Arson 'witchcraft' may have been used to execute an innocent Texas man

Carol Forsloff - “Obviously
the most troubling aspect of this - and it just dwarfs everything else -
is whether or not to believe that an innocent person has been executed
by the state of Texas.”

Williamson - police photo

With
that Judge Charles Baird of Austin, Texas announced he will be
conducting a court of inquiry on October 6-7 to determine whether
Cameron Willingham was wrongfully convicted and executed for the death
of his three daughters in a fire originally deemed to be an arson.

The
Death Penalty Information Center is following the case and issued a
statement about it a few days ago.

Willingham
was sentenced to death by the state of Texas for murdering his three
daughters—two year old Amber Louise Kuykendall, and one year old twins
Karmon Diane Willingham and Kameron Marie Willingham by setting his
house on fire in 1991.  It was alleged that lighter fluid kept on the
front porch had been used to set the fire and that Willingham had done
it in order to cover up abuse of his daughters.  That evidence was
provided by a jailhouse inmate, recalling what he said were some of
Willingham's statements with reference to the crime.

Willingham
maintained his innocence up until his execution.  Execution took place
by lethal injection on February 17, 2004.  There have, however, been
serious questions raised about the forensic evidence and whether or not
an accelerant had actually been used to start the fire.  Investigators
and forensic experts have disagreed about the evidence.


Attorneys representing Willingham's relatives, including former Texas
Governor Mark White, say they are “prepared to put on witnesses that
will be persuasive that the forensic evidence was tantamount to
witchcraft.” In August, the Texas Forensic Science Committee issued
preliminary findings that the forensic science used as evidence against
Willingham was flawed forensic science.

The
Tribune in October 2004 reported on arson myths and how many arson
investigators have refused to accept updated ways of determining fire
causation.  An article pointed to a woman in Georgia who was put on
trial for murder of her husband by arson at a time when arson
investigators are questioning accidental fires labeled as arson.The
prosecution of Beverly Jean Long for the 2003 murder of her husband in
rural Georgia reveals a tale of two mistakes, the newspaper article
alleges.

During
its investigation of arson investigations by forensic experts the
Tribune wrote, "For
decades, arson investigators relied on a collection of beliefs and folk
wisdom that was accepted as truth.  In the last 30 years, however, many
of these one-time certainties have been exposed by research and
laboratory tests as unclear or just plain wrong."

Investigators
who provide forensic evidence in court are to pass higher standards to
testify in recent years, as a more scientific approach to
studying fires and their origins has been established.  The criticism
of arson cases prior to 2000 was that they were not done with proper
scientific analysis.  Willingham was convicted of murder in 1992.

These
are now the concerns of Texas lawyers and a judge who is presiding over
an investigation to determine whether faulty evidence, labeled a type of folklore or "witchcraft,"  was used to

execute an innocent man.