March 6, 2023 • 32 mins
On February 25, 1998, while Garland Leon “Butch” Martin was out on a fencing job, his home burned down. His wife, Marcia, and their two small children, Michael and Kristen, were killed in the fire. Fire investigators and forensic anthropologists quickly decided that the fire was not an accident. Rather, they said it was set intentionally, and that Butch was responsible. Butch’s trial was rife with so-called arson evidence that is now widely understood to be junk science. The result was three concurrent life sentences. Maggie speaks to Garland Leon “Butch” Martin, Butch’s sister, Heather Davis, and Butch’s attorney, Allison Clayton.
To learn more about the junk science of arson evidence, listen to:
https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/149-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-arson-evidence/
To learn more and get involved, visit:
https://innocencetexas.org/take-action/advocate/
Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A quick note, this episode contains mention of suicide. Please
listen with caution and care. On the night of February
twenty fifth, nineteen ninety eight, a mother and her two
(00:20):
children were asleep in their home outside of Midland, Texas.
While they slept, a fire broke out in the house.
Driving home from work, Butch Martin saw the flames from
the road as they approached. We get up on the
top of the heel, last see the black cloud of smokes.
That's man. That looks like my house man. And then
(00:45):
when we got closer, I saw it my house. Butcher's girlfriend,
Marsha Pool, and their two children, Brady and Kristen, died
in the fire, and the subsequent investigation led an innocent
man to be condemned to prison for life. You know,
part of me says, I don't care what nobody thinks,
(01:07):
but I new care. You know, olin is the truth
to be know the truth. I am Ruth Martin. I've
been in cars for him since August ninety nine. From
Love of for Good. This is wrongful conviction with Maggie
Freeling today. Butch Martin Garland Leon Martin, who goes by Butch,
(01:47):
was born in Odessa, Texas, on September fifteenth, nineteen sixty two,
to Buddy and Nancy Martin. Butch was one of five children.
When he was young, the family moved to nearby Midland, Texas,
where he and his siblings were raised. It's right Willard
out on farm, out of sight every top animal you
(02:11):
can think of, you know, peas, goats, sheep, turkeys, peacock. Right,
Butch rode horses and motorcycles and loved to drag race.
He's the wildest stuff a bunch, that's for sure. This
is Butcher's little sister, Heather. Everybody loved him, everybody. I mean,
(02:34):
he was very outgoing. He was the type to give
his shirt office back for anybody. He would help anybody
in need. And not only that, he's funny. He's hilarious, definitely.
I mean he has his moments and he can be serious,
but for the most part, he's pretty funny and he
(02:56):
likes to make people laugh. In fact, his offbeat sense
of humor is the source of one of Heather's favorite
memories of Butch. He was in a MOTORCYCWA accident and
he broke both of his legs. So he was in
a wheelchair for a while. So his thing was, you know,
he was going to learn to ride wheelies in his wheelchair. Well,
(03:17):
you know, he's cruising along showing off, you know, doing
his little wheelies and stuff. He handed up tipping over backwards,
and he couldn't get up because his legs were broke.
And I was laughing at him because he was trying
to show off, And then we both started laughing, and
I couldn't get him up because we're both laughing so hard.
(03:39):
He makes he makes light of every situation. After Butch
graduated high school, he took a job in the oil field.
He had taken vocational welding classes in school and made
a good living as a welder. But then the oil
industry lost traction. I took off and a friend of
(04:02):
mine I had a recovery company that he repossessed vehicles
and everything, everything from cannon, copiers, a baby grand piano.
We reported everything. Butch was mobile, traveling all over Texas
doing the repossession work and making good money on it.
He says he was living the life. It was during
(04:24):
this time that Butch also got married and had a son,
Parker Chase. We were all married like three years. I
really didn't even want to marry. I told my hallway
the way, you know, we need to just keep driving,
you know, and he's going on stupid, you're going back.
Needless to say, that marriage didn't work out. Butch continued
(04:47):
working and he would also go out partying. He says
he was a ladies man and eventually he met the one.
So how did you meet Marcia? Well, actually, my but
he took me to a derby where, you know, five
gangcocks roosters, and it was a little get together. There
(05:11):
After it got dark and she was sitting on a
stool kitchen. Marcia Pool was twenty years old. She had
just had her son, Brady, who was with her at
the gathering, and I saw that she was drinking tequila.
Butch asked Marcia for a tequila shot, but instead she
(05:32):
handed him her baby son to Holt, and Butch was smitten. Yeah,
I knew right then I should love her. Man. She
was cool, man, totally cool. After that, Butch and Marcia
were inseparable, despite the fact that Butch was twelve years older.
It didn't matter to them. They wanted to have a
(05:53):
life together and they did. We didn't everything together way
I took her to a bunch of concerts and she
was liking a ruby, little hippie chick. We were so
great together. Eventually, Butch and Marcia moved in together. Butch
was over the moon happy when he found out they
(06:13):
were going to have a kid. By that point, Butch
was also a father figure to Marsha's son, Brady, whom
he adored, and Brady worshiped him too bad. He would
be on the front porch every day waiting on me.
I want to go with you. I want to go
and go and go, And if I wouldn't paying attention,
he would try to climb the fence to get to me.
(06:34):
You know, I looked out every one time and he
was hanging upside down by his boots. Booty got caught
and he's looking at me. But he ain't screaming or nothing.
