Cameron Todd Willingham

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox murderer Cameron Todd Willingham (January 9, 1968 – February 17, 2004) was an American man who was convicted and executed for the murder of his three young children by arson at the family home in Corsicana, Texas, on December 23, 1991. Since Willingham's 2004 execution, significant controversy has arisen over the legitimacy of the guilty verdict and the interpretation of the evidence that was used to convict him of arson and murder.

Willingham's case and the investigative techniques were criticized by a 2004 Chicago Tribune article. The case was discussed again in a 2009 investigative report in The New Yorker.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/> This coverage suggested that the arson evidence was misinterpreted. According to an August 2009 investigative report by an expert hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission, the original claims of arson were doubtful.<ref name="Beyler"/> The Corsicana Fire Department disputes the findings, stating that the report overlooked several key points in the record.<ref name="CityReport2009">Template:Cite news</ref> A 2011 documentary, Incendiary: The Willingham Case, also explored the case.

The case was complicated by allegations that Texas Governor Rick Perry impeded the investigation by replacing three of the nine Forensic Commission members to change the commission's findings; Perry denies the allegations.<ref name="CNNSmithOct2009">Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and backgroundEdit

Willingham was born on January 9, 1968, in Ardmore, Oklahoma.<ref name="MontgomeryOct2009">Template:Cite news Template:Free access</ref> He was raised by his father Gene, who owned an auto salvage yard in Ardmore, and his stepmother Eugenia, after his mother left when he was 13 months old.<ref name="CNNSmithNov2009"/><ref>Template:Cite news Template:Free access</ref> Willingham attended Ardmore High School before dropping out in 10th grade.<ref name="Thornton2006">Template:Cite news</ref> As a teenager, he huffed paint and glue, and had "been on probation for burglary, theft and driving under the influence and did a few days in a county jail for carrying a concealed weapon".<ref name="CNNSmithNov2009"/><ref name="Thornton2006"/>

In October 1991, Willingham married Stacy Kuykendall, with whom he had been living for several years.<ref name="MontgomeryOct2009"/> The couple had three daughters together: two-year-old Amber Louise Willingham, and one-year-old twins, Karmen Diane Willingham and Kameron Marie Willingham.<ref name="MontgomeryOct2009"/> The family lived in Corsicana, Texas. Willingham had been working as a mechanic, but lost his job in November 1991; Kuykendall worked in the nearby city of Angus at her brother's bar.<ref name="MontgomeryOct2009"/>

FireEdit

On December 23, 1991, a fire destroyed the family home of Willingham at 1213 West 11th Street in Corsicana, Texas.<ref name="CNNSmithNov2009">Template:Cite news</ref> Killed in the fire were Willingham's three daughters: Amber Louise (2), Karmen Diane (1) and Kameron Marie (1).<ref name="ThreeToddlersKilled1991">Template:Cite news Template:Free access</ref><ref name="CNNAndersonCooper2007">Template:Cite news</ref> Willingham himself escaped the home with only minor burns.<ref name="CNNAndersonCooper2007"/> Kuykendall was not home at the time of the fire.<ref name="ThreeToddlersKilled1991"/> She was out shopping for Christmas presents at a thrift shop.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="FreshDoubts" />

Prosecutors charged that Willingham set the fire and killed the children in an attempt to cover up abuse of the children and wife.<ref name=ClarkCountyProsecutor>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, there was no evidence of child abuse.<ref name="GrannStacySpeaks2009"/> Kuykendall told prosecutors that he had never abused the children.<ref name="GrannStacySpeaks2009"/> "Our kids were spoiled rotten," she said, insisting he would never harm their children,<ref name="GrannStacySpeaks2009"/> but according to Kuykendall, she herself was abused by him.Template:Citation needed

Investigation and trialEdit

EvidenceEdit

After the fire, the police investigation determined that the fire had been started using some form of a liquid accelerant.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009" /><ref>Template:Cite news Template:Free access</ref> This evidence included a finding of char patterns in the floor in the shape of "puddles,"<ref name="Montgomery2009">Template:Cite news Template:Free access</ref> a finding of multiple starting points of the fire,<ref name="Montgomery2009"/> and a finding that the fire had burned "fast and hot," all considered to indicate a fire that had been ignited with the help of a liquid accelerant.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009" /> The investigators also found charring under the aluminum front door jamb, which they believed was a further indication of a liquid accelerant and tested positive for such an accelerant in the area of the front door.Template:Citation needed No clear motive was found, and Willingham's wife denied that the couple had been fighting prior to the night of the fire.

