Records: Ex-official's wife says husband shot DA

KAUFMAN, Texas (AP) - The wife of a former North Texas justice of the peace implicated her husband in the shooting deaths of a local district attorney, his wife and an assistant prosecutor, according to court records filed Wednesday.

An arrest affidavit revealed Kim Lene Williams told investigators Tuesday that her husband, Eric Lyle Williams, was the triggerman in the slayings of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, and assistant prosecutor Mark Hasse. McLelland and Hasse prosecuted Eric Williams last year for theft of three computer monitors.

Kim Williams was arrested early Wednesday and charged with capital murder. Eric Williams has been in custody, charged with making terroristic threats. He has not been charged in the slayings.

The affidavit says Kim Williams "described in detail her role along with that of her husband." However, the document does not outline what Kim Williams' alleged role was.

After Eric Williams was convicted of theft, he lost his elected position as justice of the peace - a judge who handles mostly administrative duties - and his law license. He was sentenced to probation.

The McLellands were found dead March 30, two months after Hasse was slain.

The officer who signed the affidavit, Kaufman County Sheriff's Sgt. Matt Woodall, said he had learned from other officers and county employees that Hasse and Mike McLelland both believed Williams blamed them for the loss of his job and carried handguns because they thought he was "a threat to their personal safety."

Kim Williams was being held on $10 million bond at the Kaufman County Jail, sheriff's spokesman Lt. Justin Lewis said. He declined to answer questions Wednesday about the investigation but said families of the victims would be briefed on the case.

Her husband is being held on $3 million bond.

A probable cause affidavit says the former justice of the peace sent an email one day after the McLellands' bodies were discovered implying there would be another attack if authorities didn't respond to various demands.

A law enforcement official said ballistics experts were testing at least 20 weapons found in a storage locker under Eric Williams' name at a facility near Dallas. A Ford Crown Victoria similar to one spotted in the McLellands' neighborhood around the time the couple was killed was parked at the storage facility, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation.