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everything was new to him. he came in and just took it over. >> was he tough? >> i wouldn't say he was tough on us at all. the greatest thing about him was that he let us do what we do best. >> and mike quickly formed a bond. they were very close. >> mike's wife krinlth fit right in around the office, too. she was almost like a denmother. she worked as a nurse but found time to bake cakes and cookies for the staff.

krinlth wasshe was an avid cook. >> she would bring fabrics in. it was stunning. she quilted it. >> that's how it was. a happy, humming office. in the quite small town. until january 31, 2013, just before 9:00 a.m. at that moment the calm, serene morning, and the lives of everyone in the d.a.'s office would be shattered. >> i heard what i thought to be gunshots. >> the police officer was a few blocks from the courthouse. he and his partner were investigating a burglary when something big caught his attention. >> and it was just a slow and methodical five shots. bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.

and it was a little pause, i guess you would say. then three more shots after that. >> shannon was inside the courthouse when she heard the sound of sirens. >> that's not unusual. there was a police station a block away, a hospital a down the street. >> that siren was jason's squad car. >> i hollered at my partner. hey, those are gunshots. we need to go. so we packed up real quick. hopped in the car. have the car camera was rolling as he and his partner drove toward the gunshots. >> about halfway over, the dispatcher came across the radio and said a man had been shot. he gave us the location. >> yes, we saw a gentleman on the street and madison that just got shot. >> that's just a block from the courthouse. shannon noticed her secretary was out the window at some commotion on the street. >> my secretary turned around. she was crying. initially i wanted to comfort her. i couldn't imagine what she was crying about.

when she turned from the window, all she said was it's mark. >> mark, her friend and colleague. my natural instinct was, did he get hit by a car? no, shannon, he was shot. >> who is it? >> oh, my god. >> mark, dedicated prosecutor. dearly loved by his colleagues, shot right outside the courthouse stunning onlookers and police. >> there's nothing you can prepare for. >> who would even attempt such a brazen attack? >> did that tell you that these two knew each other? >> that seemed very personal to me.

. .tpb1ñ . . . a beloved prosecutor had just been shot outside the courthouse in kaufman, texas, during the morning rush. officer++ he was laying on the street. you're seeing the dramatic images from the officer's onboard camera.

>> it was a woman and it looked like she was doing cpr. that woman had witnessed the shooting from her car. saw the shooter flee and then tried to help mark. now he was taking over and going on instinct and adrenaline. >> when you pull up, it is nothing you can prepare for. >> he knew right away it was bad. >> he looked at me and then he stopped breathing. that's when i started cpr. i got him to take seven breaths. i remember that. >> as his car cam kept rolling, stastny's body mark picked up the pleas for mark to hold on a little longer. >> the ambulance is coming. >> i tried my best to tell him, you know, you're doing good. you're doing good. the ambulance is coming. >> officer stastny had been at

the scene for five agonizing minutes when the ambulance rolled up. back at the courthouse, she was getting updates on mark. >> i don't know how many minutes passed when another officer came in saying how bad it was. >> about an hour earlier, shannon had walked from the parking lot to the courthouse. that's the same route her colleague was walking when he was shot. now too afraid to go anywhere, she stayed inside. praying for him. >> we are now waiting to hear if he is going to live. >> but bad news traveled fast. >> it didn't take very long for his part 94 walk into the courtroom shaking her head and crying. and i think at that point we knew he was gone. >> i can only imagine how horrible a moment like that is. >> it is horrible. it will be in my brain forever. i will never, ever forget that.

>> there's an day that goes by that i don't think to that day. exactly what i saw. >> mark was dead at 57. gunned down on his way to work. a block from the courthouse. >> people in kaufman are shocked. >> i never in a million years would have expected one of our prosecutors, much less somebody i knew personally, to be laying on the ground dead. >> with one of their own down, lieutenant stewart from the county sheriff's department quickly joined the swarnl of law enforcement jumping on the case. >> we didn't have time to grieve about it. we didn't have time to talk about our feelings. it was time to go to work. >> lieutenant stewart and others canvassed the area, but solid information was hard to come by. witnesses said the shooter hopped into the passenger side of the getaway car as i had sped away. so there had to be at least two

people involved. they said the car was silver, or gray or tan. a four door. no license plate. >> the rest of that day we were looking for, you know, the car. >> i don't think i've ever noticed how many silver or light colored four-door sedans. >> witnesses said he covered it up. >> one of the witnesses described him as wearing a hoodie that was black and cover their face. and then another person who saw him from a distance said, you know, all black, you know, dark clothing. >> but there was something more -- a witness in a garage right across the street heard the victim's last words. >> mark said, "no, no, i'm sorry." and that was after a little bit of kind of a shoving match. >> did that tell you that these

two knew each other? >> that seemed very personal to me. >> no weapon was found at the scene, and no shell casings either. did that tell you anything that there were no shell casings? >> yes, it was going to have to be a revolver. >> that's because revolvers keep bullet casings inside the gun after firing. i can only imagine how terrified mark must have in those final moments. >> mark was doing what he did every day. he was walking to his office with his little cooler for lunch and his briefcase. just going to work. >> now his fellow prosecutors feared he died for that work, and they could be next. no one felt safe. >> all of us were scared. we didn't know if there was, you know, a bunch of people waiting to try to shoot us. >> reporter: the courthouse was locked down in the morning, then closed for the day. prosecutors and office staff were given extra security. >> they were walking us to our

cars carrying huge rifles and guns. >> when did it start to sink in for you that this could have been me? you walk into work with mark. >> right. >> your office is right there. >> i think that was the immediate fear. it could have been any of us. >> we lost a really, really good man. >> district attorney mike mcclelland stood tall when he addressed the media about the killing of his good friend. >> i hope that the people who did this are watching because we're very confident that we're going to find you. we're going to pull out of whatever hole you're in, we're going to bring you back and let the people of kaufman county prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. >> how are you doing? >> mike's stepdaughter, christina, watched his take-no-previntake-no hief- take-no-prisoners press conference with immense pride. >> that's not an unusual thing for him. he really and truly felt deeply about something, then he was

going to make a stand for it. he was going to make a stand with his beliefs and really try do the right thing. >> mike was on a mission. >> oh, he was on amission. that's for sure. he was going to find who did this and bring them to justice. >> but bringing this killer or killers to justice would take a lot more than tough talk. this of just the start of a crime spree that would terrorize the very people who protect us. now no one was safe. coming up, that investigation would also present an overwhelming challenge thanks to a suspect list that included the hundreds of defendants mark had put away. >> many of those people were starting to parole out. >> anyone in particular stick out in your head? >> when "dateline" continues. would you be willing to give up sharing your moments? sacrifice streaming all night long? is it okay to drop a connection, when

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i mean, we really did love him. it was devastating when he was gone. >> monday morning of course days after the more of mark hasse, fellow prosecutor shannon ebert returned to bork with a heavy heart. >> of course it was a hard monday morning at our weekly meeting without mark. our whole office was devastated. i mean, his door was closed. >> security remained tight in and around the courthouse. the people inside took on a bunker mentality. >> folks were trying to deal with what happened.

nobody's ever done this before. this was new territory for everybody. >> his colleagues were terrified, and many wanted to carry guns for protection. district attorney mike mcclelland made it easier for everyone to get concealed handgun licenses. >> we could take the course for free and start getting our handgun license in case we needed it. >> did you get a gun? >> no, i didn't. >> did you think about it? >> oh, yeah, i definitely wanted to get one. i don't think i would have carried one every day. you but i definitely wanted to be able to use one. >> it's the kind of thing people do when they're scared and panicked panicked, the justice system under attack. the murder brought an all-star army of law enforcement to the case. the sheriff's training center was turned into a command post. it was soon buzzing with local police, texas rangers, and federal agents from the atf and fbi. >> that's what's amazing about the case. you had federal, state law enforcement all working together in a team.

