Kaufman Cty TX Asst DA Mark Hasse Fatally Shot Outside Courthouse(2 CHGD)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime/2014/09/12/kaufman-prosecutor-kilings/15535665/
Judge denies request to delay trial in Kaufman County prosecutor killings case
September 12, 2014

ROCKWALL — It was a subdued, much thinner Eric Williams that appeared in a Rockwall County courtroom room Friday.

The former justice of the peace stands accused of killing Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia and prosecutor Mark Hasse last year.

"A prosecutor getting murdered is a very unique event in this country," special prosecutor Bill Wirskye, said in court. "When two get murdered in the same office in a two-month period of time, it's unprecedented."

Williams is being tried on the capital murder indictment for Cynthia McLelland. His attorneys were in court seeking a delay of his December trial.

"The amount of evidence that we have received in this case is enormous," said defense attorney Matthew Seymour. "We have a lot work yet to be done on this case for us to adequately prepare and we simply need more time."

State District Judge Michael Snipes, who is presiding over the case, denied the request, saying the defense has had ample time to prepare. He trial would begin as scheduled Dec. 1.
Hasse, 57, was gunned down by a masked man in late January 2013 as he walked to the downtown Kaufman courthouse. The McLellands were slain in their Forney home over Easter weekend.

In court, it was a mini-preview of the much-anticipated trial. Prosecutors contend the murders are inextricably linked. Mike McLelland and Hasse tried one case together and that was the successful prosecution of Williams several months before they were killed.

Prosecutors have not yet asked to introduce evidence from the Hasse case but it is pretty clear that they likely will do so.

"We have Eric Williams sending a message to Crime Stoppers claiming credit for both murders -- the Hasse murder and the McLelland murders," Wirksye said. "That message contained facts that only the Hasse murderer would know and in that sense it corroborates the confession in the McLelland case. At some point, these cases are so intermixed and intertwined that it would almost be confusing for the jury not to hear it."

The defense adamantly disagreed, saying the Hasse case isn't relevant and must be excluded.

"They're talking about an event that was in another city, 60 days prior with a different modality, different instruments, different settings," Seymour said. "We would have basically a trial within a trial."

Even though prosecutors have not yet asked to introduce evidence from the Hasse killing at trial, Snipes indicated that he would allow it to be introduced.

"For purposes of the defense you should plan as if that will be admitted into the case," Snipes said, noting the allegation is that the killings were part of "an overarching plan of the defendant to seek revenge."

There was also a testy exchange about Kim Williams, the defendant's estranged wife.

She helped prosecutors find the Hasse murder weapon, which was recovered from the depths of Lake Tawakoni. Now, she's on the prosecution's witness list. The defense says it reeks of a clandestine plea deal.

"There has been zero action on that case," Seymour said. "There is something afoot with Ms. Williams' case. it's not proceeding like this case is and we think we know why."

Prosecutors were adamant that wasn't the situation.

"There is no deal with Kim Williams," Wirskye said. "We will deal with Mrs. Williams at the appropriate time and at the appropriate way. There simply is no plea bargain."
 

[MuffyBee]

I find it refreshing and encouraging Judge Snipes has denied the requested trial delay.  After reading about Jodi Arias's latest legal shenanigans, it gives me hope the trials for the murders of Mike and Cynthia McLelland and Mark Hasse won't be a spectacle.  JMHO

[Sister]

I find it refreshing and encouraging Judge Snipes has denied the requested trial delay.  After reading about Jodi Arias's latest legal shenanigans, it gives me hope the trials for the murders of Mike and Cynthia McLelland and Mark Hasse won't be a spectacle.  JMHO

gives me hope too Muffy 

 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime/2014/09/22/jury-selection-begins-eric-williams-kaufman-county/16038687/
Jury selection begins in Kaufman murder case
September 22, 2014

The long road to picking a jury in the capital murder trial of former Justice of the Peace Eric Williams in the high-profile Kaufman County prosecutor killings started on Monday morning.

The task at hand is finding 12 people — plus a couple of alternates — who haven't made up their mind about the guilt or innocence of Williams.

He is accused in the revenge-style plot to kill the two men who had prosecuted him.

"Most capital murder cases have received publicity but not to this extent," said former State District Judge John Creuzot, who has presided over and prosecuted capital murder cases. "It's going to be difficult to find anybody who hasn't heard about this case and doesn't know anything," he said. "I think a lot of people are going to have an opinion about the guilt or innocence of this man because it's been so highly publicized."

Williams and his estranged wife Kim have been accused of killing Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse on January 31, 2013. Hasse, 57, was gunned down by a masked man as he walked to the courthouse in downtown Kaufman.

District Attorney Mike McLelland, 63, and his 65-year-old wife Cynthia were slain in their Forney home over Easter weekend of that same year.

At this point, prosecutors have decided to try Eric Williams on an indictment for killing Cynthia McLelland. The trial is scheduled to start December 1 at the Rockwall County Courthouse, where the case was moved due to the enormous publicity surrounding the case in Kaufman County.

In this case, potential jurors are being questioned individually for more than an hour at a time. The plan is to interview four or five potential jurors per day. That's why jury selection could last as long as two months.
 

Because prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, jury candidates are also being questioned on their willingness to sentence someone to the death penalty.

"That disqualifies a lot of people because they can't or won't go that far," Creuzot explained.

The other issue confronting defense and prosecutors boils down to schedules. This trial is slated to begin on December 1, right in the middle of the holiday season.

