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A new public art project is coming to Alamance County as Alamance Article launches its zodiac mural series. The new organization, spearheaded by Roger Moore, Carey Griffin, Stephanie Ruiz and Billy Willis, came together this summer and The Zodiac will be its first project. “We created a small organization called Alamance Article with some big dreams,” Griffin said. “Our main focus is just to create a platform for art, to really enhance the community, increase cultural programming and really connect neighborhoods across Burlington and Alamance County through art.” “One way we know th...

The flames awaken ernest willis. >> i woke up in the early morning hours, i don't know, 4:00 or so. and the house was on fire. so i ran through the house trying to get to the back bedroom. i couldn't get there. so i run out the front door and around the side of the house and started breaking the windows and yelling for everybody to get out. >> his cousin, billy willis, makes a last-minute escape leaping out a bedroom window to safety. the two women are still trapped inside. it's too late to save them. >> the local fire departments responded. upon arriving at the scene, they found two subjects ...

The thresholds. much of the furniture, including a large dining room table, has been reduced to piles of ashes. >> they thought that any fire intense enough to make a large heavy dining room table go away was more intense than a normal fire. >> after days of sifting through the home's remains, the investigators reach a conclusion. this fire was no accident. on top of the forensic evidence they've gathered, police believe that survivor ernest willis is lying about what really happened the night of the fire. >> he was the only likely person that could have put the accelerant on the floor and pro...

Billy willis. >> they questioned us, questioned me, and then they questioned my cousin, just asking us what happened, you know? >> billy willis is visibly shaken and suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation and injuries from his fall. to investigators, his story about narrowly escaping the fire seems genuine, but police think the uninjured ernest willis seems suspiciously unaffected. they find him indifferent to the dead women, and although he claims to have run through the burning house trying to save them, there are no burns on his body. >> his story was not matching up with what happe...

For my arrest for capital murder. i couldn't believe it. i thought, well, i'll go up there and get this all cleared up and go home, you know? i had nothing to hide. i mean, i knew i hadn't done anything. >> the case goes to trial in july of 1987. the state presents its strongest evidence. the so-called pour patterns. prosecutors argue that the patterns indicate the fire started within feet of where willis claims to have been sleeping. >> his story was that he was asleep on the couch. where the pour pattern stuff was, where the hottest flames and stuff were in the house, if he had been on the c...