WEBVTT - DISGRACED JUDGE PULLS TRIGGER IN EXECUTION MURDERS 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:15.240 Crime Stories with Nancy Greece. When I hear or see 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:19.280 the word judge, I have a lot of mixed emotions. 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:24.240 Several judges help me in contempt. Several judges made bad 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:29.600 rulings that hurt my case. Several judges that I practiced 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:32.400 in front, I've made horrible mistakes that ended up getting 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:40.640 cases reversed. On the other hand, most judges I've ever 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:45.680 encountered and or practiced before are some of the most 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:52.599 decent and honorable people I've ever met. So exactly how 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:59.800 does a Texas judge end up sentenced to the death penalty? 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:04.399 I mean, see Grace, this is Crime Stories. Thank you 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:06.560 for being with us here at Crime Stories and on 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:10.959 Serious XM one eleven. Let's just start at the beginning. 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:12.160 Take a listen to. 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:14.600 This January thirty. First, a nine to one to one 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:17.319 call comes in. The caller tells the operator that a 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:20.400 man has been shot. Around nine am. Five shots were 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.800 fired and seconds later three more shots were fired. Police 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.880 arrived at the scene swiftly and find Chief Assistant District 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:30.240 Attorney for the Kaufman County Criminal District Attorney's Office, Mark 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:33.399 hassee bleeding. No traces were left at the crime scene, 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:38.240 not even bullet casings the only evidence eyewitnesses. One witness 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.000 said the shooter was completely dressed in black and after 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:43.360 firing the shots, jumped into the back seat of a 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:47.760 white sedan and disappeared. Another witness, according to medium dot Com, 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:51.040 said he heard Hassee shotting loudly. No, no, I'm sorry, 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:52.360 Hasse dies. 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:55.280 Wow. Okay, I'm trying to drink in everything that I 0:01:55.560 --> 0:02:00.760 just heard. A prosecutor in the Kaufman County dish Attorney's 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:09.120 office mark Hasse is dead. No traces left behind as 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:13.480 to who the perp could be. The shooter observed by 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:18.240 a witness clad totally in black, which says this was 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:22.560 premeditated and the park dressed up like a ninja, and 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:27.560 that Hasse pled for his life. That's what I know 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:30.359 right now. Joining me in All Star panel, but first 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:33.359 I want to go to special guests. Hayden Sparks joining us, 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:37.080 senior reporter for The Texan and you can find Hayden 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:40.519 at the Texan dot News. Hayden, thank you for being 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:45.280 with us. Let's just start with Hesse's death. What can 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:46.200 you tell me about it? 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:49.040 I think you highlighted one of the most disturbing aspects 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:51.520 of this case, and that is that he pled for 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.680 his life before he died. This type of violence is 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.480 something that one would expect a war torn country, not 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:01.760 a peaceful community on abouts of Dallas. And I think 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.720 the death of Mark is tragic. 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:10.120 I know this much. Let me go to renowned medical 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:14.960 examiner and pathologist, former detective with the Lexington County Sheriff's 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:20.760 Department thru Us to the forefront of our media generation 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:25.760 during the Alex Murdog double homicide case, author of money, 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:30.920 mischief and murder, the Murdog saga. The rest of the story. 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:35.040 I'm referring, of course, to doctor Michelle Duprie. You can 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:38.520 find her at d Michelle dupremd dot com. I know this, 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:44.360 doctor Duprix. I know that ballistics show that the victim, 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:50.320 Mark Hasse, was shot with an assault rifle. Wow, well, 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:52.800 can you tell me about assault rifles and what damage 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:54.800 would that do to a human body. 0:03:54.960 --> 0:04:00.080 Yes, it's atrocious. Actually, assault rifles do a lot of 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:04.040 damage because of high velocity and so it will literally 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:08.000 leave holes, gaping holes in the body. And I haven't 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.280 seen the autopsy report, but from what I have seen, 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:12.480 he was shot multiple times. 