WEBVTT - #339 Maggie Freleng with Garland Leon “Butch” Martin 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:04.800 A quick note, this episode contains mention of suicide. Please 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:17.880 listen with caution and care. On the night of February 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.880 twenty fifth, nineteen ninety eight, a mother and her two 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:24.040 children were asleep in their home outside of Midland, Texas. 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:27.160 While they slept, a fire broke out in the house. 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.360 Driving home from work, Butch Martin saw the flames from 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:31.680 the road as they approached. 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:35.720 We get up on the top of the hill and 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:40.440 I see a big black cloud of smokes. That's man 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:45.479 that looks like my house man. And then when we 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:47.560 got closer, I saw that it was my house. 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:53.479 Butch's girlfriend, Marsha Pool, and their two children, Brady and Kristen, 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:57.400 died in the fire, and the subsequent investigation led an 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:02.680 innocent man to be condemned to prison for life. 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:06.760 You know, part of me says, I don't care what 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:08.840 no way he thinks. But I do care. You know, 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:15.520 all is the truth should be not the truth. I 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:19.160 am Booch Martin. I've been in cars for him since 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:23.080 August ninety nine. 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:27.120 From Love of for Good This is wrongful conviction with 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:47.039 Maggie Freeling today Butch Martin Garland Leon Martin, who goes 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.680 by Butch was born in Odessa, Texas, on September fifteenth, 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:57.840 nineteen sixty two, to Buddy and Nancy Martin. Butch was 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:00.640 one of five children. When he was young, family moved 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:04.240 to nearby Midland, Texas, where he and his siblings were raised. 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:07.960 That's right. We lived out on a farm off seventeen 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:11.680 eighty eight head every top animal you can think of, 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:19.000 you know, pigs, goats, sheep, turkeys, geese, peacock. That's great. 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:25.760 Butch rode horses and motorcycles and loved to drag race. 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:28.400 He's the wildest of a bunch, that's for sure. 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:30.320 This is Butch's little sister, Heather. 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:36.119 Everybody loved him, everybody. I mean, he was very outgoing. 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:39.160 He was the type to give his shirt off his 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:42.360 back for anybody. He would help anybody in need. 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:44.600 And not only that. 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:51.760 He's funny. He's hilarious, definitely. I mean, he has his 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:55.280 moments and he can be serious, but for the most part, 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:57.880 he's pretty funny and he likes to make people laugh. 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.760 In fact, his offbeat sense of humor is the source 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.280 of one of Heather's favorite memories of Butch. 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:09.480 He was in a motorcocle accident and he broke both 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:11.400 of his legs, so he was in a wheelchair for 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:13.760 a while. So his thing was, you know, he was 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:17.040 going to learn to ride wheelies in his wheelchair. Well, 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:19.920 you know, he's cruising along showing off, you know, doing 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:22.760 his little wheelies and stuff. He ended up tipping over 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:28.640 backwards and he couldn't get up because his legs weren't broke. 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:32.000 And I was laughing at him because he was trying 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:34.320 to show off, and then we both started laughing, and 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:36.880 I couldn't get him up because we're both laughing so hard. 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:41.600 He makes light of every situation. 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.000 After Butch graduated high school, he took a job in 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:52.200 the oil field. He had taken vocational welding classes in 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.600 school and made a good living as a welder. But 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:57.040 then the oil industry lost traction. 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:02.720 I took off and a friend of mine had a 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:10.720 recovery company that he repossessed vehicles and everything, everything from canning, copiers, 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:14.320 a baby grand piano, We reported everything. 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.680 Butch was mobile, traveling all over Texas doing the repossession 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:21.240 work and making good money on it. He says he 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:24.640 was living the life. It was during this time that 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:27.760 Butch also got married and had a son, Parker Chase. 