Kaufman Cty DA Mike McLelland & Wife Found Slain in Home(SOLVED)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Memorial-funeral-set-for-slain-Kaufman-DA-and-wife-200958711.html
Memorial, funeral set for slain Kaufman DA and wife
April 1, 2013

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There will be a public memorial Thursday, April 4 at 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Sunnyvale, 3018 North Belt Line Road.
The McLellands' funeral is set for Friday morning April 5  at 10 o'clock at First Baptist Church of Wortham, 300 South 3rd Street.
Burial will follow in Wortham, Mike McLelland's home town.
Cynthia will be cremated and her ashes buried in the casket with her husband.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/02/us/aryan-brotherhood-texas-profile/
Explainer: What is the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas?
April 2, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
*The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas has been blamed for more than 100 homicides
*Authorities have not made a clear link between the group and two prosecutors' deaths
*The Kaufman County DA's office had helped prosecute some of the gangs' members
*The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas was denied membership in the Aryan Brotherhood

More...

Video at link.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/03/us-texas-districtattorney-idUSBRE9310OM20130403
Texas prosecutor steps into job after predecessor gunned down
April 1, 2013

(Reuters) - Brandi Fernandez slipped into the Kaufman County Courthouse in her first full day as interim district attorney on Tuesday, taking over a job that authorities believe got her predecessor and one of her colleagues killed.

Praised as a smart, tough litigator and a fierce advocate for child victims of crime, Fernandez declined to address reporters and remained under close protection inside the courthouse throughout the day. A police cruiser was parked outside her single-family home surrounded by trees on Monday and Tuesday.

Atop her agenda was investigating the targeted killings of former District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife on Saturday and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse on January 31.

As first assistant district attorney under McLelland, Fernandez, 42, was named to the interim job on Monday, after having worked in the office for nearly a decade.
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Authorities believe the McLellands' killer intended to send a message. Mike and Cynthia McLelland each suffered multiple gunshot wounds at their home, and sheriff's deputies found cartridge casings next to their bodies, according to an affidavit reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday.

The McLelland killings came just two months after McLelland vowed to capture the killer of Hasse, who was shot dead near the town square.
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ARYAN BROTHERHOOD SPECULATION

Authorities have yet to identify any suspects while people in Kaufman speculate it was the work of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, a white supremacist prison gang that had been the target of 34 indictments stemming from a task force that included Kaufman County prosecutors.

The racketeering charges accused the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas of exerting control over prison populations and neighborhoods through intimidation and violence and involvement in three murders, multiple attempted murders, kidnappings, assaults, and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine.

A Houston-based federal prosecutor was withdrawing from his role in the multiagency task force that brought the racketeering case against the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of Texas said on Tuesday.

The spokeswoman would not elaborate on Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman's reasoning for withdrawing, saying only that the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of Texas would continue to prosecute the case.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.newsmax.com/US/Prosecutor-Aryan-Brotherhood-Case/2013/04/02/id/497535
Report: Prosecutor Quits Aryan Brotherhood Case Citing ‘Security Reasons’
April 2, 2013


A federal prosecutor involved in the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas case has reportedly withdrawn citing “security reasons.”

Assistant U.S. attorney Jay Hileman emailed defense attorneys Tuesday, informing them he was leaving the case, two of the lawyers who received the emails said.

"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," Katherine Scardino, a lawyer for one of the defendants, told Talking Points Memo.

The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Texas would not confirm to news outlets that Hileman had quit the case. It issued a statement saying, "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.”
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No official connection has been made between the Kaufman County shootings case and the white supremacist group, but investigators are focusing their efforts in that direction.

