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Disgraced Official’s Wife Accuses Him in Texas Killings Disgraced Official’s Wife Accuses Him in Texas Killings
(35 minutes later)
KAUFMAN, Tex. — The wife of a disgraced justice of the peace has been arrested and charged with the murders of the Kaufman County district attorney, his wife, and another prosecutor, and has told investigators that her husband was the one who shot them. KAUFMAN, Tex. — The mystery of who shot and killed two prosecutors this year clouded life in this rural county southeast of Dallas for more than two months, with investigators delving into possible leads that led to white-supremacist groups and Mexican drug cartels.
Her confession was contained in an affidavit filed with the arrest warrant, which said the woman, Kim Lene Williams, 46, had confessed in an interview with investigators on Tuesday. She described in detail her own role and that of her husband, Eric Lyle Williams, and told investigators that she had been the driver in the two shootings in January and March, law enforcement officials said. But in the end, it apparently came down to a bitter local grudge. A former justice of the peace whose legal and political career collapsed in a hard-fought legal battle was accused Wednesday of killing the two prosecutors, who had been his courtroom rivals. And his wife not only named him as the gunman, but also confessed to having been the driver in both shootings as part of her role in the vendetta, the authorities said.
Ms. Williams, 46, was booked into the Kaufman County jail shortly before 3 a.m. on Wednesday and is being held on a $10 million bond, according to county jail records. She was charged with capital murder, which means she could face the death penalty if convicted, according to law enforcement officials involved in the investigation. The shootings had alarmed elected officials and government employees across Texas, but on Wednesday afternoon, the couple — Eric Lyle Williams and his wife, Kim Lene Williams, both 46 — were behind bars at the Kaufman County jail.
The authorities have recently focused on Mr. Williams, who was convicted last year of stealing computer equipment in a case handled by the two prosecutors. Investigators recently searched a storage unit that appeared to have been rented at Mr. Williams’s request and found more than 20 guns and a car that might have been used in at least one of the killings. “I find it hard to believe that someone could have written a novel with all these twists and turns in a small rural county in Texas,” said Bruce Wood, the county’s top elected official. “People are relieved but still stunned.”
Law enforcement officials have not publicly named Mr. Williams as a suspect and have not formally charged him in connection with the murders of the district attorney, Mike McLelland, 63; his wife, Cynthia, 65; and his chief felony prosecutor, Mark E. Hasse, 57. But investigators from local, state and federal agencies have been focusing intensely on Mr. Williams in recent days. The two prosecutors that the authorities say the couple conspired to kill had helped convict Mr. Williams last year on burglary and theft charges in a dispute about three computer monitors worth less than $1,500. The Williamses — he a portly, diabetic lawyer who volunteered with the Texas State Guard; she his ailing yet supportive wife of 15 years — were accused of pulling off what even ruthless criminal organizations have rarely dared in modern times: the executions of two prosecutors, and the wife of one, to avenge a guilty verdict.
Mr. Williams, 46, was already being held at the county jail on $3 million bond. He was jailed shortly after midnight on Saturday, accused of sending an anonymous e-mail to law enforcement officials threatening another attack if his demands were not met. Mr. Williams was already being held at the Kaufman County jail on $3 million bond, accused of sending an anonymous e-mail threatening another attack, when law enforcement officials announced Wednesday that they had arrested his wife. She was charged with capital murder in connection with the slayings of the district attorney, Mike McLelland, 63; his wife, Cynthia McLelland, 65; and another prosecutor in Mr. McLelland’s office, Mark E. Hasse, 57.
A turning point in the investigation came late Saturday afternoon, when the authorities arrived at a self-storage business a short drive from Kaufman. There, investigators found a large storage unit where Mr. Williams had kept a white sedan and an assortment of guns, including handguns and assault rifles. He had attempted to conceal the existence of the shed, the car and the guns from investigators, law enforcement officials said. Ms. Williams joined her husband at the jail about 3 a.m. on Wednesday and was in custody on a $10 million bond.
The car, which he had purchased under someone else’s name, was a white Ford Crown Victoria that resembled an unmarked police car and was similar to the silver or gray Ford Taurus that witnesses had described fleeing the scene of the shooting of Mr. Hasse in January. The shed itself had been rented by an associate of Mr. Williams, at Mr. Williams’s request, law enforcement officials said. According to an affidavit filed by the authorities, Ms. Williams confessed to her involvement in the shootings in an interview with investigators on Tuesday, and told them that her husband had been the one who shot Mr. Hasse in January and Mr. McLelland and his wife in March.
One law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the inquiry, said that Ms. Williams was not the individual who rented the storage unit. During her interview, she supplied investigators with details of both shootings that had not been made public. One law enforcement official confirmed that Ms. Williams was not a gunman in the murders, but had been the driver, and had also used the storage unit where Mr. Williams had kept a car and more than 20 guns.
Mr. Williams and his wife have been married for 15 years, and they live in a beige-brick house in Kaufman down the street from her elderly parents. In court documents, Mr. Williams had described his wife as ill and on disability The authorities had not yet formally charged Mr. Williams with the three murders, though officials said they were preparing to and had called a news conference for Thursday afternoon. Before his arrest on Saturday over the e-mail, both Mr. Williams and one of his lawyers had repeatedly denied he had any involvement in the shootings.
Mr. Williams had been a sought-after lawyer, member of the chamber of commerce and newly elected justice of the peace when he was accused of stealing computer monitors from a county building in May 2011. The two prosecutors’ aggressive work on the case helped persuade a jury to find him guilty in March 2012. He was removed from office and his law license was suspended. His state-issued peace officer license — Mr. Williams had nearly two decades of law enforcement training — was revoked. Mr. Williams had been a sought-after lawyer, a member of the chamber of commerce and a newly elected justice of the peace when he was accused of stealing the computer monitors from a county building in May 2011. Mr. McLelland and Mr. Hasse handled the case, and helped persuade a jury to find Mr. Williams guilty in March 2012.
Without a county salary or the ability to practice law in the state, Mr. Williams was unemployed and under financial stress, and he and his lawyers were convinced that evidence used to convict him had been tampered with and that Mr. McLelland had gone after him to settle a political grudge, according to court documents. He was removed from office and his law license was suspended. His state-issued peace officer license — Mr. Williams had nearly two decades of law enforcement training — was revoked.
Shortly before he was sentenced last year, Mr. Williams told the state prison agency in a pre-sentencing report that he had taken the computer equipment to test a video magistration system that would allow him to conduct hearings on the Internet. “I did not steal anything,” Mr. Williams said in the report written in April 2012. “This incident has become a tragic misunderstanding that has taken my livelihood and reputation.” He and his lawyers were convinced that evidence used to convict him had been tampered with and that Mr. McLelland had prosecuted him to settle a political grudge, according to court documents. Without a county salary or the ability to practice law in the state, he was unemployed and under financial stress, the documents state, so much so that the couple had tried to sell some of their old wedding gifts, including china and silverware, at a garage sale a few months ago.
He spoke of the stress the case had put on his wife and her parents. “My life has taken a drastic turn,” he said, according to the report. “My wife of 14 years is ill and on disability. My father and mother-in-law are elderly and in need of medical attention; they moved to Texas so I could be a resource to them. If I do jail time, they and my wife will be the ones being punished.” Both Mr. Hasse and Mr. McLelland started to regularly carry handguns after Mr. Williams’s trial in March 2012, because they believed Mr. Williams was a threat to their personal safety, the affidavit filed by the authorities stated. Mr. McLelland had told associates and those close to him before his death that he thought investigators should focus on whether Mr. Williams had killed Mr. Hasse or had someone do it, and he made no secret of his suspicions.

