ROCKWALL, Texas — A 12-member Rockwall County jury who found former Kaufman County justice of the peace Eric Williams guilty of the capital murder of Cynthia McLelland, the wife of former Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, has sentenced Williams to death after deliberating for approximately four hours.
ROCKWALL, Texas — A 12-member Rockwall County jury who found former Kaufman County justice of the peace Eric Williams guilty of the capital murder of Cynthia McLelland, the wife of former Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, has sentenced Williams to death after deliberating for approximately four hours.
The jury began deliberations yesterday, December 16, 2014, at approximately 3 p.m. and went into recess at approximately 5:45 p.m. at which time they were sequestered by visiting Dallas County District Court Judge Mike Snipes. The jury returned this morning, December 17, 2014, at 8:45 a.m. and returned the sentence just before 9:30 a.m.
Judge Snipes addressed Williams and compared him to Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer. “To the people of Kaufman County, you have no reason to be scared anymore,” said Snipes.
Williams was found guilty on December 4, 2014, of the capital murder of Cynthia McLelland in her Forney area home over Easter weekend 2013 and, in the same transaction, the murder of Mike McLelland. During the trial’s punishment phase, the state also presented evidence of the murder of Kaufman County District Attorney’s Office prosecutor Mark Hasse on January 31, 2013. Hasse was gunned downed in broad daylight as he walked to the courthouse.
McLelland and Hasse prosecuted Williams for burglary of a building and theft by a public servant for which he was found guilty in April 2012. Less than a year later of planning and training, Williams began his murderous revenge plot. A plot, special prosecutor Bill Wirskye called an “unprecedented attack on our judicial system.”
During closing arguments yesterday, special prosecutor Toby Shook told the jury Williams was convicted on the theft charge on April 9, 2012. the next day, April 10, 2012, Williams had begun researching Mark Hasse using the Lexus Nexus system.
Williams estranged wife, Kim, has also been indicted for the murders and is awaiting trial in the Kaufman County Jail. Kim testified during the state’s rebuttal in the punishment phase of the trial.