Four of the group’s leaders were indicted in October of 2012, and in December a bulletin was issued that the supremecists might attempt to harm law enforcement officials in retaliation for the probe that also nabbed 30 more of its members.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57577749-504083/mike-mclelland-murder-neighbors-reportedly-saw-suspicious-suv-before-slaying-of-texas-da-wife/
Mike McLelland Murder: Neighbors reportedly saw suspicious SUV before slaying of Texas DA, wife
April 3, 2013

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Although investigators won't comment on the information, neighbors told CBS DFW they saw a beaten-up white-colored SUV parked at a street corner near the McLelland house for four days before the attack and that there appeared to be four men inside the vehicle.
Kaufman County crime scene technicians were recently investigating tire tracks found just down the road from the McLellands' home, CBS DFW reports. Technicians also marked the ground where they found a number of cigarette butts.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/03/mike-mclelland-investigation-focuses-on-those-the-d-a-prosecuted.html
Mike McLelland Investigation Focuses on Those the D.A. Prosecuted
April 3, 2013

Former Kaufman County justice of the peace Eric Williams might be a primer suspect had he not volunteered so readily to submit to a gunpowder residue test after the shootings of the two men who had prosecuted him for theft.
The first of the gun residue tests followed the January 31 killing of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse in broad daylight in a municipal employee parking lot.

The second gun residue test was conducted during a late-night meeting with investigators in another parking lot, at a Denny’s. This was hours after Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia McLelland, were discovered shot to death in their home.

Williams’s lawyer says both tests were negative. The lawyer, David Sergi, reports that his client also let investigators examine his cellphone.

“This guy has nothing to hide,” Sergi says. “We went through the same drill last time.”

Sergi notes that Williams had learned just the day before the McLelland killings that an appeals panel had agreed to hear oral arguments in his ongoing effort to get his 2012 conviction overturned.

“We want to be able to focus on Eric’s innocence of the crimes he was convicted of, as opposed to something he had nothing to do with,” Sergi says.

The investigators understandably took an interest in Williams as someone who reportedly had been heard to utter death threats in the past and who had been prosecuted by McLelland and Hasse.

Ironically, Williams and McLelland had both been elected in 2010 after unseating incumbents. They had posed for a picture along with the other new county officeholders after their swearing in on January 1, 2011.
Less than six months later, in May 2011, Williams was indicted by McLelland’s office for the theft of three computer monitors from a county building. Hasse joined McLelland in prosecuting the case, which included surveillance video that apparently shows Williams carrying boxes marked Dell from the county annex. The jury deliberated for three and a half hours before returning a guilty verdict.

“I’m ecstatic,” McLelland told the press afterward. “It shows the community that elected officials should be, and are, held to a higher standard. It’s not the old system over here any more.”

At the sentencing, McLelland and Hasse asked the judge to impose a prison sentence. Those who took the stand at the prosecution's behest included an ex-girlfriend who is reported by the Kaufman Herald to have testified that Williams said “he had something for my son” and then flashed a gun. The woman, Janice Gray, further testified that on another occasion he threatened to shoot her if she walked away from him.

There was also testimony by a local attorney who, by the Kaufman Herald’s account, said he had overheard Williams become so angry with another lawyer over a mixup involving a mediation proceeding that he threatened to kill not just the man but his family and leave his house a pile of smoking ashes.
More...

Comments

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Source-Members-of-Aryan-Brotherhood-of-Texas-offering-leads-in-DA-killing-201336941.html
Source: Members of Aryan Brotherhood of Texas offering leads in DA killing
April 3, 2013

DALLAS –– Some members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas have come forward and offered leads to the task force investigating the murders of Kaufamn County's district attorney, his wife and one of his top prosecutors, according to a law enforcement source speaking on condition of anonymity.
At this point, none of those leads have checked out, the source said, but the law enforcement task force is currently flooded with tips, investigators told News 8.
Separately, deputies arrested Nick Morale, 56, on Wednesday for making terroristic threats against a Kaufman County official. Morale is not believed to be affiliated with any white supremacy groups.
Publicly, Kaufman County Sheriff's Department spokesman Lt. Justin Lewis would not identify the official or expound on the comment, but News 8 has learned Morale is accused of saying "the judge is next." Exactly whom Morale was referring to remains uncertain but another judge is keeping him in jail with a bond of $1 million.
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Video at Link

[MuffyBee]

This guy must be a real idiot or maybe he didn't get enough attention as a child, but using the hotline set up for the murdered DA's to make threats just crazy.  I wouldn't want to play around with the FBI, the Texas Rangers and etc. right now.  

