Cameron Willingham

Cameron Todd Willingham, 36, was executed by lethal injection on 17 February 2004 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of his three children.

On 23 December 1991, the Corsicana home of Cameron Willingham burned. Willingham's three children -- 2-year-old Amber Kuykendall and 1-year-old twins Karmon and Kameron Willingham, died of smoke inhalation. Willingham, 36, escaped. Willingham told authorities that the fire started while he and the children were asleep. His wife, Stacy Kuykendall, was not home at the time.

An investigation showed that a flammable liquid -- possibly charcoal starter fluid -- had been poured throughout the house. Willingham was arrested on 8 January.

At Willingham's trial, the fire marshall testified that the floors, front threshold, and front concrete porch were burned, which only occurs when an accelerant has been used to purposely burn these areas. He further testified that these areas are typically set on fire to impede firefighters in their rescue attempts.

Other testimony showed that Willingham deliberately set the fire to kill his children. Neighbors testified that Willingham came outdoors as the house began smoldering, before flames were visible from the outside. He first pushed his car away to protect it from being burned, then "crouched down" in the front yard. Despite their pleas, Willingham refused to go into the house to attempt to rescue the children, they said. A firefighter testified that Willingham showed no grief over his children's deaths, but became upset upon discovering that his dart board was burned. A neighbor also testified that on the day after the fire, Willingham and his wife were going through the debris while playing music and laughing.

Willingham was convicted of burglary three months before the fire, and was serving a sentence of 6 years' probation. Testimony at his trial indicated that Willingham had a history of violence and family abuse, including an incident where he beat his pregnant wife with a telephone to try to force a miscarriage.

A jury convicted Willingham of capital murder in August 1993 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in October 1995. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

"Dude's a liar," Willingham said in an interview from death row, referring to the fire marshall. He called his conviction "a farce." He suggested that a lantern spilled fluid when a shelf collapsed, and then 2-year-old Amber, who was "fascinated with everything," accidentally started the fire. "Either that, or someone came in with the intent to kill me and the children," he told a reporter.

Willingham said that his wife was out shopping that morning, and he was asleep when he was awakened by Amber's cry of "Daddy, Daddy." He saw smoke, jumped out of bed, and without seeing Amber, ordered her out of the house. He tried to get to the twins' room, but couldn't get past the flames. He ran outside to get help because the house had no phone. He scoffed at his neighbors' accusations that he did nothing to save his children. "People can tell you they'd do this or they'd do that," he said. "Let me drop you in a burning house and you show me what you'd do."

"They were great kids," Willingham said, but "I was a sorry husband - a piece of crap as husbands go ... I was so full of myself and dumb."

Stacy Kuykendall initially supported her husband and testified on his behalf at his trial. Recently, however, she told a reporter that she no longer believes his account of the events that killed her children. "You have to understand, I didn't get to sit in the courtroom and hear anything," she told a reporter. Kuykendall said that when Willingham related his account of the fire to her during a prison visit, she thought parts of his story didn't made sense. So, she read the trial transcripts and "acted like a jury," coming to the conclusion that her husband was guilty.

"I am an innocent man convicted of a crime I did not commit," Willingham said at his execution. He also said, "I have been persecuted for twelve years for something I did not do. From God's dust I came and to dust I will return, so the Earth shall become my throne. I gotta go, Road Dog." Next, he expressed love to someone named Gabby, then hurled obscenities at Kuykendall, who was watching from an observation room. Willingham said that he hoped she would "rot in Hell," and attempted to make an obscene gesture with his hand, which was strapped to the gurney. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.