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:17.560 With this shot multiple times with an assault rifle. To 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:22.760 Alan Bennett joining me, a former district attorney now civil 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:27.320 attorney at Gunter Bennett and ANTHISGBA firm dot com. Alan, 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:30.400 thank you for being with us. What is your experience 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:34.000 with assault rifles and how are they different from let's 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.520 just say twenty two or thirty eight. 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:41.719 Well, and you're absolutely correct, Nancy. An assault rifle is 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:45.320 generally thought of as its name implais, it is a 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:49.720 rifle used to commit assaults. Typical examples will be an 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.080 AR fifteen carried by our US military and AK forty 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:57.800 seven carried by Soviet former Soviet block countries. They're generally 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:02.320 regarded as military weapons used by members of a standing army, 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:08.400 large capacity magazines, extremely high velocity bullets which do tremendous 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:13.000 damage to the human body, primarily designed to be used 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:14.000 on a battlefield. 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:15.520 You know, I remember the first time I saw an 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:19.200 assault weapon used. It was in a murder case. And 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:23.120 what I especially remember about it is the defense attorney 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:26.839 who later became a prosecutor, Paul Howard. His defense was 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:33.200 transferred intent because who his defendant murdered was a little 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:39.000 schoolboy named Moonbeam. His nickname played in the school band 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:42.640 and was going home to his mom after school, and 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:46.800 the defendants meant to shoot another drug dealer, but they 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:49.800 shot this little kid instead, who in the end was 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:55.880 crawling toward his home calling out for his mother. And 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:58.960 I saw that weapon and held it in court. It 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:01.719 was one of the ugliest I've ever seen. Looked like 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:04.800 a machine gun, and it looked like it had been 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:11.120 spray painted Matt black. That's what an assault rifle is like. 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:15.800 It's pure evil, and that's what was used. Multiple rounds 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:21.560 pumped into these victims. And when I say victims, that's right. 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:28.120 The first victim was prosecutor Mark Hasse. And back to 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:35.640 you again, Alan Bennett. When you prosecuted as I don't 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.000 know if you went through this, but I did you 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:41.920 get threats. You get death threats. I had my tire slash, 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:45.120 my front door kicked in, my mailbox locked over, blah 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:48.720 blah blah. But I think in the back of my mind, 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.800 I never really thought that anyone was going to kill me. 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:57.479 I don't know why I thought that after so many 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:02.000 attacks on my car and my my house and threats, 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:07.320 but I never really thought it would happen. What about you. 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:11.120 I'm in that same boat, Nancy, and I think part 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:14.240 of that is just our human conditioning to think, well, 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:17.680 that's just so extreme, that is so rare. It's in 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:20.160 that same mindset of thinking, well, that will never happen 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.720 to me. That's something that only happens to other people. 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.920 You only read about the news and the Unfortunately, from 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:27.880 time to time we wake up one day and realize 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:30.760 that we are those other people in the news and 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:33.320 that it can happen to us. I think it's that 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:37.800 false sense of security that we naturally assume just by 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:40.240 the rarity of those actual instances. 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:45.400 Well another thing too, Karen Start joining us renowned therapist 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:50.200 psychologist joining us out of Manhattan. You've seen her on TV, 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:54.000 on radio as a trauma expert and consultant. She's at 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:58.320 Karenstart dot com. Karen, I think part of it is 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:01.440 I don't know how you could live life at all 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:03.800 if you are constantly afraid. 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.160 Well, that's with out of doubt, Nancy, because anything could 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:11.040 happen to anyone right at any moment. You could cross 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.800 the streets people always use that example, and get hit 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.080 by a car. It just doesn't seem like something that 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:19.000 could possibly happen to anyone. 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:23.400 Well I mentioned that Mark Hassey was the first victim. 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:26.320 The story goes on. Take a listen. 