Oxygen Insider Exclusive!

Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!

Sign Up for Free to View
Crime News Accident, Suicide, or Murder

Renewed Investigation Proves Deadly Arson Was An Accident: “An Innocent Person Was In Prison”

Jason Lively spent 14 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit when Dr. Ebb “Doc” Whitley Jr.’s death in a house fire was ruled an arson and later changed to accident.

By Caitlin Schunn
Beloved Community Member Ebb "Doc" Whitley Found Dead in Fire

Jason Lively protested his innocence from the very beginning. It all started when Dr. Ebb “Doc” Whitley Jr.’s Iaeger, West Virginia house went up in flames on the morning of March 15, 2005, with him trapped inside, confined to a wheelchair. The 70-year-old never made it out.

How to Watch

Watch Accident, Suicide, or Murder on Oxygen Saturdays at 8/7c and next day on Peacock. Catch up on the Oxygen App.

“It had to be quite a shock to go there and see the house burning because just about everybody in the town of Iaeger had been to Dr. Whitley’s clinic as a patient or knew him personally,” said Sid Bell, retired prosecuting attorney, in McDowell County on Accident, Suicide or Murder. “He was such a prominent member of the community.”

Dr. Whitley’s body was found on the bedroom floor. There was also a large burned out hole in the floor of his bedroom/ceiling of the living room.

“Was this an accidental fire that resulted in Doc Whitley’s death? Or was this a heinous crime?” asked David Taylor, retired legal investigator for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, on Accident, Suicide or Murder.

The state fire marshal ruled the fire cause as arson, and 29-year-old Jason Lively was convicted of the murder of Dr. Whitley. But as he claimed his innocence, questions surrounded the accuracy of the arson ruling, leading to a years-long fight to free him.

“The last thing I’d ever want to do is convict an innocent person,” Bell said. “And it makes you question everything that you’d done on the case.”

Prosecutors claim evidence proves Jason Lively committed arson

Dr. Ebb Doc "Whitley" Jr. featured on Accident Suicide or Murder season 5 episode 20

When they first began investigating the fire that killed “Doc” Whitley, the state fire marshal believed there were two origins to the fire: one in the bedroom, and one downstairs on the couch under the bedroom, as both areas sustained the most damage. The state fire marshal ruled it arson.

But from the beginning, experts disagreed on the cause of the fire. Wiring in the bedroom floor/living room ceiling was damaged, and the insurance company couldn’t rule out that faulty wiring was the cause of the fire, making it an accident. The insurance company initially ruled the manner of death for Dr. Whitley undetermined.

But when a sample of the fire damage showed toluene, typically found in something like charcoal lighter fluid, things changed.

“One particular sample taken from the floor of the upstairs bedroom had elevated levels of toluene…[that] does corroborate the theory that the fire was started with an ignitable liquid in that area,” said Prof. Glen Jackson, forensic chemical analysis at West Virginia University, said on Accident, Suicide or Murder.

That finding again pointed police and prosecutors towards arson.

When talking to family and friends of Dr. Whitley, police learned that the night before the fire, he got into a fight with his long-time nurse, Kathy Lively.

“There was this theory that Kathy and her son, Jason Lively, were using Doc’s prescription pad,” said Alexis Whitley, Doc’s granddaughter, on Accident, Suicide or Murder. “You know, writing prescriptions for themselves and others. And Doc wanted to put a stop to that very quickly.”

Doc’s widow, Sue Whitley, also reported to police that Jason Lively came to her home and stole Doc’s laptop the day of the fire. The investigation quickly turned to him as a suspect.

“Jason Lively, back at that time, had a bad reputation for being a violent person,” Bell said. “Someone who abused controlled substances. In addition to that, we found some criminal history involved…assault, battery, that was what we knew about him.”

On April 7, 2005, a friend of Jason Lively told police he’d dropped off Lively and another friend, Tommy Owens, at Doc’s home the morning of the fire.

“This is a huge development in the case and that directly places Jason Lively and Tommy Owens at Doc Whitley’s house before the fire,” Taylor said.

Lively and Owens were charged with arson and murder, and while awaiting trial, another inmate claimed Jason Lively confessed to him.

“Lively allegedly told this inmate that he and Tommy Owens went into Dr. Whitley’s house, allegedly to rob Dr. Whitley, and that they had set the house on fire in the living room as they left the house,” Bell said.

RELATED: After 66-Year-Old Socialite’s Death, Police Investigate Her Own Son: “Red Flag”

The trial against Jason Lively

On Nov. 6, 2005, Jason Whitley’s trial for the murder of Dr. Whitley began. During the trial, the friend recanted his testimony on the stand.

“He said that when he was questioned by the sheriff’s department, he was threatened if he didn’t say what they wanted him to say they would take him to Virginia because he had a warrant out in Virginia,” said Kathy Lively-Hamilton, Doc’s former nurse and friend, on Accident, Suicide or Murder.

Still, the jury found Jason Lively guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison with a possibility of parole in 15 years. In January 2008, Tommy Owens went on trial for the murder, but was acquitted when the two fire experts testifying disagreed on if the fire was caused by arson. The acquittal shook the prosecuting attorney.

“I still had these lingering doubts about the case,” Bell said. “And that’s why I wanted to get some really highly qualified expert to tell me, ‘Was this done right?’”

Bell spoke to a leading fire expert, Dr. Craig Beyler, about the theory that a set fire burned the hole in the floor of Doc’s bedroom.

“He explained that simply pouring a flammable liquid on the floor, it’s going to burn up the liquid,” Bell said. “And there might be a little charring but it’s not going to burn a hole through a hardwood floor. It had to smolder for hours between the living room ceiling and bedroom floor before it came out.”

Six years after Jason Lively went to prison, Dr. Beyler wrote a report explaining why the fire was accidental.

“His opinion was that our experts were wrong. It was not an arson fire. Which means an innocent person was in prison,” Bell said. “We didn’t have the case we thought we had. We rely on experts because we’re not experts. We rely on these people who say they know what they’re talking about.”

Jason Lively's conviction is overturned in Doc Whitley's death

Jason Lively featured on Accident Suicide or Murder season 5 episode 20

Prosecuting attorney Sid Bell turned Dr. Craig Beyler’s report over to Jason Lively’s defense attorneys, and they started a petition for habeas corpus relief. In 2014, the hearing was held, but the judge denied Lively’s petition for a new trial. Then, the West Virginia Innocence Project got involved, and caused the state attorney general’s office to do another investigation in May 2018.

“The origin of the fire really points toward an electrical or an accidental fire in that sub floor,” Jackson said. “An electrical spark could initiate the fire, which could then smolder…It wouldn’t be until hours and hours of smoldering that the smoldering could break through, in which case the fire could really start to accelerate.”

Dr. Whitley’s charred home was still standing, and had remained untouched, so more samples were collected.

“We know that when we cause fire damage to almost any material, we will form toluene,” Jackson said. “Toluene that was never there to start with. The science has progressed an awful lot in those 14 years since Jason was convicted. And we’ve learned 97 percent of the time when you set fire to something, you will produce toluene. And so, the origin of the toluene in that one sample in 2005 was much more likely to have come from the fire itself than from an ignitable liquid.”

The state attorney general’s office investigation supported the fire being accidental, and after 14 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Jason Lively was exonerated and released.

Catch up on episodes of Accident, Suicide or Murder on Oxygen and on the Oxygen app.