>> advising this team, toby shook and bill worski, veteran high-profile attorneys from dallas who were quickly named special prosecutors. >> once you get over the initial shock and disbelief prosecutor and someone that you know has been murdered, kind of your professional training kicks in. that's where toby and i stepped up and volunteered to help in that role. >> the crime seemed to be what every prosecutor fears -- a revenge hit for putting away a bad guy. that struck a chord that reverberated from kaufman to dallas throughout texas and beyond. >> every judge, every defense attorney, every prosecutor has that in the back of your mind. that brought all those fears to the forefront for everyone in the criminal justice system. >> does it send a chill through everyone when one of your own is killed like that? >> it does. i mean, whoever did this obviously crossed a line that other people just rarely even approach. and it starts making you think of what you do for a living and your family members and your own personal safety.

>> the initial theories were as numerous as the hundreds of cases mark hasse had prosecuted. the first place to look was right in kaufman county where mark of a felony prosecutor for three years. >> the big questions that we had is who's he prosecuted recently. >> sheriff's investigator jolie stewart was involved from day one. >> was there something marine that he's prosecuted that's got somebody upset. we started delving into his case load. >> investigators looked into every local case mark had prosecuted. there were robberies, drug prosecutions, and even a theft that involved an elected official who stole office equipment. they didn't immediately find anything that led them to a suspect. u.s. marshals pulled in new england -- pulled in anyone with an outstanding arrest warrant. nothing there either. the task force widened the scope of the investigation beyond kaufman. >> we don't have a lot of violent crimes in kaufman.

i mean, especially murders. so we just kind of naturally assumed it was someone from dallas. >> dallas, the big city less than 30 miles but seemingly a lifestyle away. remember, back in the 1980s, mark and fellow prosecutor marcus bush locked up some pretty tough customers there. >> i immediately started thinking about the organized crime cases. the murder cases that we'd prosecuted, many of those people received life sentences and were starting to parole out. >> someone just held his grudge, got out of prison and just wanted him. it was of just a personal vendetta against mark. >> even though investigators were convinced he was murdered because of his job as a prosecutor, they didn't stop there. >> you still have to interview friends, family members, associates. >> mark was a teetotaler. he wasn't married and didn't have children. those extensive checks into his background came up empty. >> there just wasn't anything there. he loved his mother who lived in dallas. spent a lot of time taking care of her and taking:30 dinner.

>> all the -- taking her to dinner. >> all the personal checks into his life were not panning out. frustration was setting in because cases get harder to solve after the first 48 hours. two full days in, mark's murder had reached that crossroad. and investigators were searching desperately for a break. >> insiders tell us tonight there are simply no promising leads in this case right now. >> reporter: this murder is turning into a real whodunit. >> any assistance that anyone can give in finding the people that did this will be greatly appreciated. >> reporter: d.a. mcclelland had it particular tough. he had an office to run while mourning a good friend. how hard was it for mike to come back to the office after the shooting? >> with mark's door closed and his buddy gone, it was very difficult. he talked a lot about the case. >> reporter: shot at his front door -- >> the case was about to get a lot bigger with another brazen murder. only this one crossed another line.

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emotional afternoon in kaufman county where hundreds attend a memorial service for slain prosecutor mark hasse. >> he was constantly begging for more of my wife's cookies. >> d.a. mcclelland. >> she makes cookies about once a month, and he would run out in about 12 minutes. >> mark's long-time friend, marcus bush, all memorial eyed him. >> this world is a better place because of mark. and so are we. the world lost a good man. somebody who was resolute, always knew the difference between right and wrong, and would fieptght for that. >> now special prosecutors toby shook and bill worski with a task force were fighting for

mark, searching for his killer but not coming up with easy answers. because he was so close to his friend and employee, d.a. mike mcclelland had to bow out of the investigation. he and his co-workers were doing what they could, putting their files to investigators. >> everything anybody can think of, they're looking through it. >> checks into mark's personal background had gone nowhere. so the task force continued to look at his professional cases. from 30 years ago to the week before. but it was slow going. how do you sift out, well, it couldn't have been this person but maybe it was this person? >> first of all, you see if they're still locked up. you see their whereabouts, if there was anything unusual or specific about a case that would give someone cause to have a grudge. >> four weeks into the investigation, a tip came in to the county crime stoppers anonymous tip line that looked like a big break. >> the tipster said they amy been in a bar in a small town in kaufman and overheard two white

males talking about the hasse killing and taking responsibility for it. >> the tip lacked the kind of detail that investigators needed to follow up. and using the crime stoppers system, the tipster remained anonymous. if this was going to be the game game-changer, investigators would need lots more information or a little more luck. >> you're still hoping for a big break. a lucky track stop, or somebody who knows about this phone will call in. that will be the magic phone call. >> there was something this might lead them to the killer -- the way mark had been murdered. the killer had been lying in wait. mark was shot at pointblank range, execution style. all this led investigators to think this could be an organized crime hit. >> reporter: rumors are sweeping the town. talk of mexican drug cartels and prison gangs. >> we're open to every avenue right now. >> reporter: nbc's channel 2345 dallas covered the -- channel 5

in dallas covered the hasse case from the beginning. ken carltof was there flew it all. >> hasse had been involved in drug cases over the years. >> reporter: and investigators also suspected another group, less publicly known but very dangerous. the aryan brotherhood of texas, a prison gang of white supremacists. why was the aryan brotherhood a potential group that may have done this? >> there had been some threats that had come out about that time that the aryan brotherhood had said they might want to get even with people in law enforcement. >> get even because less than three months before hasse's murder federal officials announced that 34 alleged aryan brotherhood gang members had been indicted for racketeering. the feds thanked among others the kaufman coin d.unty d.a.'s office for its role in the investigation. >> a lot of people were trying to put two and two together with the aryan brotherhood. >> it's one thing if it's one

individual who went after mark. it's another if it's the aryan brotherhood. >> prosecutors across kaufman and the state were terrified if this is the aryan brotherhood, we're all targets. >> and then seven weeks after hasse's murder, another assault on law enforcement. it looked like it was open season on the criminal justice system. >> reporter: the colorado head of the department of corrections was shot here at his front door on tuesday night -- >> the man's name was tom clements, the highly regarded head of colorado's prison system. and like mark hasse, a public servant. >> reporter: with more than 20,000 inmates in colorado's prison system, tom clements may have had a lot of enemies. >> it was another bold attack. this time inside the front door instead of out the courthouse. evidence pointed to a former inmate named evan ebol. a member of a white supremacist gang in colorado similar to the aryan brotherhood. now he was on the run from

colorado authorities, armed and dangerous. two days after the murder, a sheriff's deputy in texas would find out just how dangerous. a violent attack caught on a dashboard camera. the deputy stopped this car because the license plate didn't match the vehicle. he had no idea the driver was evan ebol. as you're about to see, he had no hesitation about using his gun again. [ gunshots ] >> the unsuspecting deputy shot in the face would survive. ebol was quickly chased down by law enforcement. [ gunfire ] >> and died in an explosive shoot-out in wise county, texas. >> this is cell phone video of thursday's shoot-out in wise county -- >> what grabbed the attention of investigators in the mark hasse murder is this -- wise county just 100 miles from kaufman. could evan ebol have killed another public servant in texas seven weeks earlier? >> reporter: the fbi is now investigating this case.

