Debates regarding the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham persist to this day.
Steve Dietl/Roadside Attractions
Warning: This article contains spoilers forTrial by Fire.
Trial by Firedidn’t make much of a splash when it debuted in 2019.
Laura Dern in ‘Trial by Fire’.Credit:Steve Dietl/Roadside Attractions
Thanks toNetflix, though, it’s crept back into the conversation.
After being added this week, the movie quickly rose up the streamer’s film charts.
It starsLaura Dern,Jack O’Connell,Jeff Perry, and Emily Meade.
Jack O’Connell as Cameron Todd Willingham in ‘Trial by Fire’.Steve Dietl / Roadside Attractions / courtesy Everett
What isTrial by Fireabout?
Cameron is soon arrested for murder and put in jail.
Further witnesses testify to Cameron’s violent past.
Laura Dern as Elizabeth Gilbert in ‘Trial by Fire’.Steve Dietl/Roadside Attractions
With Cameron’s execution date looming, they work together to disprove the testimony that resulted in his verdict.
Unfortunately, the wheels of justice turn very, very slowly.
IsTrial by Firea true story?
Jeff Perry as Gerald Hurst in ‘Trial by Fire’.Roadside Attractions
The Willingham family’s fatal fire occurred on Dec. 23, 1991, in Corsicana, Texas.
He was charged with murder in January of 1992 and went to trial in August of 1992.
Willingham made several appeals, especially after getting a new lawyer in Reaves in 1996.
Emily Meade as Stacy Willingham in ‘Trial by Fire’.Roadside Attractions / courtesy Everett
Their appeals, however, were unsuccessful.
This led to her speaking with several of the witnesses from the trial, including Willingham’s family members.
But Willingham’s petition was denied.
Chris Coy in ‘Trial by Fire’.Roadside Attractions
Was Cameron Todd Willingham proven innocent?
Roadside Attractions
Willingham was found guilty of arson and murder in 1992 and executed via lethal injection in 2004.
Hurst, in particular, claimed that Willingham was convicted based on “junk science.”
All concluded that the original investigators relied on outdated theories and folklore to justify the determination of arson.
Grann’s 2009 piece delved even deeper, as did a 2011 documentary,Incendiary: The Willingham Case.
Governor Perry, who has beenaccused of interfering with the investigation, stood by the conviction.
“Willingham was a monster,” hetold reporters in 2009.
“It was like a catalog,” he said.
What happened to Stacy Willingham?
As recently as 2021, she posted to her Instagram account that Willingham was"100% guilty.
How to watchTrial by Fire?
Trial by Fireis currently streaming on Netflix.
you’re able to also rent or buy it via Amazon Prime.
