• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
btn-234-donate
btn-204-donate
kscadp-header-small
btn-768-donate
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Board
    • Abolition Endorsing Groups
    • Contact
  • EVENTS
  • NEWS
    • KS Death Penalty
    • Law Enforcement
    • KCADP Member
  • TAKE ACTION
    • Faith Leader
    • Writers Bureau
    • Contact Legislators
  • INFO
    • Fact Sheets – Handouts
    • Death Row
    • Kansas Laws
  • VOICES
    • Voices of Kansas
    • Stories of Innocence
    • Kansas Abolitionists

Voices of Innocence: Cameron Todd Willingham

April 16, 2011

Executed. Innocent.

Cameron Todd Willingham and daughter

On December 23, 1991, Cameron Todd Willingham was at home with his three children.  Willingham later recalled waking up to the cries of his 2 year-old daughter, and found his house filled with smoke and flames.  Willingham remembered frantically trying to reach his daughters in their room, but he could not find them.  During his search, his hair caught on fire, and debris fell from the ceiling, burning his shoulder.  He fled his burning home through the front door.  His three children did not survive the fire.

Willingham was almost immediately suspected of arson.  During Willingham’s trial, the lead arson investigator testified that the fire had been deliberately set and pointed to evidence, including specific burn patterns in the home.  The arson investigators believed that Willingham had used an accelerant to set the fire and that he had deliberately blocked the exits of the home so the children could not escape.

Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted and sentenced to death in 1992.  In 2004, the State of Texas executed Willingham.

 

Willingham could have accepted a plea agreement and received a life sentence, but he declined, maintaining his innocence.  Tragically, the truth about his innocence was discovered before his execution, but Governor Rick Perry did not take any action to stay the execution.

After Willingham’s conviction, each example of arson presented to convict him was found to be scientifically invalid when reviewed by other arson experts, who determined that the fire was accidental.

In 2009, David Grann of the New Yorker published a thorough report on Willingham’s conviction and the likelihood of his innocence.  As Willingham’s case shows, executing an innocent person is not just a possibility, but a terrible reality. Mistakes happen.  When the death penalty is on the table, even a minor error can lead to the irreversible execution of an innocent person.  Replacing the Kansas death penalty with life without parole would ensure that an innocent person could never be executed in Kansas.

 

Filed Under: Kansas Voices

Primary Sidebar

  • JOIN KCADP
  • CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR
  • VOICES OF KANSAS
  • STORIES OF INNOCENCE

RECENT POSTS

KCADP Statement In Response To US Supreme Court Ruling In The Carr Appeals

January 9, 2023

Nominee Slate Announced!

October 5, 2022

Bylaws Change to be Considered at Oct. 15th Annual Meeting

September 29, 2022

Join us October 15th for “Investing in the Culture We Want: How the Death Penalty Shortchanges Public Safety”

September 16, 2022

Join Us September 10th!

August 23, 2022
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 51
  • Next »

Footer

More Information

  • Featured (32)
  • Kansas Cases (15)
  • Kansas Voices (20)
  • KCADP Member News (30)
  • KCADP Member Updates (7)
  • Law Enforcement (4)
  • News (119)
  • Newsletter (13)
  • Uncategorized (1)
  • Updates (86)
  • Victim Voices (20)

Social

FacebookFacebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

CONTACT

Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty
PO Box 2065
Topeka, KS 66601
785.235.2237
info@ksabolition.org

Copyright © 2023 · Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Web Care by NexLynx