 Manny Fernandez reported from Kaufman, Serge F. Kovaleski from Boston and Emma G. Fitzsimmons from New York.

As a result, Mr. Williams’s emergence as a suspect shocked few here. But the news of the murder charge against his wife did.
“The part about Eric’s wife being involved was a shocker,” said Bruce Bryant, the chief investigator in the district attorney’s office and a close friend of the McLellands’. “But it does feel like closure. I think I’ll probably sleep better tonight than I have in a long time.”
The Williams lived in a beige brick house in Kaufman down the street from Ms. Williams’s elderly parents. Though many in Kaufman had found Mr. Williams to be eccentric or even disturbing — a witness testified in his theft case that Mr. Williams once became so angry with another lawyer that he threatened to kill him and burn down his house — his wife was known as a shy, reserved woman who had stood by her husband and had even testified on his behalf in his theft case. A neighbor said she had rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue and other ailments.
Shortly before he was sentenced last year in the theft case, Mr. Williams spoke of the turmoil the charges had caused his wife and her parents in a pre-sentencing report prepared by the state prison agency.
“My life has taken a drastic turn,” he said in the April 2012 report. “My wife of 14 years is ill and on disability. My father- and mother-in-law are elderly and in need of medical attention; they moved to Texas so I could be a resource to them. If I do jail time they and my wife will be the ones being punished.”
For weeks, investigators had failed to turn up any evidence to tie Mr. Williams to the murders, and they explored a host of theories that led them nowhere, including the possible involvement of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang. But a turning point came late Saturday afternoon, when the authorities arrived at a self-storage business a short drive from Kaufman.
There, investigators say, they found a large storage unit where Mr. Williams had kept the car and the guns. He had tried to conceal the existence of the shed, the car and the guns from investigators, law enforcement officials said.
The car, which he had bought under a different name, was a white Ford Crown Victoria that resembled an unmarked police car and was similar to the description of the car that witnesses said they saw fleeing the scene after the shooting of Mr. Hasse in January. The firearms discovered included handguns and assault rifles. The weapon used to kill the prosecutor in January was believed to be a revolver, while the gun used in the shootings of the district attorney and his wife was an assault rifle.
The shed itself had been rented by an associate of Mr. Williams’s, at Mr. Williams’s request, law enforcement officials said. That person was not Ms. Williams, they said, but another person close to him. It was unclear Wednesday whether that person would face any charges.

Manny Fernandez reported from Kaufman, Tex., and Serge F. Kovaleski from Boston.