Mike McLelland, Kaufman Cty DA & wife found shot to death in their home/4.18.13 former Kaufman Cty Justice of the Peace Eric Williams & wife Kim Lene Williams arrested, charged with capitol murder in the cases of the McLelland's and Mark Hasse, Asst DA

A Texas county district attorney and his wife were found dead in their home Saturday night, two months after a county prosecutor was gunned down.
The Kaufman County Sheriff's Office is in the preliminary stages of investigating the slaying of Mike McLelland and his wife, according to Justin Lewis of the sheriff's office.
Lewis said he did not know if the deaths Saturday were connected to the killing of Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, who was shot and killed on his way to work in January.
According to the DA's office website, McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, had two daughters and three sons. One son is a Dallas police officer.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Kaufman County’s district attorney and his wife were found slain Saturday, raising fears that their deaths may be part of a plot that included the death of one of the county’s assistant district attorneys in January.
Kaufman Police Chief Chris Aulbaugh and other officials confirmed that Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia Woodward McLelland, had been shot at their home near Forney.
Their deaths followed the Jan. 31 slaying of Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse.
“It is a shock,” Aulbaugh said late Saturday. “It was a shock with Mark Hasse, and now you can just imagine the double shock. … Until we know what happened, I really can’t confirm that it’s related, but you always have to assume until it’s proven otherwise.”
He said that the Texas Rangers were helping with the investigation at the McLellands’ home in an unincorporated part of the county but that the sheriff’s department will be leading the investigation.
“Because we have to treat it as related [to the Hasse investigation], we’ll be working side by side again,” Aulbaugh said.
A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity described the scene at the McLellands’ home as an awful scene where the door appeared to have been kicked in.
“There are shell casings everywhere,” the official said. “This is unprecedented. This is unbelievable. This is huge.”
The discovery of the McLellands’ bodies spurred a massive response from law enforcement, including the FBI. While dozens of marked and unmarked vehicles patrolled the area, officers went door to door to interview neighbors.
Authorities worked quickly Saturday night to confirm that other employees in the Kaufman County district attorney’s office were safe, and they believed that everyone was accounted for. Security was being provided at the homes of others who authorities feared might be targets.
Eric Smenner, a Kaufman defense attorney, said the immediate police protection for the staff of the district attorney’s office was essential.
“They need to shut the office down for a while,” he said. “I think everybody there is a target. They’re not safe in the streets in downtown Kaufman. They’re not safe in their homes.”
He said the recent events reminded him of violence often seen in Mexico.
“It looks like somebody is making a pretty concentrated effort to target the most important people in that office,” he said.
Some of the McLellands’ neighbors said they believed the couple may have been killed late Friday. Some thought they had heard loud noises then but had assumed what they heard was thunder from storms passing through the area.
The discovery of the bodies came as investigators were pursuing a variety of angles in the death of Hasse, 57.
He was shot to death as he walked from his car to the courthouse Jan. 31. Witnesses saw a dark brown or silver sedan, perhaps a Ford Taurus, fleeing the scene, and authorities soon issued a bulletin for two black-clad men who may have been wearing tactical vests.
After Colorado’s prisons chief was killed at his home March 19, the FBI began looking into whether that case could have any connections to Hasse’s death.
The suspect in the Colorado case, Evan Spencer Ebel, was a member of the white supremacist 211 prison gang, and federal authorities had been looking into whether the violent Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang was involved in Hasse’s death.
However, after police killed Ebel, 28, while he was trying to escape authorities March 21 in Decatur, officials said they had not found any connections between him and the Hasse slaying.
Despite the lack of progress in the case, McLelland had expressed hope that though a motive in his assistant’s death remained elusive, more tips would materialize.
He had said in February that though he wasn’t scared for his own safety, he was taking precautions.
“I’ve shifted up my details some, but otherwise I can’t do that much,” said McLelland, who was elected district attorney in 2010. “There’s no holes for me to hide in, and that’s not my style anyway.”
In December, the Texas Department of Public Safety had issued a statewide bulletin warning that authorities had received “credible information” that the Aryan Brotherhood was “actively planning retaliation against law enforcement officials” who helped secure indictments in Houston against dozens of members, including the gang’s leadership.
“High ranking members … are involved in issuing orders to inflict ‘mass casualties or death’ to law enforcement officials who were involved in cases where Aryan Brotherhood of Texas are facing life sentences or the death penalty,” the bulletin stated.
In February, weeks after Hasse’s death, McLelland had said Kaufman County employees still felt a sense of wariness and uncertainty.
“The people in the office, they have essentially lost a family member,” he said. “It’s been incredibly hard for folks because it was so sudden, so completely unexpected and so out of left field. I find myself longing for the good old days of three weeks ago.”
McLelland, 63, and his wife, 65, who worked as a psychiatric nurse at Terrell State Hospital, had five children, including a son who is a Dallas police officer.

Kaufman County slayings timeline
DECEMBER 2012: The Texas Department of Public Safety issues a statewide bulletin warning that authorities had received “credible information” that the Aryan Brotherhood was “actively planning retaliation against law enforcement officials” who helped secure indictments in Houston against dozens of members, including the gang’s leadership.
JAN. 31: Kaufman County prosecutor Mark Hasse is shot and killed while getting out of his car near the county courthouse. Authorities acknowledge they are investigating the possibility of a link between the slaying and the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. However, they quickly add that to their knowledge, Hasse was not currently handling any cases involving Aryan Brotherhood members. They say that labeling the organization the focus of their probe would be premature.
FEB. 9: At a memorial service for Hasse, Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland vows that the prosecutor’s killers will be brought to justice.
MARCH 22: Authorities say the FBI is looking into whether Hasse’s slaying could have any connections to the March 19 slaying of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements. A federal official said the suspect in Clements’ slaying, Evan Spencer Ebel, was a member of the white supremacist 211 prison gang.
SATURDAY: McLelland and his wife, Cynthia Woodward McLelland, are found fatally shot at their home.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

FEB. 9: At a memorial service for Hasse, Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland vows that the prosecutor’s killers will be brought to justice.

This is definitely a planned "hit". HORRIFIC!!

(CNN) -- [Update 2:15 p.m. ET] "We are taking precautions to protect elected officials in the county," Kaufman County, Texas, Sheriff David Byrnes said at a news conference Sunday after District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found dead Saturday in their home.
[Posted at 9:29 a.m. ET]
Two months ago, a Texas district attorney vowed to put away the "scum" who had killed one of his top deputies.
Now, the district attorney and his wife are dead. And authorities aren't sure whether their killings are part of a broader scheme targeting criminal justice officials.
The bodies of Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found Saturday in their home in Kaufman County, east of Dallas.
Searching for leads in D.A.'s murder Mayor discusses killing of Texas D.A.
"I don't know of anyone who would want to cause him harm," Kaufman city Mayor William Fortner said. "As far as I could tell, he was doing a really good job as a district attorney."
Fortner said police are taking "extra precautions" to try to ensure no one else is targeted.
"We lost some important people, and we hope the killers are caught before any more people are lost," he said.
A law enforcement official told The Dallas Morning News that a door was apparently kicked in, and "there are shell casings everywhere."
Authorities have not identified a suspect. Nor are they sure whether the deaths are related to the killing of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, who was killed on his way to work in January.
The county sheriff's office brought in the FBI and the Texas Rangers to help with the investigation.
McLelland was an Army veteran who later earned a master's in psychology and became a psychologist for the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, the district attorney's website said.
He was raised in the small town of Wortham, Texas, where his parents had a ranch. He joined the Army after attending the University of Texas and spent 23 years in the service.
He later earned his law degree and practiced as a defense attorney and mental health judge for 18 years before becoming the county's district attorney in 2010.
McLelland and his wife leave behind two daughters and three sons. One son is a Dallas police officer.
Another top prosecutor slain
The McLellands were killed almost exactly two months after Hasse was shot to death in broad daylight outside the county courthouse on January 31.
Hasse had feared for his life and carried a gun to work, said a Dallas attorney who described herself as his longtime friend.
Colleen A. Dunbar said she spoke with Hasse on January 24. She said the prosecutor told her he began carrying a gun in and out of the county courthouse daily.
"He told me he would use a different exit every day because he was fearful for his life," Dunbar told CNN.
She said that Hasse gave no specifics on why he felt threatened -- only that he did.
McLelland called Hasse "a stellar prosecutor" who knew that threats were part of the job.
He vowed after Hasse's slaying to put away the "scum" who killed his deputy.
"I hope that the people that did this are watching, because we're very confident that we're going to find you," McLelland told reporters.
"We're going to pull you out of whatever hole you're in, we're going to bring you back and let the people of Kaufman County prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