"You build in a host of problems right there," Creuzot said. "This can be very difficult for the person who sits on [the jury]."

Those selected also face the very real likelihood that they'll be sequestered for some period of time during the trial.

Dallas County District Judge Mike Snipes is presiding over the trial. He is a veteran judge and West Point-educated lawyer who is scheduled to retire soon.
 

Defense attorneys also on Monday renewed their motion to delay the trial. Snipes denied the motion.

[MuffyBee]

These murders weren't crimes of passion, they were premeditated.  Eric Williams went to great lengths of planning in advance and ambushed the victims, two in their own home and the other leaving his office.  JMHO

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/27386559/judge-wont-throw-out-evidence-in-kaufman-county-murder-trial
Judge won’t throw out evidence in Kaufman County murder trial
November 14, 2014

ROCKWALL, Texas -
A former justice of the peace was in court Friday for a hearing before his murder trial.

Eric Williams is accused of murdering the Kaufman County district attorney, the DA's wife and the county's lead prosecutor.

His trial was moved to Rockwall County and is expected to begin next month. But first his defense attorney wanted to ask the judge to throw out some of the evidence.

Friday's hearing focused on the guns recovered from a lake and storage unit that Williams allegedly rented and the Texas Department of Public Safety ballistics expert who analyzed them.

The defense argued the expert was not credible and the evidence should be excluded from the trail, but the judge disagreed.

The trial is scheduled to begin on Dec. 1.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/27443733/suspects-mother-to-give-taped-deposition-in-kaufman-co-murder-trial
Suspect's mother to give taped deposition in Kaufman Co. murder trial
November 20, 2014

Eric Williams, the former Kaufman County Justice of the Peace accused in the deaths of the Kaufman County district attorney, the D.A'.s wife, Cynthia McLelland, and the lead assistant D.A., was in court for the last time Thursday before the trial for Cynthia's death begins Dec. 1.

It was revealed that Williams' mother, Jessie Ruth Williams, will give a videotaped deposition Saturday. She is too ill to attend the trial.

Eric Williams' estranged wife, Kim, is also charged with capital murder. She will be tried separately.

Video

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/2014/11/24/shannon-hebert-former-kaufman-county-prosecutor-speaks-about-da-murders/70071344/
Former Kaufman Co. prosecutor recounts terror of murders
Tanya Eiserer, WFAA
November 25, 2014


Eric Williams(Photo: WFAA)


Shannon Hebert(Photo: WFAA)


Mike and Cynthia McLelland(Photo: Courtesy)


Mark Hasse(Photo: Courtesy)

District Attorney Mike McLelland was her boss. His wife, Cynthia, was her friend. His deputy, Mark Hasse, was her colleague.

Shannon Hebert lost all of them in the spasm of killings that terrorized Kaufman County last year.

"We'll never forget what happened, and we'll never forget them," said Hebert, a former Kaufman County prosecutor.

She hasn't spoken publicly until now, because doing so scares her.

She knew the accused killer, former Justice of the Peace Eric Williams. She appeared in his court. She liked him. She still struggles to understand how, as alleged, he could have plotted for weeks to kill his own former colleagues, the core of the county's law-enforcement community.
 

Hebert briefly considered Eric Williams as a suspect, but - like many other county residents who knew Williams - she didn't take the idea seriously.

McLelland, though, believed it from the start. Hebert recalled that the theft trial had become so bitter that McLelland and Hasse began carrying guns to work during the trial and stayed armed afterward.

McLelland shared his fears with county officials, and with almost anyone else who would listen, Hebert said.

"He went to the police. He went to the FBI. He went to the news," Hebert said.

As days passed with no arrests in Hasse's shooting, McLelland grew frustrated. He pushed detectives to put Williams on their radar screen.

"He felt that the only person that could have done it wasn't being looked at all," Hebert said.

Hebert said McLelland was a rock of strength in those scary days that followed. The tough-talking district attorney publicly vowed within hours of the killing that authorities would find the killers and pull them out of "whatever hole you're in."

"He showed not ounce of fear," she said. "He actually just worried about us and he led us through it."

Then came Easter weekend. Someone came to the McClellands' front door in Forney, and shot the husband and wife with an assault weapon.

Hebert was shopping for Easter dinner when her phone rang. The McLellands had been murdered.

Hebert was ordered to immediately go home. A desperate search was underway to locate everybody who worked in the prosecutors' office.

"They had to actually go through a list to make sure everybody was still alive," she said. "We didn't know who was doing this. We didn't know if there was only one target that day."

Hebert and other members of the office were put under 24-hour police protection. So were judges and other elected officials. Downtown Kaufman became a virtual armed encampment.

"Mark's death was shocking, but Mike and Cynthia's was terrifying," Hebert said. "At that point, we realized we're all in danger. It was clearly a target on our office."

Hebert became physically ill with fear. How could her boss be dead? She and other prosecutors began wearing bulletproof vests to work. Some bought guns.

The terror went well beyond Kaufman.

"It shook prosecutors all over the country," Hebert said. "I was receiving calls that they were getting protection all over Texas. That they had never been this scared in their lives."

After the McLellands died, she said she began to see Eric Williams as a viable suspect. So did investigators, who had put him under surveillance.

"We all started putting two and two together, and the only tie was Eric," Hebert said.