I'm like. In June of nineteen ninety six, Butch and
Marsha's daughter, Kristen Ray was born, and Butch really wanted
to make the family official with Marcia. I've kept begging
(06:56):
under merriment. She said, no, I'm just running things. So
we never got married. That was on my only love
that I've ever been here I would loved him. Wasn't
anything or ever every will again ever. On February twenty fifth,
(07:23):
nineteen ninety eight, Butch and Marcia were at home when
he got a call from his friend Stacy, who had
a construction business. He said he knew a guy who
wanted a fence put up and asked Butch to come
along and help measure for it. And about twenty minutes
there are hornon. He lived right down the street. I said, hey,
I'm leaving. I'll be back in a couple hours. She said,
(07:45):
I love you. I love you too. That's why I
loved And we went and stopped bought beard. From there,
they drove to the job site. Of course, we had
some beard in the truck and everything. But we went
in the backyard and measured it where he was putting fences.
It was a normal relaxing evening. Butch out with a friend,
(08:06):
and Marcia and the kids asleep at home. But as
Butch and his friend were headed back to his house,
he saw a highway patrol car pass them at top speed.
It's lights flashing. We get up on the top of
this hiel and I see it up black clouds of smoke,
and you can tell that it's like plastic, like tires
(08:30):
something like that. Mainly, you know, it's just so dark,
your grass farc dark like that. That's man that looks
like my house man. And then when we got closer,
I saw that my house and the house was engulfed
in flames. And before we got to the house, I
(08:52):
felt and I jumped out of the drawer, and uh
I started yelling, oh, Marshall, the kid. I ran right
up in there, solid wall, smoked and tried to oh.
I couldn't get the push push woods from the fucking door.
(09:18):
Butch couldn't get in the house and he couldn't breathe,
but he was desperate to save his family, so I
ran back out of the the smoke and got some marron.
I ran right back in, and uh I couldn't get
the fuck out. You know, it was fully engulfed anyway,
(09:39):
but you know, I ran the third time I came
out and they tackled me, and I can't go back
to it. Top cars. Butch was frantic and the police
had handcuffed him to a car to keep him from
running into the burning house to save his family. They
eventually got him in a car and look him down
(10:00):
the street to a friend's house to keep him out
of danger, but determined to get to Marcia and the kids,
which knocked his friend down and took off running two
miles back to his house. And I ran the whole
way back, and when I came around a corner there
was people ever where my mom and Ever were. Oh,
there was people Ever were. Man Butch was instantly tackled
(10:25):
again by the sheriff so he wouldn't run into the fire.
He got on top met knee and my neck, you know,
the typical police hold, and I couldn't breathe. And my
dad came up and he's told me it's gonna be
all right. I said, it's not gonna be right. I'll
(10:47):
never fucking see her again. This episode is underwritten by AIG,
a leading global insurance company. AIG is committed to corporate
social responsibility and to making a positive difference in the
(11:10):
lives of its employees and in the communities where they
work and live. In light of the compelling need for
pro bono legal assistance, and in recognition of AIG's commitment
to criminal and social justice reform, the AIG pro Bono
Program provides free legal services and other support to underrepresented
communities and individuals. Buch was taken to a hospital in
(11:48):
nearby San Angelo, his hands severely burned. By this point,
it was clear his entire world, twenty four year old Marcia,
three year old Brady, and eighteen month old Kristen, had
died in the fire. He was the only one in
their family left. Deeply depressed, Butch was transferred to a
(12:09):
psychiatric hospital while he recovered from his burns. About a
week into his stay, the police came to visit him.
I had lost everything, well, they came. He took what
I had. I had the clothes I had on what
and I had watched him? Have you watched season? Yeah?
(12:32):
What is wrong that? Butch didn't know why the police
needed the clothes he had worn that day, but he
gave them to the officers. Anyway, the last of everything
Butch owned and loved was gone. Finally, when Butch was
well enough, he was taken to the remains of his
house to look for anything unusual. Sergeant Terry Lowe from
(12:55):
the Sheriff's Department walked him through the wreckage. So we'll
go through all the rooms, and I noticed there's some
fluorescent orange spray paint by Christian's crib, and I asked him,
is that where Christal was? That's where her crib was
(13:17):
rut there in the corner out there. I said, that
where you found her body? And he said is Marsha's
body had been found lying against the door that which
had been trying to get into that night. Little Brady
was found on the floor nearby. And they say that
Brady had got off the couch and went to the
(13:38):
love seat to I guess probably as as my mom,
and well she she she screwed up into a thermal
layer or something like that and sends her lungs. They
hate imagining how they're deaths played out was horrific for Butch.
(14:03):
During the initial investigation, pathologist doctor David Hoblett said they
died of smoke inhalation and that they were alive when
the fire started. But then, in an unusual turn of events,
the state, wanting to argue that this was actually a homicide,
had all three bodies exhumed. Forensic anthropologist doctor Harold gil
(14:26):
King examined them. Gil King came to a different conclusion
than the pathologist had. He said that three year old
Brady had blunt forced injuries to his head, and that
the injuries were inflicted prior to his death, further bolstering
the state's theory. The fire investigator also said he found
evidence of intentionally poured accelerance, suggesting someone started the fire
(14:50):
on purpose. Almost two months after the fire, Butch was
arrested for arson and the murder of his family. He
was indicted on April fifteenth, nineteen ninety eight. Not only
was Butch devastated by the charges, but also by the
fact that the sheriff who arrested him, Terry Lowe, was
(15:12):
someone Butch had known for years. My sister played ball
saw ball. It was his daughter. So everybody sup you know,
and you'll have to have The town knows me and
knows there's no way I would ever and other have
to think I'm so crazy that I might have naturally.
