Texas DA and Wife Shot Multiple Times, Search Warrants Reveal
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McLelland Family(KAUFMAN, Texas) — A Texas district attorney and his wife were found dead by family friends last Saturday after the friends were unable to get in touch with them, according to a search warrant issued for the victims’ home.
Authorities noted that Kaufman County, Texas, district attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were shot multiple times and that they found multiple bullet casings near the bodies when they went to the home to investigate the scene, the warrants said.
Investigators also requested phone records for two numbers potentially tied to the case, according to the warrant. It was not immediately clear if the numbers belonged to the victims or potential suspects.
The killings of the McLellands came just weeks after Kaufman County assistant district attorney Mark Hasse was gunned down outside the county courthouse in January.
Family friends of the McLellands initially found the bodies in the home at approximately 6:45 p.m. on March 30 after several attempts to get in touch with them failed, the warrants said. Relatives of the McLellands told police that the last time they spoke with the district attorney was the evening of March 29.
As police admitted they had few clues to indicate who was behind the shooting deaths, a new acting district attorney was appointed Monday in the Texas district.
Brandi Fernandez, currently Kaufman County’s chief assistant district attorney, was named acting D.A. to replace McLelland.
Fernandez will act as the district attorney for 21 days, or until Gov. Rick Perry appoints McLelland’s successor, according to a news release from Kaufman County.
“During this time frame, the office will continue moving forward to serve the community while working through these tragic events, which have affected the lives and families of this office,” the release read. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Mike and Cynthia McLelland. They will be deeply missed.”
Already, sheriff’s deputies are providing security to the new district attorney. A black SUV and a police patrol car were parked outside her home, just blocks from the courthouse.
Kaufman County Judge Bruce Wood said on Monday that he believed the slayings of McLelland and Hasse were not “random” but connected to each other.
“It would seem to me this is not a random act,” Wood told reporters on Monday. “There has to be a connection in my way of thinking. It has to be more than coincidence, I’d think.”
As of now, investigators have found “no physical evidence” linking Hasse’s death with the McLellands’, the judge said.
Law enforcement officials are also investigating a possible link to the execution-style killing of Colorado Department of Corrections chief Tom Clements, who was killed in his home less than two weeks ago.
Evan Ebel, a Colorado man who was released from prison in January, was believed to be responsible for Clements’ murder, according to authorities. Ebel died from wounds sustained in a shootout with Texas police.
Investigators said they are working to determine if Ebel had links to white supremacist “[prison] gang members” who could shed light on any of the cases.
Wood on Monday would not comment on any potential links to the Aryan Brotherhood, calling it “part of the investigation.”
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