Forensic experts, looking into the possible wrongful conviction of a deathrow inmate in Texas, were suddenly and apparently without cause, fired by Gov. Rick Perry. Within days, that man, Cameron Todd Willingham, was put to death.
Back in 1991 Willingham’s three young daughters were killed in a house fire in the middle of the afternoon. Willingham’s trial lasted all of two days in which he was convicted and sentenced to death for the crime. During the trial, and since, he has maintained his innocence. He never waivered even when his defense attorneys and family told him the prosecutors had an air-tight case and that the only way to avoid death was to plead guilty. Even in the moments before his execution, he penned a letter proclaiming he was wrongfully accused.
But his words fells on deaf ears, actually the more he professed his innocence, the more prosecutors believed he was an unrepentant killer.
“This is like the Saturday night massacre,” Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck said. “The Commission, doing the job the Legislature intended it to, appointed an independent arson expert to examine the reliability of arson evidence in the case of Cameron Todd Willingham."
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