(15:37):
This put Butch in a dark place. While awaiting trial,
he tried to kill himself. I took two bottles of
the ambiance and sleeping pills and valumes. Roch took several
bottles of pills and so any found me welcome stomach,
(16:05):
I'll be there with him dead. Didn't Roger run in.
Butch went to trial on April fourteenth, nineteen ninety nine,
District Attorney Alshery was the prosecutor. His theory was that
(16:28):
Butch knocked out Marcia and Brady, put Kristen in her crib,
and then set the fire before leaving with his friend
for the evening. He said Butch was angry with Marcia
because she was going to leave him with no life
or homeowner's insurance. To claim this would have been Butch's
only motive. Da Shory called Marsha's mother to testify in
support of this theory. She told the court that Butch
(16:51):
and Marcia had a tumultuous relationship, and Butch's friend Stacy,
who was with him the night of the fire, also
testified Butch had been acting suspiciously. Something Butch had said
as the patrol car flew by them that night along
the lines of I hope they're not going to my
house was brought up and used as evidence of guilt.
(17:12):
Shari said that meant that Butch already knew it was
his house. The entire case is proof of how when
you're looking to paint a bull's eye around somebody, you
can do it right. If you think that this guy
is guilty. Then something like I hope that firetruck's not
(17:33):
going to my house suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.
This is Alison Clayton. I am the deputy director of
the Innocence Project of Texas and the adjunct professor of
the Innocence Clinic at Texas Tech University School of Law.
Alison says that when Shari called the original pathologist, doctor
David Hobblett, to testify, the pathologist gets on the stand
(17:54):
and he says, yeah, I found swelling in both the
brains of marsh and of Brady. And to me, this
swelling indicates blunt force trauma inflicted prior to the time
of death. That was out of nowhere for the defense
because that's not what the report said. Remember, in the
original report, doctor Hoblett said that he believed they died
(18:16):
from smoke inhalation, but now at trial he said something
totally different. At some point in there, the pathologist changed
his mind, he changed his opinion. His testimony changed to
match what the anthropologist was going to say. The forensic anthropologist,
doctor Gil King, testified to finding blunt force trauma after
(18:37):
the exhumation. The anthropologist says, you know, this is the
kind of trauma that you could expect to be inflicted
from a closed fist at a full arm swing. I mean,
just terrible testimony. And the state's fire experts Dale Little
and John Korne testified that they believed the fire started
in the bedroom from intentionally poured accelerant. This was based
(19:01):
on samples from the home that came back positive for
two chemicals, nor par and hydro paraffinated kerosene. These chemicals
were believed at the time to only be present and
accelerants used for setting fires. They also said they found
what they called poor patterns where the accelerant would have
theoretically been. I mean, back in the nineties and early
(19:22):
two thousands, fire investigators would go through a crime scene
and they would say, hey, it looks like there was
something poured on this floor right here, and then everything
burned down to the concrete. So they thought that they
could go through and recognize these patterns and concrete of
burned structures and say, ah, that's where they had poured accelerant.
(19:43):
But Butch had hired private attorney as Clifford Hardwick and
John Cook, and they put on a rigorous defense. Their
fire experts refuted the findings of the prosecution. Forensic scientist
Dug Byron said it wasn't surprising that those chemicals were
found in the home because there common ingredients in numerous
household products. Their presence does not mean a fire was
(20:05):
intentionally set. Carter Roberts, a certified fire investigator, disputed the
so called poor patterns. He maintained that the fire started
on the back porch, not in the bedroom, and that
a faulty extension cord might have been to blame. They
had a deep freeze out on their back porch and
(20:27):
they had plugged in this old time deep freezer with
an indoor extension cord that they had run from the
back porch, threw the back bedroom into the kitchen to
plug in above the stove, and that was their theory
is that that's probably a start of the fire. Robert
said he believed states expert Dale Little was looking for
evidence of arson and disregarded potential fire hazards like the
(20:51):
extension cord. Butch's defense team also called witnesses who had
been with Butch that night. They said they did not
smell any usual odors like lighter fluid or accelerant on
Butch or on his clothes, and finally they had forensic
pathologists and medical examiner doctor Lloyd White review the autopsies
(21:11):
and photographs. Doctor White testified that not only was there
no indication of blunt force trauma, but that brain swelling
was actually common for deaths associated with fire because of
carbon monoxide poisoning. Despite all this, it was not enough
to convince a jury of reasonable doubt. But at the
end of the day, you have got horrific pictures of
(21:33):
burned babies and their mama laying right there at the
front door. A terrible case, I mean just a terrible case.
And you've got scientific evidence from a pathologist, from a
forensic anthropologist, from arson scientists, and of course, you know,
it's very difficult to overcome that. On April thirtieth, nineteen
(21:54):
ninety nine, thirty six year old Butch Martin was convicted
of three counts of capital He was sentenced to three
concurrent life sentences. The media made my brother to out
(22:19):
to be a monster. Basically, you know, he's he's done
a lot of dumb stuff in his life, but he's
not a murderer. It's definitely one of the hardest things
I've ever been through. My brother has missed everything, you know,
my I mean everything, and it's just it's not fair.
(22:44):
It is not fair. They didn't even give him the opportunity,
you know. It's like it's like they they wanted him
guilty right from the from the get go, you know
what I mean. And then before I knew what he
was gone. After his conviction, Butch was sent to a
(23:10):
men's maximum security prison in Texas to spend the rest
of his life. It was a tough place with tough prisoners.
