Just when it seemed Gov. Rick Perry had done all he could to justify the 2004 execution of inmate Cameron Todd Willingham, he’s taken it up another notch: On Oct. 14, Perry again addressed reporters on the question of whether the state executed an innocent man, this time to say that Willingham was a “monster” and a “bad man” and that his conviction and death sentence for the alleged arson-murder of his three young children in 1991 had been vetted, reviewed, and upheld by the courts “every step of the way.” The media is not paying attention to that, he said, and should take the time to review the evidence.
The evidence now, of course, includes the opinions of nearly a dozen fire experts who have concluded the fire was a tragic accident. The problem, of course, is that if there was no arson, it matters not at all if Willingham was a bad man – under Texas law, being a jerk is not a death-eligible offense.
Meanwhile, however, in apparent defense of Perry’s decision not to offer Willingham a reprieve in 2004, the city of Corsicana last week released to media an affidavit of Ronnie Kuykendall, the brother of Willingham’s then-wife, Stacy. Kuykendall claims in the document that Stacy gathered the family together shortly before Willingham’s execution to say that Willingham had confessed his guilt. Unfortunately, that account was roundly denied in 2004 by Stacy, when she told the Chicago Tribune that the alleged conversation had never happened.
This article appears in October 23 • 2009.