Texas Judge Who ‘Waged War’ in Bloody Triple Murders With Wife Is Now Challenging Death Sentence

A former Texas judge who committed three murders more than a decade ago is now trying to challenge his death sentence, claiming that he did not receive a fair trial.

Eric Lyle Williams is seeking to have his case retried after he was handed a death sentence for murdering Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife Cynthia McLelland, and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse out of revenge in 2013.

Prosecutors at Williams' trial stated that he meticulously planned the three murders as a response to his prior conviction for stealing computer equipment from Kaufman County. This theft conviction, as Law&Crime reported, led to Williams losing his job and law license the year before the murders.

Williams was out on bail for the theft charges in January 2013 when he shot and killed Hasse while wearing a Halloween mask and bulletproof vest. The assistant prosecutor had been walking from the courthouse to his car, and Williams fled the scene shortly after the shooting.

More than two months later, Williams knocked on the door of the McLelland home pretending to be a police officer. When the couple answered the door, Williams reportedly shot Mike 16 times and Cynthia eight times. In both incidents, Williams’ wife, Kim Williams, acted as his getaway driver.

As reported by WFAA in 2014, Kim testified that her husband thought of Cynthia as “collateral damage” and that he had to “shoot her an extra time because she was still moaning.” She told prosecutors that Williams had a “hit list.”

Kim ended up pleading guilty to her role in the murders and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. She divorced Williams from prison after the trial concluded, as reported by KXAS in 2023.

Public records showed that Williams had unsuccessfully attempted to have his case retried on a previous occasion. According to a 2018 filing before the U.S. Supreme Court on appeal, prosecutors argued that Williams “waged war” on the justice system and that he spoke of "race and wealth" inequalities without acknowledging that he is both educated and white.

However, The Dallas Morning News reported that Williams is once again arguing that he was not given a fair trial in 2014. Williams claimed that he was not given enough time to prepare and that the judge was biased against him, despite his case being moved to a different county due to intense media coverage of the case.

During Williams’ sentencing, Judge Mike Snipes compared Williams’ actions to some of the most notorious serial killers in history, including Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer, as reported by KERA in 2014. Snipes said that he believed Williams would kill again if he were to be released and may target other justice officials.