Texas district attorney and wife found slain

[torchbearer]

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
9:07 PM PDT, March 30, 2013

HOUSTON -- A North Texas district attorney was found slain with his wife this weekend, months after an assistant district attorney who worked for him was killed outside the local courthouse
Kaufman County Dist. Atty. Mike McLelland, 63, and his wife, Cynthia, 65, were found dead Saturday in Forney, about 25 miles east of Dallas, Kaufman County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Justin Lewis told the Los Angeles Times
“We’re in the preliminary stages of the investigation,” Lewis said.
He could not say how the two were killed, where they were found or whether investigators had linked their deaths to the Jan. 31 killing of Kaufman County Assistant Dist. Atty. Mark Hasse (http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-texas-prosecutor-shot-killed-20130201,0,5963589.story), 57. The couple lived in Forney.
The Dallas Medical Examiner will be handling the cases, Lewis said, but he wasn't sure if the bodies had been transferred yet for autopsy late Saturday.
Kaufman Police Chief Chris Aulbaugh told the Dallas Morning News (http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20130330-breaking-news-kaufman-county-district-attorney-mike-mclelland-wife-reportedly-found-dead-in-home.ece) that the couple were found fatally shot at their home. Aulbaugh could not be reached by phone late Saturday.
“It is a shock,” Aulbaugh told the Dallas Morning News. “It was a shock with Mark Hasse, and now you can just imagine the double shock and until we know what happened, I really can't confirm that it's related, but you always have to assume until it's proven otherwise.”
He said the Texas Rangers were helping with the investigation at the McLellands’ home.
Aulbaugh said that because they "have to treat it as related [to the Hasse investigation], we'll be working side by side again,” the Dallas Morning News reported.
Last week, officials said they were still searching for Hasse's attackers.
Hasse was shot the same day U.S. Department of Justice officials publicly thanked him for his help in prosecuting members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.
Kaufman County Sheriff David Byrnes said at the time that investigators believed Hasse was the sole target of the attack and that "there’s no vendetta against the county."
At Hasse's Feb. 9 funeral, McLelland vowed to find Hasse's killer (http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/03/30/4739434/kaufman-da-found-fatally-shot.html#storylink=cpy), according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
"He knows and I know there will be a reckoning," McLelland said.
hmmmm

[Origanalist]

http://i.imgur.com/u8sXvnk.gif
//

[tod evans]

Looks like there's something going on down in Tx.

A DA and his wife!

Here's a link to the thread about the previous ADA;

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?403081-TX-Assistant-DA-shot-outside-courthouse-near-Dallas/page2

Comeuppance?


Texas DA, wife killed -- 2 months after his deputy is gunned down

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/30/justice/texas-da-killed/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

(CNN) -- Two months ago, a Texas district attorney vowed to put away the "scum" who had killed one of his top deputies.
Now, the district attorney and his wife are dead. And authorities aren't sure whether their killings are part of a broader scheme targeting local criminal justice officials.
The bodies of Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found Saturday in their home in Kaufman County, east of Dallas.
"I don't know of anyone who would want to cause him harm," Kaufman city Mayor William Fortner said. "As far as I could tell, he was doing a really good job as a district attorney."
A law enforcement official told The Dallas Morning News that a door was apparently kicked in, and "there are shell casings everywhere."
Authorities have not identified a suspect. Nor are they sure whether the deaths are related to the killing of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, who was killed on his way to work in January.
The county's sheriff's office brought in the FBI and the Texas Rangers to help with the investigation.
The latest deaths unnerved not just the McLellands' neighborhood, but authorities throughout the area.
Authorities contacted Kaufman County officials to ensure their safety Saturday, and one former prosecutor was "in hiding" Saturday night, CNN affiliate KXAS said.
McLelland was an Army veteran who later earned a master's in psychology and became a psychologist for the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, the district attorney's website said.
He later earned his law degree and practiced as a defense attorney and mental health judge before becoming the county's district attorney.
McLelland and his wife leave behind two daughters and three sons. One son is a Dallas police officer.
Another top prosecutor slain
The McLellands were killed almost exactly two months after Hasse was shot to death in broad daylight outside the county courthouse on January 31.
Hasse had feared for his life and carried a gun to work, said a Dallas attorney who described herself as his longtime friend.
Colleen A. Dunbar said she spoke with Hasse on January 24. She said the prosecutor told her he began carrying a gun in and out of the county courthouse daily.
"He told me he would use a different exit every day because he was fearful for his life," Dunbar told CNN.
She said that Hasse gave no specifics on why he felt threatened -- only that he did.
McLelland called Hasse "a stellar prosecutor" who knew that threats were part of the job.
He vowed after Hasse's slaying to put away the "scum" who killed his deputy.
"I hope that the people that did this are watching, because we're very confident that we're going to find you," McLelland told reporters.
"We're going to pull you out of whatever hole you're in, we're going to bring you back and let the people of Kaufman County prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law."

