Wife Of Fired Judge Confesses To Involvement In Texas Prosecutor Shootings
Kim Lene Williams was arrested Wednesday in connection with the shooting deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia as well as assistant DA Mike Hasse.
Her husband, Eric, was arrested over the weekend and charged with suspicion of threatening violence, Reuters reported. Kim Williams — who's been charged with capital murder — told police she was involved in the shootings but that her husband pulled the trigger, an NBC affiliate in Texas reported.
Before the arrests, police searched a storage unit linked to Eric Williams and found 20 weapons and a car that looked like a vehicle that was in the McLellands' neighborhood, the Dallas Morning News has reported.
The shootings shocked the nation, and authorities initially believed members of the prison gang the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas might have been responsible. McLelland's office had been involved in prosecuting 34 leaders of the white supremacist gang late last year.
Terry Pelz, an expert on the ABT, told Business Insider on Wednesday that he's not surprised that the prison gang is probably not involved in the prosecutor murders.
Members of the ABT generally "know the heat that will be brought down on them" if they assassinate law enforcement, according to Pelz.
Eric Williams was ousted from his position as justice of the peace after a high-profile trial that accused him of stealing three computer monitors, and his name has "swirled around the courthouse" as a possible suspect in the prosecutor slayings, according to a local NBC affiliate.
Police think Williams and his wife, Kim, had a grudge against McLelland and Hasse for his theft prosecution, the Dallas Morning News has reported.
Because of the prosecution, Eric Williams was no longer allowed to be a justice of the peace and he and his wife both lost their health insurance, Kim Williams previously told the Morning News.
Eric Williams was actually one of the first people questioned after the murders, according to Click2Houston.com.
After Williams was convicted of stealing the computer monitors in September 2012, Hasse reportedly told a jury that Williams "is dishonorable and this is unacceptable conduct from a public official."
Eric Williams told Click2Houston that he had "absolutely" no grudge against the prosecutors.