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:31.479 We were all married like three years. I really didn't 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:35.680 even want to marry or I told my homeway the way, 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:38.720 you know, we need to just keep driving, you know, 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:41.520 and he's going, I'm stupid, you're going back. 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:47.000 Needless to say that marriage didn't work out. Butch continued 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:49.760 working and he would also go out partying. He says 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:54.520 he was a ladies man and eventually he met the one. 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:56.320 So how did you meet Marcia? 0:04:57.400 --> 0:05:04.320 Well, actually, my buddies took me to a derby where, 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:10.119 you know, five gangcocks roosters, and it was a little 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:15.080 get together. There After it got dark and she was 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:16.720 sitting on a store in the kitchen. 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.520 Marcia Pool was twenty years old. She had just had 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:24.599 her son, Brady, who was with her at the gathering. 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:28.279 And I saw that she was drinking tequila. 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:32.719 Butch asked Marcia for a tequila shot, but instead she 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:36.520 handed him her baby son to Holt, and Butch was smitten. 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:38.960 Yeah. I knew right there, and I said in love 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:43.080 with her. Man. She was cool man, totally cool. 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:49.480 After that, Butch and Marsha were inseparable. Despite the fact 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:52.400 that Butch was twelve years older, it didn't matter to them. 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:55.080 They wanted to have a life together and they did. 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.080 We did everything together with I took her to a 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:01.960 bunch of concerts and she was like a grooby, little 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:04.760 hippie chick. We were so great together. 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:11.799 Eventually, Butch and Marsha moved in together. Butch was over 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.000 the moon happy when he found out they were going 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:16.839 to have a kid. By that point, Butch was also 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:20.680 a father figure to Marcia's son, Brady, whom he adored, 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:22.960 and Brady worshiped him too. 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:27.000 Bady would be on the front porch every day waiting 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:29.480 on me. I I'll go with you. I'm go on, 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.360 go on go, And if I wasn't paying attention, he 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:34.279 would try to climb the fence to get to me. 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:37.520 You know, I looked over every one time and he 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.080 was hanging upside down by his boodhist booty got caught 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:42.320 and he's looking at me. But he ain't screaming or nothing. 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:42.680 I'm like. 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:49.040 In June of nineteen ninety six, Butch and Marcia's daughter, 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:52.440 Kristin Ray was born, and Butch really wanted to make 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.320 the family official with Marcia. 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:57.400 I kept begging her to marryment. She said no, I'm 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:02.000 just done things so we never got married. That was 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.680 all my only love that I've ever been here. I 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:09.720 loved him more than anything or ever ever will again ever. 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:25.600 On February twenty fifth, nineteen ninety eight, Butch and Marsha 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:27.360 were at home when he got a call from his 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.720 friend Stacy, who had a construction business. He said he 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:32.840 knew a guy who wanted a fence put up and 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:35.480 asked Butch to come along and help measure for it. 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:40.080 And about twenty minutes later our horn home. He lived 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:43.960 right down the street. I said, Hey, I'm leaving. I'll 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:46.120 be back in a couple hours. She said, oh, I 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:49.280 love you. I love you too, and that that's where 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.600 I live. And we went stopped. 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:54.880 Bought beard from there, they drove to the job site. 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:57.560 Of course, we had some beer in the truck and everything. 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:01.080 But we went in back yard and measured where he 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:02.160 was putting fences. 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.200 It was a normal relaxing evening. Butch out with a 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:09.000 friend and Marsha and the kids asleep at home. But 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:11.200 as Butch and his friend were headed back to his house, 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:14.720 he saw a highway patrol car pass them at top speed, 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:16.240 its lights flashing. 