Butcher remembers the time he got in a bad fight
with some guys. What I'm made a comment about, oh yeah, yeah,
you got ahead a little barbecue, right, and I must
see him in the mountain. I didn't know at the
(23:32):
time that he was there, his brother. I'm missing a
bunch of tea, you know, and there weren't pools. It's
hard for me to talk to him without crying. And
the whole time he's going Heather stop, Heather stop. I
can't cry. I can't cry, you know. And it's really sad,
you know that he just has to put on this
front and be a tough guy all the time. Twenty
(23:54):
four to seven I'm just ready for him to be
able to be himself again, you know, because that's not him,
That is not him at all. He is a good,
tender hearted man, and he deserves to be able to
be that man. While in prison, Butch also lost access
to his son, Parker Chase. His ex wife had him
(24:16):
signed papers giving up his parental rights. You know, I
haven't talked to him since he was a little kid.
You don't have a relationship with him, No, I don't.
I get pictures of him all the time. My sister
has him more on Facebook. Butch has never stopped thinking
(24:37):
about the life and family he lost in the fire.
He says he has nightmares about it all the time.
Every day. Every day when I wake up, I go
rocky running in the house, trying to let me get
the path you every day you want to wake up.
(25:11):
For years, Butch filed appeal after appeal to try to
overturn his conviction. As I would say, we'd play the
waiting game. This is Butcher's sister, Heather again. We would
wait and wait and wait, and then this would get
denied or you know they wouldn't even you know, take
years just to read something, just to shut him down,
you know, and it was hard. You know, you get
(25:32):
your hopes up just to get basically your feet kicked
out from underneath you, especially especially for my brother of course,
getting his hopes up thinking he's going to get to
come home, and then you know, something else happens. Eventually,
something else did happen, something Butch had been waiting for.
Alison Clayton and the Innocence Project of Texas wound up
(25:55):
taking on Butcher's case in twenty seventeen. Did anything out
to you about the case immediately? The use of Arson's
science in the fire debris analysis and the reliance on
poor pattern science. I know from studies that were done
in the early two thousands and mid two thousands that
(26:18):
our understanding of analyzing fire debris has evolved. First, Allison
says that updated fire science affirms with the defenses experts
at at trial that the chemicals found in fire accelerants
are also commonly found in homes. They are in carpet,
(26:38):
they're in building adhesive, they're in receipt paper, they're in
you know, some clothing will have it on them. They
are just everywhere. And also, of course the poor patterns,
and I knew that poor pattern science had been entirely discredited,
especially for these big house fires, and that that anytime
(27:00):
you see poor pattern, gigantic red flag. Alison points to
the many examples in this case of so called evidence
shape shifting to fit the state's narrative, including doctor Hoblett
revising his original assessment from death by smoke inhalation to
blunt force trauma. If you think that he's guilty, then
all of a sudden, this fire to brie analysis intentionally
(27:22):
looking for something like everything takes a different cast. Right
back in two thousand and two, before Alison came on,
Butch had another legal team working on his case. They
had already brought it to the state fire Marshal and
a scientific advisory committee for review. Forensic pathologist, fire experts,
fire chemists, all these different people, and they look at
(27:43):
the evidence in Butch's cases, and these people understand the
advancements that have been made by that time. And the
fire marshal comes out and writes an opinion saying that
you cannot say that this was an intentionally set fire.
He says that the cause of the fire is undetermined,
which is a big, big deal. So when Alison came
on the case. She already had this information to work with,
(28:06):
and in May of twenty twenty two, she lined up
her own experts for a new hearing on the case
in front of Judge David g. Rogers. Not only that
new information had come to light about the original pathologist,
doctor Hoblett. He's doing all kinds of stuff that as
a doctor, you're not supposed to be doing. He's running
a pain pill mill, right, He's just like doing scripts
(28:26):
for all kinds of things for people who don't need them.
So then the Feds come in and the FEDS arrest him.
All of that eventually ended up in him completely losing
his license to practice medicine. One of the main witnesses
to testify against him was now completely discredited. This was
huge for Butch's case. In fact, every piece of evidence
(28:48):
the state had used against him had been discredited. Allison
says that when all the new evidence was presented, you
could fill the shift in the courtroom when the judge
and the prosecutor, I think really started to realize, oh
my goodness, we got an innocent man. Butch's father died
(29:21):
while he was in prison, but his mom got to
sit in the courtroom and hear all the evidence that
will likely get her son out of prison. She died
just a month later. In the meantime, Butch waits and
thinks about what he'll do with his freedom if and
when it comes. He says he'd liked to drag race
again and build some rental homes. He's excited to finally
(29:43):
bond with his nieces, nephews and now their kids. And
there's a lot of them. Um, let's see, I have
three daughters. My oldest daughter has three daughters, and my
middle daughter has a son and a daughter. So he
has one great nephew and four great nieces. What are
(30:05):
you gonna do with them when you're out? I'm kidnap
them and keep them. But most of all, Butch just
wants justice for the family he lost. I'm missing, so
you know, if there is ever a real I'm not
(30:28):
get to watch the marsh keep the DA's ass's as
she will. If you want to help Butch, go to
Innocence Texas dot org and click on take action next time.
