State militia soldiers may play big role in Kaufman County prosecutorkillings trial

By TANYA EISERER and ED TIMMS Staff Writers teiserer@dallasnews.com; etimms@dallasnews.com

Published: 29 June 2013 11:17 PM Updated: 29 June 2013 11:24 PM

When Eric Williams wanted advice that could help him keep a weapon from being traced, investigators allege, he turned to a soldier hed served with in the Texas State Guard. He also didnt want anyone to know he had a storage unit, investigators say, so he got another State Guardsman to lease it for him. Investigators believe thats where Williams stashed weapons, cars and other items he used earlier this year in the revenge killings of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and Mark Hasse, one of his top prosecutors. McLellands wife, Cynthia, also was killed. Citizen soldiers with the Texas State Guard, a little-known volunteer militia that provides disaster assistance, are likely to play a significant role when Williams goes on trial. He and his wife, Kim, were indicted on capital murder charges Thursday. Court documents state that Williams sought help from at least two State Guard members as he allegedly plotted to kill the two prosecutors who orchestrated his conviction on theft and burglary charges last year. That conviction cost Williams his political career and his law license. Williams, who joined the State Guard in 2009, resigned his commission as a captain in April 2012, the same month he was sentenced. No evidence that has been made public indicates either State Guard member knew what Williams allegedly was plotting when they dealt with him, and neither has been accused of any crime. Laura Lopez, a spokeswoman for the State Guard, said its officials are fully cooperating with all law enforcement agencies on this matter. At least one of the lawyers who represented Williams in 2012 as well as after Williams became a murder suspect this year also served in the State Guard. So did a top police official, though he said he didnt know Williams before he began investigating Hasses death.

And Williams former battalion commander once testified as a character witness for him. After Hasse was gunned down near the Kaufman County courthouse on Jan. 31, McLelland speculated that State Guard soldiers whod served with Williams could help solve the crime. Within days of Hasses death, McLelland met with Kaufman Police Chief Chris Aulbaugh and suggested an emergency muster of Williams former State Guard unit, said Bruce Bryant, former chief investigator for the Kaufman County district attorneys office. He was convinced that the key to cracking the case was in that State Guard unit, said Bryant, who left the office in May. He wanted to question every one of them on the spot. Bryant said that Aulbaugh kept giving him reasons why they couldnt question the State Guard unit. McLelland was stunned when Bryant later told him that Aulbaugh also served in the State Guard. It was like scales fell from his eyes and he saw why Aulbaugh was fighting it so hard, Bryant said. Aulbaugh disputed Bryants account but said he could not comment on the details of the case until the Williamses trials are over. He did say that criminal cases must follow all proper investigative procedures and that there were multiple law enforcement agencies from every level with dozens of investigators reviewing all leads and looking at all persons and evidence as a team. Aulbaugh, who left his job as a Dallas police lieutenant to become Kaufmans police chief last summer, toldThe Dallas Morning News that Williams connections to the State Guard had no influence on how he conducted his investigation. The State Guard is all over the state, Aulbaugh said. I did not know Eric Williams at all and had never met him, never knew him. I learned about him through the investigation, actually. Bryant also said he discussed with McLelland a suggestion from special prosecutor Bill Wirskye that a special grand jury be used to push the investigation into Hasses death forward. Wirskye declined to comment about the special grand jury discussion. McLelland wanted to subpoena that entire State Guard unit and sit them down one by one and see what happened, Bryant said. Mike was excited that day. He was in a better mood that afternoon than I had seen him in quite a while. That was on March 28. Two days later, the bullet-riddled bodies of McLelland and his wife were found in their Forney area home. A go-to leader

