Todd Willingham Case Year in Review 2011

Two decades ago in Corsicana, Texas, three young girls were killed in a fire. At the time, investigators ruled it arson. Many years later, the girls' father, Cameron Todd Willingham, was executed for their deaths in 2004.

In January of 2011, the Texas Forensic Science Commission heard evidence from the nation's leading fire expert, who said investigators in 1991 had a poor understanding of the science behind fires.

In July, the forensic panel's authority to investigate older cases received a major setback. The state attorney general's office wrote an opinion stating the panel could not examine, at-length, cases older than 2005. Willingham had been executed in 2004.

"We were baffled that this commission is now questioning their jurisdiction of a case that they have been investigating actively for five years," Willingham's cousin, Patricia Willingham Cox said.

In October, the board released a final report making 17 recommendations to modernize arson investigations.

The board also directed the state's fire marshal to review at least 700 arson cases statewide.

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• Todd Willingham
• Death Penalty