they want to see if ebel is connected to mark hasse's murder. >> two public officials gun down in two states. someone seemed to be targeting law enforcement at pointblank range. coming up, as the investigation grows more urgent, sudden concerns about d.a. mike mcclelland and his wife cynthia. >> i tried mom, and she didn't answer. i tried mike, and he didn't answer. >> and then concern becomes alarm. >> at that point, something's really wrong now. >> when "dateline" continues. you know, i think about money kind of a lot. money is freedom. money's always on my mind. car insurance. credit cards. preschool. debt. cell phone bills. it's complicated. it's not easy. i am not a good budgeter. unfortunately, i'm a spender. i would love to learn more about finances. savings. investments. retirement. man: the more educated i am, the better decisions i can make in the future.

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the shooting of colorado's prison chief at his home allegedly by a white supremacist had given texas investigators a fresh angle in the murder of prosecutor mark hasse. >> it's another strange attack on law enforcement in a small town. >> nbc 5's ken caltof says the murder in texas was especially intriguing to investigators. >> it made people wonder if perhaps there could be some connection with the hasse murder. >> they did suspects test evan ebel's weapon. his bullets were identical to those that killed the prison chief in colorado. but then the texas task force found out ebel's gun was not the weapon that killed mark hasse.

and what's more -- >> ebel was deemed not to have been in kaufman at the time that hasse was killed. >> so eight weeks in, the hasse case was going nowhere. >> fewer and fewer lead were coming in to the investigation. >> the command post of shut down, leaving just a small group to work full time on the case. >> slowly we kind of trickled back to our daily duties. >> the passage of time was allowing shannon ebert to finally get her equilibrium back. >> i just wasn't checking out my window as constantly or worried about when i pull out of my garage if someone would be waiting there. i think you start letting your guard down again, and life kind of took over. >> same thing for hard-nosed d.a. mike mcclelland. according to his stepdaughter, christina -- did things naturally start getting back to normal? >> yeah. i think more a sense of normal. it was still kind of at the forefront of we haven't found

anything yet, we haven't solved this yet. but life moves on. >> for the mcclellands, moving on men spending-- meant time spending time with family, something mike enjoyed since marrying cynthia when christina was just 10 years old. >> he would give big bear hugs even when i was older, he will wrap me and pick me up. oh, my god, i'm 22. >> did you feel lucky that you got mike as a step dad? >> i do. our personalities are similar. our affiliatefilters are off sometimes. >> relying on the support of his wife cynthia was who always doing what she loved -- quilting, entertaining, and cooking. >> you know, she's the old school cook who didn't use packages. she bakes everything from scratch. >> was he happy that she was this baker/cook -- >> clearly by his physique, he enjoyed the food very much. >> what made them a good match? >> it's funny. she supported him greatly in what he was doing, but he's the

-- the conservative, and she's very liberal. so i think it was just a lot of balance. i think they balanced each other nicely. >> cynthia also wanted her daughter to find love and wasn't shy about playing matchmaker with a guy she thought was a good fit. >> she looked at him and said, do you believe in arranged marriages? which i had to later apologize for because, you know, that's a weird thing to say -- >> embarrassing -- >> that's embarrassing. very weird. it's very weird. >> at the end of march, easter weekend, the mcclellands were looking for to a big dinner cynthia of making for friends. the perfect time to relax and not dwell on the tragedy of mark hasse's murder. at least for a little while. was there any fear that we need to be on high alert? >> at that point, i don't think so. >> christina spoke to her mom and step dad on that friday night. >> you know, mom was making the easter baskets, and mike was griping at her about what she was doing. trying to put the little peeps on sticks.

and she wasn't quite getting it and was making a huge mess. just the normalcy of mike just, you know, cynthia, you need to sit down and take a break. and you know, you're getting tired, and you just -- give it a minute. and mom, oh, i'm fine. >> the next morning, saturday, the sun rose over the mcclelland house. it was cynthia's day to prep. >> she had sent me a text about the menu that we were going to have for easter. >> leah phillips and her husband, close friends of the mcclellands, were excited about joining them for dinner. >> she was making easter baskets and would make clues and hide the baskets. >> that's elaborate. >> it was really elaborate. >> leah, who was supposed to drop off vegetables for cynthia, texted her. >> she never answered me back. >> did you think that was odd? >> the only thing i could think is maybe she did go into work where she couldn't either answer the phone or text me back. >> leah called mike's phone and the house phone. no response.

she wasn't the only one. christina was also trying to call her mom and step dad. >> i tried mom, and she didn't answer. i tried mike, and he didn't answer. >> by now, it was late afternoon. leah took things into her own hands. >> i said, okay, i'll go over there. >> she did go over, and nothing would ever be the same again. mcclelland house, a heart stopping discovery. >> i screamed, and then i just -- my knees buckled, and hit the ground and started crying. to be effective for many people struggling with bipolar depression. latuda is not for everyone. call your doctor about unusual mood changes behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these

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before easter, leah phillips hadn't been able to reach her good friends cynthia and mike mcclelland. leah had some groceries to drop off for cynthia and decided to drive over. she thought something of odd when she pulled into the driveway. >> the newspaper was still in the yard, and cynthia's car was there. >> very suddenbtle clues? >> just subtle, but i'm thinking maybe they went to the movie with someone. >> leah called her son, c.j. tomlinson, and told him what she'd seen. >> i told her, you stay where you're at. don't go inside that house. >> it was c.j.'s cop sense kicking in. he's a dallas police officer. >> the feeling was something's not right. it's just not right. >> a few minutes later, c.j. drove up along with his dad. >> we went to the door, and c.j. knocked on the door and yelled for mike three or four times. and there was no answer. >> they were messing with the

key, and they were all standing behind me. i just reached down to see if the door was open. and yeah, it was unlocked. and i'll -- i'll never forget how that door opened up. >> the door just -- it eeked open like in slow motion. >> i took a couple steps in, and that's when mom hit the ground and started crying. >> and i screamed, "c.j., stop! there's shell casings!" my knees buckled, and i hit the ground and started crying because there's not supposed to be shell casings inside somebody's doorway. >> i looked down, and sure enough, there -- there are two shell casings right inside that front door. at that point, something's really wrong now. something bad happen. so i take a couple more steps inside, and i see cynthia laying there. >> cynthia mcclelland was dead.

