Duh! It's Texas...of course they've executed innocent men. And retarded men. It's what they do. And when it's there aren't enough executions, the legislators make it legal for citizens to execute other citizens if they -believe- they have a duty to protect someone else's property (note, no such duty has to exist, they just have to think it does).

Texas just loves death!

I read a geek joke the other day:
What executes faster than C, but is slower than Visual Basic?
Texas.

very long detailed article in the New Yorker (i think... might have been NY Times) explains the entire history of this case and what happened. apparently the "experts" who worked in the texas town didn't have any science education, they basically took one class on arson to become an "expert."

and the proof that it was arson - black triangles on the walls, burned pools on the floor, spiderweb cracks in the glass, wood burnt under aluminum door frame - are all caused by normal accidental fires. there was NO actual evidence of arson.

the guy who is pretty much considered the world's leading expert on arson (craig beyler) did the last brief which went to the governor 88 mins before execution and he said it was DEFINITELY not arson.

so yeah, he murdered an innocent man.