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:21.640 We get up on the top of the Shiel and 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:25.080 I see a big black cloud of smoke, and you 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:30.600 can tell that it's like a plastic like tires something 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:33.520 like that. Mainly, you know, it's just so dark, you know, 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:37.720 a grass fire. It is dark like that. That's man, 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:42.400 that looks like my house man. And then when we 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:44.160 got closer, I saw that it was my. 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:48.120 House and the house was engulfed in flames. 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:53.000 And before we got to the house, a bell and 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:59.839 I jumped out of the dror and started yelling, oh 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:05.320 where marshalled the kids? And I ran right up in there, Uh, 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:11.559 solid wall smoked. I tried to up open the front door. 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:16.360 I couldn't get the door. Pushed boots from the fucking door. 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:21.320 Butch couldn't get in the house and he couldn't breathe. 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:24.000 But he was desperate to save his family. 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:28.160 So I ran back out of smoke. I got some 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:33.240 married I ran right back in and I couldn't get 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:37.800 in the fuck out. Uh you know, it was fully 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:41.400 engulfed anyway, but you know I ran the third time 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:45.000 I came out and they tackled me and I han't 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:49.400 copy to it. Both both top cars. 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.439 Butch was frantic and the police had handcuffed him to 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:56.680 a car to keep him from running into the burning 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.360 house to save his family. They eventually got him in 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.240 a car and him down the street to a friend's 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.000 house to keep him out of danger, but determined to 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.679 get to Marsha and the kids. Butch knocked his friend 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:10.080 down and took off, running two miles back to his house. 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:14.720 And I ran the whole way back, and when I 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.439 came around the corner, Uh, there was people ever where 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:21.320 my mom and dad were there. Oh, there's people ever 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:21.840 were man. 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:27.360 Butch was instantly tackled again by the sheriff so he 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:28.600 wouldn't run into the fire. 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:33.199 He got on top of me. I was knee and 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:38.840 my neck, you know, the typical police hold, and I 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:43.920 couldn't breathe. My dad came up and he told me 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:47.320 it's gonna be all right. I said, it's not gonna 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.320 be right. I'll never see her again. 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:05.120 This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company. 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:09.559 AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and to making 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:12.280 a positive difference in the lives of its employees and 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:15.280 in the communities where they work and live. In light 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:18.280 of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance and 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:22.760 in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social justice reform. 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:27.080 The AIG pro Bono program provides free legal services and 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:47.120 other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. Busch was taken 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:51.040 to a hospital in nearby San Angelo, his hands severely burned. 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:55.640 By this point, it was clear his entire world, twenty 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.920 four year old Marsha, three year old Brady, and eighteen 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:02.440 month old Kristen, had died in the fire. He was 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:08.920 the only one in their family left. Deeply depressed, Butch 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:11.920 was transferred to a psychiatric hospital while he recovered from 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:15.040 his burns. About a week into his stay, the police 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:15.880 came to visit him. 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:22.559 I had lost everything. Well. They came into where I 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:24.920 had left. I had the clothes I had on. I 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:30.560 was like, what and I have washed lot. Have you 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:33.520 watched the season? I said, yeah, what is wrong at you know? 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:36.640 Butch didn't know why the police needed the clothes he 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:38.720 had worn that day, but he gave them to the 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:43.520 officers anyway. The last of everything Butch owned and loved 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:50.120 was gone. Finally, when Butch was well enough, he was 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.320 taken to the remains of his house to look for 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:56.520 anything unusual. Sergeant Terry Lowe from the Sheriff's department walked 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:58.640 him through the wreckage. 