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He was accused of purposely setting his home on fire and murdering his 3 kids. He was convicted and executed, however upon review of the case people are saying the evidence was based on junk science.
Right now Netflix has is streaming a Frontline doc of the case. Very good, of course, Frontline rarely goes wrong. I was just wondering if anyone else has seen it or are familiar with the case. What are your thoughts?
Frontline is probably one of my all-time favorite shows. I also love true crime in general, so this episode would have been right up my alley. I had it on my DVR for months and never watched it. I eventually deleted it because I couldn't handle watching a story about someone who was executed and then later found innocent. I have a hard enough time with the stories of people who spent decades in prison and then get released. Maybe I will eventually watch it on-line.
When I was in 7th grade, on the debate team, we had to debate capital punishment. On a debate team you have to be prepared to argue either side of the debate, so it was a good chance for me to learn both sides of the issue. Up until my early 30's, I would have said I am in support of the death penalty. Now, ten years later, I am against it. One of the main reasons I oppose it is due to cases like this one (and many others), in which flaws in the original trial are brought to light and people are found innocent. DNA is the key in many of these cases - which wasn't available when these people were on trial.
Secondary to that is the fact that the cost of such trials is so high. It should be high due to the fact we are talking about putting someone to death. This is a good article on that topic - The Price of Death.
If I were the family member of someone who had been brutally murdered (raped, tortured, etc), I don't know how I would feel. I can understand that some of those people do want an execution. But from reading I have done over the years, I have read many victims' family members say that the execution did not bring any actual peace, particularly after spending years if not decades going through appeals, where the focus is almost solely on the perp and the victim has been long forgotten.
There just aren't easy answers when it comes to people who commit horrific crimes, it seems.
Texas Monthly had an article some time back that stated (as best I recall):
Willingham was NOT a nice guy and had a contentious relationship with his wife
His conviction was based on JUNK SCIENCE and a jailhouse snitch with ulterior motives
That being said, our outgoing governor says he's never lost a night's sleep over any executions carried out under his watch.
Looking forward to seeing the Frontline doc!!
Texas Monthly had an article some time back that stated (as best I recall):
Willingham was NOT a nice guy and had a contentious relationship with his wife
His conviction was based on JUNK SCIENCE and a jailhouse snitch with ulterior motives That being said, our outgoing governor says he's never lost a night's sleep over any executions carried out under his watch.
Looking forward to seeing the Frontline doc!!
Wow, that is kind of harsh, I wonder how many more executions like Willingham's were carried out under his watch. I do agree, Willingham was NOT a nice person, a wife abuser, a philanderer, the Frontline episode covers that extensively. He verbally and physically abused his wife right up to the very end (see his colorful last words to her). However, I don't think he deserved to be put to death for being a horrible person.
Wow, that is kind of harsh, I wonder how many more executions like Willingham's were carried out under his watch. I do agree, Willingham was NOT a nice person, a wife abuser, a philanderer, the Frontline episode covers that extensively. He verbally and physically abused his wife right up to the very end (see his colorful last words to her). However, I don't think he deserved to be put to death for being a horrible person.
Unless, of course, he did really kill them. Homicide by arson can be a tough crime to prove.
I saw that Frontline. It is an interesting (and terrible) case. There was a good write up about it in the New Yorker Trial by Fire - The New Yorker.
I want to believe he is guilty, because it is awful to think an innocent man, who experienced the death of his three children, was executed. But I suspect he was innocent of this crime.
Wow, that is kind of harsh, I wonder how many more executions like Willingham's were carried out under his watch. I do agree, Willingham was NOT a nice person, a wife abuser, a philanderer, the Frontline episode covers that extensively. He verbally and physically abused his wife right up to the very end (see his colorful last words to her). However, I don't think he deserved to be put to death for being a horrible person.
Well said. I watched the Frontline show and am convinced of one thing for certain, he should not have been killed. With all the new evidence getting revealed by real professionals, a stay of execution should have "at least" been put in place.
Todd himself said one thing during the episode that stood in my mind. He claimed to be guilty of being a coward, not a murderer of his children. And I believe this may have made him appear to be guilty to alot of investigators, Todd felt guilty of this and showed it.
Finally got around to watching, and from what I can see the last 5" or so includes some new content that wasn't on the original broadcast.
-Johnny Webb (jailhouse informant) recanted his testimony
-Prosecutorial malfeasance by John Jackson (declined to appear in epilogue segment)
And of course the classic Rick Perry (the no-glasses, V 1.0, "oops" version- not the guy possibly running in '16) line justifying the execution because he was "a bad man" that used obscenities in his final statement.
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