ROCKWALL, Texas — Prosecutors describe it as a deadly grudge plot straight out of the movies — and they began to lay out their case Monday at the murder trial of former Justice of the Peace Eric Williams.
On Monday, the 12 jurors who will decide Williams' fate began hearing testimony for the first time about a clandestinely-rented storage unit, secretly-purchased getaway cars, and an anonymous tip sent to Crime Stoppers confessing to the murders of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, and prosecutor Mark Hasse.
In his opening statement, lead special prosecutor Bill Wirskye said the evidence will show that Williams set out to kill Hasse and McLelland, the two men who had successfully prosecuted him in March 2012 for burglary and theft of county computer monitors. The conviction resulted in Williams' disbarment and removal from office.
"The life that he knew, it disappeared... and when he watched it disappear, he began to plot and plan to seek vengeance — fatal and final retribution," Wirskye told jurors.
Prosecutors seek the death penalty against Williams. He is being tried specifically on the indictment for the killing of Cynthia McLelland.
"It's an airtight case, folks," Wirskye said. "Folks, the amount of evidence in this case is just staggering."
Williams' wife, Kim, is charged with capital murder in the cases. She is accused of being in the getaway car during all of the killings. Her trial date has not been set.
Defense attorneys asked few, if any, questions of the witnesses during opening testimony on Monday.
In the predawn hours of March 30, 2013, prosecutors say that Williams forced his way into the McLelland home with an AR-15 assault weapon.
"He cuts down a defenseless Cynthia McLelland in a blizzard of bullets," Wirskye said.
After shooting the district attorney's wife in the head, Williams then allegedly turned the assault weapon on Mike McLelland, pulling the trigger "over and over," the prosecutor said.
Wirskye said the evidence would show that Williams then stood over the body of McLelland and continued to fire weapons into the "defenseless body."
Investigators found at least 20 spent rounds from the weapon used in the killings, testimony showed. One of the spent shell cases was found under the slain DA. He had 16 gunshot wounds. His wife had eight, including gunshot wounds to the head, upper chest and chin.
Charles "C.J." Tomlinson, a Dallas police officer, testified about finding the bodies of the McLellands. He said his stepfather and mother — Skeet and Leah Phillips, who were best friends of the McLellands — became worried about after they couldn't reach them by phone. Tomlinson testified that his mother went by the home and no one came to the door.
The police officer said his mother asked that he and his stepfather go with her to see what was going on.
When he got there, Tomlinson said he found the front door unlocked.
"As soon as I saw that door swing open, I knew something wasn't right," said Tomlinson, who has since married the daughter of Cynthia McLelland.
He said he took several steps into the house and saw spent shell casings. He took a couple more steps and called out for Mike McLelland. He saw the body of Cynthia McLelland near the front entryway.
"She [Leah Phillips] just fell to her knees and started crying," Tomlinson said, adding that he saw spent shell cases nearby.
His stepfather stepped a little further inside and soon found the body of Mike McLelland in a hallway just outside a bathroom.
"There was nothing at that point that anyone could do for them," Tomlinson said.
Tomlinson testified that Cynthia McLelland was in the early stages of Parkinson's disease. Prosecutors said they brought up as evidence that it would have been hard for her to defend herself.
Members of the McLelland family were visibly upset as Texas Ranger Rudy Flores described the crime scene. He testified that investigators found no signs of forced entry and no signs of theft. Mike McLelland was found dressed in sweatpants and was shirtless.
Flores said investigators found a number of guns in the house. None had been discharged.
Within hours of the bodies being found, law officers met Williams in the parking lot of a restaurant and asked him where he had been that day. Williams told investigators that he had been in Quinlan, Texas, with his wife.
Quinlan, Wirskye said, is close to Lake Tawakoni, which is where Texas Department of Public Safety divers later found a mangled cell phone belonging to Williams and a gun and mask allegedly used in the killing of Hasse.
Williams told investigators that it had been a while since he had fired a gun. Test results showed that wasn't true, Wirskye added.
"This man had gunshot residue on his hands the night of the McLelland murders," Wirskye told jurors.
A few days later, a Texas Ranger and a sheriff's deputy interviewed Williams, and he told them that he had disposed of all of his guns. They also asked if he had done any computer searches of McLelland prior to the killings. He told them "no," Wirskye said.
About the same time, investigators obtained computer records showing that Williams was not telling the truth, Wirskye said.
During a search of the Williams residence on April 12, agents found the title from a white Ford Crown Victoria that investigators said was used as a getaway car in the McLelland killings. They also found a sheet of paper with a series of numbers.
Those correspond to Crime Stoppers tips — including one that was a confession to the murders.
"He sent an email to law enforcement claiming credit for the murders, thinking that he was anonymous, thinking law enforcement would never figure it out," Wirskye said. "But he was wrong."
Roger Williams, a one-time friend, testified that he came forward and told authorities about a storage unit that Eric Williams had secretly had him rent in late 2012 after seeing that law officers were searching the Williams residence. He said he and another fellow state guardsman decided that they needed to talk to the police.
He testified that he rented the storage unit after Eric Williams came to asking for a favor. Rodger Williams — who is not related to Eric Williams — had served in Texas National Guard with the defendant. He testified that Eric Williams wanted him to rent the locker in his name because he didn't want the authorities to know about it.
Rodger Williams said Eric Williams gave him $1,200 to cover a year of rent. He said he did not return to the storage facility until the day he led the Texas Rangers to it.
Asked if Eric Williams was still his friend and if he still had faith in him, Rodger Williams replied: "None whatsoever."
Inside Unit No. 18, prosecutors said they found a veritable treasure trove of evidence, including the Crown Victoria that testimony showed Eric Williams had purchased under a fake name.
They also found a live round that was said to have cycled through the same weapon that killed the McLellands.
Investigators have obtained records from the storage unit facility showing that someone had entered and left the unit at times corresponding to the McLelland murders.
Surveillance video from a nearby fast food restaurant shows Williams' sport utility vehicle arriving shortly before the time of the killings, and then the Crown Victoria leaving. The images show the Crown Victoria returning after the time of the murders, and Williams' SUV leaving.
Testimony showed that Williams used an underpass not far from the storage unit as a makeshift gun range because, prosecutors argued, he wanted to practice for the killings. Authorities found shell cases from the same weapon used in the McLelland murders.