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:03.400 So we'll go through all the rooms. And I noticed 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:10.960 there's some like fluorescent orange spray paint by Christian's crib. 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:16.600 And I asked him, is that where Christin was? That's 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:19.120 where her crib was, right there in that corner right there, 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:22.480 I say, is that where you found her body? And 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:23.200 he said is. 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:27.760 Marcia's body had been found lying against the door that 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:30.400 Butch had been trying to get into that night. Little 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:33.640 Brady was found on the floor nearby, and. 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.920 They say that Brady had got off the couch and 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:41.040 went to the love seat to I guess probably a 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:49.240 wake as my mom and she she she stood up 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:54.400 into a thermal layer or something like that and sends 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:56.280 her runs. Uh. 0:13:56.720 --> 0:14:02.319 They imagining how they're deaths played out was horrific for Butch. 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:07.200 During the initial investigation, pathologist doctor David Hobblett said they 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:10.280 died of smoke inhalation and that they were alive when 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:17.640 the fire started. But then, in an unusual turn of events, 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:20.960 the state, wanting to argue that this was actually a homicide, 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:26.320 had all three bodies exhumed. Forensic anthropologists doctor Harold gil 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:31.240 King examined them. Gil King came to a different conclusion 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:33.920 than the pathologist had. He said that three year old 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.000 Brady had blunt forced injuries to his head and that 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:42.360 the injuries were inflicted prior to his death, further bolstering 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:45.560 the state's theory. The fire investigator also said he found 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:50.600 evidence of intentionally poured accelerants, suggesting someone started the fire 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:55.600 on purpose. Almost two months after the fire, Butch was 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:58.800 arrested for arson and the murder of his family. He 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:06.440 was indicted on April fifteenth, nineteen ninety eight. Not only 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:09.400 was Butch devastated by the charges, but also by the 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:12.520 fact that the sheriff who arrested him, Terry Lowe, with 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:14.440 someone Butch had known for years. 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:19.480 My sister played ball, softball and with his daughter, So 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:26.320 everybody knew the sheriff. You know, and you'll have to 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:28.840 as the town knows me and knows. There's no way 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:31.920 I would ever, and the other half think I'm so 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:33.880 crazy that I might have. 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:41.560 Naturally. This put Butch in a dark place. While awaiting trial, 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:43.080 he tried to kill himself. 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:52.000 I took two bottles of the ambience and sleeping pills 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:55.920 and valians of roaches. I took several bottles of pills 0:15:55.960 --> 0:16:05.560 and that's when he found me of pump stomach. I'll 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:08.400 be there with him dead than Roger Rod now. 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:24.280 Butch went to trial on April fourteenth, nineteen ninety nine. 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:28.640 District Attorney Al Shari was the prosecutor. His theory was 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:31.640 that Butch knocked out Marcia and Brady, put Kristin in 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.160 her crib, and then set the fire before leaving with 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:37.680 his friend for the evening. He said Butch was angry 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.280 with Marcia because she was going to leave him with 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.360 no life or homeowner's insurance. To claim this would have 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:47.960 been Butch's only motive. Da Shore called Marcia's mother to 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:51.240 testify and support of this theory. She told the court 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:56.000 that Butch and Marcia had a tumultuous relationship, and Butch's 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:58.400 friend Stacy, who was with him the night of the fire, 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:02.920 also testified that Butch had been acting suspiciously. Something Butch 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.080 had said as the patrol car flew by them that 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:07.960 night along the lines of I hope they're not going 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:11.120 to my house was brought up and used as evidence 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:14.520 of guilt. Shari said that meant that Butch already knew 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:16.080 it was his house. 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:24.280 The entire case is proof of how when you're looking 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:27.679 to paint a bull's eye around somebody, you can do 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:30.240 it right. If you think that this guy is guilty, 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:33.400 then something like I hope that fire truck's not going 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:35.240 to my house suddenly takes on a. 