By KEVIN DOLAK (@kdolak) and COLLEEN CURRY
April 1, 2013
Evan Ebel, the prime suspect in the shooting death of Colorado prison chief Tom Clements, was released from prison four years early because of a clerical error, court officials said today.

Ebel, 28, was released from a Colorado jail in January.

In 2008, he agreed to a plea deal after assaulting a prison guard at Fremont Correctional Facility. He was supposed to complete a sentence of up to four additional years in prison for that assault, to be served after he completed the eight-year sentence he had been serving since 2005.

"The judge announced a sentence of four years in the Department of Corrections but did not state it was consecutive because it was already required by the terms of the plea agreement," Walter Blair, the judicial district administrator for Colorado's 11th Judicial District, and Chief Judge Charles Barton said in a written statement.

"Because the judge did not expressly state that the sentence was consecutive, the court judicial assistant did not include that term in the [court order] that went to the Department of Corrections," the statement said.

When prisons officials believed that Ebel had finished his court-ordered sentence, they released him on Jan 28.

Ebel was on parole from Colorado prisons and was not legally allowed to purchase a weapon. He is believed to have used a gun to kill Clements on March 19 at Clements' Colorado home. He is also believed to be involved in the death of a Domino's delivery man, Nathan Leon, in Denver.

Ebel was then pulled over by Texas authorities two days later and engaged in a high-speed chase and gun battle with them. He was shot and died later at a hospital.

"The court regrets this oversight and extends condolences to the families of Mr. Nathan Leon and Mr. Tom Clements," said the statement signed by Blair and Barton.

Law enforcement sources told ABC News on March 28 that they were investigating whether Clements' death was orchestrated by members of Ebel's white supremacist prison gang, 211 Crew. They were still trying to determine whether others were involved in Clements' death.

In 2005, Ebel slipped out of his handcuffs while being transferred from a cell and punched a prison guard in the nose, The Associated Press reported.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A federal prosecutor has reportedly left a case involving members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas citing "security concerns."

The Dallas Morning News reports that Houston-based assistant U.S. attorney Jay Hileman told defense lawyer Richard O. Ely II that he was withdrawing in an email.

Ely is representing one of the defendants in the case, which involves racketeering charges.

Houston defense attorney Katherine Scardino also received the email from Hileman, according to Talking Points Memo.

"He sent the email to every lawyer representing a defendant in the Aryan Brotherhood federal case, and he said -- very short email -- that he was withdrawing for security reasons," Scardino told TPM.

Angela Dodge, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Houston, declined to confirm to The Huffington Post whether or why Hileman left the case.

"The case currently pending in the Southern District of Texas has been and will continue to be worked by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas in partnership with the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division," Dodge said in an email.

The news comes days after Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife were shot and killed in their home.

The Associated Press reports that authorities are investigating whether white supremacists could be behind a recent spate of deadly violence directed at prosecutors and a Colorado corrections official.

