FORNEY, Texas — Editor's note: The video published above is a WFAA report from 2017, when Investigative Reporter Tanya Eiserer spoke with current Kaufman County DA Erleigh Wiley, who WFAA learned was on Williams' "hit list."
Eric Williams, a former Justice of the Peace convicted of murdering Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, as well as prosecutor Mark Hasse, has filed a 169-page request for a new death penalty trial.
Williams was sentenced to death in December 2014 for the murders of Mike and Cynthia McLelland, which happened at their Forney home over Easter weekend in 2013.
Two months earlier, Williams wore a black Halloween mask, a black jacket and a bulletproof vest and assassinated top prosecutor Mark Hasse in broad daylight as he walked to the courthouse in downtown Kaufman.
Investigators said Williams meticulously planned to kill McLelland and Hasse. He harbored a deadly grudge because they had prosecuted him for stealing county computer monitors. Cynthia McLelland wasn't on Williams' death list. He referred to her as "collateral damage."
In 2020, WFAA Investigative Reporter Tanya Eiserer shared details of the story she helped cover on the podcast True Crime Chronicles. It is episode 61 in the player below titled "The Rage of Eric Williams."
Williams' wife, Kim, drove him to downtown Kaufman as he killed Hasse and later cooperated with investigators to share more evidence after he was arrested and charged for capital murder. She told them about some items that were thrown in Lake Tawakoni. After searching for an extended period of time they find a mask, a cell phone and a gun. That evidence was important because it backed up Kim Williams' story that they had disposed of the items after killing the McLellands.
Kim Williams testified against her husband in trial and admitted to being a willing accomplice for all three murders. During the trial, evidence was presented that Eric Williams had a hit list, which also included the current Kaufman County District Attorney: Erleigh Wiley.
Kim Williams testified in the trial her husband was a dangerous man, convincing 12 jurors that he should be sentenced to death. Kim Williams was sentenced to 40 years for being an accomplice. In 2018, Eric and Kim Williams were granted a divorce from behind bars.
In the new filing, Williams claims his defense didn’t have enough time to prepare for the state's case, the judge was biased, and that moving the trial to Rockwall County didn’t suffice the attempt to stifle publicity.
Eric Williams has appealed his sentence in the past to no avail. Williams' execution date has not been set yet.
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