Several weeks later, Williams and his wife, Kim, were arrested on capital murder charges as authorities discovered evidence linked to the McLelland case in a Seagoville storage unit. Authorities later discovered the gun and a mask used in the killing of Hasse during a search of Lake Tawakoni.

Investigators alleged Eric Williams had other targets he wanted to assassinate, including current Kaufman County District Attorney Erleigh Norville Wiley.

"She had been my judge for five-and-a-half years," Hebert said. "She has small children, and my goodness, she's just a wonderful woman. Just thinking about it almost made me sick."

Hebert left the Kaufman County District Attorney's Office not long after the killings.

"I just lost the love for the job," she said, adding that she and her husband had already been planning to move closer to family.

[Green Eyes]

http://keranews.org/post/kaufman-county-murder-trial-starts-today

 

One-time Justice of the Peace Eric Williams faces the death penalty for murdering Kaufman County’s District Attorney, his wife, and an Assistant D.A. in 2013. The trial starts today in Rockwall County.

Two months later, McLelland and his wife were gunned down in their home. Because of publicity, this trial was moved. Residents of Rockwall County, not Kaufman, will decide the fate Williams. His wife Kim, also accused in this case, is listed as a prosecution witness. Judge Snipes has set aside three weeks for the trial.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/2014/11/30/kaufman-county-eric-williams/19723907/
Testimony wraps at Day 1 of Eric Williams trial
December 1, 2014

 
t was Easter weekend of 2013 when McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were shot to death inside their house in Forney. It was the last link in a chain of terror to hit this town. Two months earlier a masked man had gunned down one of McLelland's top assistants, Mark Hasse.

Tweets by @tanyaeiserer
On Monday, the former justice of the peace accused of killing them goes on trial. Eric Williams faces three accounts of capital murder, but prosecutors have chosen to try him for the murder of Cynthia McLelland.
Prosecutors allege that Williams held a deadly grudge after Hasse and McLelland successfully prosecuted him for stealing county computer monitors. Those 12 jurors who will decide Williams' guilt or innocence will be told of a complicated, months-in-the-making plot that included the clandestine purchase of getaway cars and the secret renting of a storage unit to hold the cars and other items used in the killings.

Special prosecutors Bill Wirskye and Toby Shook are seeking the death penalty.

Kim Williams also faces capital murder indictments in the deaths. No trial date has been set.

"When Mark Hasse was killed, nobody at that time was sure what had happened whether or not that was an isolated incident and so when that happened to the McLellands on the heels of it, it was disturbing there was no other way to put it," said Andrew Jordan, the county public defender and a fellow Lions Club member.

It was a chain of events that started Jan. 31. 2013.

On the morning he died, Hasse parked in the same county lot, practically around the corner from courthouse, just as he routinely did. He got out of his truck and started toward the courthouse.

Former Kaufman County DA investigator Bruce Bryant believes the killer clearly knew Hasse's routine. The prosecutor was shot five times before he could even draw his weapon.

"He put a lot of planning into this. I'm sure he did. He might have even partially followed him here before," Bryant said.

After the killings of the McLellands, downtown Kaufman became a virtual armed encampment as law officers flooded the town. Judges and other local officials came to the Lions Club meetings with bodyguards.

More...

Video

[MuffyBee]

    Williams planned and executed three people.   His wife was in on it all and was in the getaway car each time.  She could have prevented all three deaths, imo.   


http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime/2014/12/01/kaufman-prosecutors-outline-case-against-williams/19761337/
Day two of trial for man accused in Kaufman slayings
December 2, 2014

 
On Monday, the 12 jurors who will decide Williams' fate began hearing testimony for the first time about a clandestinely-rented storage unit, secretly-purchased getaway cars, and an anonymous tip sent to Crime Stoppers confessing to the murders of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, and prosecutor Mark Hasse.
In his opening statement, lead special prosecutor Bill Wirskye said the evidence will show that Williams set out to kill Hasse and McLelland, the two men who had successfully prosecuted him in March 2012 for burglary and theft of county computer monitors. The conviction resulted in Williams' disbarment and removal from office.

"The life that he knew, it disappeared... and when he watched it disappear, he began to plot and plan to seek vengeance — fatal and final retribution," Wirskye told jurors.

Prosecutors seek the death penalty against Williams. He is being tried specifically on the indictment for the killing of Cynthia McLelland.
 
Williams' wife, Kim, is charged with capital murder in the cases. She is accused of being in the getaway car during all of the killings. Her trial date has not been set.

Defense attorneys asked few, if any, questions of the witnesses during opening testimony on Monday.
In the predawn hours of March 30, 2013, prosecutors say that Williams forced his way into the McLelland home with an AR-15 assault weapon.

"He cuts down a defenseless Cynthia McLelland in a blizzard of bullets," Wirskye said.

After shooting the district attorney's wife in the head, Williams then allegedly turned the assault weapon on Mike McLelland, pulling the trigger "over and over," the prosecutor said.
Wirskye said the evidence would show that Williams then stood over the body of McLelland and continued to fire weapons into the "defenseless body."

Investigators found at least 20 spent rounds from the weapon used in the killings, testimony showed. One of the spent shell cases was found under the slain DA. He had 16 gunshot wounds. His wife had eight, including gunshot wounds to the head, upper chest and chin.

Charles "C.J." Tomlinson, a Dallas police officer, testified about finding the bodies of the McLellands. He said his stepfather and mother — Skeet and Leah Phillips, who were best friends of the McLellands — became worried about after they couldn't reach them by phone. Tomlinson testified that his mother went by the home and no one came to the door.