(30:58):
On wrongful conviction with Maggie Freeling Nancy Smith. They said
that you didn't take her daughter to school. You took
her daughter to a birthday party where you molested her
and I'm like, what what are you talking about? Thanks
for listening to Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling. Please support
(31:20):
your local innocence organizations and go to the links in
our bio to see how you can help. I'd like
to thank our executive producers Jason Flom and Kevin Wurdis,
as well as our senior producer Annie Chelsea, producer Lila Robinson,
and story editor Sonja Paul. The show is edited and
mixed by Annie Chelsey, with additional production by Jeff Cleburne
and Connor Hall. The music in this production is by
(31:43):
three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to
follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at
Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and on Twitter at wrong Conviction, as
well as at Lava for Good. On all three platforms,
you can also follow me on both Instagram and Twitter
at Maggie Freeling. Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling is a
(32:04):
production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal
Company Number one
A quick note, this episode contains mention of suicide. Please
listen with caution and care. On the night of February
twenty fifth, nineteen ninety eight, a mother and her two
(00:20):
children were asleep in their home outside of Midland, Texas.
While they slept, a fire broke out in the house.
Driving home from work, Butch Martin saw the flames from
the road as they approached. We get up on the
top of the heel, last see the black cloud of smokes.
That's man. That looks like my house man. And then
(00:45):
when we got closer, I saw it my house. Butcher's girlfriend,
Marsha Pool, and their two children, Brady and Kristen, died
in the fire, and the subsequent investigation led an innocent
man to be condemned to prison for life. You know,
part of me says, I don't care what nobody thinks,
(01:07):
but I new care. You know, olin is the truth
to be know the truth. I am Ruth Martin. I've
been in cars for him since August ninety nine. From
Love of for Good. This is wrongful conviction with Maggie
Freeling today. Butch Martin Garland Leon Martin, who goes by Butch,
(01:47):
was born in Odessa, Texas, on September fifteenth, nineteen sixty two,
to Buddy and Nancy Martin. Butch was one of five children.
When he was young, the family moved to nearby Midland, Texas,
where he and his siblings were raised. It's right Willard
out on farm, out of sight every top animal you
(02:11):
can think of, you know, peas, goats, sheep, turkeys, peacock. Right,
Butch rode horses and motorcycles and loved to drag race.
He's the wildest stuff a bunch, that's for sure. This
is Butcher's little sister, Heather. Everybody loved him, everybody. I mean,
(02:34):
he was very outgoing. He was the type to give
his shirt office back for anybody. He would help anybody
in need. And not only that, he's funny. He's hilarious, definitely.
I mean he has his moments and he can be serious,
but for the most part, he's pretty funny and he
(02:56):
likes to make people laugh. In fact, his offbeat sense
of humor is the source of one of Heather's favorite
memories of Butch. He was in a MOTORCYCWA accident and
he broke both of his legs. So he was in
a wheelchair for a while. So his thing was, you know,
he was going to learn to ride wheelies in his wheelchair. Well,
(03:17):
you know, he's cruising along showing off, you know, doing
his little wheelies and stuff. He handed up tipping over backwards,
and he couldn't get up because his legs were broke.
And I was laughing at him because he was trying
to show off, And then we both started laughing, and
I couldn't get him up because we're both laughing so hard.
(03:39):
He makes he makes light of every situation. After Butch
graduated high school, he took a job in the oil field.
He had taken vocational welding classes in school and made
a good living as a welder. But then the oil
industry lost traction. I took off and a friend of
(04:02):
mine I had a recovery company that he repossessed vehicles
and everything, everything from cannon, copiers, a baby grand piano.
We reported everything. Butch was mobile, traveling all over Texas
doing the repossession work and making good money on it.
He says he was living the life. It was during
(04:24):
this time that Butch also got married and had a son,
Parker Chase. We were all married like three years. I
really didn't even want to marry. I told my hallway
the way, you know, we need to just keep driving,
you know, and he's going on stupid, you're going back.
Needless to say, that marriage didn't work out. Butch continued
(04:47):
working and he would also go out partying. He says
he was a ladies man and eventually he met the one.
So how did you meet Marcia? Well, actually, my but
he took me to a derby where, you know, five
gangcocks roosters, and it was a little get together. There
(05:11):
After it got dark and she was sitting on a
stool kitchen. Marcia Pool was twenty years old. She had
just had her son, Brady, who was with her at
the gathering, and I saw that she was drinking tequila.
Butch asked Marcia for a tequila shot, but instead she
(05:32):
handed him her baby son to Holt, and Butch was smitten. Yeah,
I knew right then I should love her. Man. She
was cool, man, totally cool. After that, Butch and Marcia
were inseparable, despite the fact that Butch was twelve years older.
It didn't matter to them. They wanted to have a
(05:53):
life together and they did. We didn't everything together way
I took her to a bunch of concerts and she
was liking a ruby, little hippie chick. We were so
great together. Eventually, Butch and Marcia moved in together. Butch
was over the moon happy when he found out they
(06:13):
were going to have a kid. By that point, Butch
was also a father figure to Marsha's son, Brady, whom
he adored, and Brady worshiped him too bad. He would
be on the front porch every day waiting on me.
I want to go with you. I want to go
and go and go, And if I wouldn't paying attention,
he would try to climb the fence to get to me.
(06:34):
You know, I looked out every one time and he
was hanging upside down by his boots. Booty got caught
and he's looking at me. But he ain't screaming or nothing.
I'm like. In June of nineteen ninety six, Butch and
Marsha's daughter, Kristen Ray was born, and Butch really wanted
to make the family official with Marcia. I've kept begging
(06:56):
under merriment. She said, no, I'm just running things. So
we never got married. That was on my only love
that I've ever been here I would loved him. Wasn't
anything or ever every will again ever. On February twenty fifth,
(07:23):
nineteen ninety eight, Butch and Marcia were at home when
he got a call from his friend Stacy, who had
a construction business. He said he knew a guy who
wanted a fence put up and asked Butch to come
along and help measure for it. And about twenty minutes
there are hornon. He lived right down the street. I said, hey,
I'm leaving. I'll be back in a couple hours. She said,
(07:45):
I love you. I love you too. That's why I
loved And we went and stopped bought beard. From there,
they drove to the job site. Of course, we had
some beard in the truck and everything. But we went
in the backyard and measured it where he was putting fences.