Texas law enforcement agencies have been put on high alert, the AP reports.

The killings also come months after 34 members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas were indicted, according to Democracy Now.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Officials investigating the murder of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife are looking into a tip that has led them down the road of the couple's home, CBS DFW affiliate KTVT exclusively reports.
much more at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Video at link

(CBS News) -- Investigators are following a number of leads in the deaths of Kaufman County, Texas, District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia.

One of these leads is the possible involvement of a white supremacist group.
continue at link, must read! Also must see video at link.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Apr 03 2013

Nick Morale allegedly made a threat against a county official and faces a $1 million bond, Lt. Justin Lewis of the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday.

Nick Morale of Terrell, Texas, has been arrested and faces one charge of making a terroristic threat, Lt. Justin Lewis of the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday. Lewis said there was "nothing to link" Morale to the murders of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, and the district attorney's chief felony prosecutor, Mark Hasse.

(CNN) Police across Texas doggedly turned the state upside down this week for leads in the slayings of a county's top prosecutor and his wife.

But they still have no solid clue about who did it and why.

Someone killed Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, over the weekend. This follows the shooting death in January of another Kaufman County official -- the district attorney's chief felony prosecutor, Mark Hasse.

Investigators are fielding and examining leads big and small. They are evaluating skid marks from large tire tracks near the McLelland home.

They are looking at a white supremacist gang targeted by Texas and federal authorities last year, drug cartels and someone with a personal grudge against the slain prosecutors.

So far, the case is still a giant mystery, but officials and residents across Texas are trying to make sure such attacks don't happen again.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I'd be scared shitless if I were a DA or public official in that county.

Authorities investigating letter with threats, white powder at Cherokee Co. courthouse
By AMANDA BLAND World Staff Writer on Apr 3, 2013, at 12:00 AM

TAHLEQUAH — Authorities closed the third floor of the Cherokee County courthouse on Tuesday after a secretary opened a threatening letter containing white powder.

The letter had been mailed to a district court judge and was opened around 3 p.m., said Undersheriff Jason Chennault.

The secretary opened the letter, which contained threats to the judge and white powder, and contacted the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was then dispatched, as the agency has original jurisdiction over judicial threats, Chennault said.

A fire department analysis of the powder concluded the substance was talcum powder, the undersheriff said.

The letter made “general threats that mention the murders that have been happening in Texas and Colorado. It had no return address. It was just signed with some initials,” he said.

Kaufman (Texas) County District Mike McLelland and his wife were found fatally shot on Saturday, two months after a Kaufman County assistant district attorney was slain.

The executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, Tom Clements, was shot and killed on March 19.

Speculative links have been made between the Texas and Colorado homicides and white supremacists known as the Aryan Brotherhood. Authorities had not found any evidence connecting the three shootings to each other, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The Cherokee County courthouse was evacuated on March 27 after a bomb threat was reported. No evidence of explosives was found.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

April 14, 2013 at 3:38 PM by AHN
Windsor Genova – Fourth Estate Cooperative Contributor

Kaufman, TX, United States (4E) – A former justice of the peace linked to the murders of two Kaufman County prosecutors was arrested and detained Saturday on charges of making terroristic threat.

Eric Lyle Williams, 46, was not charged with the murders of District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, Cynthia, and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse. Authorities, however, traced anonymous letters threatening county officials to Williams’ Kaufman home. Law enforcers searched his home Friday.

McLelland and his wife were gunned down inside their home over Easter weekend and Hasse was also shot dead on Jan. 31. Investigators zeroed in on Williams, who was prosecuted by McLelland and Hasse last year for stealing county computers. Williams was convicted of theft and burglary, but the case is on appeal.

Williams is also facing another theft charge for allegedly misusing a law library fund and his bail was set at $3 million.

Before his death, McLelland told others he suspected Williams was behind Hasse’s death.

