Tune in tonight to CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 for more on the Todd Willingham case from Randi Kaye. Tonight AC360° at 10 p.m. ET., 9 p.m. Central Time. Below is the report that CNN AC360 ran on October 2. Sign the petition to Governor Rick Perry and the State of Texas to acknowledge that the fire in the Cameron Todd Willingham case was not arson, therefore no crime was committed and on February 17, 2004, Texas executed an innocent man.

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that the Willingham case has drawn national interest and is becoming a political thorn for Perry. GOP rival Kay Bailey Hutchison’s campaign on Monday accused him of trying “to cover up a critical investigation.” Below is the Hutchison campaign’s press release posted to Texans for Kay. It also contains an extensive list of media coverage of Rick Perry’s cover up of the Willingham case. “Unchecked Government” Talk Comes On The Same Day Former Commission Head Says Governor’s Office Pressured Him Over Investigation October 12, 2009 Austin – Today, in Corpus Christi, Rick Perry saidContinue readingKay Bailey Hutchison’s Campaign Accuses Rick Perry of “trying to cover up a critical investigation” in Todd Willingham case

Editorial: Perry’s actions increasingly suspect in Willingham case | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Opinion: Editorials Gov. Rick Perry’s Saturday night massacre of the Texas Forensic Science Commission has extended into Sunday and beyond. When the governor abruptly unseated three commission members, including the chairman, he derailed a hearing about a flawed arson investigation that led to an execution. Little more than a week later, the governor has replaced a fourth member of the forensic science panel. The commission is examining the arson-murder case of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was sent to his death in 2004.Continue readingDallas Morning News Editorial: Rick Perry’s actions increasingly suspect in Todd Willingham case

The Chicago Tribune, which wrote a lengthy article about Todd Willingham in December 2004 that first brought the case to national attention, has a new article quoting the replaced chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, Samuel Bassett, saying that Governor Rick Perry pressured the committee. Bassett told the Chicago Tribune that months earlier, he was twice called to meetings with the Republican governor’s top attorneys. At one meeting, he said, they expressed unhappiness with the course of the commission’s investigation. “I was surprised that they were involving themselves in the commission’s decision-making,” said Bassett, an Austin attorney. “I didContinue readingRick Perry Accused by Former Chair of Pressuring Commission Investigating Todd Willingham Case

According to an article in today’s Houston Chronicle, Texas Governor Rick Perry is refusing to release documents that could show whether or not he considered or even read the information sent to him on the day of the execution of Todd Willingham informing him that there was new evidence casting doubt on Willingham’s guilt and raising the question of whether Texas was about to execute an innocent man. We must put pressure on Perry to release all information dealing with the Willingham execution. Rick Perry is continuing to hide information and cover up whether Texas executed an innocent person. TheContinue readingRick Perry Hiding Possible Smoking Gun in Todd Willingham Case

Glenn Smith, on his blog Dog Canyon, reports that Rick Perry and his lackeys tried to defund the Texas Forensic Science Commission during the last session of the Texas Legislature. Capitol sources confirmed today that Perry’s office worked hard to kill funding for the Texas Forensic Science Commission during the last legislative session. “They knew what was coming,” said one source. “They worked the halls hard to defund the agency.” That news could be devasting to Perry’s public argument that his dismissal of his three appointees was “business as usual.” Smith also reports on his interview with Dr Craig Beyler,Continue readingPerry Tried Before to Cover Up Willingham Investigation, by De-funding Texas Forensic Science Commission

via Hutchison knocks Perry’s handling of forensic panel | First Reading, Austin American Statesman, October 6, 2009 U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison moved all over the state Monday touting her endorsement from the political arm of the Texas Farm Bureau. More on that in a minute. But first, during her Austin stop, she was asked to weigh in on Gov. Rick Perry’s decision to replace three members of the Forensic Science Commission just before it received a key report in the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, whom the state put to death in 2004. Willingham was convicted of killing his children,Continue readingHutchison knocks Perry’s handling of forensic panel | First Reading

Justice Delayed? Perry’s last-minute board switch is questionable Longview News-Journal Editorial Board October 6, 2009 Gov. Rick Perry’s decision to remove three members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission just before a meeting on whether the state executed an innocent man convicted of the arson-related deaths of his three daughters simply doesn’t pass the smell test. Once again, it appears the governor has put his political interests ahead of what’s best for the state. The commission was forced to postpone the meeting, in which it would have heard a report from an arson expert hired by the commission to lookContinue readingLongview News-Journal Editorial: Justice Delayed? Perry’s last-minute board switch is questionable

Perry errs with panel shake-up San Antonio Express News Editorial Board October 7, 2009 There’s good reason to believe the state of Texas put Todd Willingham to death in 2004 for a crime he didn’t commit. Law enforcement and prosecutors in Corsicana determined Willingham started the 1991 fire that consumed his home and killed his three daughters. A review of the evidence, however, shows that determination was deeply flawed. The Willingham case was one of the first taken up by the Texas Forensic Science Commission. Created by the Legislature in 2005, the commission sets standards for forensic analysis and investigatesContinue readingSan Antonio Express News Editorial: Perry errs with panel shake-up

Smoke screen: Panels shake-up plays politics with justice | Editorial | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle Houston Chronicle, Editorial Board October 7, 2009 Several of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s appointees to state university regent boards have already learned the hard way that crossing him can be an administrative death sentence. Playing footsie with Perry’s primary opponent, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, cost several Texas Tech regents their positions. Now Perry has replaced three members of a state forensic commission, including its chairman, who were examining disputed evidence in an arson case that resulted in a man’s execution. The probe has put PerryContinue readingSmoke screen: Panels shake-up plays politics with justice | Editorial | Houston Chronicle