It was a normal relaxing evening. Butch out with a friend,
(08:06):
and Marcia and the kids asleep at home. But as
Butch and his friend were headed back to his house,
he saw a highway patrol car pass them at top speed.
It's lights flashing. We get up on the top of
this hiel and I see it up black clouds of smoke,
and you can tell that it's like plastic, like tires
(08:30):
something like that. Mainly, you know, it's just so dark,
your grass farc dark like that. That's man that looks
like my house man. And then when we got closer,
I saw that my house and the house was engulfed
in flames. And before we got to the house, I
(08:52):
felt and I jumped out of the drawer, and uh
I started yelling, oh, Marshall, the kid. I ran right
up in there, solid wall, smoked and tried to oh.
I couldn't get the push push woods from the fucking door.
(09:18):
Butch couldn't get in the house and he couldn't breathe,
but he was desperate to save his family, so I
ran back out of the the smoke and got some marron.
I ran right back in, and uh I couldn't get
the fuck out. You know, it was fully engulfed anyway,
(09:39):
but you know, I ran the third time I came
out and they tackled me, and I can't go back
to it. Top cars. Butch was frantic and the police
had handcuffed him to a car to keep him from
running into the burning house to save his family. They
eventually got him in a car and look him down
(10:00):
the street to a friend's house to keep him out
of danger, but determined to get to Marcia and the kids,
which knocked his friend down and took off running two
miles back to his house. And I ran the whole
way back, and when I came around a corner there
was people ever where my mom and Ever were. Oh,
there was people Ever were. Man Butch was instantly tackled
(10:25):
again by the sheriff so he wouldn't run into the fire.
He got on top met knee and my neck, you know,
the typical police hold, and I couldn't breathe. And my
dad came up and he's told me it's gonna be
all right. I said, it's not gonna be right. I'll
(10:47):
never fucking see her again. This episode is underwritten by AIG,
a leading global insurance company. AIG is committed to corporate
social responsibility and to making a positive difference in the
(11:10):
lives of its employees and in the communities where they
work and live. In light of the compelling need for
pro bono legal assistance, and in recognition of AIG's commitment
to criminal and social justice reform, the AIG pro Bono
Program provides free legal services and other support to underrepresented
communities and individuals. Buch was taken to a hospital in
(11:48):
nearby San Angelo, his hands severely burned. By this point,
it was clear his entire world, twenty four year old Marcia,
three year old Brady, and eighteen month old Kristen, had
died in the fire. He was the only one in
their family left. Deeply depressed, Butch was transferred to a
(12:09):
psychiatric hospital while he recovered from his burns. About a
week into his stay, the police came to visit him.
I had lost everything, well, they came. He took what
I had. I had the clothes I had on what
and I had watched him? Have you watched season? Yeah?
(12:32):
What is wrong that? Butch didn't know why the police
needed the clothes he had worn that day, but he
gave them to the officers. Anyway, the last of everything
Butch owned and loved was gone. Finally, when Butch was
well enough, he was taken to the remains of his
house to look for anything unusual. Sergeant Terry Lowe from
(12:55):
the Sheriff's Department walked him through the wreckage. So we'll
go through all the rooms, and I noticed there's some
fluorescent orange spray paint by Christian's crib, and I asked him,
is that where Christal was? That's where her crib was
(13:17):
rut there in the corner out there. I said, that
where you found her body? And he said is Marsha's
body had been found lying against the door that which
had been trying to get into that night. Little Brady
was found on the floor nearby. And they say that
Brady had got off the couch and went to the
(13:38):
love seat to I guess probably as as my mom,
and well she she she screwed up into a thermal
layer or something like that and sends her lungs. They
hate imagining how they're deaths played out was horrific for Butch.
(14:03):
During the initial investigation, pathologist doctor David Hoblett said they
died of smoke inhalation and that they were alive when
the fire started. But then, in an unusual turn of events,
the state, wanting to argue that this was actually a homicide,
had all three bodies exhumed. Forensic anthropologist doctor Harold gil
(14:26):
King examined them. Gil King came to a different conclusion
than the pathologist had. He said that three year old
Brady had blunt forced injuries to his head, and that
the injuries were inflicted prior to his death, further bolstering
the state's theory. The fire investigator also said he found
evidence of intentionally poured accelerance, suggesting someone started the fire
(14:50):
on purpose. Almost two months after the fire, Butch was
arrested for arson and the murder of his family. He
was indicted on April fifteenth, nineteen ninety eight. Not only
was Butch devastated by the charges, but also by the
fact that the sheriff who arrested him, Terry Lowe, was
(15:12):
someone Butch had known for years. My sister played ball
saw ball. It was his daughter. So everybody sup you know,
and you'll have to have The town knows me and
knows there's no way I would ever and other have
to think I'm so crazy that I might have naturally.
(15:37):
This put Butch in a dark place. While awaiting trial,
he tried to kill himself. I took two bottles of
the ambiance and sleeping pills and valumes. Roch took several
bottles of pills and so any found me welcome stomach,
(16:05):
I'll be there with him dead. Didn't Roger run in.