her body was lying in a pool of blood on the living room floor. c.j. turned his mom away from the scene and took her back to the carment. meanwhile, c.j.'s father had gone further into the house and found the bullet-riddled body of mike mcclelland. >> when they come out -- >> there's no blood left in their face. they're white. >> district attorney mike mcclelland and his wife cynthia had been shot to death. >> you never expect to have to see somebody like that that you knew, that you loved, that was so close. and i think that was the most -- it still is obviously -- it's so difficult. >> because she hadn't been able to reach her parents, christina decided to drive to the house, as well. her mom's friend leah met her with the news she was dreading. >> i just had the feeling that they were dead. and i said, "the both of them?"

and she said, "yes." it occurred to me, oh, my god, this is going to hit the news. and my grandmother watch the news every day. and somebody needs to stop her before she turns on the tv. >> mike is high profile. >> he is -- he was. and i didn't want somebody else to tell her that this had happened. >> looking at the scene, c.j. tomlinson's police training told him the killer or killers were long gone. he knew what he had to do. >> there was no reason to go back in that house. we closed the door, we didn't call 911. there was no need for paramedics to go in there. >> they called the kaufman county sheriff. >> the things that were in that house were very important, and they needed to be preserved until the right people showed up. and they did. they -- they showed up. >> i was at my house, and we just finished an easter egg hunt with about 30 kids in the back yard. >> about 8:00 p.m., prosecutor

toby shook got a call from his partner, bill worsky. >> he said, "the mcclellands were found murdered. sheriffs want us out there." it scared me to death. when i left the house, bill picked me up. my wife had two guns out. i said, "unless you know it's me coming through the door, be ready to use them." >> the prosecutors raced to the scene. >> it was surreal. i mean, the front yard's lit up, and it's got the yellow crime scene tape. and there's lots of sheriff's officers and texas rangers and fbi there. >> shook saw sheriff david burns standing on the lawn. >> sheriff burns, pretty legendary guy. former texas ranger, captain. he was visibly shaken up. and if sheriff burns gets shaken up, that scared the hell out of me. and all law enforcement out there -- its quiet. it was eerily quiet amongst them because they were dealing with something i don't think any of them have seen before. >> aside from the obvious -- two people are dead -- what was shaking them up so badly?

>> i think the big question is who's next. because everybody's assumption that was standing outside that yellow crime scene tape was it could have been one of us. >> cynthia's murder escalated the danger. not just for law enforcement but now for their families. >> this man had crossed the line and gone into murdering family members. i know my thoughts and prayers were with my wife and children back in dallas. >> it sure seemed like the hasse and mcclelland murder were connected, and everyone was terrified the killings might not be over. did you start to think that there was a list? >> oh, sure. there was going to be another victim if this person wasn't found. coming up, just who could pick off law enforcement like this? >> there's no way cynthia opened that door to just anyone. my thoughts were it's muncy aepsit's someone we know or someone dressed like a police officer.

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limited edition bed. hurry, ends sunday! know better sleep with sleep number. she was surprised by a phone call. the phone kept ringing. it was another prosecutor from her office. >> i knew at this point something's going on. i answered, and she proceeded to tell me that the mcclellands were found in their house shot. >> must have the biggest bombshell of your life. >> biggest. it's so hard to imagine anyone you know being kill. i mean, i was frantic. it was terrifying. >> her colleague told her to watch her back.

>> we don't know who's next. we don't know if there's more attacks tonight. just get home and be safe, shannon. you know, watch out. >> are you all feeling now that we're all targets now? >> we all felt that. >> including the people she loved most in the world. >> i think that's what was so scary, was that it's not just me anymore. i have young kids, my husband. my family. and i mean, i can't keep putting them at risk. and with mike and cynthia, we were all in danger. >> as local deputies began round-the-clock watch over shannon's house, something kept nagging at her about the mcclelland murders. >> there's no way cynthia opened that door to just anyone. i mean, my thoughts were it's someone we know or someone dressed like a police officer. you know, i was just very concerned of even police officers, you know -- >> that someone could be dressed in a fake police uniform? >> right. right. >> investigators also wondered how the killer could have gotten inside the mcclellands' front door. mike, like his entire staff, was

still vigilant ever since his chief prosecutor was gunned down. the wary d.a. kept his own guns on a table near the front door, but never got the chance to use them. is it just like all bets are off when you hear now they're going after family members? >> even though you don't condone it, you almost understand someone going after a prosecutor for what they do for a living. to go after a prosecutor's family of a line we didn't think we'll ever see crossed. >> both hasse and mcclellkillings two months apart -- mcclelland killings two months apart were bold. one in a public square in broad daylight. this one in a private home before dawn. investigators hoped this latest crime scene would provide more leads than the hasse killing did. they already knew they had shell casings. would there be other clues inside the house to help catch a killer? >> a straight-up whodunit. we didn't know. >> texas ranger eric hasper was part of the team that entered the home. >> the front d

the door was unlocked. there were shell casings approximately four foot in. shell casings are two .23 caliber. >> that told them the killer used an ar-15 or m-4 semiautomatic weapon like this one. >> this started exactly when the door opened. mismc mismc-- mrs. mcclelland mr. mcclelland were retreating, trying to get away from the gunfire. >> cynthia was body of in the middle of the living room. she wasn't expecting anyone. >> she was not dressed for company. she was trying to get dressed. mr. mcclelland's the same way. he's in jogging pants with no shirt on. >> there were shell indicatesings next to mike's body, indicating -- casings next to mike's body, basketballing the killer of at close range. >> the killer was over him shooting at him. >> to investigators like lieutenant jolie stewart of the sheriff's depa like carefully planned operation. like the hasse murder. did the scene speak to you at all? >> i felt like whoever went in

there had a mission, and they it quickly and did it efficiently. and they were out. >> later, records from the home security company would confirm stewart's observation. the killer entered the house at 6:40 a.m. and was gone just two minutes later. 20 shots fired in 120 seconds. >> that was a pretty brutal way to go. >> lieutenant stewart couldn't help but be affected by the sight of cynthia shot in the head at close range. >> just looking at her there on the scene, she was targeted, you know. that i mean, she didn't have a dog in this fight. >> iked to neighbors. surely someone had heard the shots. assault rifles aren't quiet. >> the weapon used in this murder, you should have been able to hear it outside no problem. >> no one heard or saw anything. by the end of easter weekend,

special prosecutor bill worski said they in nothing. >> we're trying to figure out wh hope there's going to be a magic clue in that crime scene or in that house that will answer this riddle for us. >> they were looking for that clue, and all of a sudden it drove by. coming up, a mysterious tip arrives. but after so many false leads, is this one legit? >> would anyone other than the killer have known that? >> no. what's in myggle scent boosters? lavender joy

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tips started flooding into the re-opened kaufman county sheriff's command post. some tips still cited the aryan brotherhood of texas.

