Former Official Charged in Kaufman County Slayings

KAUFMAN (AP) � A former justice of the peace has been charged with capital murder in the slayings of a North Texas district attorney and his assistant who prosecuted him for theft. Authorities announced Thursday that Eric Lyle Williams is charged in the shooting deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, last month, and assistant prosecutor Mark Hasse in January.

Williams has been in jail since he was arrested Saturday and charged with making a terroristic threat. Authorities say the 46-year-old emailed an anonymous threat to law officers one day after the McLellands were found dead. Williams’ wife was arrested Wednesday and charged with capital murder in the killings. An arrest affidavit alleges she confessed to taking part in the killings and told her investigators her husband was the gunman.