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:29.720 Just two months after Assistant District Attorney Mike Costs is 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.839 gunned down, Kaufman County Criminal District Attorney Mike mcleland and 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:36.960 his wife, Cynthia mcleland plan an Easter dinner for friends 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:41.480 and family. Dallas Police Officer CJ. Tomlinson is a family friend. 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:44.600 His mother is supposed to drop off vegetables for Cynthia 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:47.480 mcleland to prepare for dinner. When she doesn't get the 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.480 mclelland's on the phone, she asked her son, Tomlinson to 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:53.760 check on the couple. Tomlinson and his stepfather go to 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:57.440 the mcleland home. The front door is open, showcasing's are 0:08:57.440 --> 0:09:00.920 on the entryway floor. Mike and Cynthia Cleland both have 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:04.160 been shot dead. One of the shots was directly into 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:07.960 Cynthia mclelland's head. Tomlinson describes the scene as a home 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:09.319 invasion style assault. 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:11.600 Okay, I'm trying to make sense of what I'm hearing. 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:17.840 Mike and Cynthia McClelland also shot dead, with Cynthia McClelland 0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:22.559 being shot execution style in the center of the forehead. 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:27.600 Again in their own homes. And this is Easter dinner 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:43.360 for friends and family. Prime Stories with Nancy Grace back 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:46.800 to Hayden Sparks joining us I investigative reporter with the 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:48.720 Texan What happened to them? 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:52.280 The husband and wife were in their home and joining dinner, 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.400 and they had the piece of their home and faded 0:09:55.480 --> 0:10:00.240 by this individual and they were barbarically attacked as they 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:01.960 enjoyed the privacy of their home. 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:05.720 Now I understand they're getting ready for an Easter dinner 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:10.160 and they've invited friends and family over a police officer. 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:14.239 Of course, one of them must be a prosecutor, which. 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:18.280 One Mike McClellan was a prosecutor with the Cofton County 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:19.880 District Attorney's Office. 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:24.000 So he and Hassei were both prosecutors. Okay, Mike McClellan, 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:28.360 Assistant District Attorney and his wife Cynthia are preparing this 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:32.920 Easter meal a Dallas County police officer, which explains why 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:36.160 their friends with the cop because he's probably been a 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.800 witness for them a million times. CJ. Thomlinson's a family 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:44.160 friend and his mom is supposed to drop off veggies 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:48.320 for the Easter dinner, but she can't get them on 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:50.840 the phone, so she asked her son, the cop, to 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:54.800 check in on them. The cop, Tomlinson, and a stepdad 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.880 go over to the home when nobody answers and the 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:02.720 front door is why open now? Right there? Phil Waters? 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:06.040 Phil Water is joining me, former homicide detective for Houston PD, 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:11.040 president's CEO of Kindred Spirits Investigations and Security. You can 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:15.040 find to make Kindred Spirits Investigations dot com. Feil your 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:20.280 former homicide detective. When I see an open door on 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:23.400 somebody's home or apartment right now, I'm like, Okay, something's wrong, 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:28.320 because that's been true in every case I've seen where 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:30.600 the front door is wide open, well exactly. 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:35.199 On homicide, we'd call that a clue. Right, So, yeah, 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:40.000 when you see something that is not in its natural state, 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:46.720 which the door being closed, for a police officer approaching 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:51.600 a scene like that, certainly the spider sense is going 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.320 to go off and they're going to enter that property 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:56.880 with the expectation if they're going to find something that's 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:58.800 going to be out of the norm. 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:05.760 It also to me that the perp didn't care if 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:09.559 people saw the front door open or he and statistically 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:13.679 it's always a he left in a hurry, he didn't 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:17.520 bother to shut the door behind them. The floor strown 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:23.720 with shells. It was described as a home invasion. Front 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:27.760 door opened, shellcasing all over the entryway door, which tells 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:31.720 me that Purp started shooting the moment he came in 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:38.480 to you again. Doctor Michelle Dupree the author of another book, 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:43.000 Homicide Investigation Field Guy. She literally wrote the book on 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:47.679 homicide investigations. What does this tell you? That one of 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:54.199 the shots was directly into the forehead of the prosecutor's wife, 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:56.760 Cynthia McClelland, Nancy. 