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Published On: Sun, Apr 14th, 2013

Eric Williams identified as man arrested and investigated in connection to murders of Texas DAs Mark Hasse, Mike McLelland and his wife

A former elected official who has been questioned in the recent killings of two Texas county prosecutors has been arrested on charges of making a terrorist threat.

Police have not identified Eric Williams as a suspect in the March murders of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, or the January murder of Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse.

Eric Williams

Eric Williams

CBS 11 report that Williams, a Former Justice of the Peace, will be charged with capital murder in all three deaths.

Hasse and Williams had secured a conviction against him back in 2012 for Burglary and Theft By A Public Servant. Surveillance cameras caught Williams taking computer equipment from a county building. As part of his appeal, Williams claimed McClelland and Hasse didn’t like him. (Read more here)

Williams told CBS 11′s Mireya Villareal that he had no involvement in the murders of Hasse or the McLellands. “My heart goes out to all the families that have been affected by this tragedy. And especially the people that work at the courthouse,” he said.

Williams was not seen Friday during the warrant searches.

The manager of the nearby neighborhood liquor and wine shop says investigators have been in the area for two weeks, often using his parking lot as a set-up point.

Law enforcement officials have been exploring the possibility that the three killings — of Mr. McLelland, 63, and his wife, Cynthia, 65, as well as the assistant district attorney, Hasse, 57 — were the work of a local person seeking to avenge some case or investigation and to make a dramatic statement by attacking those at the center of the Kaufman County criminal justice system.

Eric Williams murder suspectInvestigators have been backing off of the notion that the shootings were the work of a prison gang, the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, or of Mexican drug cartels, and focusing more on what officials described as “lone wolf” figures — defendants and those even closer to the victims, including current or former county employees who work or used to work within the local courts.

“The Aryan Brotherhood theory has been losing some steam,” one law enforcement official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to talk about the investigation.

Officials said it was possible that the McLellands might even have known their attacker, since there were no signs of forced entry in their home. Some law enforcement officials said Ms. McLelland might have opened the front door that morning or the couple might have briefly left it unlocked.

The killer or killers may have even had a key to the house, they said.

Photo screenshot CBS interview with Williams: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/04/03/i-team-former-kaufman-co-official-talks-about-his-involvement-in-da-murder-cases/

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About the Author

- Catherine "Kaye" Wonderhouse, a proud descendant of the Wunderhaus family is the Colorado Correspondent who will add more coverage, interviews and reports from this midwest area.

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  1. Getaway vehicle in Mark Hasse murder seized by police, evidence against Eric Williams mounting - The Global Dispatch says:

    […] Eric Williams and his wife are being charged with the murders and police confirmed that Williams was storing the Sable at the storage facility, but moved it into the parking lot when he hid the Crown Victoria inside the storage unit. […]

  2. Dorothy Canfield, age 84, plotted murder of Texas lawyers to mimic Mike McLelland and Mark Hasse slayings - The Global Dispatch says:

    […] Judge, Eric Williams, is being charged in connection to these […]

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