Did Texas execute an innocent man?

Todd Willingham was executed for arson/murder on February 17, 2004. He professed his innocence from his arrest until he was strapped down on the execution gurney. Now, we know for certain that he was telling the truth. On August 25, 2009, Dr Craig Beyler, the investigator hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission to review the Willingham case, released his report in which he found that “a finding of arson could not be sustained” by a scientific analysis (Read the report here). He concluded that the fire in the Willingham case was accidental and not arson. In fact, there was no arson, so there was no crime. Texas executed an innocent person. The proven execution of an innocent person should mean the end of the death penalty in the United States.

Texas Executed an Innocent Person

Court of Inquiry Hearing Sought to Exonerate Todd Willingham
Lawyers for relatives of Todd Willingham, executed for the 1991 arson murder of his three young daughters in Corsicana, on Friday Sept 24, 2010 petitioned a judge in Travis County to hear evidence and determine whether Willingham was wrongly convicted. They sought to use the same process that resulted in an exoneration finding in another wrongful conviction case, Timothy Cole, who died of natural causes while still in prison before evidence surfaced proving that he was innocent.

The Texas Forensic Science Commission met in Dallas on Sept 17, 2010. Todd Willingham’s stepmother, Eugenia, and two of his cousins, Patricia Willingham Cox and Judy Willingham Cavner, testified to the packed meeting. At the meeting, the Commission rejected a draft report written by Chair John Bradley and decided to continue the investigation. On November 19, the Commission will meet in Austin and hear live testimony from invited fire experts.