Last Words of a Murdered Man

Cameron Willingham was murdered by the state of Texas for a crime that he didn't commit--in fact, for a crime that may not have been committed at all.  Here, via an article in the New York Times, are Willingham's last words, on a blog that records the last statements of each prisoner executed in Texas.

More on the Murder by the Texas Government

Talking Points Memo rounds up further details on the cover-up of Cameron Willingham's murder here.

Covering Up a Murder

Texas governor Rick Perry has acted to cover up his role in the murder-by-the-state of an innocent man. Here, in its entirety, is an article from the September 30 edition of the New York Times:

Gov. Rick Perry replaced the chairman and two members of the state’s Forensic Science Commission, two days before the commission was to hear evidence that Texas executed an innocent man. The new chairman canceled the hearing, at which an arson expert was to present a report critical of the arson analysis that led to the conviction of the man, Cameron T. Willingham. Mr. Willingham, above, was executed in 2004 after being convicted of setting a 1991 fire in which his three children died. Governor Perry, who was in office at the time of the execution, has expressed confidence in Mr. Willingham’s guilt. “This is like the Saturday night massacre,” said Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project, which has been working on the case. “It’s like Nixon firing Archibald Cox to avoid turning over the Watergate tapes.” But a spokesman for the governor, Chris Cutrone, said the governor’s decision was “business as usual.” “Some people’s terms expired,” Mr. Cutrone said, “and we reappointed new people.”

h/t Tartuffe at BOTF.

"Characteristic of Mystics or Psychics"

Two years ago, I linked to an article about a man released from death row in Virginia after he was exonerated by DNA evidence. In that post, I mentioned the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed despite evidence that the fire he was accused of setting (and which killed his three young children) was accidental. A heart-breaking article in the New Yorker tells Willingham's story. One scientist says that the original arson investigator's methods "deny rational reasoning," and are "more characteristic of mystics or psychics." Read the article and be sickened.