0:12:56.600 --> 0:13:01.079 That's a statement that is execution style, and I'm obviously intentional. 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:04.840 So she was a target just like her husband. 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:09.200 Execution style. When you say execution style, doctor dupre explain 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:10.920 that interpret that for everyone. 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:13.719 Well, basically, you know, there is something a lot of 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:16.000 people call the T zone, which is in your forehead 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:17.880 if you make it too straight down your forehead into 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:21.240 your nose where if a gunshot is in that area, 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:25.480 it is most likely to be fatal. And usually there 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:27.959 is a couple of shots to the chest and wanted 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.439 a head in order to make sure that that person 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:33.200 is actually dead, and so that would be execution style. 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:37.760 Joining me right now is a special guest, and I 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:44.320 want to start questioning Early Wiley out of Texas as well, 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:50.640 with a very narrow line of questioning. Early Wily, thank 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:54.040 you for being with us or bank you nancon Early? 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:59.559 Did you know these three victims, Mike McClellan, Cynthy McClellan 0:13:59.600 --> 0:13:59.800 and Mark. 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:05.120 Absolutely. Kaufman County is a small community, so sure, and 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:09.559 particularly ten years ago, everyone knows each other, particularly you 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:13.080 work at the courthouse together. You know, from your background experience, 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:15.199 you get to know the players. You see him every 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:18.040 day and you work with them as a prosecutor. And 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:18.960 then at the time I. 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:20.960 Was a judge, are you still called judge Wiley? 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:23.600 I am. I think it's, you know, one of those 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:26.440 we don't like titles in our country. But I retired 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:29.960 from the bench when I became the elected district attorney 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:34.320 because Mike wasn't an Ada, he was the elected prosecutor. 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:37.320 I'm glaud you told me that because that is a 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:42.040 very very important distinction, and not an assistant DA, the 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:48.120 elected DA. Judge Wiley was a judge, always a judge. 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:54.160 The other day. The other night, my daughter, he is 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:58.680 so shy, as a football manager at her high school, 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.840 and they had a banquet. And I went to the banquet, 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:06.760 of course, and at a distance I saw someone I 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:10.440 thought I recognized him, And after the banquet, I went 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:13.280 up to him and it was a judge I had 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:18.600 tried many many cases before when I first became a prosecutor, 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:24.800 and I naturally referred to him as judge, Yes, ma'am. 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:29.520 Another thing that you mentioned is the I guess, for 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:34.280 lack of a better word, camaraderie that you form with 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:40.400 people in the courthouse, the clerks, the judges, the court reporters, 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:44.640 the prosecutors, even the defense attorneys in a weird hybrid way, 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:50.840 because you were really in the trenches and you were 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:58.400 together in very very difficult combat duty. Every day. Every 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:03.960 day there are murderers, rapists, child molesters, drug lords walking 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:09.480 by you in the hall, chain together, I hope. Wandering 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:12.840 the courthouse, there are everybody's got a gun on them, 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:19.520 and you're trying cases that break your heart, investigating them, 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:24.120 doing the legal research, making arguments, feeling your stomach clinch 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.760 when you get a question from the jury. I mean, 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:31.600 you go through so much together, it's like really beating 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:33.200 the foxhole together. Right. 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:37.000 I would agree with that. I think your descriptors are 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:41.720 so accurate because, like you said, you know, I would 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:46.840 always tell my young prosecutors, Hey, when you go in 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.920 a room, you own it. So you make sure, because 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:53.280 we always sit by the jury box, that you make 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:56.240 good eye contact with that reporter. She's going to tell 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:58.480 you if you're going too fast and the judge doesn't, 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.560 she's going to tell you how you're doing. She's looking 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:06.000 at the jury. But you own that space that you 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:09.800 do work with everyone you work with the clerks. First 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:12.400 lesson I ever learned when I was a Dallas prosecutor. 