The police officer said his mother asked that he and his stepfather go with her to see what was going on.

When he got there, Tomlinson said he found the front door unlocked.
"As soon as I saw that door swing open, I knew something wasn't right," said Tomlinson, who has since married the daughter of Cynthia McLelland.

He said he took several steps into the house and saw spent shell casings. He took a couple more steps and called out for Mike McLelland. He saw the body of Cynthia McLelland near the front entryway.

"She [Leah Phillips] just fell to her knees and started crying," Tomlinson said, adding that he saw spent shell cases nearby.

His stepfather stepped a little further inside and soon found the body of Mike McLelland in a hallway just outside a bathroom.

"There was nothing at that point that anyone could do for them," Tomlinson said.

Tomlinson testified that Cynthia McLelland was in the early stages of Parkinson's disease. Prosecutors said they brought up as evidence that it would have been hard for her to defend herself.

Members of the McLelland family were visibly upset as Texas Ranger Rudy Flores described the crime scene. He testified that investigators found no signs of forced entry and no signs of theft. Mike McLelland was found dressed in sweatpants and was shirtless.

Flores said investigators found a number of guns in the house. None had been discharged.

Within hours of the bodies being found, law officers met Williams in the parking lot of a restaurant and asked him where he had been that day. Williams told investigators that he had been in Quinlan, Texas, with his wife.

Quinlan, Wirskye said, is close to Lake Tawakoni, which is where Texas Department of Public Safety divers later found a mangled cell phone belonging to Williams and a gun and mask allegedly used in the killing of Hasse.

Williams told investigators that it had been a while since he had fired a gun. Test results showed that wasn't true, Wirskye added.

"This man had gunshot residue on his hands the night of the McLelland murders," Wirskye told jurors.

A few days later, a Texas Ranger and a sheriff's deputy interviewed Williams, and he told them that he had disposed of all of his guns. They also asked if he had done any computer searches of McLelland prior to the killings. He told them "no," Wirskye said.

About the same time, investigators obtained computer records showing that Williams was not telling the truth, Wirskye said.

During a search of the Williams residence on April 12, agents found the title from a white Ford Crown Victoria that investigators said was used as a getaway car in the McLelland killings. They also found a sheet of paper with a series of numbers.

Those correspond to Crime Stoppers tips — including one that was a confession to the murders.

"He sent an email to law enforcement claiming credit for the murders, thinking that he was anonymous, thinking law enforcement would never figure it out," Wirskye said. "But he was wrong."

Roger Williams, a one-time friend, testified that he came forward and told authorities about a storage unit that Eric Williams had secretly had him rent in late 2012 after seeing that law officers were searching the Williams residence. He said he and another fellow state guardsman decided that they needed to talk to the police.

He testified that he rented the storage unit after Eric Williams came to asking for a favor. Rodger Williams — who is not related to Eric Williams — had served in Texas National Guard with the defendant. He testified that Eric Williams wanted him to rent the locker in his name because he didn't want the authorities to know about it.

Rodger Williams said Eric Williams gave him $1,200 to cover a year of rent. He said he did not return to the storage facility until the day he led the Texas Rangers to it.

Asked if Eric Williams was still his friend and if he still had faith in him, Rodger Williams replied: "None whatsoever."

Inside Unit No. 18, prosecutors said they found a veritable treasure trove of evidence, including the Crown Victoria that testimony showed Eric Williams had purchased under a fake name.

They also found a live round that was said to have cycled through the same weapon that killed the McLellands.

Investigators have obtained records from the storage unit facility showing that someone had entered and left the unit at times corresponding to the McLelland murders.

Surveillance video from a nearby fast food restaurant shows Williams' sport utility vehicle arriving shortly before the time of the killings, and then the Crown Victoria leaving. The images show the Crown Victoria returning after the time of the murders, and Williams' SUV leaving.

Testimony showed that Williams used an underpass not far from the storage unit as a makeshift gun range because, prosecutors argued, he wanted to practice for the killings. Authorities found shell cases from the same weapon used in the McLelland murders.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/27527576/friend-says-eric-williams-asked-him-to-hide-gun-parts-after-kaufman-county-murders
Witness says Eric Williams asked him to hide gun parts after Kaufman County murders
December 2, 2014

Testimony in the Kaufman County murder trial continued Tuesday and included discussions about the suspect's behavior around the time of the killings.

Eric Williams, a former justice of the peace, is on trial for the 2013 murder of Cynthia McLelland. He's also accused of killing McLelland's husband, Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, and prosecutor Mark Hasse.

A man who served in the State Guard with Williams said Williams contacted him out the blue and asked for a favor.

David Hunt told the court they had an awkward conversation over lunch. He said Williams asked him to help him get rid of an upper, or the traceable part of an automatic rifle.

“I found the conversation to be awkward, somewhat forced. I think the conversation would be what I would call non-linear. Generally speaking conversations have a beginning, middle and end. This conversation felt like it was jumping around, just very odd," Hunt said.

Investigators who searched a storage unit that Williams allegedly rented found a Ford Crown Victoria, tactical gear, homemade explosives and two automatic rifle lowers, but no uppers.

Hunt told the court that he did not help Williams get rid of anything.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime/2014/12/03/kaufman-county-murders-shooting-killings-trial/19826635/
Both sides rest in Kaufman murder trial
December 3, 2014

ROCKWALL — The capital murder case against former Kaufman County Justice of the Peace Eric Williams has had it all: From ballistics evidence linking him to the 2013 shooting deaths of the district attorney and his wife; to his fingerprints on the alleged getaway vehicle; to incriminating e-mails sent from his computer after Mark and Cynthia McLelland were slain.

