Texas Dad May Have Wrongfully Been Executed Over Arson Death Of Family

Newly disclosed evidence is suggesting that Cameron Todd Willingham, executed in 2004 after being convicted in the deaths of his three daughters, two-year-old Amber and one-year-old twins Karman and Kameron, may have been wrongfully convicted of the crimes.

A previously undisclosed letter from prosecutorial witness Johnny E. Webb suggests that Webb may have made a deal with the prosecutor in which his own charges were reduced as a result of his testimony against Willingham.

Cameron Todd Willingham was napping on December 23, 1991, when he said he awoke to a house full of smoke. Willingham, who suffered minor burns in the incident, testified he had been unable to locate the three girls before fleeing the burning house.

Webb reportedly testified that Willingham confessed to him that he started the fire in an effort to cover up abuse of the children. Despite the fact that the coroner determined none of the girls’ bodies displayed any evidence of physical abuse, Webb’s statement and forensic evidence of the fire were enough for prosecutors to get the conviction of Willingham.

Webb twice attempted to recant his testimony stating he had been coerced by the prosecutor of the Willingham case, John H. Jackson. According to Webb, Jackson offered to lower charges against him if he agreed to testify against Wilingham. Jackson’s contention denied this, responding that he helped Webb because he feared for Webb’s safety after his testimony against Willingham.

The recently unearthed letter, however, seems to indicate that Jackson’s denial of a deal may be false. The letter from Webb, written in June of 1996, stated that if Jackson didn’t fulfill his end of the deal the two had made, Webb would go public with his complaints. Within a matter of days, Jackson received a court order on behalf of Webb that allowed for his immediate eligibility for parole.

John H. Jackson’s handling of the Willingham case is now being investigated by the Texas State Bar. Though it’s not uncommon for prosecutors to make deals with witnesses, the concern comes from Jackson’s failure to disclose the fact that the Webb benefitted from his testimony, and it calls into question whether or not any other evidence of the Willingham case had been tampered with or withheld.

This, combined with a 2009 review of the case in which an expert appointed by the Texas Forensic Science Commission denounced the fire marshall’s assertion of arson as improbable, seems to indicate the possibility that Willingham may have been innocent of the crimes. Willingham’s family has maintained his innocence and has been working diligently to reverse the conviction despite his execution in 2004.

Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of the murders in 1992. He proclaimed his innocence until he was put to death by lethal injection. At his execution, his final words were, “The only statement I want to make is that I am an innocent man convicted of a crime I did not commit.”

While some use the Willingham case as an example as to why the death penalty should be outlawed, one person that is convinced justice was served is Willingham’s ex-wife and the mother of his daughters, Stacy Kuykendall.

In 2012, the grieving mother asked that the state of Texas decline the Willingham family request for a pardon stating, “Todd is guilty, the criminal justice system and the courts confirmed his guilt, and he should not be pardoned for his crimes. My girls would have been 23 and 21 years old today. I miss them so much.”

[Image courtesy of ABC News]