Prosecutors: Convicted Kaufman Murderer Williams Acted Out Of Revenge
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ROCKWALL, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - A former justice of the peace, who killed an East Texas DA and his wife, had in his home the chilling manifesto written by another infamous killer, testimony showed today.
After the arrest of disgraced JP Eric Williams for the shooting deaths of Kaufman County DA Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia, investigators found in Williams' home a copy of a manifesto about murderous revenge.
The manifesto, unrelated to the murders of the McLellands, was written by ex-Los Angeles policeman Christopher Dorner, who was charged in a nine-day shooting rampage in February 2013 that left four people dead, including three police officers.
That case, the largest manhunt in LAPD history, included the wounding of three police officers, and ended with the death of Dorner from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a standoff with police.
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF KAUFMAN COUNTY MURDERS
The Dorner manifesto found in Williams home said, in part, "Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy, but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name..."
Prosecutors say Williams was also acting out of revenge when he first allegedly killed Kaufman County chief prosecutor Mark Hasse on Jan. 31, 2013, and then shot to death the DA and his wife on the following Easter weekend.
McLelland and Hasse had prosecuted Williams the year before for felony theft of computer equipment, resulting in him losing his law license and his position as justice of the peace.
Williams was convicted last week of capital murder in the McLellands' deaths. He is now in the punishment phase, where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Along with learning of the manifesto, the jury heard an audiotape of Williams being informally questioned by officers more than a week after the McLellands' bullet-riddled bodies were found in their home in nearby Forney.
Williams at that time assured a sheriff's deputy and a state trooper that since his conviction for theft, he had sold all but one of his 16 guns. But he refused to be more specific.
WATCH LIVE: KAUFMAN COUNTY MURDER TRIAL
"I know what's going to happen ...anything I say will be used against me," he told the officers in the informal questioning.
Williams also gives an alibi during the time Hasse was killed, saying he had taken his wife Kim - now a co-defendant in the case - for a long drive through East Texas.
"My wife's disabled. She doesn't get out much," Williams told the officers.
The audiotape also captures the officers rummaging through Williams' home in Kaufman, after he gives them consent to do so.
Gun parts, but no guns were found in that search. But in other testimony, FBI Agent Diana Strain said a large number of guns, and thousands of rounds of ammo, were found in a storage shed rented by Williams.
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