Cameron Todd Willingham

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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. 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. The Corsicana Fire Department disputes the findings, stating that the report overlooked several key points in the record, such as that Willingham repeatedly changed his story about the fire and tampered with evidence during the investigation. 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. In 2017, the prosecutor in the case, John Jackson, was cleared of allegations that he concealed evidence or negotiated a secret deal with Johnny Webb, a fellow inmate who testified that Willingham had confessed to setting the fire. According to prison letters from Webb, he faced a campaign of harassment by the Aryan Brotherhood for his testimony against Willingham, who was allegedly a member of the Aryan Brotherhood along with one of his half-brothers, who is currently serving a life sentence for his role in a 1988 murder spree.