Over three days of testimony, jurors heard from about 30 witnesses as special prosecutors detailed their case against Williams, the 47-year-old disbarred lawyer who authorities say killed the McLellands along with top county prosecutor Mark Hasse in revenge for the two men prosecuting him for the theft of county computer monitors.

That successful prosecution cost Williams his job as a judge, and resulted in the loss of his law license. Investigators said those events set him on a deadly path to take out the two men he blamed most for his downfall.

Hasse was gunned down on January 31, 2013 as he walked to the Kaufman County courthouse, a killing that stunned the tiny town and put it in the national spotlight.

But it was the murders of the McLellands in their Forney home two months later, over Easter weekend, that sparked sheer terror. Prosecutors said the couple died in a "torrent of lead."
This trial has centered around the McLelland killings, because prosecutors are trying Williams on the indictment for Cynthia McLelland's death. Jurors never heard Hasse's name spoken during three days of testimony.

If Williams is convicted, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Tuesday's testimony was mostly about guns and firearms evidence; Wednesday's testimony centered around the forensics, putting the finishing touches on this case.
"This case on guilt or innocence is not defensible," said Barry Sorrels, a prominent Dallas defense attorney. "There is no defense to the evidence that's been presented by the state. It's one incriminating fact after another, all tied together."

Sorrels attended all three days of testimony. He said lead special prosecutor Bill Wirskye followed through on his promise to deliver an "airtight case" to the jury.

AN AVALANCHE OF EVIDENCE

Over three days, jurors heard an avalanche of evidence, from incriminating e-mails sent to Crime Stoppers from the computer of Williams to an unspent cartridge recovered from Williams' secret storage unit that investigators said had cycled through the same assault rifle that killed the McLellands.

Sorrells said that unspent cartridge is the single strongest piece of evidence.

"That puts Eric Williams at the crime scene," he said. "It's better than a fingerprint. It made Eric Williams the shooter of Cynthia and Mike McLelland."

In testimony, jurors have heard that Williams agreed to be subjected to a gunshot residue test about 15 hours after the McLellands were slain. The accused man told investigators at that time that he had not fired a weapon.

Texas Department of Public Safety firearms examiner Thomas White told jurors on Wednesday that Williams had gunshot residue on his hands that night.

"These results are consistent with the individual within four hours before collection either fired a weapon; been near a weapon when it was fired; or handled some kind of object that had gunshot residue on it," he said.

Prosecutors contend that Williams likely had gunshot residue on his hands from disposing of the firearms evidence.

CAR, COMPUTER YIELD IMPORTANT CLUES

An FBI special agent testified about finding the title to that alleged getaway vehicle, a Ford Crown Victoria sedan, in a filing cabinet at the Williams residence. Earlier testimony showed Williams purchased the car under an alias.

A DPS fingerprint examiner said that two fingerprints found on that car belonged to Williams. The car was found inside a storage unit filled with dozens of firearms and other evidence.

Jurors heard testimony about searches for the words "Michael" and "McLelland" that were done from Williams' computer on January 6, 2013, months before the killings. They also heard testimony about Williams using cloaking software to send incriminating e-mails to Crime Stoppers.

The first of those messages arrived the day after the McLelland killings. In those e-mails, the sender appears to confess to the murders, and threatens more attacks if demands are not met.

Jurors were also told about the 119 hours that DPS divers spent searching the murky depths of Lake Tawakoni.

DPS Staff Sgt. Stephen Tippett testified that troopers dived a total of 16 days from August to March, explaining that they did so in a grid-like pattern.

"The visibility in Tawakoni is zero visibility," he explained to jurors. "lt's almost like chocolate milk... as you soon you get underwater, you lose visibility."

From those waters emerged some key evidence: A mangled cell phone belonging to Williams, and a gun and mask alleged to ahve been used in the killing of Hasse.

Jurors did not hear about the gun and the mask, presumably because of its link to the Hasse case. They also were not told that Williams' accused accomplice and estranged wife, Kim, led authorities to that location.

Perhaps the most dramatic moment in Wednesday's testimony came when the prosecution's final witness showed the jurors videos from the morning of the killings.

Security camera footage from a fast-food restaurant across the street from the storage facility shows a truck matching the description of Williams' arriving – about 40 minutes before the McLellands were gunned down.

A white car is seen driving out of Williams' secret storage unit and exiting the property. Security tapes from other businesses shows what appears to be that same car traveling along Interstate 20 going toward the McLelland's Forney residence.

Video from the surveillance cameras of other businesses shows the white car taking a different path as it returns to the storage facility. Surveillance video from the restaurant shows its return after the killings.

The truck then drives away.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

As their final act, prosecutors played a video of a television interview with Williams that occurred a few days after the McLelland murders. In it, he denied any involvement.
First, I want to say my deepest condolence goes to the McLelland family and all the people at the courthouse, most of which I know," Williams said. "I certainly wish them the best in bringing justice to this incredibly egregious act."

Williams added that McLelland and Hasse were merely doing their jobs when they prosecuted him.

With that, the prosecution closed its case. The defense then rested, too.

Eric Williams' defense attorneys presented no witnesses. Williams declined to testify on his own behalf.

