More Info Emerges on Former Justice of the Peace Arrested in Connection With Texas DA's Slaying

This photo provided by the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office shows Eric Williams. (Photo: AP)

KAUFMAN, Texas (TheBlaze/AP) -- Authorities investigating the deaths of a North Texas district attorney and his wife appear to have narrowed their focus on a former justice of the peace prosecuted last year by the official for theft.

46-year-old Eric Lyle Williams was arrested Saturday on a charge of making a terroristic threat, and is being held in the Kaufman County Jail on $3 million bond. His arrest came after federal and local agents investigating searched his home in connection with the deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia.

The McLellands were killed about two months after one of McLelland's prosecutors, Mark Hasse, was slain outside the local courthouse.  Apparently McLelland and Hasse both participated in last year's prosecution of Williams on charges that he stole three computer monitors from an office building.

Williams said he submitted to gunshot residue tests and turned over his cellphone after both McLelland and Hasse were found dead. Williams' attorney, David Sergi, said that Williams "has cooperated with law enforcement and vigorously denies any and all allegations."

But according to the Dallas Morning News, Williams was "humiliated" during last year's trial.  Hasse described his actions as "evil" and McLelland said he was "a man bereft of honor."

An image of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia is unveiled before a memorial services in Mesquite, Texas, Thursday, April 4, 2013. (Photo: AP)

Williams subsequently lost his position as justice of the peace - an elected judicial officer who typically handles smaller civil and administrative matters - as well as his law license.

Though Williams was caught on surveillance video with the monitors, he argued that he needed them to work on a county project.  His attorneys portrayed him as an occasionally bumbling figure with good intentions.

"Look at the man on the video," Sergi said, according to a trial transcript. "Look at his eyes. He's not hiding anything. He doesn't know why he's here. He's befuddled."

But Hasse and McLelland both spoke harshly of his character and dismissed his explanation.

"He's an elected public servant who is just a flat-out thief and burglar and needs to be removed from office and convicted of being a thief and a burglar, (because) that's exactly what he is, with quality evidence of him doing it on video," Hasse said.

Hasse alluded to several threatening statements Williams allegedly made, including one to his ex-girlfriend Janice Gray. Gray said she turned down his invitation to go out to eat after their breakup, whereupon he "said he had gotten this new gun" and showed it to her.

The next night, Gray said she was at a sports bar with some friends when he showed up, uninvited.

"He told me he had a gun in his bag, and if I turned around and walked away, he wouldn't - he would use it `cause he didn't have anything to lose," Gray said. She called police, who guarded her hotel room that night.

CBS News has more on the story, including an interview with Williams where he said his "heart" goes out to the victims:

The deaths of McClelland and Hasse were two of several recent high-profile law enforcement killings, including the shooting earlier this month of a southern West Virginia sheriff and the March slaying of Colorado's prison chief.

Kaufman County sheriff's office spokesman Justin Lewis declined to discuss the weekend developments, adding: "Mr. Williams has not been charged with murder."  But the Dallas Morning News quotes an unnamed law enforcement official as saying, “We can sleep a lot better tonight.”

Previous possible culprits mentioned included a white supremacist prison gang known as the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, which had been targeted by a task force that included McLelland's office.