Williams’ attorney on Friday denied he was involved in the killings. Investigators have been coming and going to Williams’ house before his arrest, the last one on Thursday. Williams submitted to gun powder tests after the slaying but the results were negative. He also surrendered old cell phones to investigators for inspection.

Meanwhile, FBI agents and Texas Rangers raided a storage shed in Seagoville on Saturday and secured evidences on the multiple murder case. A four-door Crown Victoria car was pulled out from the Gibson Self Storage.

On Sunday, hundreds of people walked to the Kaufman County courthouse and held a prayer vigil for the slain prosecutors.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

(CNN) -- The wife of a former justice of the peace in Texas is being held on murder charges in connection with the killings of Kaufman County District Attorney Michael McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, county officials announced Wednesday.
She is in jail, with bail set at $10 million.
The Kaufman County jail website lists a Kim Lene Williams, 46, as being booked about 3 a.m. Wednesday.
The McLellands were killed in March. Prosecutor Mark Hasse was killed in January.
Kim Williams' husband, Eric, was arrested last week on a count of making a terroristic threat. A sheriff's affidavit accused him of using his home computer to threaten police investigating the McLellands' killings.
Eric Williams' attorney released a statement Friday saying he "has cooperated with law enforcement and vigorously denies any and all allegations. He wishes simply to get on with his life and hopes that the perpetrators are brought to justice."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

(CNN) -- The wife of a former justice of the peace in Texas is being held on murder charges in connection with the killings of Kaufman County District Attorney Michael McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, county officials announced Wednesday.
Kim Lene Williams, 46, is also charged with murder in the death of prosecutor Mark Hasse.
She is in jail, with bail set at $10 million. The Kaufman County jail website lists her as being booked about 3 a.m. Wednesday.
The McLellands were killed in March, and Hasse was killed in January.
The arrest warrant said she confessed in detail to her involvement and her husband, Eric Williams', role in the scheme.
The warrant said she "intentionally and knowingly" caused the deaths and accused her husband of being the trigger man.
McLelland and Hasse prosecuted Eric Williams on a charges of felony burglary and theft by a public servant last year, according to the warrant. He was removed as a justice of the peace, an elected office, after he was convicted in March 2012, it said.
Kaufman County Sheriff's Sgt. Matt Woodall wrote in an affidavit filed with the warrant that he "learned from other officers of the county and county employees that Mr. Hasse and Mr. McLelland both believed that Eric Williams blamed them for his removal from office."
The prosecutors carried handguns for their protection after the Williams trial "because they believed Eric Williams to be a threat to their personal safety," Woodall wrote.
Eric Williams was arrested last week on a count of making a terroristic threat. A sheriff's affidavit accused him of using his home computer to threaten police investigating the McLellands' killings.
Eric Williams' attorney released a statement Friday saying he "has cooperated with law enforcement and vigorously denies any and all allegations. He wishes simply to get on with his life and hopes that the perpetrators are brought to justice."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Kim Lene Williams, 46, is facing murder charges. She is in jail, with bail set at $10 million.

Former Justice of the Peace Eric Williams has been charged with capital murder.

On Wednesday, his wife, Kim Lene Williams told investigators her husband shot and killed a county prosecutor as well as the district attorney and his wife.

The Kaufman Sheriff's Office has scheduled a 1:30 p.m. press conference to provide new information on the investigation into the deaths of District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, as well as top prosecutor Mark Hasse.

Scheduled speakers include representatives from the Kaufman Sheriff's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found shot to death in their home on March 30. Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was gunned down outside the county courthouse on Jan. 31.

According to an arrest affidavit, Kim Lene Williams confessed to her involvement in the shootings and provided police with details about the killings that were not released publicly. The affidavit also stated that Kim Williams "intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual ... by shooting him with a firearm" -- legal language police said outlines her involvement in the killings without going into specifics.

