David Lee Gavitt, 54, walked out of prison last week after 26 years in prison. Gavitt was wrongly convicted of the arson murders of his wife and two daughters.
Fire investigators suspected the fire was arson due to the burn patterns inside the house. However, new fire science proved the fire was an accidental “flashover,” a fire that can burn hot and fast without accelerant and leaves patterns similar to pour patterns.
“In light of modern fire science, there is simply not one shred of credible evidence that the fire at the Gavitt residence was intentionally set,” said John Lentini, an expert in fire science, in an affidavit presented to a judge last fall by the Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School, who worked extensively on Gavitt’s case.
Gavitt is just the latest in a line of recent arson exonerations due to better fire science determining that fires were accidental. James Kluppelberg was released in May and Ernest Ray Willis was exonerated in 2004 based in part on testimony from a fire expert. The most infamous case is that of Cameron Todd Willingham who was executed despite a last-minute appeal that cast serious doubt on the fire science used to convict him.
Lentini, one of the key scientists changing long-held views on arson investigation, told FRONTLINE that “the fire investigation community largely consists of people who are firemen. They’re not scientists. They don’t have any formal scientific training.”
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