KAUFMAN, Texas — In an opinion issued earlier today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction and death sentence for former Kaufman County Justice of the Peace Eric Williams in the death of Cynthia McLelland, the wife of former Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland.
KAUFMAN, Texas — In an opinion issued earlier today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction and death sentence for former Kaufman County Justice of the Peace Eric Williams in the death of Cynthia McLelland, the wife of former Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland.
Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Michael E. Keasler issued the 110-page opinion earlier today and, in it, affirmed the trial court’s judgment and sentence.
“After reviewing Williams’ forty points of error, we find them to be without merit,” stated Keasler. “Consequently, we affirm the trial court’s judgment and sentence of death.”
Prosecutors said Williams killed Cynthia and Mike in 2013 in a revenge plot for a previous felony theft conviction. He was also charged but not tried in the deaths of Mike McLelland and Mark Hasse who was fatally shot approximately two months earlier near the Kaufman County courthouse.
Williams, arguing 40 points of error, stated prosecutors did not prove either of its capital murder theories — murder in the course of committing burglary or multiple murders — beyond a reasonable doubt.
The trial judge’s charge authorized the jury to convict on alternative theories.
Keasler asserted the State provided sufficient evidence Williams intentionally or knowingly murdered more than one person during the same transaction pointing to the “severity and number of the McLellands’ injuries left no room for doubt concerning the perpetrator’s intent to kill the couple.”
“Using high-velocity ammunition, the perpetrator shot Cynthia between five and eight times, including several shots to her chest and abdomen,” read the opinion. “After Cynthia had fallen to the floor, the perpetrator fired a shot that entered the top of her head and exited under her chin. Additionally, the perpetrator shot Michael at least ten times, including several shots to his neck, chest, and abdomen. Some of those shots were fired after Michael was lying on the floor. The State’s evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the perpetrator intentionally or knowingly caused the deaths of two people during the same transaction.”
Williams also argued there was no proof that he shot and killed anyone because “forensics and physical evidence” did not point to a specific person. Rather, Williams asserts, the State’s evidence pointed to a storage unit to which he did not have exclusive access.
Eric’s wife, Kim Williams, pled guilty to her role in the killings and played a key witness during Eric’s trial. She was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Eric Williams was convicted in December 2014 and remains on Texas’ Death Row.