WitnessesEdit

Johnny WebbEdit

In addition to the arson evidence presented at the trial, a jailhouse informant named Johnny Webb testified at that time.<ref name="Schwartz2014"/> His testimony has been criticized as contentious for several reasons. Webb claimed that Willingham confessed that he set the fire to hide an injury or death of one of the girls, which was caused by his wife.<ref name="statement of facts xi"/> However, none of the girls were found at the time of death to have physical injuries that were still distinguishable after the effects of the fire.<ref name="ChicagoTribuneDec2004">Template:Cite news</ref> Webb later told David Grann, a reporter for The New Yorker, that he might have been mistaken.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/> He said he was prescribed many medications at that point while being treated for bipolar disorder.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/>

At Willingham's trial, Webb offered an explanation for the individual, distinguishable burns found on Amber's forehead and arm. He said that Willingham confessed to burning her twice with a piece of "wadded up" paper in an effort to make it appear as though the children were "playing with fire."<ref name="statement of facts xi">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Prosecutor John Jackson noted that Webb was considered unreliable, but he later supported an early release from prison for Webb. Webb later sent Jackson a "Motion to Recant Testimony", which declared, "Mr. Willingham is innocent of all charges."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Willingham's attorneys were not notified.<ref name="FreshDoubts" /> Webb later recanted his recantation. He later asked, "The statute of limitations has run out on perjury, hasn't it?"<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/>

Webb and Jackson consistently denied that Webb was offered a sentence reduction in return for his testimony against Willingham. Evidence of such a deal would have eliminated Webb's testimony. In February 2014, The New York Times reported that the Innocence Project investigators said they had discovered a handwritten note in Webb's files indicating that such a deal was in play.<ref name="Schwartz2014">Template:Cite news</ref>

James GrigsonEdit

During the penalty phase of the trial, a prosecutor said that Willingham's tattoo of a skull and serpent fit the profile of a sociopath.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two medical experts confirmed the theory. One of those experts, a psychologist who had not published any research in the field of sociopathic behavior, but only held a master's degree in marriage and family issues was asked to interpret Willingham's Iron Maiden poster. He said that a picture of a fist punching through a skull signified violence and death. He added that Willingham's Led Zeppelin poster of a fallen angel was "many times" an indicator of "cultive-type" activities.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/>

The other medical expert, psychiatrist James Grigson, known by the moniker "Dr. Death" for his repeated testimony as an expert witness in which he recommended the death penalty, said that a man of Willingham's criminal history was an "extremely severe sociopath" and was incurable.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/> Grigson had served as an expert witness for the prosecution in murder trials across the state of Texas. Prior to his death, he was expelled by the American Psychiatric Association and the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians for unethical conduct.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The APA said that Grigson had violated the organization's ethics code by

"Arriving at a psychiatric diagnosis without first having examined the individuals in question, and for indicating, while testifying in court as an expert witness, that he could predict with 100 per cent certainty that the individuals would engage in future violent acts."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Witnesses to the event and days afterEdit

The prosecution sought to establish that Willingham's conduct at the time of the fire and in the days afterward was suspicious. As the fire took hold, Willingham was driven out through the front door of his house, where he crouched down near the entrance. On seeing neighbor Diane Barbee, Willingham began to shout at her to call 911, shouting "My babies are in there!"<ref name="Fogg statement"/> At trial, Willingham's conduct at the scene was described as oscillating between collected and hysterical, at times screaming for assistance and at other times calmly pushing his car back from the flames that were engulfing his house. Willingham later said that he removed the car out of concern that it could explode and worsen the house fire.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/>

Eyewitnesses described Willingham as having "singed hair on his chest, eyelids, and head and had a two-inch burn injury on his right shoulder, but the prosecution highlighted the absence of any evidence of smoke inhalation. His wrists and hands were blackened with smoke. He was eventually transported to the hospital for treatment, in handcuffs."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

According to their sworn statements, both Brandice Barbee and Diane Barbee urged Willingham to return to the house to rescue his children. According to Brandice Barbee, "All I could see was smoke."<ref name="Fogg statement"/> According to Brandice, he refused, and moved his car away from the fire before returning to sit on a nearby lawn, "not once attempting to go inside to rescue his children." Once the fire had reached flashover and the fire department arrived, Willingham became far more agitated, to the point of being restrained by emergency services. In the following days, Willingham returned to the house with some family and friends. Neighbors described this group as having an odd levity, which was seen to turn somber on the arrival of authorities.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On returning to the scene of the fire with firefighter Ron Franks, in an effort to recover personal property (which was described as a very usual request at trial), Willingham was visibly dismayed at being unable to find a dart set. At a local bar, where a fundraiser was held for the Willingham family, he placed an order for a replacement set, stating that "money was not a problem now."<ref name="Fogg statement"/>

