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Todd Cameron Willingham
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The 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham in Texas remains one of the most controversial death penalty cases in modern U.S. history, with forensic evidence that indicates an innocent man was put to death.
Now, activists in Austin would like to make Mr. Willingham Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s running mate.
With Mr. Perry surging to front-runner status in the Republican primary race, a slew of activities are planned to raise the profile of the Willingham case, and the aftermath that directly involved Mr. Perry. Anti-death penalty activists that run Cameron Todd Willingham website are recruiting activists in Iowa and New Hampshire to dog the Texas governor on campaign trips, said Scott Cobb, one of the recruiters. A rally in Austin on Oct. 22 will feature exonerated death row inmates from around the country, and Willingham family members. Plus a new documentary on the case,
Incendiary, will get showings Sept. 23 in Austin, Sept. 30 in Washington, and Oct. 21 in Iowa City.
Mr. Willingham was tried and convicted for intentionally setting fire to his house in Corsicana, Texas, killing his three young children. He proclaimed his innocence to the end, and multiple arson experts wrote voluminous reports saying there was no evidence the fire was anything but accidental. Mr. Perry declined to step in.
Amid rising concern that an innocent man was executed, the Texas Forensic Science Commission was tasked to investigate. Then in 2009, two days before the panel was set to hear from an arson investigator it had hired, Gov. Perry fired the chairman and replaced three commission members.
On several occasions, Mr. Perry has defended his actions. The commissioners’ terms were expiring, he has said. He has cited Mr. Willingham’s criminal history, his spousal abuse record, and the fact that in the death chamber, the prisoner cursed out his ex-wife with vile language.
“Willingham was a monster,” the governor told reporters in 2009 as the controversy grew. “Here’s a guy who murdered his three children, who tried to beat his wife into an abortion so he wouldn’t have those kids. Person after person has stood up and testified to facts of this case that, quite frankly, you all are not covering.”
Mr. Cobb said the focus of the activists’ efforts will not be on the death penalty per se, or even Mr. Willingham’s execution, but the actions Mr. Perry took with the forensic science commission.
“Tampering with the commission is the central issue people should be concerned with,” he said. “The question is, can he be trusted as president to be accountable for his actions?”