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/terrell-man-arrested-for-using-kaufman-county-tip-line-to-threaten-employee-201311131.html
Terrell man arrested for using Kaufman tip line to threaten county employee
April 3, 2013


KAUFMAN –– A Terrell man was jailed Wednesday on a charge that he threatened the life of a Kaufman County safety official on a hotline set up for the public to submit tips to help investigators find who killed two of the county’s top prosecutors and the district attorney’s wife.
Nick Morale, 56, is being held in the Kaufman County Jail on $1 million bond. He’s charged with making a terroristic threat. According to an arrest affidavit, Kaufman County Chief Deputy Bryan Beavers reported the threat to the Texas Department of Public Safety on Monday.
The caller stated that a specific public official "would be the next victim." The name of that person is redacted on the affidavit. The document says investigators visited Morale's address after linking it to the phone number listed on the call log.
When he was arrested, the agent noticed that Morale had blocked his phone's caller ID feature when the call was made to the tip line. Specifics regarding what was said during the threat were not released.
Kaufman County Sheriff Lt. Justin Lewis said investigators have not found any evidence linking Morale to the weekend killing of District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, or the fatal shooting of Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse outside the courthouse on Jan. 31.
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The Texas Rangers arrested Morale on Tuesday in Kaufman, Lewis said. He was arraigned Wednesday morning.
During a media briefing Wednesday afternoon, Lewis declined to elaborate on the investigation into the murders of the McLellands or Hasse. He urged residents to call the tip line at 877.847.7522 with any information “big or small” that may be related to the crimes.
Investigators have not named a person of interest or a suspect in either of those cases.
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A memorial service for the McLellands is set for 1 p.m. at the Sunnyvale First Baptist Church, located at 3018 North Belt Line Road in Sunnyvale.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Police-follow-every-clue-in-Kaufman-DA-murder-case-201370001.html
Police follow every clue in Kaufman DA murder case
April 4, 2013

KAUFMAN — A high-ranking law enforcement source tells News 8 that some members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas are trying to help investigators trying to solve the murders of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife.
Authorities say every tip is being investigated and every lead is being pursued.
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Since the bodies of McLelland and his wife were found at their home in Forney on Saturday night, investigators have been chasing every angle with no solid leads or suspects.
On Wednesday, deputies announced they had arrested a man named Nick Morale.
Investigators found guns inside his home in Terrell, News 8 has learned. They said the 56-year-old left a threat this week on a tip line that "a judge would be the next victim."
Detectives say nothing links Morale to the murders. One neighbor said he considers Morale "odd," but harmless.
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Officers continue to pour into Kaufman, four days after the McLellands were found dead. Authorities are interviewing many people — including former associates of the prosecutor.
"We have not in this investigation named a person of interest or any suspects," said Kaufman Sheriff's Department spokesman Lt. Justin Lewis.
The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas remains under heavy suspicion. A high-ranking source told News 8 that some of its members are actually offering leads to investigators, but that nothing has come of it.
"I can tell you, leads are coming in on a very regular basis," Lt. Lewis said.
Kaufman County has prosecuted members of the Aryan Brotherhood. In December, an alert was issued warning the white supremacist group was planning "mass casualties or death" to law enforcement.
On January 31, Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was killed just steps away from the courthouse.
Now — with another murder — the investigation is still wide open.
"Everybody that's here is focused on the same thing," Lt. Lewis said.
Unresolved at the time of McClelland's death was a lawsuit by a former DA office employee who said McClelland unfairly terminated him.
Both sides traded sharp comments, but parties close to the case say the suit couldn't have resulted in violent action.
Video at Link

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/21872753/kaufman-county-arrest-not-linked-to-das-killing
Kaufman County arrest not linked to DA's killing
April 3, 2013

A sheriff's official says a man has been arrested for making a threat during the investigation into the killings of a Texas prosecutor and his wife, but there is no indication he's connected to the deaths.

Kaufman County sheriff's Lt. Justin Lewis said Wednesday that 56-year-old Nick Morale has been arrested on a charge of making a terroristic threat.

Lewis says Morale called the tip line established by authorities after the killings of District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia and used it to threaten a specific county official. Authorities aren't identifying the official.
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Video at Link

[MuffyBee]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/04/100000-reward-in-texas-case-of-slain-da-and-his-wife/2054925/
$100,000 reward offered in Texas case of slain DA, wife
April 4, 2013

As Texas mourned slain Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, Gov. Rick Perry announced a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the killer's arrest.
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The McLellands were found shot to death Saturday in their house in rural Forney, about 20 miles east of Dallas. Their slayings, just two months after two men gunned down Hasse, have stunned the county of 105,000. Kaufman County Crimestoppers has offered a $100,000 reward in the Hasse case.