MotiveEdit

The prosecution claimed that Willingham may have been motivated by a desire to rid himself of unwanted children.<ref name="TEI">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The prosecutor claimed the fire that killed the children was the third attempt by Willingham to kill them, and that he had attempted to abort each of his wife's two pregnancies by kicking her in order to cause miscarriages.<ref name="Jackson2009"/>

Journalist David Grann reported that "...there is evidence that Willingham hit his wife, even when she was pregnant, but there were no police reports or medical evidence indicating that Willingham had tried to abort or kill his children." He wrote, "Willingham's wife insisted during the trial and under interrogation that Willingham had not physically abused the children."<ref name="Grannresponds"/> The trial testimony by Webb, a jailhouse informant, suggested that Willingham had set the fire in order to cover up an injury or death of one of the children due to his wife's actions.<ref name="statement of facts xi"/> The prosecutor also said that Willingham was a serial wife abuser, both physically and emotionally. Jackson said Willingham had abused animals and was a sociopath.<ref name="Jackson2009"/> However, those not associated with the case paint a different picture of Willingham. His former probation officer, Polly Goodin, said he had never demonstrated bizarre or sociopathic behavior and that "He was probably one of my favorite kids."<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/> Bebe Bridges, a former judge who was often on the "opposite side" of Willingham in the legal system, and who had sent him to jail for stealing, said that she could not imagine him killing his children. "He was polite, and he seemed to care", she said.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/>

TrialEdit

Willingham was charged with murder on January 8, 1992.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

At trial, the fire investigator Manuel Vasquez testified there were three points of origin for the fire, which indicated that the fire was "intentionally set by human hands."<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/> A sample of burned material near the doorway of the house tested positive for mineral spirits, indicating the presence of lighter fluid. Willingham had escaped the fire with bare feet and no burn marks. This was taken as evidence that the accelerant was poured by Willingham as he left the house. Several witnesses testified for the prosecution.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/>

In 2009, John Jackson, the prosecutor at the trial, stated that burns suffered by Willingham were "so superficial as to suggest that the same were self-inflicted in an attempt to divert suspicion from himself."<ref name="Jackson2009">Template:Cite news</ref> Grann, however, said fire investigators who reviewed the case told him that "Willingham's first-degree and second-degree burns were consistent with being in a fire before the moment of 'flashover' — that is, when everything in a room suddenly ignites."<ref name="Grannresponds">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Commenting on the condition of the house, Jackson added, "Any escape or rescue route from the burning house was blocked by a refrigerator, which had been pushed against the back door, requiring any person attempting an escape to run through the conflagration at the front of the house."<ref name="Jackson2009"/> There were two refrigerators in the Willingham house. Jimmie Hensley, a police detective, and Douglas Fogg, the assistant fire chief — who both investigated the fire — told Grann that they had never believed that the refrigerator was part of the arson plot. "It didn't have [anything] to do with the fire," Fogg said.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/>

Jackson contradicted Willingham's account by claiming blood gas analysis at Navarro Regional Hospital shortly after the fire revealed that Willingham had not inhaled any smoke. Willingham's statement and eyewitness accounts had detailed rescue attempts.<ref name="Jackson2009"/>

Consistent with typical Navarro County death penalty practice, Willingham was offered the opportunity to eliminate himself as a suspect by polygraph examination, which Willingham rejected, according to Jackson.<ref name="Jackson2009"/> Against the advice of his own counsel, Willingham declined a life sentence in exchange for his guilty plea. He insisted he would not admit to something he had not done, even if it meant sparing his life. During his trial, Willingham did not testify; the defense called only one witness, the Willinghams' babysitter, who stated that she believed that Willingham could not have killed his children.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/>

Appeals, incarceration, and executionEdit

File:EllisUnitTX.jpg

Ellis Unit, where Willingham was initially confined

File:PolunskyUnitWestLivingstonTX.jpg

Willingham was moved to the Allan B. Polunsky Unit

File:HuntsvilleUnitHuntsvilleTX.jpg

Huntsville Unit, where Willingham was executed

Willingham had the Texas Department of Criminal Justice number 999041.<ref>"Cameron Todd Willingham Template:Webarchive." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.</ref> While on death row, Willingham was initially incarcerated in the Ellis Unit,<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/> and later in the Polunsky Unit.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1993, Willingham's wife, Stacy Kuykendall, filed for divorce, which was granted.Template:Citation needed

Willingham's case gained attention in December 2004, when Maurice Possley and Steve Mills of the Chicago Tribune published an article on poor investigative tactics. In 2009, an investigative report by Grann in The New Yorker drew upon analysis by arson investigation experts and advances in fire science since the 1992 investigation; he suggested that the evidence for arson was unconvincing.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/> He suggested that, had this information been available at the time of trial, it would have provided grounds for Willingham's acquittal.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/> The 2011 documentary Incendiary: The Willingham Case also explored the case.

