Cameron Todd Willingham

Cameron Todd Willingham
Willingham's mugshot
Born	(1968-01-09)January 9, 1968 Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	February 17, 2004(2004-02-17) (aged 36) Huntsville, Texas, U.S.
Cause of death	Executed by lethal injection
Criminal penalty	Death sentence
Conviction(s)	Murder

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 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. The 2011 documentary, Incendiary: The Willingham Case, also explored the case. 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.

The case was complicated by allegations that Texas Governor Rick Perry impeded the investigation by replacing three of the nine commission members in an attempt to change the commission's findings; Perry denies the allegations.

On December 23, 1991, a fire destroyed the Willingham family home in Corsicana, Texas. Killed in the fire were Willingham's three daughters: two-year-old Amber Louise Kuykendall and one-year-old twins Karmon Diane Willingham and Kameron Marie Willingham. Willingham himself escaped the home with only minor burns. Stacy Kuykendall, Willingham's then-wife and the mother of his three daughters, was not home at the time of the fire, as she was out shopping for Christmas presents at the Salvation Army. Prosecutors charged that Willingham set the fire and killed the children in an attempt to cover up abuse of the girls. However, there was no evidence of child abuse, and Kuykendall told prosecutors that he had never abused the children. "Our kids were spoiled rotten", she said, insisting he would never harm their children.