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:14.159 Don't tick off a clerk. 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:17.320 Oh no, they'll make your life h E double l 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:21.200 If you are rude or arrogant to a clerk, first 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.439 of all, why would you be. They're working really long, 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:28.320 horrible hours at roy and I would say that, believe 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:32.560 it or not. My best friends of all these years 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:38.280 have been a defense attorney, female defense attorney, and a 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:44.240 court reporter that tra We tried cases together for years, 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:47.160 and of course my investigator Eizabeth all the time. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.680 Oh my gosh, we couldn't do it with that then, no, 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:50.320 no way. 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.120 I mean, the bond do you have with these people, 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:58.000 so you know these people might Cynthia McClellan and Mark 0:17:58.040 --> 0:17:59.040 hasse right. 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:02.920 Of course we were. We had been entertained at at 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:06.080 the McClellan's house because he's elected. I was elected judge 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.800 at Christmas party. Mark was in my office the night 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.480 before in chambers because we were working late with our 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:16.520 treatment cort and he came by and so we all, 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:19.280 of course knew each other. It wasn't as casual because 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:21.679 I was a judge. You keep a little bit of difference, 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:26.199 but we still knew each other. And if you were 0:18:26.240 --> 0:18:29.679 there late, you walk each other out, because me and 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:35.440 my coordinator that ran the after hours treatment court program 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:38.560 were there and he was talking to her and that 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:40.399 he walked out, went his way, and I had a 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:42.120 closer parking because I was a judge. 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:45.160 You know, people also don't get it. Your hours are insane. 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:48.679 How I'd be at the courthouse on weekends, late, late, 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:51.920 late at night, and you sometimes I had it all 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:56.200 to myself, but usually there'd be somebody else, an investigator, 0:18:57.040 --> 0:19:01.240 you know, one of the assistants, wandering around and when 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:04.119 you said there's a big difference between an assistant district attorney, 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:07.320 which what I was, and the elected district attorney. I 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:09.960 don't know if you remember my boss, Lewis Slayton. He 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:13.120 was then the longest serving district attorney in the US 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:16.240 thirty seven years. He's like a grandfather to me. 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:17.080 Wow. 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:22.480 And he allowed me to become a trial lawyer, which 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:26.399 has always been my life until I had the twins. Guys, 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:30.639 you were hearing Judge Early Wiley, who let me just 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.560 say and I let her explain the whole thing to you, 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:38.080 came that close to having a bullet in her forehead too. 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:43.359 So we now have three murder victims, all connected to 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:48.120 the district Attorney's office, and nobody knows what the hey 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.359 is going on. But now that you've got two DA's, 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:55.920 what cases were they working together? Why those two das? 0:19:56.080 --> 0:20:01.199 Why not another assistant DA? Well, they got a break. 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:08.320 They got a break because of home security surveillance. Take 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:12.520 a listen to our reporter Sidney Sumner from Crime Online. 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:13.480 Then came a break. 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:15.840 An acquaintance of Eric Williams. 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:17.320 Said that a few months ago he had been asked 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:19.840 to rent a garage in his name. Police find the 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:23.920 white sedan in the garage, as well as police uniforms, badges, weapons, 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.520 and even homie napalm. There were also more than thirty guns, 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:29.639 but there was no weapon matching the one that shot 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:32.680 the victims. And there was still one question to be answered. 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:35.200 If the suspect jumped into the back seat to speed 0:20:35.200 --> 0:20:37.320 away from the crime scene, who was driving? 