Willingham maintained his innocence up until his death and spent years trying to appeal his conviction.<ref name="ChicagoTribuneDec2004"/><ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009" /><ref name="MontgomeryOct2009"/> The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Willingham a writ of habeas corpus a month before his execution.Template:Citation needed

Willingham was executed by lethal injection on February 17, 2004, at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Free access</ref> According to Michelle Lyons, an American crime reporter, author and then Public Information Director for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, known for witnessing almost 300 executions in Texas including Willingham's own execution, Willingham's last words and statement was so vulgar and so directed towards his ex-wife Stacy and the witnesses that the warden of the prison started out the execution to shut him up, with Willingham flicking the middle finger in response shortly before dying.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Willingham was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m., seven minutes after the lethal dose began flowing through his veins. He was 36 years old.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Free access</ref> After his execution, his body was cremated and his ashes secretly spread on his children's graves at Oakwood Cemetery by his parents. Willingham's gravestone in Rollins Cemetery is a cenotaph.<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Gerald HurstEdit

In 2004, fire investigator Gerald Hurst examined the arson evidence compiled by state deputy fire marshal Manuel Vasquez. Hurst individually discredited each piece of arson evidence, using publicly supported experiments backed by his re-creation of the elements in question, the most notable being the Lime Street fire, which created the unique 3-point burn patterns flashover.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

This left only the chemical testing for accelerant. The front porch was the only place where an accelerant was verified by laboratory tests, and a photograph taken of the house before the fire showed that a charcoal grill was there. Hurst speculated that it was likely that water sprayed by firefighters had spread the lighter fluid from the melted container.<ref name="Fogg statement">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> All twenty of the indications listed by Vasquez of an accelerant being used were rebutted by Hurst,<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009"/> who concluded there was "no evidence of arson" — the same conclusion reached by other fire investigators.<ref name="ChicagoTribuneDec2004"/>

Hurst's report was sent to governor Rick Perry's office, as well as the Board of Pardons and Paroles along with Willingham's appeal for clemency.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Neither responded to Willingham's appeals. In response to allegations that he allowed the execution of an innocent man, Perry was quoted as stating, "Willingham was a monster. He was a guy who murdered his three children, who tried to beat his wife into an abortion so that he wouldn't have those kids. Person after person has stood up and testified to facts of this case that quite frankly you all aren't covering."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hurst said, "The whole case was based on the purest form of junk science. There was no item of evidence that indicated arson." A spokeswoman for Governor Perry said he had weighed the "totality of the issues that led to (Willingham's) conviction." The spokeswoman added he was aware of a "claim of a reinterpretation of (the) arson testimony."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Question of guiltEdit

Since Willingham's execution, 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hurst reviewed the case documents, including the trial transcriptions and an hour-long videotape of the aftermath of the fire scene. Hurst said in December 2004 that "There's nothing to suggest to any reasonable arson investigator that this was an arson fire. It was just a fire."<ref name="ChicagoTribuneDec2004"/>

In June 2009, the State of Texas ordered a re-examination of the case. In August 2009, eighteen years after the fire and five years after Willingham's execution, a report conducted by Dr. Craig Beyler, hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission to review the case, found that "a finding of arson could not be sustained."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Beyler said key testimony from a fire marshal at Willingham's trial was "hardly consistent with a scientific mind-set and is more characteristic of mystics or psychics."<ref name="GrannTrialByFire2009">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Beyler">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

At the behest of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, the prosecutor, John Jackson, and the City of Corsicana have both released formal responses to the Beyler Report on the investigation of the fire that killed Willingham's three children.<ref name="CityReport2009"/> Both were sharply critical of Beyler.<ref name="Jackson2009"/> In a 2009 article discussing the reasons why Willingham was found guilty, Jackson recalled witness statements establishing that Willingham was overheard whispering to his deceased older daughter at the funeral home, "You're not the one who was supposed to die."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jackson stated that Willingham's comment was an indicator of guilt. In a rebuttal, Grann wrote,

"If the arson investigators had concluded that there was no scientific evidence that a crime had occurred — as the top fire investigators in the country have now determined — Willingham's words at the funeral would surely be viewed as a sign that he was tormented by the fact that he had survived without saving his children."<ref name="Grannresponds"/>

