Texas murder suspect plotted revenge for a year, prosecutors say

By Lisa Maria Garza ROCKWALL, Texas (Reuters) - A former Texas justice of the peace plotted revenge for a year before gunning down two suburban Dallas district attorneys who had prosecuted him and ruined his career, prosecutors said on Monday at the start of his capital murder trial. Eric Williams, 47, a former Kaufman County justice of the peace and attorney, is charged in the shooting deaths of District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, Cynthia, and Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse in early 2013. McLelland and Hasse prosecuted Williams for the theft of office computer monitors. The conviction cost Williams his job and law license. Hasse was shot to death near the Kaufman County Courthouse in January 2013 and the McLellands in their home in March 2013. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Williams, who pleaded not guilty on Monday. Williams' wife, Kim, also is charged with capital murder and will be tried separately. Williams began plotting his revenge in March 2012 on the men who had "prosecuted, convicted and stood up in a court of law and sought justice," prosecutor Bill Wirskye said in an opening statement. Wirskye said Williams broke into the McLellands' home and killed Cynthia McLelland in a "blizzard of bullets" from an AR-15 assault rifle to eliminate a witness, then opened fire on Mike McLelland. The evidence prosecutors plan to present includes Williams' purchase of a getaway vehicle and a "treasure trove" of items used in the killings that were found in a storage rental unit, Wirskye said. Texas Ranger crime scene investigator Rudy Flores testified that the couple had been dressed for bed and did not have time to get firearms from their gun safe, closet or entertainment center. A man identified Williams as the buyer of a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria that prosecutors said was used as a getaway car. Another witness testified that Williams asked him in December 2012 to rent a storage unit under his own name because authorities could search it if it were under Williams' name. Williams' attorneys did not make an opening statement for the trial, which was moved to Rockwall County because of extensive media coverage of the killings in Kaufman County, southeast of Dallas. Special prosecutors from Dallas were appointed and the court began screening thousands of potential jurors back in March. Dallas County Judge Mike Snipes is presiding over the trial, which is expected to take about three weeks. (Reporting by Lisa Maria Garza; Editing by Bill Trott, Eric Walsh and Peter Cooney)