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:37.679 Whole new meaning. This is Alison Clayton. 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.479 I am the deputy director of the Innosonce Project of 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:44.760 Texas and the adjunct professor of the Innocence Clinic at 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:46.440 Texas Tech University School of Law. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.840 Allison says, then when Shari called the original pathologist, doctor 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:52.840 David Hobblett, to testify, well. 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.800 The pathologist gets on the stand and he says, yeah, 0:17:55.880 --> 0:18:00.560 I found swelling in both the brains of marsh and 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:04.560 of Brady. And to me, this swelling indicates blunt force 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:08.240 trauma inflicted prior to the time of death. That was 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:11.240 out of nowhere for the defense because that's not what 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:12.280 the report said. 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.959 Remember, in the original report, doctor Hoblett said that he 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:19.439 believed they died from smoke inhalation, But now at trial 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:21.720 he said something totally different. 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:26.760 At some point in there, the pathologist changed his mind. 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:30.040 He changed his opinion his testimony changed to match what 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:31.880 the anthropologist was going to say. 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:36.480 The forensic anthropologist, doctor Gil King, testified to finding blunt 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:38.520 force trauma after the exhumation. 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:41.679 The anthropologist says, you know, this is the kind of 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:44.920 trauma that you could expect to be inflicted from a 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:49.480 closed fist at a full arm swing. I mean, just 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:50.760 terrible testimony. 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:54.720 And the States fire experts Dale Little and John Corn 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:58.120 testified that they believed the fire started in the bedroom 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:02.000 from intentionally poured accelerant. This was based on samples from 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:05.600 the home that came back positive for two chemicals, norpar 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:09.760 and hydroparaferated kerosene. These chemicals were believed at the time 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:13.720 to only be present in accelerants used for setting fires. 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:18.119 They also said they found what they called poor patterns 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:21.720 where the accelerant would have theoretically been I mean. 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:25.080 Back in the nineties and early two thousands, fire investigators 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:27.160 would go through a crime scene and they would say, hey, 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:31.160 it looks like there was something poured on this floor 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:33.640 right here, and then everything burned down to the concrete. 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:36.399 So they thought that they could go through and recognize 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:40.359 these patterns and concrete of burned structures and say, ah, 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:42.040 that's where they had poured accelerant. 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:46.800 But Butch had hired private attorneys Clifford Hardwick and John Cook, 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:51.440 and they put on a rigorous defense. Their fire experts 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:56.000 refuted the findings of the prosecution. Forensic scientist Doug Byron 0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:58.760 said it wasn't surprising that those chemicals were found in 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:03.680 the home because common ingredients in numerous household products. Their 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:09.600 presence does not mean a fire was intentionally set. Carter Roberts, 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:13.879 a certified fire investigator, disputed the so called poor patterns. 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:17.080 He maintained that the fire started on the back porch, 0:20:17.480 --> 0:20:20.760 not in the bedroom, and that a faulty extension cord 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:22.080 might have been to blame. 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.320 They had a deep freeze out on their back porch 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:29.640 and they had plugged in this old time deep freezer 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:33.280 with an indoor extension cord that they had run from 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:36.480 the back porch through the back bedroom into the kitchen 0:20:36.560 --> 0:20:39.640 to plug in above the stove, and that was their 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:41.879 theory is that that's probably a start of the fire. 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:46.400 Roberts said he believed States expert Dale Little was looking 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:50.720 for evidence of arson and disregarded potential fire hazards like 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:56.200 the extension cord Butch's defense team also called witnesses who 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:58.680 had been with Butch that night. They said they did 0:20:58.680 --> 0:21:01.720 not smell any un usual odors like lighter fluid or 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:06.479 accelerant on Butch or on his clothes. And finally, they 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:10.560 had forensic pathologists and medical examiner doctor Lloyd White review 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:14.560 the autopsies and photographs. Doctor White testified that not only 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:17.760 was there no indication of blunt force trauma, but that 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:21.800 brain swelling was actually common for deaths associated with fire 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:26.480 because of carbon monoxide poisoning. Despite all this, it was 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:29.280 not enough to convince a jury of reasonable doubt. 