An August 2009 Chicago Tribune investigative article concluded, "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 twice-recanted testimony by another inmate, who testified that Willingham had confessed to him. Jailhouse informants are viewed with skepticism in the justice system, so much so that some jurisdictions have restrictions against their use."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Texas Forensic Science Commission was scheduled to discuss the report by Beyler at a meeting on October 2, 2009, but two days before the meeting, Texas Governor Rick Perry replaced the chair of the commission (Sam Bassett) and two other members (Alan Levy and Aliece Watts). The new chair, John Bradley, canceled the meeting, sparking accusations that Perry was interfering with the investigation<ref name="CNNSmithOct2009"/> and using it for his own political advantage.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In October 2009, the city of Corsicana released two affidavits that included statements from Ronnie Kuykendall, the former brother-in-law of Willingham, originally made in 2004. According to the affidavits, Willingham's ex-wife Stacy Kuykendall had told Ronnie that Willingham confessed to her that he had set the fire. On October 25, Stacy told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that during a final prison meeting just weeks before he was put to death, Willingham admitted setting the fire in response to Stacy's alleged threats of divorce the night before.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=chitrib2343434>Template:Cite news</ref>

Journalists familiar with the case noted that Stacy Kuykendall's statement explicitly contradicted previous comments, legal testimony, and numerous published interviews before and after the execution.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> "It's hard for me to make heads or tails of anything she said or didn't say", Willingham's prosecutor said.<ref name="GrannStacySpeaks2009">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Earlier in 2009, Kuykendall supported her 2004 contradiction of her brother's affidavit (saying that there had been no confession) and had previously always maintained that things had been amicable between her and Willingham before the fire.<ref name=chitrib2343434/> In 2010, she declared, "Todd murdered Amber, Karmon, and Kameron. He burnt them. He admitted he burnt them to me, and he was convicted for his crime. That is the closest to justice that my daughters will ever get."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

A four-person panel of the Texas Forensic Science Commission investigating evidence of arson presented in the case acknowledged on July 23, 2010, that state and local arson investigators used "flawed science" in determining that the blaze had been deliberately set. It also found insufficient evidence to prove that state Deputy Fire Marshal Manuel Vasquez and Corsicana Assistant Fire Chief Douglas Fogg were negligent or guilty of misconduct in their arson work.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2010, the Innocence Project filed a lawsuit against the State of Texas, seeking a judgment of "official oppression."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Judge Charlie Baird held an inquiry in September 2010 in Austin, but Lowell Thompson, the Navarro County DA, appeared at the hearing with a motion for Baird to recuse himself due to conflict of interest — Baird had once affirmed Willingham's conviction while sitting as a Criminal Appeals judge yet had also been recognized by an anti-death penalty group. When the recusal motion was denied, Thompson appealed to the Third Court of Appeals and had the proceedings stayed. (Thompson later received an award from the Texas District and County Attorneys Association for this motion and appeal.)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2014, The Washington Post reported that new evidence emerged indicating Webb had said in taped interviews that he had lied on the witness stand in exchange for a prosecutor's help obtaining a reduced prison term and financial support from a rich rancher.<ref name="FreshDoubts">Template:Cite news</ref> On March 3, 2015, the Texas State Bar filed a disciplinary action, Commission for Lawyer Discipline v. Jackson, against Jackson for failing to disclose information on his deal with Webb.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> According to the complaint, "During a pretrial hearing on July 24, 1992, [Jackson] told the trial court that he had no evidence favorable to Willingham. That statement was false."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A jury later heard and rejected the claim that Jackson had hid evidence, finding in favor of Jackson.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

FilmsEdit

Incendiary: The Willingham Case, a 2011 documentary film covering the case and its aftermath, won the Louis Black Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

David Grann's investigative article in The New Yorker titled "Trial by Fire" (collected in The Devil and Sherlock Holmes) was adapted into the 2018 film Trial by Fire directed by Edward Zwick starring Laura Dern and Jack O'Connell as Willingham.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In popular cultureEdit

Episode 21, Season 11 of Law & Order: SVU, titled "Torch," is based on this case.
Episode 1, season 29 (series episode 553) 2010 PBS Frontline, titled "Death by Fire", is about this case.
Episode 9, Season 2 of The Good Wife, titled "Nine Hours," is based on this case.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Episode 17, Season 7 of Cold Case, titled "Flashover," is based on this case.
Trial by Fire (2018 film) is based on this case.
Season 9, episode 1 of Evil Lives Here. Told from the perspective of Stacy Kuykendall.
The song "Corsicana" on the album Burst Apart by the rock band The Antlers is based on the event.

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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