In Plain Sight by Kathryn Casey

 

In 2013, the nation's eyes were focused on Kaufman County, Texas.  In January, the assistant district attorney, Mark Hasse, was gunned down on the streets walking from the parking lot to his office.  A few months later in March, the district attorney, Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were gunned down in their home the day before Easter.  

The area was in shock and fear and anxiety were prevalent.  This murder struck at law enforcement in a personal way.  Most of the police investigating knew all the victims well.  Had someone declared war on the courts and police in Texas?  There were rumors of the Aryan Brotherhood being behind the murders.  Local police, Texas rangers, the FBI and a pair of special prosecutors spent weeks of long days investigating the thousands of leads they generated but nothing seemed to be working.

But there was a persistent rumor floating around.  This was not the work of a white supremist group, most of whom members were already in prison.  This was a work of malice and many suspected a man named Eric Williams.  Williams grew up a science and technology nerd, an Eagle Scout and a man who believed in hard work.  He became a lawyer and after years of doing that work, was elected as a justice of the peace.  But all his hard work was undone when he was arrested for stealing three computer monitors from the county IT department with a value of $600.  There was no doubt he did it; he was on the camera system.  But his story was that he took the monitors to test out some of his ideas to modernize the county court offices.  

Hasse and McLelland were the prosecutors who handled Williams' case.  There was talk that this was a personal prosecution as Williams had tried to keep McLelland from being elected.  There was talk that the conviction which also resulted in Williams' losing his law license and livelihood, was an overreach and much harsher than the crime merited.  But no one would think that murder was an appropriate response.

Kathryn Casey has done a masterful job in reviewing the facts of this case and of getting behind the scenes.  She gives the reactions of the victims' families and she spent an impressive amount of time interviewing Williams and his wife, Kim, after their conviction to try to understand the roots of this heinous crime.  Readers will be impressed by the research and the writing of this case that caught the nation's attention.  This book is recommended for readers of true crime.