KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas – Current Kaufman County District Attorney Erleigh Wiley was targeted by former Kaufman County Justice of the Peace Eric Williams, according to a preliminary notice of extraneous offenses filed by the state this morning in Kaufman County.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas – Current Kaufman County District Attorney Erleigh Wiley was targeted by former Kaufman County Justice of the Peace Eric Williams, according to a preliminary notice of extraneous offenses filed by the state this morning in Kaufman County.
Eric Williams and his wife, Kim Williams, are accused in the murders of then-Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, Cynthia, and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse last year. Hasse was killed near the Kaufman County courthouse annex parking lot on January 31, 2013, nine months after McLelland and Hasse prosecuted Williams for theft. The McLellands were killed in their Forney area home over the 2013 Easter weekend.
Wiley served as a Kaufman County Court at Law Judge at the time the murders were committed. She was later appointed as the district attorney by Texas Governor Rick Perry. The documents don't outline a motive for the conspiracy to commit the capital murder of Wiley.
Also filed today was a state's preliminary witness list which names approximately 280 individuals including Kim Williams – Eric's estranged wife who has filed for divorce in Kaufman County.
In a brief filed, the state outlines the motive for the murders of Hasse and the McLellands stating the murder plot was for revenge in the 2012 prosecution of Williams which resulted in a felony conviction, the removal of Williams from his justice of the peace seat, and the loss of Williams' law license.
Records also indicate conspiracy to commit capital murder against former District Judge Glen Ashworth – a motion which has been previously revealed by the state. Williams worked as a court reporter for Ashworth prior to obtaining his law degree. Records indicate Williams may have been planning the murder of Ashworth as far back as 2005. Ashworth has a home approximately 100 yards from Williams' home as well as a large ranch in Kaufman County, according to property records.
The state presented facts which would be presented during trial including:
- A search of LexisNexis records for personal information about both Hasse and McLelland before the Hasse murder from an I.P. address from Williams' home.
- Disposal of a phone, a mask, and two revolvers in Lake Tawakoni the day of the McLelland murders. One revolver and the mask were linked to the Hasse murder.
- The storage unit in Seagoville, Texas, obtained by Williams a month before the Hasse murder served as the “base of operations” for the murders. “Access logs from this storage unit show it was accessed shortly before and shortly after both the Hasse and McLelland murders,” states the brief.
- Records show Williams purchased getaway cars shortly before each murder. Both cars have been recovered and both were researched from an I.P. address within Williams' home as well as inquired about from emails sent from Williams' computer.
- The storage unit was additionally linked to both murders because both getaway cars were connected to the storage unit – the Hasse murder getaway vehicle was towed from it and the McLelland murder getaway car was located inside of the unit.
- A crime stoppers tip linked to Williams' home details facts about the Hasse murder only the murderer would have had knowledge of. The state is using the tip to validate a confession in both murders.
- Cell phone records for Williams and his wife indicate both “phones were in suspicious areas at suspicious days and times relevant to both murders.”
- Shooting earplugs which contained Williams' DNA were seized from the Hasse murder getaway car.
- A gunshot residue test collected from the defendant after the disposal of the weapons and other evidence in Lake Tawakoni “showed results consistent with handling firearms.”
District Attorney Wiley was not immediately available for comment at the time of press.
The state has announced they would seek the death penalty for Williams, who is being held in the Rockwall County Jail. The trial, expected to begin in December, was moved to Rockwall County.