A short time later, he appeared to shiver and appeared upset.

Closing statements will begin Thursday morning.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://kxan.com/2014/12/04/man-found-guilty-of-killing-texas-das-wife/
Man found guilty of killing Texas DA’s wife
December 4, 2014

ROCKWALL, Texas (AP) — A North Texas jury convicted a former public official Thursday of capital murder in a revenge plot against a district attorney, his wife and a top assistant.

Eric Williams now faces a potential death sentence after he was convicted in the 2013 murder of Cynthia McLelland, the wife of slain Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland. Testimony in the trial involved the deaths of both McLellands, and Williams also is indicted in the death of assistant prosecutor Mark Hasse.

Prosecutors took just three days to present their case against Williams, while his defense lawyers only had a closing argument and did not call witnesses. Defense attorneys and prosecutors declined to comment afterward.

After the verdict, Williams’ brother-in-law, Zach Bellemare, said the defense team “was terrible.”

The McLellands’ bodies were found inside their rural home east of Dallas in March 2013. The couple had already changed to go to bed when Williams charged into the home and opened fire. Prosecutors say Williams shot Cynthia McLelland in the head, and he then shot Mike McLelland and stood over his body, firing repeatedly.

Their deaths occurred two months after a masked gunman killed prosecutor Hasse outside a local courthouse building.

Prosecutor Bill Wirskye characterized Williams in closing arguments as “a ruthless killing machine.”

Williams was a former justice of the peace who lost his job and his law license after McLelland and Hasse successfully prosecuted him for stealing three computer monitors from a county government building. Williams was convicted in March 2012, about 10 months before Hasse was killed. “My life has taken a drastic turn,” Williams told a probation officer at the time.

The case was built on circumstantial evidence against Williams, and the weapon used to kill the McLellands has never been found.

“It’s a fantasy. It’s a guess. There’s no proof of it,” defense attorney Matthew Seymour said in closing arguments.

But prosecutors showed jurors evidence from a storage locker he had a friend rent in secret. Inside the locker was the suspected getaway vehicle, more than 30 guns and police tactical gear. A dive team that searched a local lake also found a gun believed to have been used to shoot Hasse and a mask Williams allegedly wore.

Williams’ estranged wife, Kim, has been indicted for capital murder, though her attorney has said she is cooperating with prosecutors. She did not testify in the trial. She’s accused of having driven the getaway vehicle after Hasse’s killing.

Prosecutors also found a password in Williams’ home to an account on the Crime Stoppers tips website used to send a partial confession. One message presented in court said, “Do we have your full attention now?”

Prosecutors decided to pursue the three murder charges individually, because if Williams was acquitted in the death of Cynthia McLelland, they then could try him in the slaying of Mike McLelland. Had prosecutors not won either case, they would bring Williams to trial in Hasse’s death.

The trial was held in neighboring Rockwall County due to the attention the case received in Kaufman County. The sentencing phase begins Monday.

[Sister]

 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/27572269/punishment-phase-starts-monday-in-kaufman-murders-case
Punishment phase starts Monday in Kaufman murders case
December 8, 2014

Jurors are considering life in prison or the death penalty for a former justice of the peace convicted of killing a prosecutor's wife in Kaufman County.

The trial of Eric Williams enters the punishment phase Monday in Rockwall.

Williams was convicted Thursday of capital murder in a revenge plot against a Kaufman County district attorney, his wife and a top assistant.

He lost his judicial job and law license after being prosecuted and convicted in 2012 of stealing county computer monitors.

Williams was found guilty in the March 2013 fatal shooting of Cynthia McLelland. Her husband, Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, was also found slain at their home. Williams is also charged with killing assistant prosecutor Mark Hasse (HAS'-ee) in January 2013.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime/2014/12/09/punishment-phase-williams-continues/20133699/
Death penalty jury sees Williams' arsenal
December 9, 2014

ROCKWALL — Prosecutors staged a virtual gun show Tuesday as they tried to convince a jury to give Eric Williams the death penalty for killing Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife in 2013.

Three custom-built wooden stands were set up in the courtroom to display 39 pistols and 22 long guns seized from Williams' storage unit, as well as two guns found in Lake Tawakoni and another weapon seized from Williams' residence.

Jurors learned that Williams did a computer search on the home address of Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse and on the license plate of one of Hasse's neighbors, indicating that he was watching the prosecutor in the days before he was assassinated.

Prosecutors said Williams did computer searches on the men now prosecuting him for murder, and he also researched members of the news media. He was apparently trying to keep tabs on the investigation, even downloading a copy of the McLelland search warrant the day after the murders.
 

This was the second day of testimony in the punishment phase of the trial. Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case on Wednesday, calling for the death penalty.

The defense will then follow with its own witnesses, arguing that Williams should be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Last Thursday, the jury found Williams guilty of capital murder in the murders of the McLellands.

Mike and Cynthia McLelland died in a "torrent of lead" at their Forney home over Easter weekend in 2013. Police recovered 20 spent shell casings from the crime scene.

Mark Hasse was gunned down "in cold blood" two months earlier as he walked to the Kaufman County Courthouse.

The jury heard Monday for the first time about the death of Hasse and about the evidence linking Williams to the crime. Prosecutors said Williams meticulously plotted revenge because Hasse and McLelland had prosecuted him for stealing county computer monitors. The conviction cost Williams his job as a judge and he lost his license to practice law.

On Tuesday, prosecutors showed just how well Williams had armed himself.

