Man Is Charged in Killings of Texas Prosecutors
A former justice of the peace who had come under increasing suspicion in recent weeks was charged on Thursday with the revenge killings of the Kaufman County district attorney and a chief aide, who had successfully prosecuted the man for burglary and theft last year.
Eric Lyle Williams, 46, was held on $23 million bail. His wife, Kim Lene Williams, also 46, was jailed early Wednesday on $10 million bail. She confessed to conspiring with her husband and named him as the killer.
Ms. Williams had told authorities that she was with her husband when he shot the prosecutors: Mark E. Hasse in January, and Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, last month. Ms. Williams was her husband’s driver in the killing of Mr. Hasse and was apparently a passenger when he killed the McLellands, Sheriff David Byrnes announced at a news conference in Kaufman. Mr. Williams was also charged in Mrs. McLelland’s death.
The killings had preoccupied Kaufman County, southeast of Dallas, for the past two months and worried prosecutors across the country. Some theories among law enforcement focused on white supremacy groups and Mexican drug cartels as the possible culprits.
Mr. Williams was convicted last year on burglary and theft charges in a dispute over three computer monitors worth less than $1,500.