Texas Governor Rick Perry Defends Execution Of Cameron Todd Willingham
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In a Dallas News Article Texas Governor Rick Perry defended the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham in 2004. Willingham was convicted of killing his three young daughters in a house fire. Governor Perry said that court records that he reviewed before the execution showed "clear and compelling, overwhelming evidence that [Willingham] was in fact the murderer of his children." Perry was also quoted as stating that "I'm familiar with the latter-day supposed experts on the arson side of it." State fire investigators and fire officials maintained that burn patterns, cracked windows and other signs pointed to arson. Willingham suffered only superficial burns from the fire after he ran outside the house. He claimed the could not go back in his house to rescue his daughters because the fire was too intense. Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project, who worked on the case, claims that Willingham was innocent.
Of course Governor Rick Perry does not want an investigation of an execution that may have killed an innocent man. That would point up his lack of compassion and lack of good judgement.
To protect himself, Governor Rich Perry ousted those who have the most knowledge of the case. If the man was innocent, as is likely, the investigation (with knowledgeable people) would highlight Governor Rick Perry's lack of compassion and his poor judgement.