Flashover

This episode is loosely-based on the case of Todd Willingham. On Monday December 23, 1991, the home of the Willingham family caught fire in Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas. Cameron Todd Willingham was the sole survivor of the blaze that killed his daughters. Willingham was arrested and charged with arson and homicide. Following Willingham's conviction, evidence began to mount in favor of Willingham's innocence. On Tuesday February 17, 2004, under orders from governor Rick Perry, Willingham was executed via lethal injection. This did not stop the Willingham family from seeking exoneration. Faced with the possibility of being responsible for killing an innocent man, Perry fired members of the Texas Science Forensics Commission which was in the process of reviewing the case with leanings toward exoneration. The terminations ordered by Perry suggest a cover-up at the highest levels of the Texas government.

The fire marshal, Glenn Morshower, tells Det. Vera, Jeremy Ratchford, that an accelerant was used in the fire. "Butane, propane, maybe gasoline, same result. You have your pour patterns on the floor right there." Butane and propane can only be in liquid form when under intense pressure. Butane boils into a gas at -1°C/30.2°F. Propane boils into a gas at -42°C/-43.6°F. neither of these could have been "poured" in order to leave a "pour pattern".

Remade as Cold Case: Shinjitsu No Tobira: Episode #3.8 (2021)