The Case Of Cameron Todd Willingham

The pursuit of justice has always been rooted in good will, to succeed those who have been wronged. Our system is set in place to protect the people, and acts as a model to prosecute the evil in society. Though, in the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, Willingham has faced the harsh reality that the system has failed him. In reality, there is no perfect system, as human incompetence and arrogance plague the road to justice. When the pieces appear to conveniently fall into place for an investigation, the narrow-minded are quick to call a verdict. Without further thought, Willingham was declared guilty for a crime we know he didn’t commit. Sentenced to death, he faced years suffering for not only the loss of his children, wife, and home, but also

Once tell-tale signs of arson began to reveal themselves to fire investigators Vasquez and Fogg, the investigation quickly turned on Willingham. Without further analysis, Willingham is branded as a prime suspect to a crime which possibly isn’t a crime at all, setting forth a system that sets him up for doom. After the detectives followed the burn trailer to a “V” that describes the start of the fire, the detectives solidify their opinion of the situation as “Vasquez later testified that multiple origins pointed to one conclusion: the fire was ‘intentionally set by human hands’” (Grann, “Trial by Fire”). What makes the situation grimmer to investigators was the fact that a “fire barrier” was formed, essentially trapping everyone inside the home once a fire starts. To Vasquez and Fogg, this must have been an intentional act, and propelled this case into a criminal investigation to prosecute the innocent Willingham. The sad truth is revealed to late for Willingham, as Gerald Hurst, an arson scientists, unveils that the fire was not an arson at all. In fact, he even stated that “Todd Willingham’s case falls into that category where there is not one iota of evidence that the fire was arson, not one iota” (PBS, “Death by Fire”). Rather than using scientific analysis and logical thinking, Vasquez relied on “intuition” and

The canvassing done throughout the neighborhood made Willingham seem apathetic to the situation, as if the death of the children meant very little to him. As described by the neighbors, “had not seen Willingham try to enter the house after the authorities arrived”, his actions of grief, terror, and heroism were a spectacle to authorities and onlookers (Grann, “Trial by Fire”). Detectives believe that this attempt was to prove his innocence of the fire, though it only further confirmed their suspicions of Willingham. Though, viewing these testimonies as an investigative line of reasoning is unfair to say the least as the testimonies given are inconsistent. At first, the testimonies aligned with a more real response from Willingham during the fire, one of panic, distress, and anger against the fire. After investigators begun to suspect arson was in play, the testimonies turned into accusations and assumption of Willingham’s guilt. David Grann wrote, “Dozens of studies have shown that witnesses’ memories of events often change when they are supplied with new contextual information”, suggesting that after a certain period of time into an investigation, all testimonies should be taken with little confidence (Grann, “Trial by Fire”). If the witnesses and testimonies were taken from individuals who know nothing about the