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:31.879 But at the end of the day, you have got 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:36.600 horrific pictures of burned babies and their mama laying right 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:39.919 there at the front door. A terrible case, I mean 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:43.200 just a terrible case. And you've got scientific evidence from 0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:47.080 a pathologist, from a forensic anthropologist, from arson scientists, and 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:50.480 of course you know it's very difficult to overcome that. 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:56.880 On April thirtieth, nineteen ninety nine, thirty six year old 0:21:56.920 --> 0:22:00.399 Butch Martin was convicted of three counts of capital mare. 0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:03.760 He was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences. 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:19.439 The media made my brother to out to be a 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:24.280 monster basically. You know, he's He's done a lot of 0:22:24.359 --> 0:22:27.080 dumb stuff in his life, but he's not a murderer. 0:22:31.920 --> 0:22:34.440 It's definitely one of the hardest things I've ever been through. 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:40.119 My brother has missed everything, you know, my I mean everything, 0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:43.440 and it's just it's not fair. 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:45.280 It is not fair. 0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:47.920 They didn't even give him the opportunity. 0:22:48.000 --> 0:22:48.199 You know. 0:22:48.320 --> 0:22:52.120 It's like it's like they they wanted him guilty right 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:54.000 from the from the get go, you know what I mean. 0:22:55.240 --> 0:23:05.240 And then before I knew it, he was gone. 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:11.880 After his conviction, Butch was sent to a men's maximum 0:23:12.000 --> 0:23:16.040 security prison in Texas to spend the rest of his life. 0:23:17.640 --> 0:23:21.280 It was a tough place with tough prisoners. Butcher remembers 0:23:21.280 --> 0:23:23.520 a time he got in a bad fight with some guys. 0:23:24.880 --> 0:23:27.200 One of them made a comment about, oh, yeah, yeah, 0:23:27.200 --> 0:23:30.720 the guy had a little barbecue, right. I don't see 0:23:30.760 --> 0:23:32.520 him in the mountain. I didn't know at the time 0:23:32.600 --> 0:23:36.040 that he was there, his brotherhood. I'm missing a bunch 0:23:36.080 --> 0:23:40.840 of tea and you know, and they weren't pools. 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:44.679 It's hard for me to talk to him without crying. 0:23:44.840 --> 0:23:47.119 And the whole time's going Heather stop, Heather Stop. I 0:23:47.119 --> 0:23:49.280 can't cry. I can't cry, you know, And it's really sad, 0:23:49.840 --> 0:23:51.560 you know that he just has to put on this 0:23:51.600 --> 0:23:54.159 front and be a tough guy all the time. Twenty 0:23:54.160 --> 0:23:56.560 four to seven. I'm just ready for him to be 0:23:56.600 --> 0:24:00.639 able to be himself again, you know, because that's not him, 0:24:01.080 --> 0:24:01.520 That is. 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:02.240 Not him at all. 0:24:03.400 --> 0:24:07.080 He is a good, tender hearted man and he deserves 0:24:07.119 --> 0:24:08.440 to be able to be that man. 0:24:11.240 --> 0:24:14.280 While in prison, Butch also lost access to his son, 0:24:14.359 --> 0:24:17.879 Parker Chase. His ex wife had him sign papers giving 0:24:18.000 --> 0:24:19.399 up his parental rights. 0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:25.119 You know, I haven't talked to him since he was 0:24:25.160 --> 0:24:25.840 a little kid. 0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:28.040 So you don't have a relationship with him. 0:24:28.520 --> 0:24:30.479 No, I don't. But I get pictures of him all 0:24:30.520 --> 0:24:33.080 the time. My sister has him on Facebook. 0:24:36.359 --> 0:24:39.320 Butch has never stopped thinking about the life and family 0:24:39.400 --> 0:24:42.440 he lost in the fire. He says he has nightmares 0:24:42.440 --> 0:24:44.040 about it all the time. 0:24:44.840 --> 0:24:46.800 Every day, every day when I wake up, I go 0:24:46.920 --> 0:24:50.960 rocky running in the house. Time, let me get the house, 0:24:51.160 --> 0:24:55.479 you know, every day you when I wake up. 0:25:11.920 --> 0:25:15.679 For years, Butch filed appeal after appeal to try to 0:25:15.760 --> 0:25:16.840 overturn his conviction. 0:25:17.440 --> 0:25:19.080 As I would say, we play the waiting game. 0:25:19.600 --> 0:25:21.080 This is Butcher's sister, Heather. 0:25:21.200 --> 0:25:22.640 Again, we would. 0:25:22.400 --> 0:25:24.280 Wait and wait and wait, and then this would get 0:25:24.280 --> 0:25:27.560 denied or you know, they wouldn't even you know, take 0:25:27.720 --> 0:25:30.600 years just to read something, just to shut him down, 0:25:30.680 --> 0:25:32.760 you know, and it was hard, you know, you get 0:25:32.800 --> 0:25:36.240 your hopes up just to get basically your feet kicked 0:25:36.240 --> 0:25:41.359 out from underneath you. Especially especially for my brother of course, 0:25:41.760 --> 0:25:43.960 getting his hopes up thinking he's going to get to 0:25:43.960 --> 0:25:46.760 come home, and then you know, something else happens. 0:25:47.640 --> 0:25:51.800 Eventually, something else did happen, something Butch had been waiting for. 0:25:52.320 --> 0:25:55.639 Alison Clayton and the Innocent Project of Texas wound up 0:25:55.640 --> 0:26:00.160 taking on Butch's case in twenty seventeen. Did anything stand 0:26:00.200 --> 0:26:02.440 out to you about the case immediately? 0:26:03.320 --> 0:26:08.280 The use of arson science in the fire debris analysis 0:26:08.840 --> 0:26:13.160 and the reliance on poor pattern science. I know from 0:26:13.200 --> 0:26:16.399 studies that were done in the early two thousands and 0:26:16.480 --> 0:26:21.119 mid two thousands that our understanding of analyzing fire debris 0:26:21.160 --> 0:26:21.840