FBI checks link between Texas, Colorado slayings

KAUFMAN, Texas Authorities are investigating whether the killing of a Texas county prosecutor earlier this year is linked to the slaying of Colorado's prison director.

Kaufman police chief Chris Aulbaugh said Friday the FBI is checking to see if the January shooting death of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse is connected to Tuesday's killing of prison chief Tom Clements.

Hasse was killed about 100 miles away from where former Colorado inmate and white supremacist Evan Spencer Ebel died Thursday after a shootout with deputies. Investigators are trying to determine if Ebel is linked to Clements' death.

Aulbaugh calls the investigation routine for attacks that appear similar. Both targeted law enforcement officials. Authorities have investigated whether Hasse's death could be linked to a white supremacist gang.

Meanwhile,shell casings from the shootout are the same make and caliber as those found at the home of Clements after he was killed. The information comes from an application to search the wrecked car of Ebel.

The killing of Clements, 58, shocked his quiet neighborhood in Monument, a town of rolling hills north of Colorado Springs, for its brutality: He answered the door of his home Tuesday evening and was gunned down. Authorities wouldn't say if they thought the attack was related to his job, and all Clements' recent public activities and cases were scrutinized.

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Authorities are trying to determine whether the black Cadillac Ebel drove was the same seen outside the home of Clements. Texas authorities spotted the car Thursday and gave chase after Ebel shot and wounded a deputy. They fatally shot him after he crashed into a semi and opened fire on his pursuers.