Police have not arrested anyone in the deaths of Hasse or the McLellands and are investigating possible links to the March 19 killing of Colorado prisons director Tom Clements. Texas deputies in a shootout March 21 killed former 211 Crew prison gang member Evan Ebel, a suspect in the killing of Clements and a pizza delivery man. Investigators have said the gun Ebel used in Texas killed Clements.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/McLelland-Funeral-Held-Friday-in-Wortham-201595401.html
Funeral Services for McLellands to be Held Friday
April 5, 2013

A slain Texas prosecutor and his wife are to be laid to rest in the small town where he grew up in the central part of the state.

The funeral for Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia McLelland, is set for 10 a.m. Friday in Wortham. The town of about 1,000 residents is about 75 miles south of Dallas.

The Honor Network says dozens of law enforcement representatives from across the country and other nations are expected at the First Baptist Church of Wortham and graveside at Wortham Cemetery.
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Video at Link

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Kaufman-DA-visited-gun-shop-hours-before-murder-201555571.html
Kaufman DA visited gun shop hours before murder
April 4, 2013

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Man-arrested-for-threat-regarding-Kaufman-Co-prosecutor-on-Facebook-201557591.html
Man arrested for threat regarding Kaufman Co. prosecutor on Facebook
April 5, 2013

A man was arrested Thursday after allegedly writing a Facebook post that threatened a Kaufman County prosecutor.
Robert Allan Miller, 52, is being held on a $1,000,000 bond for a charge of making a terroristic threat.
The arrest comes a day after a Terrell man was arrested for threatening the life of a Kaufman County official on a hotline set up to submit tips in the investigation into the murder of two prosecutors this year in the Kaufman County District Attorney's Office. There is no indication the two threats are related.
In the Facebook posting allegedly written by Miller, he said that he "expect that Assistant District Attorney Daniel Floyd will soon perish, bringing closure to an era of unacceptable practices and allowing Kaufman County residents to move forward with liberty and justice."
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Kaufman-DA-visited-gun-shop-hours-before-murder-201555571.html
Kaufman DA visited gun shop hours before murder
April 4, 2013

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/in-facebook-post-forney-gun-shop-owner-clarifies-reports-about-murdered-kaufman-county-das-recent-visit-to-store.html/
In Facebook post, Forney gun shop owner clarifies reports about slain Kaufman County DA’s recent visit to store
April 5, 2013

Some media reports about slain Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland’s final visit to a Forney gun store last week suggest he was there shopping for guns for his employees and that he was worried for their safety.

But in a Facebook posting on Thursday night, the store owner said some of his comments have been taken out of context. Helz Firearms owner Oneil Kidwill granted multiple interviews Thursday about McLelland’s visit to his store, which was recorded on security cameras hours before McLelland and his wife Cynthia were murdered in their home.

Kidwill now says some of what has been reported is misleading and that McLelland was not looking to buy a gun that day.

McLelland’s oldest son, J.R. McLelland, also cautioned against placing too much significance on the visit to the gun shop.

“He did that all the time,” McLelland told our Selwyn Crawford on Thursday. “He always went to gun stores. He did that all 63 years of his life. Please let people know that.”

Here’s what Kidwill posted on the store’s Facebook page:

I have been invaded by Press over the past couple of days. The interview I did with CBS that has the surveillance footage was taken slightly out of context. The images they are publishing are of mike coming in the store, shaking my hand, talking to me and Bones for a minute, looking at a pistol that i asked him to hold, then leaving in his car. More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/06/us/investigation-continues-of-shootings-in-kaufman-tex.html?_r=0
Texas Police Seeking Clues to How Killer Got in Home
April 5, 2013

KAUFMAN, Tex. — Investigators looking for clues in the killing of the local district attorney and his wife are trying to answer a key question about the crime: did the couple know the person or people who shot them?

Law enforcement officials are wondering about that possibility because the prosecutor’s wife may have opened the front door of their house before shots were fired. The Kaufman County district attorney, Mike McLelland, 63, and his wife, Cynthia, 65, died at their home near Forney last Saturday morning, possibly around 7 a.m. Ms. McLelland was found in her pajamas in the front of the house, and Mr. McLelland was found toward the rear.

