A former justice of the peace who was arrested on Saturday is now the prime suspect in the recent killings of two prosecutors in Kaufman County, Texas, according to law enforcement sources who spoke with The Dallas Morning News.
The former official, Eric Williams, is being held on charges including making a terroristic threat, but he has not been charged in connection with the killings. Authorities told the Morning News that anonymous threats were recently emailed to county employees, and had been traced back to Williams.
“We can sleep a lot better tonight,” one anonymous law enforcement official told the newspaper on Saturday.
Authorities interviewed Williams and tested him for gunshot residue on March 30, just hours after the bodies of the county District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found in their home in Forney, Texas. Williams had professed his innocence in a recent interview with an NBC News affiliate, and his attorney, David Sergi, on Friday told the Morning News that his client “vigorously asserts his innocence and denies any involvement” in the killings.
Authorities told the the Morning News that suspicion long centered on the former official. Williams lost his position as a justice of the peace after being convicted last year of stealing county computer equipment. Both McLelland and Mark Hasse, a county prosecutor killed Jan. 31, were reportedly involved in Williams’ case. Just hours after Hasse’s murder, McLelland “told others that he believed Williams was behind his top assistant’s death,” according to the Morning News.
