page_title: Cameron Todd Willingham
section_title: Appeals, incarceration, and execution
hierarchical_section_title: Cameron Todd Willingham / Appeals, incarceration, and execution
caption_attribution_description: English: Allan B. Polunsky Unit Español: Unidad Allan B. Polunsky
context_page_description: Cameron Todd Willingham, 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. 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 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 in an attempt to change the Commission's findings; Perry denies the allegations.
context_section_description: Willingham had the Texas Department of Criminal Justice number 999041. While on death row, Willingham was initially incarcerated in the Ellis Unit, and later in the Polunsky Unit.
  Willingham's case gained attention in December 2004, when Maurice Possley and Steve Mills of the Chicago Tribune published on poor investigative tactics. In 2009, an investigative report by David Grann in The New Yorker drew upon analysis by arson investigation experts and advances in fire science since the 1992 investigation; he suggested that the evidence for arson was unconvincing. He suggested that, had this information been available at the time of trial, it would have provided grounds for Willingham's acquittal. The 2011 documentary Incendiary: The Willingham Case also explored the case.
  Willingham maintained his innocence up until his death and spent years trying to appeal his conviction. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Willingham a writ of habeas corpus a month before his execution. Willingham was executed by lethal injection on February 17, 2004, at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville. He was 36 years old.
caption: Willingham was moved to the Allan B. Polunsky Unit
exif: {}