Officials said that Mr. McLelland probably heard the first shot and ran to get a gun or to get away. The McLellands’ bodies were found later that day, by friends who got worried after not hearing from them.

How the assailant or assailants got into the house is an important piece of the puzzle. The McLellands had been very cautious of their surroundings and of strangers since one of Mr. McLelland’s top prosecutors, Mark E. Hasse, 57, was shot dead on Jan. 31 while walking to his courthouse office. In the weeks after Mr. Hasse’s killing, Mr. McLelland had told reporters that he had started carrying a gun everywhere. He also kept a number of firearms at his house.

Given Mr. McLelland’s caution, investigators believe that it was unlikely his wife would have opened the door for a stranger. Investigators are also looking into the possibility that the killer used some kind of trickery or deception to get inside.

“Could they have known the shooter or shooters? Could it have been a ruse entry?” said one law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the investigation. “Yes, these, among other scenarios, are being explored.” The official said there were no signs of forced entry.
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The authorities have not identified any suspects or a motive in the murders, and they have said that so far, they have no evidence connecting the killing of the McLellands with that of Mr. Hasse.

Although there were significant differences in the ways in which the two prosecutors were killed, another law enforcement official said the killer seemed to be familiar with the area and the routines of the victims. Shell casings were found at the McLellands’ home, but none were recovered in the killing of Mr. Hasse. Investigators believe Mr. Hasse was shot with a revolver, while the McLellands were killed with a .223-caliber assault rifle.

A defense lawyer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing said that a witness to Mr. Hasse’s murder — a woman who works in the area — had told him that a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and gloves confronted Mr. Hasse in an employee parking lot and that the two exchanged words. The man bumped Mr. Hasse, who pushed him away. The man then pulled out a gun and shot Mr. Hasse in the head several times before fleeing in a Ford Taurus.

The lawyer, a friend of Mr. Hasse’s, said Mr. Hasse had begun carrying a Glock pistol in the midst of a case involving a former justice of the peace accused of stealing computer equipment from a county office. Mr. Hasse was the lead prosecutor on that case, and became concerned after witnesses said the defendant had made threatening remarks.

A lawyer for the former official, Eric L. Williams, said his client had no role in the shootings and had never threatened Mr. Hasse or Mr. McLelland.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/McLelland-family-issues-appeal-201776451.html
Family of slain Kaufman County DA issues appeal
April 7, 2013

Video at Link

[Sister]

Yes, Muffy, it is very scary!

[MuffyBee]

Yes, Muffy, it is very scary!

Yes.  Not only was he targeted and murdered, but so was his wife.  That speaks volumes, imo.  A warning.  Not only will we get you, we will get your family too.  That's the message I see.  JMHO

[MuffyBee]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/04/son-of-slain-texas-da-mike-mclelland-confident-justice-will-be-served/
Son of Slain Texas DA Mike McLelland Confident Justice Will Be Served
April 8, 2013

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Surveillance video surfaced from the day before the McLellands were killed, showing the northeast Texas DA shopping at a local gun store. Steven O’Neill Kidwell, owner of Helz Firearms in Forney, told ABC News that McLelland liked to just window shop and stopped in periodically.
“He came in to check up and say hi, and see how sales are. And gun control was such a big issue. His safety was not a concern of his, but his co-workers safety was,” said Kidwell.
“He didn’t go to a gun store just because [Mark Hasse] got murdered. He went to every gun show in the Dallas/Fort Worth area,” J.R. McLelland said.
The McLelland family has extended its thanks to law enforcement, which has worked nonstop to find those responsible for the killings, as well as those in the community and outside the Lone Star State who have sent their well-wishes.
The family remains confident that someone will be held accountable, even if it’s “a week from now or a year from now.”
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The family has asked for privacy and adds that although some have tried to speak on the family’s behalf, family members will be the only ones commenting as news develops. In response to statements made by Chris Heisler, who had identified himself as a family spokesman, the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement saying in part that Heisler’s “self-description as family spokesperson and his statement of the family’s feelings are both inaccurate and unauthorized.”