Case Studies
The cases listed below represent only a few of the unknown number of arson convictions based on the testimony of fire investigators that the presence of a liquid accelerant can be determined through the visual examination of burn patterns. Upcoming live burn research by The Arson Research Project will examine the accuracy with which fire investigators can determine the area of origin and multiple areas of origin in a post-flashover fire.
Todd Willingham, Executed in 2004, Texas
Convicted of setting the fire that killed his three young children in 1991, Todd Willingham was executed in 2004. His conviction was based on the testimony of fire investigators that fire patterns examined at the scene could only have been created by a liquid accelerant, even though chemical tests of debris in the suspected area of origin proved negative. Expert review of the evidence now suggests that the most likely cause of the fire was accidental.
Ed Graf – Life in Prison, Texas
Ed Graf was convicted in August of 1986 of intentionally setting a fire in a backyard shed that killed his two sons. Prosecution fire experts testified that the burn patterns on the floor and walls of the shed could only have been created in the presence of a liquid accelerant, such as gasoline.
George Souliotes, Life Without Parole, California
Two fire investigators testified that liquid accelerant must have been present in the 1997 fire that killed a mother and her two children, due to the low burning in the living room, holes burned through the floors, “pour patterns” and witness statements from the first responding firefighters that the fire was abnormally hot.