Prosecutors set up the massive display of weaponry during the lunch break. Defense attorneys were clearly caught off-guard and immediately objected.

"This display is horrendous," lead defense attorney Matthew Seymour said. "The display of these items is wholly unnecessary and prejudicial ... This is clearly designed for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to inflame the jury."

Seymour contended that there was no need to bring all the guns into the courtroom since jurors had already seen pictures of the evidence seized from Williams' storage unit.

State District Judge Michael Snipes disagreed.

One by one, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent Matt Johnson displayed Williams' firepower, explaining the capabilities of each firearm. He also showed knives, a machete, a crossbow, and boxes of ammunition — plus two jars containing something like napalm.

In photographs, the jury was also shown an assortment of police shirts; a police badge; body armor; and raid jackets found in the storage unit.

In Williams' home, investigators found a copy of a manifesto written by Christopher Dorner, the disgruntled Los Angeles police officer who launched a series of attacks against law enforcement personnel.

Prosecutors also sought to show that Williams was remorseless, playing part of an interview they secretly recorded just days after the McLelland murders. Investigators initially encountered him at the home of his in-laws who live down the street.

Williams told investigators that he had already answered written questions about the Hasse murder. He explained that at the time of Mark Hasse was slain, his "frozen shoulder" issue had flared up and that's why he was wearing a sling. Earlier testimony showed that he told investigators on the day of Hasse's death that he was wearing the sling because he had had surgery.

On the day of the recorded interview, Williams denied having had surgery. He said that he was home at the time of the McLelland killings.

Asked if he had anything to do with any of the deaths, Williams replied: "No, absolutely not."

He told investigators that he and his wife drove to Quinlan the night that the McLellands were found dead.

Quinlan is not far from Lake Tawakoni where the guns and weapons linked to Hasse's murder were later found. Ballistics testing showed that one of those guns was used to kill the prosecutor. The other had been purchased by Williams' wife, Kim, in the late 1990s.

Investigators asked about Williams' weapons collection. He told them he had sold all but one — a .44-caliber handgun.

"I have one gun that I'm trying to sell," Williams was heard saying in the recording.

He refused to say who he sold the weapons to, telling investigators that had has given them as "much information" as he was going to. He told them that most of the firearms were sold at gun shows.

"Anything I say will be used against me," Williams said. "I know what you're trying to do; I've been through this … It's just going to keep going and going."

Still, at times, the recorded conversation seemed almost pleasant. Williams laughed and joked with the officers, telling them at one point that he has no money and he sold his weapons because he needed money.

The investigators asked to search Williams' home. He initially declined, but they ultimately convinced him to let them look around. He rode over on his Segway and let them in.

While his home was being searched, Williams and the investigators are heard chatting about where he went to school, about his service in the National Guard reserves, and in the state guard.

Soon after that recording was made, investigators found the arsenal in Williams' storage unit.

In court Tuesday, prosecutors argued the guns served as proof that Williams had lied. They hope jurors will see him as a continuing danger to society who should be put to death.

Jurors were also told about a disturbing e-mail that Williams sent to a colleague in 2007. At that time, Williams was acting as a guardian ad litem in cases involving children, and he had become upset with another lawyer.

Williams wrote that he was "ready to eat barbed wire and drink nails. I'll drink gasoline and piss napalm."

He wrote that he would prevail.

"No judge in this country can stop me. They know it and I know it. "

Of the person he was angry with, Williams wrote that he would take him down.

"I have no problem sending him to the hospital with a severed vertebrae, removing his children's organs, throwing his wife into a gang bang train or anything else creative you can come up with," he wrote. "I just don't really like this guy, and he should go somewhere else, if allowed to live."

Williams ends the rant with this: "How about we don't share this e-mail?"

Testimony in the punishment phase of Eric Williams' trial was scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday. It will be broadcast live on WFAA.com

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime/2014/12/09/punishment-phase-williams-continues/20133699/
Slide show at above link.



Prosecutors displayed an arsenal of weapons at Eric Williams' murder trial on December 9, 2014. (Photo: Tanya Eiserer / WFAA)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/27595960/state-rests-ahead-of-eric-williams-sentencing
State rests ahead of Eric Williams sentencing
Posted: Dec 10, 2014 11:56 AM CST
Updated: Dec 10, 2014 11:57 AM CST

Prosecutors have finished calling witnesses for the penalty phase of Eric Williams' murder trial.

Williams was convicted last week in the 2013 death of Cynthia McLelland. He's also accused of killing Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and prosecutor Mark Hasse.

The state rested Wednesday morning without calling Williams' estranged wife and co-defendant to testify. Legal experts thought she might because she was allegedly an eyewitness to the murders.

Instead, one of final witnesses was one of Williams' ex-girlfriends from the 1990s. She said he threatened her with a gun after she broke off their relationship.
 
Earlier in the penalty phase jurors were shown a stash of guns, ammunition and fake police uniforms that were found at Williams' home and in his storage unit. He told police he was buying and selling it all legally.

The defense could begin presenting its case Wednesday afternoon.

Williams is facing the death penalty.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime/2014/12/16/kim-williams-murder-trial-eric-kaufman/20474739/
Wife: Williams celebrated Kaufman murders with steak dinner
December 16, 2014

ROCKWALL -- The estranged wife of convicted killer Eric Williams testified Tuesday that her husband celebrated the deaths of Kaufman County's district attorney and his wife with a steak dinner, and planned to continue killing other county officials.
Kim Williams, who has been helping investigators build their case against Eric Williams, testified as the final witness for the prosecution in the penalty phase of her husband's murder trial. She told the defense that by testifying, she is hoping to avoid the death penalty.

