Eric Lyle Williams and Kimberly Irene "Kim" Williams are a pair of "wound collector"-type serial killers, assassins, and stalkers who targeted prosecutors in the Kaufman County District Attorney's Office in Texas, Eric also a convicted burglar and robber.
Case History[]
Eric, born April 7, 1967, was a lawyer and justice of the peace in Kaufman County, Texas, until he was arrested for breaking into the county's IT storage room and stealing computer equipment worth $600. Eric and his wife, Kim, have long maintained Eric's innocence and alleged Eric was set up. Kaufman County District Attorney Michael McLelland, an Army Reserve veteran and clinical psychology who replaced the last head prosecutor after their DUI arrest, and Chief Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, with licensed backgrounds in both prosecution and law enforcement, prosecuted the case. Eric was found guilty and sentenced to prison, being released on probation after serving time sentenced shortly before the murders were committed. Eric and Kim plotted the murders of the two prosecutors out of revenge, which was carried out on 2013.
On January 31, the Williams' drove their car to the Kaufman County Courthouse, where Hasse had left his car and was walking the 100 block at East Grove Street. Eric approached Hasse and shot him point-blank, swiftly returning to the car where Kim was waiting before they both drove off. Numerous county, state, and federal legal departments and agencies jumped into action to investigate the crime. The prison gang The Aryan Brotherhood was originally suspected, as Hasse's colleagues in defense consultation knew he tried crimes involving drugs, gangs, and white supremacists, but the suspicions were soon quelled. As the leads were investigated, the nation's news covered the details. The small town of Kaufman was shaken by the murder, as it was a quiet community with its residents familiar each other, rocked by the trauma of a public official killed in broad daylight.
On March 30, the Williams couple drove to the McLelland household in Talty, repeating the same pattern of parking the car nearby for escape. Eric got Michael to come to the door, then shot him dead in his house before doing the same to Michael's wife Cynthia (nee Woodward). Eric closed the front door and left shell casings inside the entryway before fleeing to the car and driving off with Kim. Family friends Skeet Phillips and his stepson, Dallas policeman C.J. Tomlinson, went to the house after Tomlinson's mother failed to reach the McLellands while preparing a dinner for the Phillips family, as Cynthia was to bring vegetables for the meal. Tomlinson found the unlocked front door amiss, since he and Michael's colleagues took increased safety measures after Hasse's murder. Tomlinson found the shell casings before the dead couple. The county courthouse expanded its security, and numerous elected county officials were given police protection at their homes and workplaces.
Eric and Kim were arrested and charged for all three murders on April 18. Due to the media coverage, Eric's defense representatives were granted the motion to move the trial to Rockwall County on the grounds of fairness and due process. As Eric's legal license was suspended on October 10, 2012, his disbarrment on February 3, 2014, led to permanent licensure revocation. On December 4, Eric was found guilty of capital murder for shooting Cynthia, sentenced on December 17 to death by lethal injection. Kim was held in the custody of the Kaufman County Law Enforcement Center on a $10 million bond. She testified against Eric during his trial and was granted a guilty plea on December 30, being sentenced to 40 years in prison. The couple's divorce, filed by Kim, was finalized in January 2018. Eric is incarcerated at the Polunsky Unit in West Livingston, having been denied an appeal by the Supreme Court on May 14, 2018. The status of an appeal in August 2019 is unknown.
Journalist Kathryn Casey interviewed the Williams couple for two years, the first to do so in prison correspondence. Eric continued to profess his innocence, while Kim was very detailed in her accounts of the crimes and expressed compunction for her complicity when having said she could've called the authorities to stop Eric. Casey was also present at Eric's trial as part of her research. She published a book in 2018 on her gathered information and experienced, titled In Plain Sight: The Kaufman County Prosecutor Murders. In February 2019, 19-year-old murder defendant Kevin Alvarez carried a copy of the book while walking into the Bronx Supreme Court. Media speculations included a possible threat to the justice system, but the prosecution refused commentary on the book and any hidden meanings of its presence.
Modus Operandi[]
The Williams couple targeted the prosecutors of Eric's burglary and robbery trial. With Kim present in the car, Eric would follow the two prosecutors until they were in a position where Eric felt comfortable with attacking them by surprise. The murders were usually carried out in a familiar place to the intended victims, the courthouse in Hasse's case and then McLelland's own home. All three victims were killed by multiple gunshots. McLelland's wife Cynthia was likely incidentally killed due to the Williams' not wanting to leave witnesses behind. Kim would keep the car near the scene for Eric to rush to as a getaway vehicle, before they both fled. The victims were all coincidentally killed near the end of each month the separate murders had occurred.
Known Victims[]
- 2013, Kaufman County, Texas (all previously stalked):
- January 31, 2013, Kaufman County Courthouse, Kaufman: Mark Hasse
- March 30, 2013, Talty: The McLelland house murders
- Mike McLelland
- Cynthia McLelland (incidental)
On Criminal Minds[]
- Season Ten
- "The Boys of Sudworth Place" - Eric Williams was brought up to draw comparisons to the kidnapping of a lawyer by two unsubs outside a courthouse after vandalizing his car.
On Evolution[]
- Season Two
- While never directly mentioned or referenced on the show, the Williams couple appear to be inspirations for the season's main unsubs, The Gold Star Killers - Both are revenge killers of law and justice officials, primary consistent of a couple, killed their victims outdoors and in home invasions, and killed their victims by shooting (though the Gold Star Killers also used other means).