Butch went to trial on April fourteenth, nineteen ninety nine,
District Attorney Alshery was the prosecutor. His theory was that
(16:28):
Butch knocked out Marcia and Brady, put Kristen in her crib,
and then set the fire before leaving with his friend
for the evening. He said Butch was angry with Marcia
because she was going to leave him with no life
or homeowner's insurance. To claim this would have been Butch's
only motive. Da Shory called Marsha's mother to testify in
support of this theory. She told the court that Butch
(16:51):
and Marcia had a tumultuous relationship, and Butch's friend Stacy,
who was with him the night of the fire, also
testified Butch had been acting suspiciously. Something Butch had said
as the patrol car flew by them that night along
the lines of I hope they're not going to my
house was brought up and used as evidence of guilt.
(17:12):
Shari said that meant that Butch already knew it was
his house. The entire case is proof of how when
you're looking to paint a bull's eye around somebody, you
can do it right. If you think that this guy
is guilty. Then something like I hope that firetruck's not
(17:33):
going to my house suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.
This is Alison Clayton. I am the deputy director of
the Innocence Project of Texas and the adjunct professor of
the Innocence Clinic at Texas Tech University School of Law.
Alison says that when Shari called the original pathologist, doctor
David Hobblett, to testify, the pathologist gets on the stand
(17:54):
and he says, yeah, I found swelling in both the
brains of marsh and of Brady. And to me, this
swelling indicates blunt force trauma inflicted prior to the time
of death. That was out of nowhere for the defense
because that's not what the report said. Remember, in the
original report, doctor Hoblett said that he believed they died
(18:16):
from smoke inhalation, but now at trial he said something
totally different. At some point in there, the pathologist changed
his mind, he changed his opinion. His testimony changed to
match what the anthropologist was going to say. The forensic anthropologist,
doctor Gil King, testified to finding blunt force trauma after
(18:37):
the exhumation. The anthropologist says, you know, this is the
kind of trauma that you could expect to be inflicted
from a closed fist at a full arm swing. I mean,
just terrible testimony. And the state's fire experts Dale Little
and John Korne testified that they believed the fire started
in the bedroom from intentionally poured accelerant. This was based
(19:01):
on samples from the home that came back positive for
two chemicals, nor par and hydro paraffinated kerosene. These chemicals
were believed at the time to only be present and
accelerants used for setting fires. They also said they found
what they called poor patterns where the accelerant would have
theoretically been. I mean, back in the nineties and early
(19:22):
two thousands, fire investigators would go through a crime scene
and they would say, hey, it looks like there was
something poured on this floor right here, and then everything
burned down to the concrete. So they thought that they
could go through and recognize these patterns and concrete of
burned structures and say, ah, that's where they had poured accelerant.
(19:43):
But Butch had hired private attorney as Clifford Hardwick and
John Cook, and they put on a rigorous defense. Their
fire experts refuted the findings of the prosecution. Forensic scientist
Dug Byron said it wasn't surprising that those chemicals were
found in the home because there common ingredients in numerous
household products. Their presence does not mean a fire was
(20:05):
intentionally set. Carter Roberts, a certified fire investigator, disputed the
so called poor patterns. He maintained that the fire started
on the back porch, not in the bedroom, and that
a faulty extension cord might have been to blame. They
had a deep freeze out on their back porch and
(20:27):
they had plugged in this old time deep freezer with
an indoor extension cord that they had run from the
back porch, threw the back bedroom into the kitchen to
plug in above the stove, and that was their theory
is that that's probably a start of the fire. Robert
said he believed states expert Dale Little was looking for
evidence of arson and disregarded potential fire hazards like the
(20:51):
extension cord. Butch's defense team also called witnesses who had
been with Butch that night. They said they did not
smell any usual odors like lighter fluid or accelerant on
Butch or on his clothes, and finally they had forensic
pathologists and medical examiner doctor Lloyd White review the autopsies
(21:11):
and photographs. Doctor White testified that not only was there
no indication of blunt force trauma, but that brain swelling
was actually common for deaths associated with fire because of
carbon monoxide poisoning. Despite all this, it was not enough
to convince a jury of reasonable doubt. But at the
end of the day, you have got horrific pictures of
(21:33):
burned babies and their mama laying right there at the
front door. A terrible case, I mean just a terrible case.
And you've got scientific evidence from a pathologist, from a
forensic anthropologist, from arson scientists, and of course, you know,
it's very difficult to overcome that. On April thirtieth, nineteen
(21:54):
ninety nine, thirty six year old Butch Martin was convicted
of three counts of capital He was sentenced to three
concurrent life sentences. The media made my brother to out
(22:19):
to be a monster. Basically, you know, he's he's done
a lot of dumb stuff in his life, but he's
not a murderer. It's definitely one of the hardest things
I've ever been through. My brother has missed everything, you know,
my I mean everything, and it's just it's not fair.
(22:44):
It is not fair. They didn't even give him the opportunity,
you know. It's like it's like they they wanted him
guilty right from the from the get go, you know
what I mean. And then before I knew what he
was gone. After his conviction, Butch was sent to a
(23:10):
men's maximum security prison in Texas to spend the rest
of his life. It was a tough place with tough prisoners.
Butcher remembers the time he got in a bad fight
with some guys. What I'm made a comment about, oh yeah, yeah,
you got ahead a little barbecue, right, and I must
see him in the mountain. I didn't know at the
(23:32):
time that he was there, his brother. I'm missing a
bunch of tea, you know, and there weren't pools. It's
hard for me to talk to him without crying. And
the whole time he's going Heather stop, Heather stop. I
can't cry. I can't cry, you know. And it's really sad,
you know that he just has to put on this
front and be a tough guy all the time. Twenty
(23:54):
four to seven I'm just ready for him to be
able to be himself again, you know, because that's not him,
That is not him at all. He is a good,
tender hearted man, and he deserves to be able to
be that man. While in prison, Butch also lost access
to his son, Parker Chase. His ex wife had him
(24:16):
signed papers giving up his parental rights. You know, I
haven't talked to him since he was a little kid.
