On December 23, 1991, in the small town of Corsicana, Texas, the Willingham house burned down in flames and three little girls died. The fire was ruled an arson, and Cameron Todd Willingham was charged with capital murder and sentenced to death. However, as his execution date approached, speculations arose that the fire was not arson. Was Todd Willingham wrongly convicted of a crime that wasn't a crime, and wrongly put to death? The documentary "Death by fire" by Frontline explores this question.
23 year old Cameron Todd Willingham was in the house with his three children Amber, Carmen and Cameron when the fire started. Todd's wife and the children's mother, Stacy, was Christmas shopping at a thrift shop. The firemen were not able to save the children. All three of the little girls died in the fire. Todd said that he tried to run back into the house to save the girls, but he couldn't find them and came back outside. Todd was virtually unharmed, and his minor burns were inconsistent with his story that he was trying to save his kids. He was also seen partying the night after the fire at a benefit for his family at a bar. His attitude was inconsistent with someone who had just lost his children. The owner of the bar where the benefit was held said that Todd was telling people that the money would start rolling in because people were going to feel bad for him. This didn't seem right with the bar owner. An investigation started, and Todd was the primary suspect.
One of the Willingham's neighbors said that Todd was a mean man, and would "beat on Stacy all the time." This made investigators believe he was capable of the crime. It was then believed that Todd did not make an effort to go back into the house to save his children. Investigators found signs of what they believed to be flammable fluid on the floor of the children's room. When they tested it, it came back a positive sample of charcoal lighter fluid. There was 20 indications of arson, and therefore the fire was declared arson. One investigator said that when he was interviewing Todd, he showed no signs of remorse or sorrow. As they kept questioning Todd, they realized that his story didn't match up with his lack of injuries. They pushed him to confess, and it was only when he saw pictures of his dead children he showed remorse. The investigators believed he cried not because he was sad about his children, but because he got caught.
Todd was charged with murder, and his bail was set at one million dollars. He was given a deal to confess and avoid the death penalty. However, Todd didn't take the deal and he went to trial. The first witness was a jailhouse informant named Johnny Webb. He told the court that Todd confessed to him. He said that Todd told him he spread the accelerant in the children's room in a star shaped pattern, like a pentagram. This insinuated Satan worship. Investigators also found posters in Todd's room that insinuated Satan worship. The next person to testify was Todd's wife, Stacy. She testified about the abuse, and said she stayed with Todd because she thought it was going to stop, but it didn't. After the trial, it only took the jury one hour to find Todd guilty. He was then sentenced to death, and taken to the Texas state prison in Huntsville where he would await his execution.
While Todd was in prison he received a letter from a women named Elizabeth Gilbert. She was assigned to be his pen pal, and when she received his reply letter, it was very polite and well written. She decided to go meet him. When they met, Todd told her his side of the story. He said the fire started and he couldn't get back in the house to save his daughters. After hearing his side of the story, Gilbert decided to find out who Todd really was and what really happened that day. Gilbert found that Todd was born in Oklahoma. His birth mother had many children with different fathers, and Todd was abandoned. He went to live with his birth father and stepmother. His father was very strict, and by the time Todd was in the sixth grade he already started using drugs. In court, Dr. Grigson, who testifies in cases to ensure the death penalty, said that Todd was an extreme sociopath, although he never met Todd. People who knew Todd personally knew that he wasn't a sociopath. Gilbert continued to investigate, and she found that the posters in Todd's room weren't for Satan worship. They were posters of the heavy metal groups Led Zeppelin and Iron Maiden.
Todd moved to Corsicana to be with his girlfriend, Stacy. They had three children together, and while Stacy was at work, Todd stayed home with them. The two only got married three months before the fire. Stacy stood by her husbands side throughout the whole trial, but when Todd went to death row she never visited him, and eventually filed for a divorce. When Gilbert interviewed Stacy, she seemed nervous and reserved. Gilbert understood this because she had a lot of tragedy in her life. Stacy told Gilbert that even though Todd abused her, she didn't think he was capable of hurting their children. This made Gilbert believed that Todd was not guilty. She began looking into the records of the trial, and she didn't believe that Todd would confess to Webb, a complete stranger. When Gilbert asked Webb, he stood by his story. Then suddenly, Webb sent a recant saying Todd was innocent, and then another recant of that recant. Now he claims he doesn't remember any of it. Three months before Todd's execution date, Gilbert was in a car accident. She broke her neck, and was no longer able to visit Todd or continue her investigation. According to one of the Willingham's neighbors, Todd carried around the guilt of not going back into the house to save his kids, so he made up the story that he did.
As time went on, arson investigation improved, and began to include science. Gerald Hurst began to investigate the case, and he found that the fire was a flashover fire, which is often misidentified as pour patterns. A flashover fire is the near-simultaneous ignition of the directly exposed combustible material in an enclosed area. There was a grill on the front porch, and if there was charcoal fluid on the floor, it would explain the evidence the original investigators found. Hurst also gives reasoning for why Todd had no burns on his feet. He says that if there was lighter fluid on the floor, it would have been cool until shortly after the flashover. This means that Todd's feet would have been the last part to be burned. After all of these points, Hurst believed it wasn't arson, and that Todd Willingham was innocent. Then, Stacy shockingly told reporters that she now believed Todd was guilty. In a meeting between Todd and Stacy, Todd asked to be buried next to his children, but Stacy told him no. After the meeting, Stacy's brother signed a paper saying that Todd confessed to Stacy in their meeting. Todd was very upset by this, and denied it. Todd's appeal was denied, and his scheduled execution day was February 17. His final words were that he was innocent, and wrongly convicted. When he looked out the viewing window and saw Stacy there, even when he asked her not to go, he cursed at her and told her he hoped she rotted in hell. He then was given the drugs, and died. Now the question is if the state of Texas executed a man for a crime that he didn't commit, and a crime that may have not even been a crime. There are people who believe that the fire wasn't arson, however, the original investigators still stand by their ruling of arson.
In this documentary, there is a theme of culture. Once people got their minds set that this was arson, every piece of evidence they found they connected to arson. People saw Todd's early drug addiction, family life, his violent relationship with his wife, and the posters in his room as evidence that he was responsible for the fire. People believed that Todd was the kind of person who was capable of such a terrible crime, and others believed he wasn't. It wasn't until the arson investigation improved, and incorporated science that people began to realize that this wasn't an arson, and that Todd was innocent. Since it was such a terrible tragedy that three innocent little girls had to die in the fire, people wanted someone to blame for it, and that person was Todd Willingham.
I found this documentary very interesting. When it first began, I thought Todd was guilty of arson. But as the documentary went on, and Gilbert and Hurst started their own investigations, I became skeptical as to whether or not Todd was guilty. After finishing the documentary, I do not think he was guilty. He was put to death for something he didn't do, and for something that wasn't even a crime. I also found it interesting how his wife, Stacy, started acting. She was supportive of him at first, but then she changed her mind completely and said she thought he was guilty and filed for divorce. I wonder why she did this. It is very unfortunate that Todd Willingham had to die for something he didn't do.
Bibliography:
Deeter, Jessie, dir. "Death by Fire." Frontline. 19 October 2010. Web. 16 April 2014.
thanks. my favourite is the claim that since he listened to that heavy metal music he must be a bad man.
ReplyDelete