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130330234533-da-kaufman-county-mike-mclelland-story-top.jpg



[edit]

Here's a sympathy for the devil piece from FAUX-Newz;

Texas district attorney, wife, found dead in county where prosecutor was killed

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/31/texas-district-attorney-found-dead-in-county-where-prosecutor-was-killed/


A North Texas county district attorney and his wife were found dead in their home two months after one of his assistants was gunned down near their office, authorities said.
Investigators found the bodies of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, on Saturday, said Kaufman County sheriff's Lt. Justin Lewis. Police, FBI agents, Texas Rangers and deputies were part of the investigation.
Kaufman Police Chief Chris Aulbaugh could not confirm that the deaths were related to the murder of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, the Dallas Morning News reported.
A masked gunman shot Hasse multiple times in the parking lot behind the Kaufman County Courthouse annex on Jan. 31.
No arrests have been made in connection with Hasse's murder, according to MyFoxDFW.com.
"It is a shock," Aulbaugh told the paper. "It was a shock with Mark Hasse, and now you can just imagine the double shock and until we know what happened, I really can't confirm that it's related but you always have to assume until it's proven otherwise."
Sam Rosander, who lives in the same unincorporated area of Kaufman County as the McLellands, told The Associated Press that sheriff's deputies were parked in the district attorney's driveway for about a month after Hasse was killed.
Aulbaugh said recently that the FBI was checking to see if Hasse's killing could be related to the March 19 killing of Colorado Department of Corrections head Tom Clements, who was gunned down after answering the doorbell at his home. He said it's routine for authorities to look for possible links when there are similarities between two deaths.
Evan Spencer Ebel, a former Colorado inmate and white supremacist who authorities believe killed Clements and a pizza deliveryman two days earlier, was killed in a March 21 shootout with Texas deputies about 100 miles from Kaufman.
Hasse was chief of the organized crime unit when he was an assistant prosecutor in Dallas County in the 1980s, and he handled similar cases in Kaufman County, 33 miles southeast of Dallas.
McLelland had said Hasse was one of 12 attorneys on his staff, all of whom handle hundreds of cases at a time.
"Anything anybody can think of, we're looking through," McLelland said after the assistant prosecutor was killed.
In recent years, Hasse played major roles in Kaufman County's most high-profile cases, including one in which a justice of the peace was convicted on theft and burglary charges and another in which a man was convicted of killing his former girlfriend and her 10-year-old daughter.
McLelland graduated from the University of Texas before a 23-year career in the Army, according to the website for the district attorney's office. He later earned his law degree from the Texas Wesleyan School of Law.
He and his wife have two daughters and three sons. One son is a police officer in Dallas.

[squarepusher]

I wonder what the story behind this is ..

[tod evans]

I wonder what the story behind this is ..

Somebody or a group of somebodies is obviously fed-up with the "Just-Us" system, and it appears as though they're using the same murderous techniques that members of "Just-Us" use.........Ambushing the "enemy"...

Hell it'd be legal if "they" had tin on their chest and big white letters on their jacket........