>> special prosecutor bill worski -- >> with the added media attention after the mclellands were murdered, we got hundreds of tips a day. >> it was like drinkin' out of a fire hose durin' this whole thing. >> reporter: lt. jolie stewart of the sheriff's department was right in the middle of it. hundreds of investigators from multiple agencies had swooped in. >> this was all hands on deck. >> uh-huh. >> this became the number one case in the bureau at that time. >> reporter: fbi special agents michael hillman and laurie gibbs were coordinating teams from the task force, each team looking into different aspects of the case. >> you have to look at everything. >> so you decided to just divvy it up everyone could focus on their individual tasks? >> exactly. >> right, and some of these teams had 25, 30 people on them. and there was a team that looked at all of the victims and what they may have in common. >> reporter: they believed the killing of d.a. mike mclelland was linked with the shooting of prosecutor mark hasse back in january. but it was all one big collective hunch, until a tip came through that would confirm the connection. >> through the crime stoppers web-based tip line, we get a tip that claims credit for the

mark hasse murders. >> reporter: the electronic message came in easter sunday night. it began, "do we have your full attention now?" "we" suggests more than one person. did you think maybe it's a group? >> in my thought i thought is it -- how big is this group? what is this group? is this some sort of anti-government militia group? is this white supremist? i -- i had no idea what we were dealing with. >> reporter: law enforcement wrote back, "you have our attention." >> and we wanted him to tell us what he wanted. >> reporter: while they waited anxiously for an answer, computer experts tried to trace the tip back to the source. no luck. that's because the system is set up to protect the anonymity of all tipsters. when a message comes in, the sender is identified only by a unique number. after 12 hours of nail-biting, there was finally a response that told investigators this person was the real deal. mark hasse was killed with

.38-caliber ammunition fired from a .357 five-shot revolver. would anyone other than the killer have known that? >> no. this person knew way more than anybody would have. >> the killer also wrote "your act of good faith will result in no other attacks this week." in return for that pledge, the killer made a demand. >> they wanted one of the judges in kaufman county to step down by the end of the week. or the killings would resume. so, the fact that this tip came in and named these specific judges in kaufman told us it was somebody local. >> reporter: that all but ruled out the aryan brotherhood, drug cartels and those old cases from dallas. the killer's message ended this way, "we are not unreasonable, but we will not be stopped." it's almost sounding like a game now. >> i think in his mind it was a big chess game. i think it was just for fun, to see if he could really exert complete and total control over the criminal justice system in kaufman county. >> reporter: by monday morning the story was topping the national news. perhaps that's exactly what the

killer wanted. >> nbc's gabe gutierrez is in kaufman, texas, for us this morning. gabe, good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. there will be stepped up security here at the county courthouse today. the district attorney's office will be closed to the public. this entire community is on high alert. >> this morning when shannon hebert came to her office, she had an armed escort. there's no leader at your office anymore. >> there's nothing. no one. >> when you come into work, how do you go forward? >> we had to move forward. we couldn't let them win. we couldn't. and we had to fight, and -- for the honor of mike and mark. >> reporter: everyone in the office was on edge. >> my husband. i mean, he stayed up all night with a gun in his hand. >> i know that i start carrying a gun. sleep with a gun under my pillow. >> reporter: even shannon, who wouldn't carry a gun before, now slept with protection nearby. >> we had big ol' shotgun sitting on our dresser, just way -- ready to go, in case. >> reporter: the killer's threat

to unleash more violence in kaufman county kept the task force working around the clock. a special team scoured the surveillance video collected near the mcclelland crime scene, hoping for a new lead. >> so many people now have surveillance cameras on their house. so, we're trained to go in and collect that sort of evidence. >> reporter: and, finally, the video team's painstaking search seemed to pay off. they found images of a car that didn't belong, a white ford crown victoria, cruising near mcclelland home about the time of the murders. no one in the neighborhood owned a car like that. but the crown vic model is popular with law enforcement. so the fbi jumped on that angle. was there ever a thought that maybe this is one of our own? maybe this is a police officer doing this? >> that was not out of the realm of possibility. >> reporter: coming up -- investigators recheck the cases handled by mark hasse, this time to see which ones

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>> reporter: six days after the murders of mike and cynthia mclelland, hundreds of mourners packed this church for their funeral. the flag-draped casket contained mike's body and cynthia's ashes, together for eternity. their extended family, united in grief, bid them an emotional farewell. >> i carry a lot of things from them with me. they taught me very well. they helped a lot of people before they left this world. they really did. they made a large impact on a lot of people. >> reporter: a beefed-up multi-agency task force vowed to

catch whoever killed the mcclellands and mark hasse. investigators had seen that ford crown victoria on video roaming near the mcclelland home and thought it might be a police car. the terrible possibility it might be one of their own had to be ruled in or out immediately. >> we checked with every law enforcement agency in the area and identified where every police car was in the area. and none of them were even close to where this image was captured. >> reporter: next, they looked for anyone who for any reason had issues or disputes involving both prosecutors. >> there didn't seem to be anybody in that group of people that were upset enough that they would wanna commit homicide. >> reporter: but there was one defendant involved in a felony they couldn't ignore. >> there was only one common denominator for those two prosecutors. >> which was? >> that was eric williams. >> reporter: eric williams? who was eric williams? he was a former deputy sheriff

and longtime attorney with an office right across the street from the courthouse. in 2010, he was elected by the people of kaufman to be justice of the peace. shannon hebert worked with him and said he had a sharp legal mind. in fact, he was a member of mensa, the organization for people with super high-i.q.s. >> he was a great judge. i liked having him in there. he would understand the law. i thought he was very fair. >> i mean, everyone respected him. >> williams, married for 15 years with no kids of his own, was a strong advocate for children and specialized in child abuse cases. lt. jolie stewart often worked with him on those cases. >> how do you think he was perceived amongst his fellow colleagues, other attorneys? >> i think that he had a lot of respect with his peers. he was kind of the go-to guy for family law. >> i know he had a love for children. >> reporter:

tera williams-bellemare knows that better than anyone. she's eric's sister. >> he was a good uncle to my kids. never missed their birthdays. i never had to remind him. >> reporter: she says, growing up, her big brother was her inspiration. he made eagle scout, went to college, law school and became a successful attorney. he also served as a captain in the texas state guard. >> he was driven, he was ambitious. he wanted to make us feel proud of him. >> reporter: so tera and the legal community were stunned in 2012 when her brother, the newly-elected justice of the peace, got into trouble with the law. williams was accused of stealing three computer monitors for his personal use from the county i.t. department. here's surveillance video showing him carrying boxes of computer equipment. it just seems odd that someone like that would bother to steal a few computer monitors.

