed to him. Jailhouse
snitches are viewed with skepticism in the justice system, so much so
that some jurisdictions have restrictions against their use.

Samuel Bassett, an attorney who is the chairman of the commission, said
the panel will seek a response from the state fire marshal and then
write its own report.

Contacted Monday, one of Willingham's cousins said she was pleased with
the report but was skeptical that state officials would acknowledge
Willingham's innocence.

"They are definitely going to have to respond to it," said Pat Cox. "But
it's difficult for me to believe that the State of Texas or the governor
will take responsibility and admit they did in fact wrongfully execute
Todd. They'll dance around it."