Arson-deaths prosecutor is accused of not disclosing informant deal; defendant was executed in 2004
The Texas prosecutor who obtained a death sentence for Cameron Todd Willingham in the arson deaths of his three daughters is accused in an ethics complaint of failing to disclose a deal with a jailhouse informant.
The ethics complaint, filed on March 5, says former Navarro County prosecutor John Jackson didn’t reveal that he agreed to give the informant favorable treatment in exchange for his testimony against Willingham, the Marshall Project reports. The informant, Johnny Webb, originally said Willingham confessed to killing his daughters while they were both in jail, but he has since recanted.
Jackson has previously denied there was any pretrial agreement with Webb. He did, however, acknowledge trying to help Webb later, saying he did so because other inmates had threatened Webb for his cooperation with the prosecution.
Willingham, who maintained his innocence, was executed in 2004. Fire experts have differed on whether the blaze that killed Willingham’s daughters was arson.
The Innocence Project had sought the ethics charge.