>> exactly. it was just kinda shocking that someone would go and do that. >> reporter: williams found himself on the wrong side of this police interrogation. >> okay, judge, before we get started, i'm gonna read the miranda warning. you're an attorney, you're a judge, so you know as well as i do. >> i know you gotta read. i understand. >> reporter: williams tried to explain he took the monitors because he claimed he needed new equipment for his office but never got it. >> that's been an ongoing kind of thing, where i'd tell the i.t. people that i need to keep improving things. >> i understand. but you hadn't put any kind of written request in, nothin' like that's been documented at all? >> no. >> reporter: mark hasse and mike mcclelland knew eric williams as a colleague in kaufman's small legal community. as boss of the d.a.'s office, mike rarely tried cases but because williams was an elected public official he made an exception and teamed up with mark to prosecute the case. christina says her step-dad believed williams had violated

the public trust. >> i think it did offense mike -- offend mike on a basic level. these people elected you. you're supposed to be doing good things for the community, not stealing from it. >> reporter: a jury found williams guilty of theft. he got probation, but lost his job and license to practice law. and now, a year later, both men who prosecuted him were dead, and williams was under suspicion. >> did you bear either of those men any kind of grudge? >> no. absolutely not. >> reporter: the media got wind of the interest in williams. and just days after the mcclelland murders, he was interviewed by nbc affiliate kprc. he strangely swept in on his segway. >> reporter: has anyone connected with this investigation suggested to you that you're a person of interest in the investigation? >> no. >> reporter: after the denial, his sympathies. >> my heartfelt condolences go out to both the mcclelland family and the hasse family because they were in public office doing the right thing, and for some

reason that we're not aware of they've paid the ultimate price for that. >> reporter: williams was known to be a bit of an odd duck, but a murder suspect? it seems so farfetched that a justice of the peace, a man who had served his county not only as an attorney, a judge, but also as a -- as a deputy sheriff, would then suddenly turn into this serial killer. >> uh-huh. yeah, no -- no one wants to think a lawyer would do that, a person who was a public servant would do that. >> reporter: in fact, he was among the many people investigators had already looked at after the hasse murder. >> what was his alibi at the time? >> he said he had been at home either caring for his wife or his in-laws down the street. >> he also had his arm in a sling when law enforcement came to talk to him and his excuse was he had frozen shoulder, and wasn't able to use his right arm. >> reporter: he even took a gunshot residue test at his house and passed. and after the mcclelland murders, investigators checked whether he owned a ford crown victoria, the car captured on video lurking near the mcclelland murder

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mclelland. enforcement and certainly wish them the best in bringing justice for this just incredibly egregious act. >> reporter: eric williams was making the tv interview rounds. but he hadn't sat down for a formal interview with investigators. because of his connection to

both mark hasse and mike mclelland, investigators had to take a serious look at him. >> on the surface it may seem implausible because he's a lawyer and a judge and successful. the more we learned about him, the more viable in our minds he became as a suspect. >> reporter: just the year before, williams had been prosecuted for theft by hasse and mclelland. >> you must be chomping at the bit to talk to eric williams. >> obviously, we wanted to talk to him. the problem with that was he was still represented by lawyers. >> reporter: lawyers who kept williams from talking. but then, two weeks after the mclellands were killed in their home, the special prosecutors got a big opening they hadn't seen coming. >> we get an e-mail back from the lawyers basically saying, "we do -- no longer represent eric williams." >> reporter: they figured this was their one window to talk to him, and they knew they had get it right the first time, before he lawyered up again. so fbi profilers came up with a strategy, send over a top-level texas ranger so williams would

be more likely to let him in. was >> he would view a major with the texas rangers as someone equal on his intellect that perhaps he would talk to. if you sent someone of lower rank, then he would just dismiss them. >> reporter: the ranger and a local cop familiar to williams went to his house carrying a hidden tape recorder. >> did it work? >> it worked great. >> reporter: williams let them in, without a search warrant. the subject quickly got around to guns. williams said he'd been forced to sell his weapons to raise money since he could no longer practice law. >> i been in your house. i know you got lots of guns. >> yeah. how do you think i've been living? >> selling guns? >> yeah, for two years. >> you don't have anymore? you got rid of all of them? >> i have one gun that i'm trying to sell, and it's just hard as [ bleep ] to sell. >> he said, "i don't have any guns, except one gun." and so, he let them look around. and -- and they began finding gun parts. >> reporter: gun parts. some very specific gun parts that appeared to match the type

of automatic weapon used in the mclelland killings. and at the same time, the fbi discovered williams had done computer searches on hasse and mclelland before the murders. >> specifically told them that he had not ever searched the two victims before the murders. >> now you've got him lying? >> yeah. >> reporter: that lie and those gun parts were enough to get a warrant for a more thorough search of his house. investigators, including a crack fbi evidence team, were back the next day. they went room to room, then to the garage. and, bingo! >> in a filing cabinet in the garage there was a manual for a ford crown vic. and there was also a title to a crown vic. >> reporter: the task force, of course, had been looking for a crown victoria. this one was registered under a false name. that must have a real big moment, finding that

registration. >> that was huge. >> reporter: outside, special prosecutor wirsk techs came out and said, "mr. wirskye, i don't mean to alarm you, but eric williams has been searching you and mr. shook on his computer." >> what's the first thing you did when you heard that he had been searching you? >> get on the phone with my wife and tell her to make sure she knew where the kids were and to get inside and keep the doors locked and don't answer the door for anyone up to and including a police officer. >> what did she say? >> i could hear the fear in her voice, and i knew right then we had to put him in jail for something. it became very personal and a matter of life and death for us. >> reporter: back inside, searchers found something interesting, a scrap of paper with two handwritten numbers. >> so they collected it because it was near the computer and they thought it might be important. >> reporter: and it was. a sheriff's deputy recognized the user id for the county crime-stoppers' anonymous tipline. the first number corresponded to a tip from early in the hasse case. the tipster claimed to have overheard two men in a bar

saying they'd killed mark hasse. that meant the tip came from williams' computer. a follow-up computer search also revealed williams had searched several how-to websites. >> one of the websites was how to throw the police off an investigation by sending in fake tips. >> reporter: the second number on that scrap paper was even more important because it turned out to be the real thing. it matched back to that computer message that gave details about the hasse murder weapon and also threatened more killings. >> so we knew right then that that tip that had come into the command post was sent by eric williams. and we knew right then we were gonna be able to put eric williams in jail. >> reporter: he was arrested, not for murder, but for making a terrorist threat about killing a judge. >> we just didn't know if we at that moment had enough evidence to convict him. >> reporter: they just had to figure out where the evidence might be. >> did you think that eric williams had a hiding place? >> we began to suspect pretty

early on if it's eric williams and we know what cars were used there may be a storage unit or some secret storage place that he may have access to that we haven't found. >> reporter: at least now, 10 weeks after hasse's murder, the investigation was finally on a roll. >> we go home that night to get a good night's sleep and i actually wanted for the first time in weeks to see my son play a little league game. >> reporter: but the next morning, his parenting plans were dashed by work again. his phone rang. it was a friend of eric williams, who'd heard about his arrest. >> and said, "mr. wirskye, i have something to tell you about eric williams. i think i may have rented him a storage unit." >> we'd been looking for a storage unit and i could tell when i listened to his voice, this is it, thing. >> little league was out for the day? >> unfortunately it was. little league was out. my son went three for three. >> but you were headed to a storage unit. >> this is too important. so, i got on the phone with the texas rangers. and i said, this is it. i think we've found it."