[cheapseats]

Somebody or a group of somebodies is obviously fed-up with the "Just-Us" system, and it appears as though they're using the same murderous techniques that members of "Just-Us" use.........Ambushing the "enemy"...



Pity, but not unexpected. And it's not just in Texas.

Pity, that Law Enforcement has been perverted in America.

Not unexpected, because Rulers have steadfastly answered cries for Justice by making even heavier an already too-heavy hand.

How many assassinations of Justice System Lackeys does it take to fix a broken system?

Gambling is so popular around here . . . no pool?

Anyhoo, NON Silver Spoons are indeed fed-up, but WITH CAUSE. The anger is RIGHTEOUS.

I advise America's Top Ten Percent to REPENT WHILE THERE IS YET TIME. Not because I plot vengeance and not because I have information about plots, but because it is LOGICAL.

Nine-plus percent of the top TEN percent serves as MOAT for the tippy-top of the Top One Percent.

[rubioneocon]

I wonder what the story behind this is ..
CNN had something of a tie-in to the Colorado warden shooting . . . former cellmates ?

[tod evans]

CNN had something of a tie-in to the Colorado warden shooting . . . former cellmates ?


Ban cellmates!

[Origanalist]

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?409600-Texas-district-attorney-and-wife-found-slain

[tod evans]

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?409600-Texas-district-attorney-and-wife-found-slain

:o

[Origanalist]

:o

I do it all the time......

[torchbearer]

//

[tod evans]

.......Merge please......

[BAllen]

Could be the mexican drug cartels are spilling over into the states.

[torchbearer]

Could be the mexican drug cartels are spilling over into the states. if that is the case, David Byrnes is next. called it here first.

[tod evans]

Could be the mexican drug cartels are spilling over into the states.

What makes you think "Mexican drug cartels" are the only group of people with enough balls to strike back?

It could be Lilliputian tax-evaders...

[tod evans]

///

http://www.fallingpixel.com/products/18344/mains/000-3d-model-bumper-car-mat-1.jpg

[fr33]

I'm not crying over it but I don't want the DA's dead. When you consider how many lives they have ruined over victimless crimes, the tears dry up.

[mrsat_98]

Its difficult to have compassion for someone who is involved in human trafficking on a daily basis. i.e. jailing people for drug offenses.

[tod evans]

From Drudge this morning...

Sounds like LEO's are looking to attribute this and the other prosecutors death to caucasian ex-cons who use the internet...

And...........They're "ramping up security" for officials...

Sounds like big-bold lines are being drawn...





Texas officials ramp up security after DA murder

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Texas-officials-ramp-up-security-after-DA-murder-4398490.php

Whoever bashed in the door of a North Texas prosecutor's home —and gunned down him and his wife over Easter weekend — unleashed a level of brazenness felt across the state and chillingly similar to the tactics of drug-cartel assassinsOfficials cautioned it is far too soon to know why Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, 63, and his wife Cynthia, 65, were killed in their home about 20 miles east of Dallas, let alone who did it.

But the attack, coupled with the fatal shooting of another prosecutor outside the courthouse there in late January, shows little fear of stoking the wrath of Texas.

"At this point, we can just speculate, but whatever it is, it ain't good," said Robert Kepple, executive director of the Texas District & County Attorneys Association.

Kaufman Police Chief Chris Aulbaugh told The Dallas Morning News that investigators are examining whether the deaths are linked to the Jan. 31 murder of Kaufman assistant district attorney Mark Hasse.

"It was a shock with Mark Hasse, and now you can just imagine the double shock," Aulbaugh told the newspaper. "I really can't confirm that it's related but you always have to assume until it's proven otherwise."

Officials are also exploring ties between the killings and the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang. The Texas Department of Public Safety reportedly warned officials the gang was planning retaliation following a Houston-based grand jury indicting 34 members and associates of for alleged crimes committed around the state.

The threat, which came from an informant, was deemed to be nothing different than what gang members have muttered for years.

