RoadsideFlix/Youtube
Laura Dernstarred in the 2019 film as Elizabeth Gilbert, a playwright who became pen pals with Willingham (Jack O’Connell) and strongly believed he was innocent.
On Dec. 23, 1991, a fire destroyed Willingham’s home in Corsicana, Texas. Though he was able to escape the flames, his three daughters — 2-year-old Amber Louise Kuykendall and 1-year-old twins Karmon Diane Willingham and Kameron Marie Willingham — were killed. Their mother, Stacy Kuykendall Willingham, was out shopping for Christmas presents at a local Salvation Army.
Who was Cameron Todd Willingham?
Judy Cavnar, Cameron Todd Willingham’s cousin.AP Photo/Harry Cabluck
AP Photo/Harry Cabluck
Cameron Todd Willingham was an auto mechanic who lived in the small city of Corsicana with his then-wife, Stacy, and their three daughters. After he dropped out of high school, Willingham was arrested for a string of petty crimes like shoplifting and stealing a bicycle as well as driving under the influence, perThe New Yorker.
TheNew Yorkerstory alleged that Willingham had a reputation for drinking too much, being unfaithful and physically abusing Stacy. Though she claimed to investigators that her husband had hit her, Stacy allegedly said that he never abused their children, instead describing them as “spoiled rotten.”
To bring Willingham’s story to life, the scenes between Dern and O’Connell’s characters werefilmed in a real maximum-security prison.
“On other films I’ve worked in jails, so I’ve experienced it,” theBig Little Liesactress toldPage Sixin 2019. “This one was maximum-security. The environment is invented to enforce that. Weapons were everywhere. You’re pushed around. I went in afraid. I came out in heartbreak. Like this was a waste of human life.”
Who is Johnny Webb?
Johnny Webb.Michel du Cille/The Washington Post via Getty
Michel du Cille/The Washington Post via Getty
In 1992, Johnny Webb was incarcerated for robbery and alleged on the stand in Willingham’s trial that the father of three confessed to him. According to Webb’s testimony, which he later recanted, Willingham told him that he intentionally started the fire to cover up an injury that his wife had given one of their kids. Autopsy reports on the three girls revealed no visible signs of trauma, perThe New Yorker.
Webb’s testimony was eventually ruled inadmissible because it was hearsay, and in 2015, he claimed toThe Marshall Projectthat the lead prosecutor in Willingham’s case, John H. Jackson, threatened him with a life sentence if he didn’t take the stand.
In 2017, the State Bar of Texas accused the prosecutor of misconduct in the Willingham trial, including failing to disclose the deal with Webb to the defense. The jury rejected the misconduct claims, perThe Marshall Project, and Jackson has maintained that no deal was made with Webb for his testimony.
Was Cameron Todd Willingham innocent?
A protest before a hearing in Cameron Todd Willingham’s case.AP Photo/Statesman.com/Jay Janner
AP Photo/Statesman.com/Jay Janner
Willingham’s murder conviction was never overturned. But since his execution, more evidence has emerged supporting the theory that he was innocent and that the fire that killed his three children was accidental.
Willingham’s ex-wife, who divorced him within a year of his conviction, was initially vocal about his innocence. Stacy even wrote to the state governor that she believed “there is no way he could have possibly committed this crime,” perThe New Yorker.
But in 2009, the mother of three gave a statement to theFort Worth Star-Telegramclaiming that Willingham confessed to killing their kids weeks before he was executed, per theChicago Tribune. According to her, Willingham was upset because she threatened to divorce him and allegedly told her the night before the fire that she “could never have Amber or the twins with anyone else but him.”
Stacy has since maintained her stance that Willingham was guilty,writing on Instagramas recently as 2021 that she hoped to “once more prove how guilty Todds truly was and debunk the Gerald Hurst report that never actually proved anything.”
What happened to Cameron Todd Willingham?
Prior to Willingham’s execution, his attorneys appealed to the governor of Texas at the time,Rick Perry, for clemency.
They also sent him Hurst’s report on Willingham’s case, which the fire expert noted was similar to that of a man he helped exonerate in 2004 named Ernest Willis. “It was like I was looking at the same case,” Hurst toldThe New Yorker. “Just change the names.”
Per theTexas Department of Criminal Justice, the final part of Willingham’s statement was omitted due to profanity.
Did Gov. Rick Perry interfere with the investigation into Cameron Todd Willingham’s innocence?
Governor Rick Perry.John Anderson/The Austin Chronicle/Getty
John Anderson/The Austin Chronicle/Getty
In 2008, Governor Perry was accused of interfering with the Texas Forensic Science Commission’s investigation into the Willingham case. Days before expert arson investigator Craig Beyler was set to testify about his findings that the fire was not arson, Perry dismissed the commission’s chairman and two other members, perTIME.
This move delayed the investigation, which closed in 2011 after the Texas Attorney General ruled that the commission didn’t have jurisdiction, per theDeath Penalty Information Center. Perry denied the claims that he intentionally interfered in the investigation.
Afterleaving his governor postin 2015, Perry served as the secretary of energy underPresident Donald Trump. He announced his resignation in 2019, perNPR.
Where is Elizabeth Gilbert now?
Laura Dern and Elizabeth Gilbert.Jason Mendez/Getty
Jason Mendez/Getty
After years of correspondence, Willingham asked Gilbert to come to his execution to help him cope with his “fears, thoughts and feelings,” perThe New Yorker. But she didn’t make it after a car accident left her paralyzed from the neck down.
Gilbert was recovering in an intensive-care unit when Willingham was executed.The New Yorkerreported in 2010 that after five years of physical therapy, Gilbert took her first steps using a walker. She credited her perseverance to Willingham in the original 2009 article.
“All that time, I thought I was saving Willingham, and I realized then that he was saving me, giving me the strength to get through this,” Gilbert said. “I know I will one day walk again, and I know it is because Willingham showed me the kind of courage it takes to survive.”
source: people.com