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>> reporter: the hot spot in the investigation was now a run-of-the-mill storage unit -- number 18 to be precise -- in seagoville, texas. just 14 miles from the mclelland house. eric kasper of the texas rangers was part of the task force caravan racing to unit 18. >> everybody is running and gunning. you know, everybody wants to be there. >> so we're all just filled with expectations. we're making bets, "okay, the white crown vic's gonna be there." "no, it's not." "we're gonna find the murder weapon." >> reporter: ranger kasper did the honors, lifting the heavy, steel door. >> this is one of those moments that i'll never forget because

it was just wow. >> reporter: what did you see? >> we saw the white crown vic, the car that we'd been looking for for all those days and all those man hours, and there it was. and we knew finally we had eric williams. >> reporter: but there was so much more. police uniforms and bullet-proof vests, more than a half-dozen police badges, thousands of rounds of ammo and enough guns to supply a small army. >> he's got six or seven weapons of the right caliber that could have been the mclelland murder weapon. we have five or six weapons of the right caliber that could've been the hasse murder weapon. >> reporter: did you think that one of those guns had to be the murder weapon? >> i felt like our chances were pretty good. because there were just so many in there. >> reporter: the guns and ammo were sent off to the lab for testing. inside this treasure trove of bad intentions, there were also pickle jars filled with liquid, later identified as homemade napalm. >> it was just unbelievable. it was like a tactical

operator's closet. >> reporter: but they'd soon be dealt a serious blow. the lab results came back on all those weapons. nothing matched. the murder weapons were still missing. that's got to be extremely frustrating when you feel like, well, one of these guns i'm sure has got to be the murder weapon. >> oh yeah, deflating. we were positive one of those was going to be the murder weapon. >> reporter: even without the guns, the prosecutors believed there was enough evidence to finally go forward. on april 18th, 2013, 10 weeks after mark hasse was gunned down and three weeks since the mclellands were killed eric williams was charged with three counts of capital murder. prosecutors said the motive was revenge. >> one thing i found out about eric williams, the first big thing that went wrong in his life, this is how he was going to react with rage and homicidal violence. >> reporter: it all seemed so

senseless to the mclellands' daughter, christina. this all started over three computer monitors. and now we're talking about three murders. >> yeah. i mean, you know, normal people don't do that. >> god bless the united states and the great state of texas. >> reporter: eric williams went on trial for murder in december. >> be seated please, ladies and gentlemen. eric williams. >> reporter: williams wasn't on trial for the murder of mark hasse or mike mclelland. in a surprise tactic, this trial was only for the murder of cynthia mclelland. >> not guilty, your honor. >> reporter: why not just try the murders at the same time? >> what if something went wrong in the first trial? we wanted to have the ability to be able to try him twice and make sure he got justice. >> reporter: christina sat in court and had to relive the deaths of her parents. what gave you strength to go to court every day? >> i showed up every day for the three people who gave their lives for something good. they stood up. and they did what they were supposed to. and they died for it. >> this is my chance to tell you story of the murders of mike and

cynthia mclelland. >> reporter: prosecutor bill wirskeye thought if he could prove eric williams had killed cynthia, that would obviously show he killed mike. >> you'll hear the story of a massive law enforcement investigation -- state, local, federal agencies working together to build an air-tight case. >> reporter: one of the first witnesses called -- c.j. tomlinson, dallas police officer and friend of the mclellands. cj told the jury how he and his parents found the mclellands. >> i took a couple more steps inside the residence, i was hollerin' for mike. "mike, mike!" >> reporter: for three days, prosecutors brought a blizzard of witnesses. they told the jury williams had been linked to that tip that came in after the mclelland murders. >> he sent an email into law enforcement claiming credit for the murders, thinking law enforcement would never figure it out. but he was wrong. >> reporter: investigators

didn't have the murder weapon, but they had something else, a bullet they found inside a bag taken from williams' storage unit. >> you know this is what you and your team recovered. >> yes. >> reporter: a ballistics examiner compared that single unfired bullet to the shell casings found at the murder scene and came up with a match. >> that live round was ejected from the same weapon that killed the mclellands. so, that was a big moment for us. >> reporter: and prosecutors thought this security video outside the storage unit nailed the case down. they said it traced the movements of eric williams and the crown vic on the morning of the murders. >> approximately 6:00 a.m. real time. >> reporter: that's when williams -- in his black suv -- pulled up to the entrance of the storage unit, according to the prosecution. at 6:12 a.m. the white crown victoria pulled out. by 6:42 investigators knew the mclellands were dead or dying on the floor, based on the motion detectors in the home

security system. at 7:00, here's that white crown vic coming back through the entrance. and 17 minutes later, that black suv pulled out. >> he committed this crime. his acts alone, and his acts alone, condemn him to be found guilty of capital murder. >> reporter: the prosecutors said they had a lot of circumstantial evidence, including the crown vic and that matching bullet. but the defense was about to tell the jury what the prosecution didn't have. >> ladies and gentlemen of the jury, eric williams did not commit these murders. >> reporter: defense lawyer, matthew seymour, laid into one of the state's star witnesses, that ballistics expert. he reminded the jury investigators never found the murder weapon. >> you didn't actually have access to that firearm? >> correct. >> reporter: he tried to poke holes in the prosecution's matching bullet theory. >> someone of different experience could come along and say they're not a match. is that true?

>> yes, potentially that is true. if i could break the chain from the live round recovered from the storage unit and the mclelland shooting scene, i might stand a chance. >> reporter: the defense didn't see the need to call any witnesses. >> our position was the state had not fulfilled their obligation to prove the elements of the indictment. it was just that simple. there is no known murder weapon in this case. there's no one who can place eric williams in that scene at the mclelland home. no one. >> reporter: finally, this case that had rocked the justice system was about to be decided by the jurors. they needed only 90 minutes to reach a verdict. >> we, the jury, unanimously find the defendant eric lyle williams, guilty of capital murder as charged in the indictment. >> reporter: guilty of capital murder in the death of cynthia mclelland. you heard the word, guilty.

>> it's a gift. it was a gift for us. it's probably a gift for everybody else because i don't believe that this would've stopped at the end of these killings. >> reporter: there's a sad postscript to this case that raises a painful question. could williams have been stopped after the hasse murder and before the mclelland ss? did they have to die? in a haunting irony, mike mclelland always thought williams was likely the killer. >> he certainly suspected it was eric williams after mark hasse was shot. and he made no secret of what his opinion was. and i had numerous conversations where he said, "bill, it's eric williams. >> reporter: williams was one of a handful of possible suspects, early on in the hasse case, but there was no evidence on him. and even with his conviction for theft, he'd had a good reputation. >> we had several discussions about it. of course eric's name came up in the discussions. but if you can't prove it, then it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter what you think, if you can't prove it. >> reporter: and now this former justice of the peace was a convicted murderer. how? why?

was he living a double life? >> i think he was. most people were fooled by his exterior. he looked so normal. he looked so average. he had the trappings of success, being a lawyer and a judge. but behind that mask was a homicidal psychopath. >> reporter: just angry at the world? >> yeah, i think he had a very dark, cold heart. >> reporter: but this case was far from over. prosecutors had won, but they were saving their best witness for last. investigators always suspected eric williams did not act alone. and he didn't. you're about to hear from his accomplice, someone who will take you inside the mind of a murderer. coming up, a moment-by-moment account of a plot more chilling than anyone realized. >> i think it lets you know what type of darkness was going on inside their hearts.

