Questions Remain In Kaufman Murder Trial
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ROCKWALL (CBSDFW.COM) - There is a good chance on Wednesday that the prosecutor will finish presenting his case to the jury in the Eric Williams murder trial. But there are two main unanswered questions so far.
Will the ex-wife of Eric Williams testify against him?
Kim Williams is also charged in the three murders of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, wife Cynthia McLelland, and his top Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse in 2013. But, unlike Eric Williams, prosecutors have not said whether Kim will also face the death penalty. Her trial date has not yet been set.
Several months ago, prosecutor Bill Wirskye said in open court that they have not offered Kim Williams any sort of deal that would give her a more lenient sentence if she cooperates or testifies.
What, if any, defense will attorney Matthew Seymour offer jurors?
On Tuesday, there was gripping testimony that centered around anonymous emails which Eric Williams allegedly sent, claiming responsibility for all three murders. Those emails were sent beginning March 31, one day after the McLellands were found murdered in their home.
On the witness stand on Tuesday afternoon, Kaufman County's chief deputy, Bryan Beavers, read one of the emails to jurors. The email said, "Do we have your attention? Only a response from County Judge Bruce Wood will be answered. You have 48 hours."
At the time, the Sheriff's Department did not know that the email reportedly came from Eric Williams, a former Justice of the Peace. The FBI eventually found a tax receipt in Williams' home two weeks after the McLellands' murders, which contained the Kaufman County Crime Stoppers website to submit tips.
Also on Tuesday, the prosecutor showed jurors assault rifles that they found inside of Williams' Seagoville storage shed. But, the defense pointed out, the murder weapon still has not been found. Williams' attorney, Matthew Seymour, asked Texas Department of Public Safety investigator James Jeffress, "Without the gun, how do you know actually the marks it makes?"
Jeffress replied, "We know this through studying the firing and chamfering process. These guns are routinely examined in the lab."
A man who was in the Texas State Guard with Williams, David Scott Hunt, testified that, in early January 2013, before the murders, Williams met him for lunch in Dallas and made a strange request about the upper part of an assault rifle. Hunt told the jury, "He said, 'If I had an upper, and I gave it to you, would you make sure it never sees the light of day, in effect? Make it disappear.' I didn't respond. I changed the conversation at that point."
ATF agent Matthew Johnson explained the significance of such a request to prosecutor Bill Wirskye, who asked, "If you committed murder and wanted to get rid of the weapon, what would you do if it was an AR?"
Johnson said, "I'd get rid of the upper."
Follow Jack Fink On Twitter For Trial Updates: @cbs11jack
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