Texas Justice: Revisiting Cameron Todd Willingham’s Wrongful Execution

Episode 81

A fire, a flawed science, and a state that still hasn’t learned.

In 1991, Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of setting the house fire that killed his three young children. Despite a mountain of later evidence debunking the “arson indicators” used against him, Texas executed Willingham in 2004—long after leading fire scientists warned that the case rested on junk science.

Two decades later, Texas is preparing to repeat history. On October 16th, the state is scheduled to execute Robert Roberson, a man condemned under similarly discredited forensic theories and medical misunderstandings that doomed Willingham. The very science that convicted him has since been proven false, yet the machinery of “justice” continues to grind forward.

In this first installment of our Texas Justice series, we revisit the Willingham case:

• How old-school fire investigation methods created a template for wrongful arson convictions

• The experts who tried to stop an execution built on myth

• The political forces that refused to listen—and what that refusal means for Robert Roberson today

Help Stop Robert Roberson's Execution!!! Click here to sign the petition!

 

Listener discretion is advised.

Background music by Not Notoriously Coordinated 

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Because we've covered this case before, some sources are listed in the show notes from Episodes 2 and 3. 

Sources:

• Possley, M. (2014, August 3). The Prosecutor and the Snitch. The Marshall Project. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/08/03/did-texas-execute-an-innocent-man-willingham

• Eaton, T. (2011, July 29). AG says Forensic Science Commission can’t consider Willingham case, others before 2005. Austin American-Statesman. Innocence Project Press Release, July 29, 2011. See Innocence and Studies.

• KLTV Digital Media Staff. (2025, September 25). East Texas man facing October execution will not seek clemency, his lawyer says. https://www.kltv.com/2025/09/25/east-texas-man-facing-october-execution-will-not-seek-clemency-his-lawyer-says/

• Beety, V. E. (2020, April 11). Changed Science Writs and State Habeas Relief. Houston Law Review, 57(3). https://houstonlawreview.org/article/12191-changed-science-writs-and-state-habeas-relief

• Innocence Project Staff. (2010, September 13). Cameron Todd Willingham’s wrongful execution gains new attention after Netflix’s Trial by Fire release. Innocence Project. https://innocenceproject.org/news/cameron-todd-willingham-wrongfully-convicted-and-executed-in-texas/

• Mills, S., & Possley, M. (n.d.). Texas man executed on disproved forensics. Chicago Tribune. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/texas-man-executed-on-disproved-forensics

• Willingham v. State, 897 S.W.2d 351 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995). Retrieved from https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/court-of-criminal-appeals/1995/71544-4.html

• Incendiary: The Willingham Case. (2011). Documentary film directed by Joe Bailey Jr. and Steve Mims. Featuring Rick Perry and Barry Scheck.