No officials were specifically named, but there was supposedly some talk among the gang members about how the Internet could be used to find home addresses.

Sources said that if the gang did orchestrate the assassination of prosecutors, the Kaufman killings would mark the first time it has shown the ability and willingness to carry out such a hit.

Officials are also looking into whether the Kaufman killings are related to the recent slaying of Tom Clements, the head of the Colorado Department of Corrections, who was gunned down after answering his front door.

The gun used in that killing was the same one used by an alleged white supremacist, part of a Colorado gang known as 211, who was killed by police in Decatur, which is about 100 miles from Kaufman County.

As a result of the district attorney's slaying, officials in other parts of the state are evaluating their safety.

Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson said he spoke with law-enforcement officers regarding staff security.

"This is something we can't allow to continue," he said. "When a law-enforcement officer is taken down, it's not just prosecutors that suffer. It is the entire state of Texas."

The next step is figuring out exactly what happened and why, he said.

Mike Vigil, retired chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said regardless who carried out the Kaufman County attacks, the link to Mexican drug cartels is clear.

"It really paints a portrait of individuals who are either affiliated with Mexican drug trafficking organizations — either directly or indirectly — or individuals who have learned (their) tactics," Vigil said.

In Mexico, an ongoing war between drug cartels and security forces has turned regions of the country into lawless lands, where cartel hit men have shown no hesitation to spray people with gun fire in their homes or businesses, or kick down their doors and disappear them in the night.

"It could be a world of possibilities," he continued. "But it is a common tactic used by Mexican drug cartels and it is signature given the fact that this is what they do in Mexico."

A key is that the killings are exceptionally bold, aside from the fact they were carried out in rural parts of the state, where security is less.

Chambers County District Attorney Cheryl Leick cautioned that regardless of what turns out to be the motive for the killings, there is no such thing as a "quiet sleepy little town" when it comes to breaking the law.

The attacks are a reminder that nowhere is safe, and that when it comes to criminals, there is no way to predict what motivates them.

"Somebody thinks we are living in the Wild West, and they can go around and do this and not get caught," she said. "I have no doubt in my mind they will get caught, and her will be no mercy."

She said every official she knows is either carrying a gun or considering getting one as they await answers on the Kaufman killings.

"Everybody is kind of scratching their heads ... and checking their weapons," she said.

In February, McClelland told the Dallas Morning News that while the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas had taken some punches in his jurisdiction, he wasn't scared for his own safety, but was taking precautions.

"I've shifted up my details some, but otherwise I can't do that much," he said. "There's no holes for me to hide in, and that's not my style anyway."

Just two weeks ago he admitted to carrying a gun everywhere and being careful when answering the door at his home.

"I'm ahead of everybody else because, basically, I'm a soldier," the 23-year Army veteran said in an interview earlier this month.

The McLelland residence, which sits on a large grassy lot mostly barren of trees, was still ringed with crime tape Sunday and remained the center of an investigation led by the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office and bolstered by the Texas Rangers and FBI.

Kaufman County Sheriff David Byrnes said in a prepared statement that other law-enforcement agencies were also guarding local officials as well as keeping the public safe.

The district attorney's office is to be closed Monday. The courthouse will be open, but have more security inside and out.

The sheriff stressed the investigation was ongoing, and called on the citizens to share tips, even anonymously via the Internet.

[loveshiscountry]

The fatal shooting outside the court house sounds more like the work of a single deranged person. Not much planning. No thought about how that makes the odds for escaping capture and prosecution much smaller.

[mrsat_98]

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?409909-W-Va-sheriff-shot-suspect-in-custody

W. Virginia is in the game.

[tod evans]

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?409909-W-Va-sheriff-shot-suspect-in-custody

W. Virginia is in the game.


I fully expect more....

[tod evans]

From Faux-Newz this morning.


