The 46-year-old is a former Kaufman County justice of the peace who was convicted last year of stealing county equipment. His case was vigorously prosecuted by Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, found slain last month, and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, who was shot down in late January. Now Eric Williams is under arrest after the prosecutors’ slayings. You can talk about that there.’” 
 
 Zapeda knew Williams personally and added, “I’ve never arrested a judge before, and a friend before ... Williams himself had been a “weapons and safety” instructor with the Texas Guard, as well as the commander in charge of the armory. “We can stand up and say, ‘Well, you know, that’s his fault, and blah, blah, that’s fine.’ The fact of the matter is what is the result of what has happened already? He lost his job, law license and health insurance. That case is being appealed, but Williams faces another theft charge in a case related to the alleged misuse of money from a law library fund. “This is four death threats, an arson threat.” 
 
 Hasse went on, “You can’t get more dishonorable from an elected official than this. Others, including an ex-girlfriend and a Kaufman County attorney, say they’ve witnessed Williams threaten violence. “It’s just the best you can do.” 
 
 Judge Michael Chitty gave Williams two years’ probation. A complex picture of Williams has emerged since he became a suspect in the slayings. Authorities had regularly questioned Williams since Hasse’s death in January and the slayings of McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, over Easter weekend. Investigators also searched rented storage space in the nearby town of Seagoville, reportedly finding some 20 firearms, including the type used in the killing. Also, authorities found a Ford Crown Victoria in the unit that is similar to the car that a surveillance camera shows entering and leaving the McLellands’ neighborhood on the morning of the slayings. The day after the bodies of Mike and Cynthia McLelland were found, an anonymous email to county officials threatened more attacks. He is presently being held on $3 million bail. If Williams is charged with the killings as expected, the evidence against him will again likely include surveillance camera footage, this of the Crown Victoria in the vicinity of the McLelland home around the time of the killings.
– Eric Williams was an officer in the Texas Guard, a reserve Kaufman County deputy, and was elected justice of the peace in 2010—now, the Daily Beast reports, he's the prime suspect in the Texas prosecutor murders. District Attorney Mike McLelland, who was murdered along with his wife, and first victim Assistant DA Mark Hasse both prosecuted Williams when he was arrested for stealing computer equipment from the county in 2011. Williams, known for riding to work and around town on a Segway, was ultimately sentenced to two years of probation in April of last year (he also lost his law license, his bench, and his military commission, according to his lawyer). During the sentencing phase of the trial, witnesses testified about threats Williams had made in the past, including one threat to kill an attorney and his family. Williams was mentioned as a possible suspect, but not named, earlier this month; now he's been arrested and charged with making terroristic threats (authorities say they linked him to an anonymous threatening email to county officials sent in the wake of McLelland's death). But the Dallas Morning News reports he's expected to be charged with the murders as soon as tomorrow. Williams had been questioned on several occasions and submitted to gunpowder residue tests that reportedly came back negative. Since then, investigators have had him under surveillance and have searched his home, his mother-in-law's home, and a storage space—where they found 20 weapons, including the type used in the murders, as well as a Ford Crown Victoria that bears resemblance to a vehicle spotted in McLelland's neighborhood the day he was killed. The Wall Street Journal notes that Williams had considered McLelland a political enemy since 2006, long before his theft trial.