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we the jury unanimously find the defendant, eric lyle williams -- >> reporter: they'd won a guilty verdict against eric williams, but prosecutors didn't have time to celebrate. the jury would now decide whether he should get the death penalty. in a rare legal move, prosecutors had saved some blockbuster evidence and a star witness for just this moment. as investigators figured all along, williams hadn't acted alone -- he had an accomplice. it was this woman-- >> the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth -- >> his wife, kim. they'd been married for fifteen years, but now she was about to testify against her husband. >> it was a cold day, and there was excitement in the air. >> reporter: witnesses to the

hasse murder, you remember, said the shooter jumped into the passenger side of the getaway car. so, police always suspected williams had help. soon after he was arrested kim williams was brought in for questioning. >> investigators spent hours talking to her. >> reporter: prosecutor wirskeye was watching the interview. >> she was just not gonna give up any information. she talked about her husband and what a great guy he was and how he wouldn't hurt anyone. >> reporter: then, an fbi interrogator, growing impatient, got tougher. >> he raised his voice with her and was telling her that she knew that those people had been killed. >> reporter: then she br was startling. she said, not only did she know something about the murders, she helped her husband carry them out. now, during the penalty phase, prosecutors planned to use her testimony to make sure the jury would give him a death sentence. >> she led us to a lot of evidence. and i think it was important for the jury to see and have all their questions answered. >> he came up with the plan to

dress like law enforcement. >> reporter: they were a husband and wife murder team. and they went through a dress rehearsal the night before the mclelland murders. >> he was modeling it for me. >> describe to the members of the jury what he was modeling for you the night before. >> he looked like he was in the army or swat. he had a bulletproof vest with "sheriff" on the front. more than likely mrs. mclelland was going to answer the door, and he was going to introduce himself as a policeman. >> reporter: and the next morning, she said, she was lookout in the crown vic, as her husband went inside to murder the mclellands. >> if someone came, was this a-- was there a plan for what you were supposed to do to alert eric? >> yes. he told me to honk the horn. >> reporter: but if these had been revenge killings of mike mclelland and mark hasse,

why did cynthia mclelland have to die? >> because she would be there as a witness, and he described it as collateral damage. >> reporter: and prosecutors wanted the jury to know how callous eric and kim williams were after killing two people in cold blood. >> we had steaks on the grill and eric cooked those. >> at your parents' house? >> at my parents' house. >> were y'all celebrating with steaks? >> that's correct. >> reporter: the prosecutors couldn't tell jurors about the hasse case during the cynthia mclelland trial, but now they were free to use mark's murder to cement their argument for the death penalty. >> we had an airtight circumstantial evidence case on the hasse murder. >> kim williams said on that morning outside the courthouse, she drove the getaway car. >> as you're driving away from the scene of the hasse murder, what is his mood like? >> happy. >> what is your mood like? >> happy. i so believed in eric and everything he told me. his anger was my anger. >> who was he mad at? >> he was mad at mark hasse.

he was mad at mr. mclelland. he was angry because he thought that they were trying to set him up. >> what did that tell you about this incredibly bizarre relationship, that these two were in cahoots with each other? >> i think it proved beyond any doubt that eric williams was a psychopath and this was a horribly toxic, screwed up marriage. i think it lets you know what type of darkness was going on inside that house, you know, inside their hearts. >> yes -- >> kim williams also said she helped her husband dispose of key evidence in the case. she recalled driving to this bridge one night and watching eric toss a black bag into the lake. >> do you know what was in the bag? >> i knew that it was guns. >> reporter: it had taken 12 months of searching the lake before divers found the bag. fbi agent laurie gibbs was there. >> opens this up, and there's two guns. this is it. >> reporter: inside the bag were forensics will show one of those guns killed mark hasse.

and one more thing -- that bag those guns were in, it wasn't a bag at all. it was really a terrifying halloween mask. >> grim reaper-type halloween mask? >> exactly. >> kim williams said her husband wore it to conceal himself when he shot mark. >> and you can imagine the terror that was going through mark hasse when he recognized and heard the voice. >> reporter: she also told jurors that her husband had more mayhem in mind. >> judge ashworth. >> he wanted to kill a judge in a special way with a special weapon. >> with a cross bow. >> that's correct. >> reporter: kim williams said he also brewed up a concoction just for the judge. you may remember there was homemade napalm in pickle jars inside the storage unit. >> what was the napalm for? >> i guess to drive in a kind of extra "eff you." he is gonna bore a hole in his stomach, and pour it in. >> reporter: it avenues one

thing to say "well, eric williams did this," fine. but that his wife was along for the ride? >> you can't just make this stuff up. you would think this was a hollywood movie, but these people are living every day together and talking about murdering people. >> my name is christina foreman. >> reporter: now, christina, in her victim's impact statement, would finally get her chance to vent her feelings as she turned to her parents' killer. >> pretty much the only thing i have to say is -- "[bleep] you, eric williams." that was pretty much the only thing i could think of to say to him, that _- >> did it feel good? >> it did. it did feel good. and you know, a nice sock in the face probably would've felt a lot better. >> reporter: the defense countered by calling dozens of character witnesses -- >> very smart young man -- >> reporter: from williams' scout master to his high school friends, but the jurors weren't swayed. >> it is ordered by this court to carry out the sentence of death -- >> he was sentenced to die by lethal injection. he's appealing his conviction. given the death penalty decision, prosecutors decided

not to try him for the murders of mark hasse or mike mclelland. williams pleaded not guilty to both. mark hasse's longtime friend, and federal trial attorney, marcus busch, believes williams will still be dangerous even on death row. >> eric williams is a master manipulator, he is a very intelligent human being and he's a very deadly, proficient killer. i think he's gonna be a threat to the prison guards and i think he's gonna be a threat to anybody else in prison. >> you're making him sound like hannibal lecter? >> this is a man who killed three people in cold blood simply because they prosecuted him for stealing computer monitors. >> reporter: kim williams pleaded guilty to the murder of cynthia. and for her cooperation, the other charges were disposed of. she was sentenced to 40 years in prison, avoiding the death penalty. >> i'll never forget mike and cynthia or mark. >> will you ever be over this? >> no. i'm not over it. i never-- i know i never will

be. i don't think any of us will be ever. >> reporter: but as tragic as all this was, believe it or not, something good came out of it. during the long ordeal, christina and that cop from dallas, c.j. tomlinson, fell in love. their families had been great friends for a long time. cynthia mclelland had always tried to play matchmaker. >> at one point, cynthia pretty much told me that that was gonna happen. and she was right. she got me. >> i can only imagine how happy your mom would be -- >> oh, god. >> -- if she's looking down, that you two are together. >> i can't-- i can't even imagine. she would be just doin' some sort of weird dance, that "i told you so." and you know, i'm sure she's thrilled. we got married on her birthday that would have made her ecstatic. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." we'll see you again sunday and

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at td bank with a minimum checking balance of just $100. td bank. america's most convenient bank. news 4 at 11:00 begins with breaking news. yeah, breaking out a at the top at 11:00, you're looking live at the u.s. capitol where the house just voted to avert a homeland security shutdown and fund dhs. but it barely