Federal prosecutor quits racketeering case, as Texas DA murders spark security fears


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/03/murders-texas-da-sparks-concern-for-continued-safety-prosecutors/?test=latestnews


[snip]

“There are 40,000 prosecutors in the country, and anyone who has spent some time trying a case will probably tell you that they receive threats all the time,” Scott Burns, executive director for the National District Attorneys Association, told FoxNews.com. “What happened in Kaufman County is not only an assault on these attorneys but it is also an assault on the rule of law and the judicial system.”
He added: “This is unfortunately something we deal with all the time. The only good news is that to be murdered because of your position as a prosecutor is still very (unlikely).”

[edit] In fact dear reader, you are hundreds of times more likely to be murdered by a member of the "Just-Us" cabal than any of them are by a citizen...


Others say that there has been a recent rise of attacks against attorneys at their homes, which has gone largely unnoticed until recently.
“There is some research that suggests these acts are increasing,” Steven Jansen, VP and CEO of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, told FoxNews.com. “It may be due to addresses of district attorneys now being available online.”
Incidents like these adversely affect the judicial system’s functioning when people are targeted simply to slow or stop a case from going forward.
Heath Harris, an assistant district attorney in Dallas, told the Los Angeles Times that the recent murders could have lasting effects.
"I've always reassured them (new attorneys) you really don't have to fear retaliation,” he said. "I definitely think people will think twice about becoming a prosecutor."

[tod evans]

From the Communist Newz Netwerk this morning...

It sounds like possibly this fellow and his cronies weren't as popular as they're being portrayed by the MSM...

Go figure..:rolleyes:


Hunt on for caller behind bomb threat at service for slain Texas DA

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/05/justice/texas-da-killing/index.html?hpt=ju_c2

Kaufman, Texas (CNN) -- As friends and family attended a private funeral for a Texas prosecutor and his wife who were gunned down in their Kaufman County home, investigators on Friday announced the arrest of a man accused of threatening the safety of a deputy district attorney.
The news came after word that police were searching for a person who called in a bomb threat during the visitation Thursday night for Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, at a church in Wortham.The call was made about 6:30 p.m. after the bodies were returned to the church from a public memorial service in Sunnyvale.
The news of the arrest and the bomb threat come as federal, state and local authorities search for suspects in the unsolved killings of the county's district attorney and his chief felony prosecutor, who was killed almost two months earlier.
The McLellands' bodies were discovered on March 30 at their home, almost exactly two months after McLelland's chief felony prosecutor, Mark Hasse, was killed in a daytime shooting outside the county courthouse.
Authorities have been working to determine whether the killings of McLelland and Hasse are connected, scouring their case files and interviewing colleagues for help with potential leads.
A day before his body was discovered, McLelland voiced concern about the safety of his staff when he stopped by Helz Firearms, a local gun shop.
"He was in there ... asking about what he should get his co-workers as self-protection," said O'Neil Kidwill, the gun shop owner.
"I recommended the 38 Smith & Wesson snub nose and perhaps a bulletproof vest. He said he already talked to some of the people about the vest, and he would tell them about the revolvers."
The 63-year-old county district attorney didn't give any indication that he felt personally threatened, only worried for his employees.
"He was concerned for them. For himself, he was at ease," Kidwell said.
But sometime after he left the gun shop, something happened.
The couple's bodies were found inside their home in Kaufman County.
They had been shot at least a dozen times, a law enforcement official, who had been briefed on the investigation, told CNN this week. The official was not authorized to publicly release details of the investigation.

While authorities have not publicly named any suspects or a potential motive in the cases, Kaufman sheriff's deputies arrested two men this week and accused them of threatening the safety of public officials.
On Friday, the sheriff's office said it charged Robert Alan Miller, 52, of Terrell, Texas, with one count of making a terroristic threat. Officials said he threatened a deputy district attorney in a posting on a news website.
Miller, who was arrested Thursday, is being held at the Kaufman County Jail on $1 million bail, according to the sheriff's office.
Earlier, authorities arrested Nick Morale, 56, on one charge of making a terroristic threat after he allegedly threatened a county official.
An arrest affidavit alleges that Morale called the county's Crime Stoppers tip line on Monday afternoon, saying a county official "would be the next victim."
Authorities said there is nothing to link Miller or Morale to the killing of the McLellands or Hasse. They have declined to release the names of those who were threatened.