Lt. Justin Lewis, with the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office, said that Kim Williams told investigators her husband pulled the trigger.

During the April 17 news conference, Lewis did not describe the evidence against Kim Williams, only saying that she had been charged with capital murder and was being held on a $10 million bond at the Kaufman County Jail.

Lewis also did not say anything about her husband, Eric Williams, who was arrested over the weekend and charged with making terroristic threat.

As of Wednesday night, Williams had not been charged in the slayings of the McLellands or Hasse and remained jailed on a $3 million bond.

The arrest of Kim Williams, who has been described as frail from debilitating arthritis that is so severe it is impossible for her to work, was a shocking twist in the investigation into killings of the McLellands and Hasse.

"I don't think anyone could have written a novel that would play out like this," Kaufman County Judge Bruce Wood said Wednesday after her arrest. He said county employees were relieved the case that had baffled authorities for weeks was moving forward but also were shocked by the developments.

Wood said he met her only once, briefly at a swearing-in ceremony for public officials. A local attorney, Steve Hulme, said he knew Eric Williams' wife had health issues and called her arrest "just shocking."

Richard Mohundro, a next-door neighbor, said Kim Williams used to visit him and talk on his front porch.

"I actually had many more conversations with Kim ... than I ever did with him," Mohundro said. "She is in bad health and hasn't been outside much in the last two years."

Winnie Murrell sold her home to the Williams family in 2001 but returned to the neighborhood frequently because her sister lived up the street.

"They were not real friendly people," Murrell said. "In fact I thought she was a recluse. I stayed up at my sister's house a lot and I never saw her outside or anything."

McLelland and Hasse prosecuted Eric Williams last year for the theft of three computer monitors from a county building. He was convicted, sentenced to probation and lost his law license and his elected position as justice of the peace -- a judge who handles mostly administrative duties.

Kim Williams testified at the sentencing phase of the trial, calling him "a loving man" and contradicting the image presented in trial testimony that indicated he made death threats against a former girlfriend and a local attorney.

She testified she suffers from several illnesses, including rheumatoid arthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome. She said her husband was her sole caregiver as well as the caregiver for her two ailing parents.

"He wouldn't do anything to hurt anybody," she testified, according to a story from the Forney Post. "I'm standing by him 100 percent."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Video at link

KAUFMAN COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) – Former Kaufman County Justice of the Peace Eric Williams has been formally charged with capital murder in the slayings of assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, District Attorney Mike McLelland, and his wife Cynthia.

Authorities with the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office announced the charges on Thursday, just one day after Williams wife, Kim Lene Williams, was arrested and charged on the same counts.

The bond has been set at $23 million for Eric Williams and $10 million for his wife Kim.

Eric Williams was initially arrested on Saturday for allegedly making terroristic threats against city officials. But the case took a dramatic turn on Wednesday when Kim Williams was arrested and questioned by officials. According to an arrest affidavit, Kim Williams admitted to her role in the killings and implicated her husband as the shooter.

Authorities served a search warrant last week at the homes of Eric Williams and his in-laws. The next day, authorities searched a Seagoville storage facility rented to Williams and discovered a number of incriminating items.

Sources tell CBS 11’s J.D. Miles that 41 guns, a machete, and a bow were among the items found inside. Authorities also seized a white Ford Crown Victoria, which matches the description of a vehicle spotted near the McLelland home on the night of the murders.

Eric Williams was questioned and tested for gunpowder in relation to the January murder of Hasse and again after the McLellands were killed in March.

Hasse and McLelland prosecuted and secured a conviction against Williams in 2012 after surveillance cameras captured him taking computer equipment from a county building.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Must see video at link.

The look on that killer's face is downright spooky!!!! Hope they get the DP!

I know huh?
The husband and wife, it looks like each of them has a towel placed under their necks on the mug shots. Am I nuts or does anyone else think this?

Maybe they strip searched them???

