Former Justice of the Peace to be Charged with Texas Prosecutor Murders
Posted: April 14, 2013 Filed under: Crime, Criminal Justice System, open thread | Tags: Cynthia McLelland, Eric Williams, Kaufman County TX, Mark Hasse, Mike McLelland 20 Comments
Eric Williams
I wrote in my morning post that Eric Williams, a former Kaufman County, Texas Justice of the Peace, had been arrested in connection with the murders of Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse and District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia McLelland. It now seems certain that Williams will be charged with capital murder later this week.
The New York Daily news reports:
Forty-six-year-old Eric Williams was booked into the Kaufman County Jail on Saturday after police searched his home. The ex-justice of the peace has been charged with emailing “terroristic threats” to county employees. Although murder charges have not yet been made, sources told CBS 11 that Williams is a prime suspect in the shooting deaths of District Attorney Mike McLelland; his wife, Cynthia McLelland; and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse.
Williams is being held on a $3 million bond.
Both Mike McLelland and Hasse had prosecuted their suspected killer. Williams was convicted in March 2012 of the burglary of a building and theft by a public servant.
He was sentenced to two months of probation for stealing computer equipment from a county building. The man lost his justice of the peace position, his law license and health insurance as a result of the conviction, according to the Dallas Morning News.
During his trial, the disgraced county official said that McLelland and Hasse didn’t like him, CBS reports.
Assistant DA Mark Hasse
Initially, police suspected the murders were payback for prosecutions of members of a white supremacist group, the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. One of the prosecutors in that case even stepped down, citing “security concerns.”
According to the Dallas Morning News,
The day after the bodies of Cynthia and Mike McLelland were found, an anonymous writer sent an email to county officials threatening that more attacks were imminent if the writer’s demands were not met.
Law enforcement authorities have since linked the the threat back to Eric Williams, a former justice of the peace who is now the prime suspect in the slayings.
The McLellands were found dead in their home over Easter weekend. Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was gunned down Jan. 31 as he walked to the county courthouse….
Williams was convicted of stealing county equipment last year and sentenced to probation in a highly contentious case prosecuted by McLelland and Hasse. That case is on appeal. Williams faces another theft charge in a case related to money allegedly misused from a law library fund.
Mike and Cynthia McLelland
Three people murdered over what sounds like fairly small-time burglary charges. And all Williams got was probation. I wonder if Williams was threatening more killings. It seems possible, based on the arsenal he had assembled.
Authorities searched the Williams’ home and that of his in-laws, who live down the street from them, on Friday. Those searches led to the execution of a search warrant on Saturday at Gibson Self Storage on Seagoville Road near U.S. Highway 175.
Authorities seized more than 20 weapons from the unit, which was rented on behalf of Williams. Some of the weapons are similar to those used in the Hasse and McLelland slayings. Ballistics tests are now being conducted by the Texas Rangers crime lab on the weapons that are of the same caliber as those used in the killings
Police also found a car in the storage unit that looked like one seen in the area at the time of the McLelland murders.
Hours after the McLellands’ bodies were found, authorities met with Williams at a local Denny’s restaurant, Williams’ attorney, David Sergi, told CNN earlier this month.
Investigators took swab samples from Williams’ hands to test him for gun residue, according to the lawyer. Results were not made public by officials, but Sergi said the tests came back negative….
On Friday, Sergi released a statement saying that Williams “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.”
So police apparently suspected Williams right away. Williams is still maintaining his innocence. We’ll have to wait to see what happens after he’s charged. It sounds like police are pretty certain they’ve got their man.
Please use this as an open thread.
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
mablue2
Mama Lopez
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Again, please treat this as an open thread.
BB, I am so sorry. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I am really out of it. I can’t wake up. And the last half hour I’ve been awake, I’ve been staring at the side of the couch…just looking at nothing.
It’s OK. Just rest up. I didn’t have anything better to do today and I’m feeling better.
The “terroristic threat” charge is a felony that could put him away, if they don’t have anything else.
The Dallas News story listed other evidence–plus all those guns. The e-mail coming from him is pretty telling. We’ll know more soon.
The CBS station in Dallas is reporting he’s gonna be charged with capital murder tomorrow.
Is it just me or is anyone else sick & tired of hearing from 2nd Amendment screamers that proposed restrictions won’t keep guns out of the hands of criminals? Adam Lanza wasn’t a criminal, neither were the shooters in Columbine or Aurora. And this guy I’m sure purchased his arsenal (who the fk needs an fking arsenal anyway?) before his conviction on theft. Why do NONE of the media people bring up my point? Why do they continue to let them spout this drivel? I think my head is going to explode if I hear that BS one more time.
He’s not the only one with an arsenal. I’ve read the district attorney was a gun nut who had them hidden away all over his house, according to his son. Fat lot of good all that hardware did him.
The media must be in the pocket of gun manufacturers like they are every other monied interest.
I was already sick and tired of it ages ago. I can’t stand to listen to the arguments these days. I get way too angry.
Will the Sanctity Of Traditional Homophobia Keep the GOP Together? LOL
Thank link isn’t working for me.
Duh, it helps to put them in 🙂
http://www.nationalmemo.com/lol-of-the-week-will-sanctity-of-traditional-homophobia-keep-the-gop-together/
Thanks!
What a great line!
Rep. Jerrold Nadler: Federal deficit being cut too fast
Give that Democrat a cookie!
They’re all rushing to the microphones to distance themselves from Obama’s folly.
Didn’t take them long to catch on.
Here’s something I’d like to hear in real life–very calming too.
That was really nice. Little like whale song.
Bernnie Sanders:
There is a reason why every major organization representing senior citizens, working families, veterans, and women is strongly opposed to the chained CPI. They understand, as do the vast majority of Americans, that working families have suffered enough during this recession, and that it is time for large corporations and the wealthy to play a significant role in reducing the deficit.
He challengs anyone who supports chiained CPI to go to Walter Reed…….visit with the men and women who have lost legs, arms, eyesight, etc………Tell them we can help it if we made promises, we’re cutting your cost of living and reneging on those promises.