[tod evans]

Sounds like they're off the AB quest.....


FBI: Agents search home in Texas DA deaths probe

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/12/justice/texas-da-killed/index.html?hpt=ju_c2

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130412190124-eric-williams-story-top.jpg


Dallas (CNN) -- Federal, state and local authorities investigating the deaths of two Texas prosecutors executed a search warrant Friday afternoon at the home of a former Kaufman County justice of the peace, an FBI spokeswoman said.
Katherine Chaumont told CNN that an FBI team was part of the Friday afternoon search at the home of Eric Williams.
Williams last year was convicted of burglary and theft by a public servant, and was sentenced to two years' probation.
Mark Hasse, chief felony prosecutor in the county, was gunned down January 31 outside the courthouse. Hasse prosecuted the Williams case.
Hours after Kaufman County District Attornney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found dead March 30 at their Forney home, investigators met at a local Denny's restaurant with Williams, his attorney told CNN earlier this month.
Investigators took swab samples from Williams' hand to test him for gun residue, Williams' attorney, David Sergi, said. Results were not made public by authorities but Sergi said the tests were negative.
On Friday, Sergi released a statement saying that Williams "has cooperated with law enforcement and vigorously denies any and all allegations. He wishes simply to get on with his life and hopes that the perpetrators are brought to justice."
Earlier this month, Williams told North Texas TV station KXAS he understood why authorities would want to meet with him after the McLellands' death.
"If I was in their shoes, I would want to talk to me," Williams said. "In the investigators' minds, they want to check with me to do their process of elimination."
Williams said he has cooperated with law enforcement.
"I certainly wish them the best in bringing justice to this incredibly egregious act," he said.
Williams told the station he has no ill will toward prosecutors, saying they were "doing their jobs."

What a friggin' bootlicker! [TE]

[KrokHead]

And people wonder why they are typically 'yes people,' is it really worth dying over when you make six figures whether you succeed or fail?

[phill4paul]

So it wasn't a 'white supremacist' group after all. Turns out it was an ex-member of the "Just-Us" club.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/04/13/kaufman-county-murder-investigation-former-official-eric-williams-arrested/


KAUFMAN COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - Sources tell CBS 11 that Former Justice of the Peace Eric Williams will be charged with capital murder in the deaths of Mike and Cynthia McLelland, and Mark Hasse.

[tod evans]

And another wrinkle..........

Gotta wonder if ex-"Just-Us" department employees are snitching on family members now....


Report: Wife of former official charged with murder in Texas DA killing

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/17/justice/texas-da-killed/index.html?hpt=hp_c3

(CNN) -- The wife of former justice of the peace Eric Williams is being held on a capital murder charge in connection with the killings of a Kaufman County District Attorney, his wife, and a top prosecutor, the Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday.
CNN could not immediately confirm the report. The Kaufman County Sheriff's Department would not comment.
CNN affiliate WFAA also reported that Kim Williams was arrested and charged with capital murder. That report did not say what murder she is accused of.
The Kaufman County jail website lists a Kim Lene Williams, 46, as being booked at about 3 a.m. Wednesday. The listing does not say what she is charged with.
District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia were killed in March. Prosecutor Mark Hasse was killed in January.
Eric Williams was arrested last week on a count of making a terroristic threat. A sheriff's affidavit accused him of using his home computer to threaten police investigating the McLellands' killings.
Eric Williams' attorney released a statement Friday saying that Williams "has cooperated with law enforcement and vigorously denies any and all allegations. He wishes simply to get on with his life and hopes that the perpetrators are brought to justice."

[squarepusher]

So it wasn't a 'white supremacist' group after all. Turns out it was an ex-member of the "Just-Us" club.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/04/13/kaufman-county-murder-investigation-former-official-eric-williams-arrested/

wow, they really had us on the wrong trail that time. Mexican cartel, white supremist, etc...