KAUFMAN, Texas, July 26 (Reuters) - Texas will seek the death penalty against a former justice of the peace accused of killing of three people, including two local prosecutors, in shootings that spawned conspiracy theories and terrified a small community near Dallas.

Eric Williams and his wife, Kim, are accused in the deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, at their home in March.

They are also accused of gunning down Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse near a county courthouse in January.

McLelland and Hasse had prosecuted Eric Williams for the theft of office computer monitors.

Eric and Kim Williams both face capital murder charges. Eric Williams is also charged with making a terroristic threat, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Prosecutors said on Friday they will pursue the death penalty against Eric Williams, but remain undecided on whether they will take similar actions against Kim Williams.

Dressed in a suit, Eric Williams sat quietly in the courtroom during the hearing that was just down the hall from where he had once presided as a justice of the peace.

His wife has told police she drove the getaway car in the Hasse killing at the courthouse and was a passenger in the car when her husband shot the McLellands, according to arrest records.

Eric Williams lost his license to practice law last year after the two prosecutors were able to convict him of theft. Kim Williams has filed for divorce.

Jury selection is expected to begin next spring and trial in October 2014, according to Dallas County District Court Judge Michael Snipes, who was named to preside over the case in Kaufman County, about 30 miles southeast of Dallas.

Bill Wirskye and Toby Shook of Dallas have been named as special prosecutors in the case.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

February 28, 2014

Eric Williams – charged with the capital murders of three Kaufman County residents – made his first appearance in Rockwall County on Feb. 21, a few weeks after a change of venue request was granted by visiting Dallas County District Judge Mike Snipes.

Williams is charged with the murders of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, and his wife, Cynthia.

During Friday’s hearing, the defense requested a continuance in order to have more time to review the case, which comes with an overwhelming amount of records and evidence collected by the state during the manhunt for Williams.

Snipes denied the motion for a continuance and said he intends to stay on schedule or jury selection, slated for March 28. The jury pool includes approximately 500 prospective jurors.

Although the request for a continuance was denied, Snipes allowed a temporary stay in DNA testing, allowing the defense to conduct independent testing at an alternative and neutral facility.

The defense team also mentioned Williams’ dress during the hearing, which included an orange jumpsuit, chains and shackles. The court had previously granted an order allowing Williams to appear unshackled and in a suit.

The trial date is set for Oct. 20.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Posted: Sep 21, 2014 8:03 PM PDT
Updated: Sep 22, 2014 4:27 AM PDT
By: Chelsea Kretz - email

Jury selection begins Monday in the first of three trials in the highly publicized Kaufman County murders. Former Justice of the Peace Eric Williams is charged in the 2013 murders of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife Cynthia and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse.

The trial was moved to Rockwall County to provide a different pool of jurors. Prosecutors and defense attorneys go through an intense process in selecting the final jury.

Jury selection alone may take up to six weeks because the state and the defense will scrutinize every one of the jurors, their backgrounds, beliefs and possible relationships with Eric and Kim Williams, both charged with capital murder. "The clean slate juror for a high profile case is hugely hard to find," said lawyer jury consultant Mary Griffitts.

Griffitts said picking the perfect juror is one thing, but seating 12 takes time and scrutiny, especially in a capital murder case. "If I was working for the defense I would really hone in on the jurors belief about the death penalty because at the end of the day you are fighting for your clients life," she said.

The first of three trials is for Eric Williams and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. In court filings, prosecutors say the motive for the murders was revenge for the burglary and theft prosecution of Williams in 2012.

Williams was convicted, lost his bench as Justice of the Peace and his law license.

Criminal Defense Attorney Pete Schulte is not involved in the trial but has been following the case closely. "This case looks pretty strong against Eric Williams, so if I was the defense attorney in this case I would be focusing on trying to save Eric Williams life," he said.

