in a highly unusual step, a u.s. district court judge orders the state of texas to either retry willis or dismiss his case. he cites several factors including ineffective assistance of counsel and evidence contradicting the state s theory of the fire. ori white heads up the investigation. white, a college student at the time of the crime, is now the pecos county district attorney. jurors want as much forensics in cases as they can get. and in this case, the forensics were such that it allowed the jury to reach that conclusion. now it s up to white and his team to decide if that jury reached the right conclusion. we began to do a brand new just from scratch reinvestigation of the case. a lot of it was based on the forensics, the forensics aspect of the arson investigation. to help him, white hires an austin-based arson specialist
re-prosecution of mr. willis based on the arson science as it exists today would be a waste of time. ernest willis did not do the crime. and soon, a judge agrees. judge brock jones signs willis release order. he is the same judge who sentenced him to die 17 years earlier. a day later, willis walks off texas death row for the first time in almost two decades, he is a free man. his wife verilyn whom he met while on death row, is waiting for him outside the prison walls. up until this moment, they ve only seen each other through a glass barrier. i remember walking down the stairs and my wife was across the road talking to all the reporters and stuff, you know, they got word, too. as soon as she seen me come out that door, she starred running. in the four years they ve
ernest willis has spent almost two decades on texas death row for murder by arson. 18 years ago, the house he was staying in with friends caught fire. killing two women. since the beginning, willis has maintained his innocence. in the years since his conviction, he has seen appeal after appeal be denied. he has also come dangerously close to execution. at one time, i come within two days of being executed. i had an execution date. after so many years, you just kind of almost lose hope, you know? yet, science could still be willis salvation. in the decade following the verdict, dramatic advances in the fire investigation field have been made. a fire investigation had nothing to do with science for a long time. and until the early 90s, they really didn t have much science. they had rules of thumb, old wives tales. the national fire protection association went public with its first edition of standards for
msnbc. it is early morning on a june day in the tiny texas town of iraan. 250 miles northwest of san antonio. inside a small tin-roofed house, a massive fire erupts. soaring flames begin consuming the structure within minutes. four people are inside. including 40-year-old oil field worker ernest ray willis and his cousin billy willis. elizabeth belue and another woman both in their mid 20s are also asleep in the house. the group are guests of the home tenants who are out for the night. following an evening of drinking, they ve all decided to sleep over.
ernest willis has spent almost two decades on texas s death row for murder by arson. 18 years ago, the house he was staying in with friends caught fire. killing two women. since the beginning, willis has maintained his innocence. in the years since his conviction, he has seen appeal after appeal be denied. he has also come dangerously close to execution. at one time, i come within two days of being executed. i had an execution date. after so many years, you just kind of almost lose hope, you know? yet, science could still be willis salvation. in the decade following the verdict, dramatic advances in the fire investigation field have been made. a fire investigation had nothing to do with science for a long time. and until the early 90s, they