Kim told the jury that while she is guilty of being an accomplice in the murders, her husband was the trigger man behind the deaths of District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia.

Prosecutors already have won a guilty verdict in those killings. During the penalty phase of the trial, they are seeking the death penalty for the former justice of the peace. The defense argues that he should receive a life sentence.

Kim Williams' testimony supported two points critical to the argument for a death penalty: That her husband killed in cold blood, and that he posed a continuing danger to society.

She said Eric Williams carefully planned each killing, celebrated with a steak dinner after the deaths, and had identified additional targets. They included current Kaufman County District Attorney Erleigh Wiley and retired State District Judge Glen Ashworth. Kim said Eric had a "good relationship" with Ashworth, his former boss.
 
Prosecutors and defense attorneys both argue that Eric Williams became enraged after his former colleagues in Kaufman County government won his conviction on a charge of stealing three computer monitors from the county. The conviction cost Williams his job as a justice of the peace, and his license to practice law. Defense lawyers, seeking to soften his punishment, have argued that the prosecution was unreasonable.

On the stand Tuesday, Kim Williams said her husband was more angry at Hasse than anyone after the conviction. She outlined his plan to kill Hasse, McLelland and Ashworth. She said he had planned to kidnap Ashworth and kill him with a crossbow and napalm, before putting him in their freezer.

Kim said they scoped out where they would kill Hasse and called it the "Tombstone Plan." She added that Eric was "excited and happy" when he was about to kill Hasse outside the courthouse.

"His anger was my anger," Kim Williams said.

"I asked him if Mark said anything," Kim recalled. "And he told me that Mark said "No, no, please no."

She added that he appeared satisfied with himself.

She said after Hasse's murder, they stashed their getaway car in a storage unit and Eric cleaned it of fingerprints.

Kim then outlined the plan to kill the McLellands. She said they originally planned to kill Mike McLelland near the courthouse as well. Then they decided to kill him at home. Kim said that Eric told her Cynthia McLelland had to be killed because she would be a witness and was "collateral damage."

She also said that Eric dressed as a SWAT team member for the Forney killings. She told jurors that she and her husband celebrated with a steak cookout after the murders and were "joyous and happy."

Kim Wiliams told the jury that she and Eric had had code for talking by using a deck of cards. Mike McLelland was the "King." Erleigh Wiley was the "Queen."

After the murders, Kim Williams led investigators to the two guns, a cell phone and a grim reaper mask that were found in Lake Tawakoni. Ballistics testing showed that one of the guns was used to kill Hasse. The other gun had previously been purchased by Kim Williams. The gunman in Hasse's death was wearing a mask like the one police recovered.

She also showed police where Williams had performed target practice in preparation for the killings. Authorities found shell casings there that matched those found at the McLelland home and the unfired shell casings found in Eric Williams' secret storage unit.

After Kim Williams' testimony, members of the FBI and former judge and current Kaufman Co. DA Erleigh Norville Wiley, who was on Eric Williams' hit list, took the stand.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/27640473/wife-testifies-ex-judge-fatally-shot-3-for-revenge
Estranged wife testifies against Kaufman County killer Eric Williams
December 16, 2014

The estranged wife of convicted Kaufman County killer Eric Williams testified Tuesday during the sentencing phase of his trial. She talked how they planned and carried out the murders.

Eric Williams was found guilty earlier this month in the shooting death of Cynthia McLelland. He is also accused of killing Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and prosecutor Mark Hasse.

Kim Williams told jurors Tuesday that her testimony was voluntarily. She is also charged with capital murder and admitted her guilt.

Kim said Eric was the one who pulled the trigger, but she helped him because she believed in him and loved him. She also admitted being a drug addict.

“I was so drugged up, his anger became my anger,” she said.

Kim testified that Eric was mad at Hasse and McLelland because they prosecuted him for stealing county computer equipment in 2011. He lost his job as a Kaufman County justice of the peace and his law license.

She claimed he drank a lot of beer and believes it affected his diabetes and way of thinking. He started talking about killing judges and Hasse, she said.

Kim admitted making napalm for her husband.

“He wanted to kill Hass, then bore out his stomach and put the napalm in it,” she said.

Ultimately they went with the “Tombstone” plan for Hasse's murder, which was based on the movie in which people are hunted and killed in the street, Kim said.

Kim admitted being the getaway driver that day. She said they parked the car in a storage unit afterward and drove home feeling happy and satisfied.

For the McLelland murders, Kim said Eric's plan was to dress up like a cop, ring the doorbell and say there was a gunman in the area. He even modeled the fake sheriff's outfit for her the night before.

Cynthia McLelland's death was collateral damage, she said.

Kim testified that she and her husband drove to her parent's house near Lake Tawakani after shooting the McLellands. They threw the evidence in the lake and then celebrated with grilled steaks.

Eric also had plans to kill at least two other judges, his wife said.

Prosecutors asked Kim why she chose to testify.

"Because those families have suffered and they deserve this," she answered.

During cross examination, Kim also said she is also hoping her testimony will spare her the death penalty.

Eric is facing a sentence of either life in prison or the death penalty.

His defense attorneys rested their case Monday after calling several character witnesses – his mother, childhood friends and a few co-workers.