0:20:37.440 --> 0:20:41.040 So that bit the white sedan, the jumping into the 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:43.840 backseat of a car and speeding away, somebody had to 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:48.440 be driving. Man, And then this an acquaintance on Eric 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:52.639 Williams said a few months before he had been asked 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:56.480 to rent a garage in his name. In that garage, 0:20:56.600 --> 0:21:01.159 they find a white sedan and now they're onto it. 0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:06.840 Think Chevy Avalanche in the Rex Huerman case, remember the 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:10.280 Long Island serial killer suspect. Chevy Avalanches haven't been made 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:14.840 since twenty thirteen. So these women were meeting up with 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:17.399 a guy in a Chevy Avalanche. What does he have 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:20.840 partly down in front of his house? A Chevy Avalanche. Hello, 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:25.280 now you've got a white sedan speeding away from the 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:28.280 McClellan's home. And now you find a white sedan in 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:32.320 a garage with police uniforms, badges. Where are they getting 0:21:32.359 --> 0:21:36.639 that police uniforms? And I've got one badge, the badge 0:21:36.680 --> 0:21:39.200 I was given when I was sworn in an assistant 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:46.400 district attorney, police uniforms, badges, weapons, homemade napalm? Phil Waters, 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:50.000 Why would anybody have homemade napalm? I haven't heard that 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:51.560 since we talked about Vietnam. 0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:56.280 Yeah, exactly. I can't imagine other than this is a person, 0:21:56.720 --> 0:21:59.639 you know, the badges and so forth. I'm not that 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:02.199 that surprised me. And some of that. I think he 0:22:02.240 --> 0:22:07.040 had body armor and some other law enforcement related equipment 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:09.600 in there. And I don't find that terribly strange. 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:12.920 Doctor Michelle Dupree, What the hey is napalm? Explain? And 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:15.480 a nutshell? I nutshell name. 0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:20.600 Palm is a very powerful explosive. It is used mostly 0:22:20.640 --> 0:22:23.560 by the military. You can make it at home if 0:22:23.600 --> 0:22:26.760 you know the recipe, but it is very devastating. 0:22:26.800 --> 0:22:28.479 What does it do to you? If it gets on 0:22:28.520 --> 0:22:30.240 your body or your eyes, it. 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:32.600 Actually burns, It burns off the skin, it burns off, 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:35.800 it can basically it can basically kill you. 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:42.960 What I associate with napalm is the napalm girl that 0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:49.320 horrible and iconic photo of a nine year old girl 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:55.200 running away after a napalm bomb struck her village all 0:22:55.200 --> 0:22:58.840 the way back in gene of nineteen seventy two. Fifty 0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:02.040 years later, she had her final round of treatment for 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:06.639 pain and scars she suffered that day, Phil Waters, I 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:10.240 heard you saying something about nay. Palm is known as. 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:16.600 What jelly gasoline. It's either petrol or diesel, and when 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:20.960 the mixture is put and applied, it sticks to the 0:23:21.000 --> 0:23:23.280 skin and the purpose of it, the jelly part of 0:23:23.320 --> 0:23:25.639 it is to stick to the skin and it burns 0:23:25.680 --> 0:23:26.879 all the way to the bone. 0:23:27.000 --> 0:23:30.720 So it's a devastating So who in the hay would 0:23:30.800 --> 0:23:37.919 have homemade napalm in a storage unit or a rented spot? 0:23:38.119 --> 0:23:43.480 So now we know a name, Eric Williams. Who's that Listen? 0:23:43.640 --> 0:23:46.439 Eric Williams seemed to be the all American boy. He 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:49.280 grew up in azl, Texas. He was a boy scout, 0:23:49.359 --> 0:23:52.560 played in a band, and graduated from Texas Christian University, 0:23:52.600 --> 0:23:55.920 where he was in the Reserves Officers Training Corps ROTC. 0:23:56.680 --> 0:23:59.480 He met and married Kim. She was raised in Dallas, 0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:03.159 did college coursework at the Southern Methodist University and at 0:24:03.200 --> 0:24:06.080 the University of Texas at Arlington. They were a couple 0:24:06.200 --> 0:24:07.600 for more than fifteen years. 0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:10.960 Sounds like the all American Golden Boy, but then things 0:24:11.000 --> 0:24:12.800 went sideways. Listen. 0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:15.560 Eric Williams studied and passed the bar. He works as 0:24:15.560 --> 0:24:18.160 a lawyer for the Kaufman City Court Department and Justice 0:24:18.160 --> 0:24:20.840 of the Piece for Kaufman County. That is until he 0:24:20.920 --> 0:24:24.119 was caught on surveillance cameras stealing three computer monitors with 0:24:24.160 --> 0:24:27.160 a value around six hundred dollars. His rest takes place 0:24:27.200 --> 0:24:29.720 in his office as a public servant. He is charged 0:24:29.760 --> 0:24:32.000 with a felony, handcuffed and marched down in front of 0:24:32.000 --> 0:24:35.560 his coworkers. Williams claims it's all a misunderstanding. He says 0:24:35.600 --> 0:24:39.040 he bypasses standard ordering protocol, but says the monitors were 0:24:39.040 --> 0:24:42.600 for office use, not personal. But police find one of 0:24:42.600 --> 0:24:44.120 the monitors stashed in his truck. 0:24:44.200 --> 0:24:48.800 Okay, wait, I'm not understanding what happened. Judge early whiley 0:24:49.080 --> 0:24:53.800 joining us out of Texas and author of an incredible book, 0:24:54.160 --> 0:24:58.679 Target on My Back, A Prosecutor's terrifying Tale of life 0:24:59.080 --> 0:25:03.040 on a hit list, tell me about these monitors there? 0:25:04.280 --> 0:25:09.280 Okay, there were computer monitors that were stored in an 0:25:09.359 --> 0:25:12.600 area at the courthouse that the Justice of the Peace 0:25:12.640 --> 0:25:16.600 worked at. And like the rest of us that work 0:25:16.600 --> 0:25:20.440 in any company or the government, when you want new equipment, 0:25:21.000 --> 0:25:23.159 you know, there's a whole process. I just don't go, oh, 0:25:23.200 --> 0:25:25.400 let me grab some of those and I'll take those home. 0:25:25.800 --> 0:25:28.200 And I don't do that in the you know, after 0:25:28.359 --> 0:25:31.879 hours without getting whatever you would call it a requisition 0:25:32.160 --> 0:25:36.400 order something in writing. I mean, this is government county 0:25:36.600 --> 0:25:42.800 property and our tax dollars. So the value is more 0:25:42.880 --> 0:25:45.199