Williams has pleaded not guilty and the trial date is set for December 1st. "In looking at the evidence that the filings that the state of Texas has put in, in this case, it looks like they are going to rely a lot upon Kim Williams, the wife of Eric Williams, to prove their case. Now, if she is going to be a cooperating witness, it is going to be very tough for Eric Williams to win this trial on the guilt innocence stage," said Schulte.

Griffitts says high profile cases like this one come with their own kinds of problems. "There is an extra layer and that's the layer of the juror that maybe just wants to get in and be a juror in a famous case or an infamous case, because they may just look at their own personal gain a little bit later on," she said.

Social media inside the courtroom, said Griffitts, is another problem. "Before Facebook you know a judge would say to a jury don't talk about the case to your fellow jurors until all of the evidence, until you reach deliberations. With social media, now we have this ability not only to reach out to the outside world about what's going on, but they are talking to each other before all of the evidence has been put in," she said.

With many trials being overturned on appeal or resulting in mistrials, Griffitts said jurors should not talk to anyone about the case, especially fellow jurors. She said perhaps most importantly, jurors should not Google information about the case because you may learn things that are either not true or even relevant to the case. Griffitts said those kinds of things can lead to a mistrial.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

video..above link.

December 2, 2014 6:58 AM

ROCKWALL (CBSDFW.COM) - Prosecutor Bill Wirskye stated that forensics experts will take the witness stand on Tuesday in the second day of the Eric Williams murder trial.
The murders of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife Cynthia, and his top assistant Mark Hasse in 2013 rocked the county and much of North Texas.
During the trial, that began in neighboring Rockwall County on Monday, Wirksye told jurors, “The amount of evidence in this case is staggering.”
In his opening statements, Wirskye quickly set the scene for jurors. He took them back to that early Saturday morning in March 2013, when Williams, a former Justice of the Peace, is accused of killing the McLellands in their home.
Wirskye told jurors, “He begins to execute his plan to execute one of his prosecutors. He comes in with an AR-15 and cuts down a defenseless Cynthia McLelland in a blizzard of bullets.” She was shot eight times.
Then, Wirskye said that Williams took aim at the district attorney. “He pulls the trigger repeatedly and hits McLelland over and over. Finally, the prosecutor falls. He stands over him repeatedly pulling the trigger.” The district attorney was shot 16 times.
The prosecutor said that the murders were out of revenge after McLelland and Hasse successfully prosecuted Williams for stealing county equipment. Williams is accused of murdering Hasse in January 2013.
Wirskye said that Williams first lied to prosecutors about killing all three people, but then later admitted to it. “You will hear a confession, a confession this man made to the murders,” Wirskye added. “He sent an email to law enforcement taking credit for the murders, thinking he’d remain anonymous, thinking law enforcement would never figure it out.”
Charles Tomlinson, a Dallas police officer and the son of the McLellands’ best friends, told jurors that he and his mom discovered the couple’s bodies. “She just fell to her knees and started crying, and then she pointed and said there’s shell casings right under your feet.”
Matthew Seymour, the attorney for Williams, did not give an opening statement.
Barry Sorrels, a defense attorney who has tried death penalty cases in the past and who is observing this trial, explained the defense’s tactic. “They don’t have a defense,” he said. “And so they waived the opening statement and this probably means their best hope is going to be at punishment, if he gets convicted of capital murder, in trying to talk the jury into a life sentence rather than a death sentence.”
One of the main unanswered questions so far is whether or not Eric Williams’ ex-wife, Kim, will testify against him. She is also charged with the three murders. Several months ago, in open court, Wirskye told Judge Mike Snipes that no plea deal has been offered to Kim Williams. But, Sorrels explained, he believes that, if she does testify against Eric Williams, she may be given a more lenient sentence.
Unlike Mr. Williams, prosecutors have not said whether or not they will seek the death penalty in her criminal case.
Sorrels said that Kim Williams has already helped investigators in the case against her ex-husband.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

must-see video above.