You don't have a relationship with him, No, I don't.
I get pictures of him all the time. My sister
has him more on Facebook. Butch has never stopped thinking
(24:37):
about the life and family he lost in the fire.
He says he has nightmares about it all the time.
Every day. Every day when I wake up, I go
rocky running in the house, trying to let me get
the path you every day you want to wake up.
(25:11):
For years, Butch filed appeal after appeal to try to
overturn his conviction. As I would say, we'd play the
waiting game. This is Butcher's sister, Heather again. We would
wait and wait and wait, and then this would get
denied or you know they wouldn't even you know, take
years just to read something, just to shut him down,
you know, and it was hard. You know, you get
(25:32):
your hopes up just to get basically your feet kicked
out from underneath you, especially especially for my brother of course,
getting his hopes up thinking he's going to get to
come home, and then you know, something else happens. Eventually,
something else did happen, something Butch had been waiting for.
Alison Clayton and the Innocence Project of Texas wound up
(25:55):
taking on Butcher's case in twenty seventeen. Did anything out
to you about the case immediately? The use of Arson's
science in the fire debris analysis and the reliance on
poor pattern science. I know from studies that were done
in the early two thousands and mid two thousands that
(26:18):
our understanding of analyzing fire debris has evolved. First, Allison
says that updated fire science affirms with the defenses experts
at at trial that the chemicals found in fire accelerants
are also commonly found in homes. They are in carpet,
(26:38):
they're in building adhesive, they're in receipt paper, they're in
you know, some clothing will have it on them. They
are just everywhere. And also, of course the poor patterns,
and I knew that poor pattern science had been entirely discredited,
especially for these big house fires, and that that anytime
(27:00):
you see poor pattern, gigantic red flag. Alison points to
the many examples in this case of so called evidence
shape shifting to fit the state's narrative, including doctor Hoblett
revising his original assessment from death by smoke inhalation to
blunt force trauma. If you think that he's guilty, then
all of a sudden, this fire to brie analysis intentionally
(27:22):
looking for something like everything takes a different cast. Right
back in two thousand and two, before Alison came on,
Butch had another legal team working on his case. They
had already brought it to the state fire Marshal and
a scientific advisory committee for review. Forensic pathologist, fire experts,
fire chemists, all these different people, and they look at
(27:43):
the evidence in Butch's cases, and these people understand the
advancements that have been made by that time. And the
fire marshal comes out and writes an opinion saying that
you cannot say that this was an intentionally set fire.
He says that the cause of the fire is undetermined,
which is a big, big deal. So when Alison came
on the case. She already had this information to work with,
(28:06):
and in May of twenty twenty two, she lined up
her own experts for a new hearing on the case
in front of Judge David g. Rogers. Not only that
new information had come to light about the original pathologist,
doctor Hoblett. He's doing all kinds of stuff that as
a doctor, you're not supposed to be doing. He's running
a pain pill mill, right, He's just like doing scripts
(28:26):
for all kinds of things for people who don't need them.
So then the Feds come in and the FEDS arrest him.
All of that eventually ended up in him completely losing
his license to practice medicine. One of the main witnesses
to testify against him was now completely discredited. This was
huge for Butch's case. In fact, every piece of evidence
(28:48):
the state had used against him had been discredited. Allison
says that when all the new evidence was presented, you
could fill the shift in the courtroom when the judge
and the prosecutor, I think really started to realize, oh
my goodness, we got an innocent man. Butch's father died
(29:21):
while he was in prison, but his mom got to
sit in the courtroom and hear all the evidence that
will likely get her son out of prison. She died
just a month later. In the meantime, Butch waits and
thinks about what he'll do with his freedom if and
when it comes. He says he'd liked to drag race
again and build some rental homes. He's excited to finally
(29:43):
bond with his nieces, nephews and now their kids. And
there's a lot of them. Um, let's see, I have
three daughters. My oldest daughter has three daughters, and my
middle daughter has a son and a daughter. So he
has one great nephew and four great nieces. What are
(30:05):
you gonna do with them when you're out? I'm kidnap
them and keep them. But most of all, Butch just
wants justice for the family he lost. I'm missing, so
you know, if there is ever a real I'm not
(30:28):
get to watch the marsh keep the DA's ass's as
she will. If you want to help Butch, go to
Innocence Texas dot org and click on take action next time.
(30:58):
On wrongful conviction with Maggie Freeling Nancy Smith. They said
that you didn't take her daughter to school. You took
her daughter to a birthday party where you molested her
and I'm like, what what are you talking about? Thanks
for listening to Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling. Please support
(31:20):
your local innocence organizations and go to the links in
our bio to see how you can help. I'd like
to thank our executive producers Jason Flom and Kevin Wurdis,
as well as our senior producer Annie Chelsea, producer Lila Robinson,
and story editor Sonja Paul. The show is edited and
mixed by Annie Chelsey, with additional production by Jeff Cleburne
and Connor Hall. The music in this production is by
(31:43):
three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to
follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at
Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and on Twitter at wrong Conviction, as
well as at Lava for Good. On all three platforms,
you can also follow me on both Instagram and Twitter
at Maggie Freeling. Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling is a
(32:04):
production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal
Company Number one
Hosts And Creators
Lauren Bright Pacheco
Maggie Freleng
Jason Flom
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.