In 2011, Williams wrote about his military experiences in a first-person account that appeared in The Guidon, the State Guards quarterly magazine. He wrote that he had enrolled in ROTC at Texas Christian University in the mid-1980s. He later was commissioned as a second lieutenant and graduated with honors from an officer basic course at Fort McClellan, Ala. But, he wrote, his class became a Reduction in Force budget cut, and we were sent home. He served in the Texas Army National Guard for a short time. After working as a police officer almost 10 years, he began attending law school part time, graduating from Texas Wesleyan University law school in 1999. Williams joined the Texas State Guard in 2009. In a memorandum, a superior officer in the State Guard once described Williams as a go-to leader who sets one of the best examples for his unit and the entire regiment. That was in 2010. Williams was promoted to captain that same year. At the time Williams wrote the Guidon article, he was identified as the executive officer of a State Guard battalion and a justice of the peace. I serve in the Texas State Guard because I will always uphold the code of Duty, Honor, Country, Williams wrote. I spend my time in the guard because theres nothing better I do. Coming forward It was only after Williams house was searched and he was arrested on suspicion of making anonymous threats to Kaufman County officials that two State Guard soldiers came forward with important details about the case. Barton Rodger Williams told investigators that hed helped Eric Williams rent a storage unit at the beginning of this year. Barton Williams is the command sergeant major the top enlisted soldier for the State Guards 19th Civil Affairs Regiment in Dallas. Williams also served in the 19th. Eric Williams told Barton that he did not want to rent a unit in his [own] name because of his concern about police searches relating to Eric Williams legal problems, according to an affidavit filed by authorities. Barton Williams agreed to rent the unit and gave Eric Williams written permission to access it, according to the affidavit. Eric Williams gave him enough cash to pay the rent for a year. Barton Williams told investigators he hadnt been back since. Authorities who searched the storage unit after the McLelland slayings discovered a small arsenal.

An entry log at the storage facility showed that someone entered and exited the unit on the day Hasse was killed. That same pattern was recorded the day the McLellands died. Investigators say they believe that Eric Williams used the unit to store vehicles he used in the killings. Investigators have matched spent shell casings found at the McLelland crime scene to a live .223caliber round found at the storage unit. They had cycled through the same gun, authorities say. Barton Williams couldnt be reached. His wife told The News that his attorney had said they couldnt comment. It was Capt. Williams Another State Guard soldier talked at length with investigators after Eric Williams arrest. That soldier, who has not been identified, was acquainted with both Eric Williams and Barton Williams. He told investigators that Eric Williams had asked him on Jan. 4 if he knew how to get rid of an upper for an AR-15 style assault rifle, according to the affidavit. The weapon that killed the McLellands fired . 223-caliber bullets, a type commonly used in AR-15s. AR-15 parts, but no uppers or barrel parts, were found in Eric Williams home after the McLellands were killed. A complete upper receiver of such a weapon could be used to make a ballistics comparison and identify a given weapon component to shell casings or spent projectiles such as those found at the scene of the McLelland murders, the affidavit stated. Its unclear from the affidavit whether the soldier provided any useful information to Williams. Bryant, the former investigator with the Kaufman County district attorneys office, said at least some of Williams friends in the State Guard must have suspected that he might be involved in Hasses killing. Some who served in the State Guard have come to his defense. They include at least one of the attorneys who represented him for a time after Hasses murder. John Sickel, who is identified as a State Guard judge advocate in records, declined to comment when asked if soldiers in Williams unit had asked him how to respond to requests from authorities. Sickel represented Williams after he was accused of stealing three computer monitors from Kaufman County. That was in 2011, when Williams was still a justice of the peace. After Williams was indicted in that case, McLelland personally called the State Guards legal office to report that fact. And Hasse sent a copy of the indictment to the State Guard. Mr. Williams is a serving member of the Texas State Guard, McLelland testified as Williams attorneys tried to block him from prosecuting their client. And as a former Army officer myself, I assumed they would want to know these things, which they did.

An official with knowledge of the investigation said that when Barton Williams and the other State Guard soldier met with investigators, they referred to Eric Williams by his former State Guard rank. They didnt refer to him as Eric or Mr. Williams, the official said. It was Capt. Williams. The official said investigators were mystified that they would accord him that respect given his circumstances when he resigned from the State Guard. Sacred trust Another State Guard soldier testified on Williams behalf when his trial began in spring 2012. Troy Nesbitt, a police officer in the Collin County community of Fairview, identified himself as a lieutenant colonel in the State Guard who had served as Williams battalion commander. The two had known each other since the mid-1980s when they were both enrolled at TCU. And they were both in the ROTC program. Nesbitt even gave Williams his nickname Tennessee Williams, after the cartoon character Tennessee Tuxedo. The cartoon penguin, enamored with his own intelligence, frequently assured a not-too-bright sidekick that Tennessee Tuxedo will not fail! before one of his schemes landed them in trouble. Nesbitt, who did not respond to requests for comment in this story, testified during the trial that he gave Williams the nickname because he was sure and steady. Nesbitt said that when Williams joined his State Guard unit he was never so happy to see somebody that I could trust and rely on so much. Williams became his executive officer. I put in him the most sacred trust I have, Nesbitt testified. AT A GLANCE: Texas State Guard The Texas State Guards mission is to provide mission-ready military forces to assist state and local authorities in times of state emergencies; to conduct homeland security and community service activities and to augment the Texas Army and Air National Guard. It is a state defense force only. State guard units, unlike National Guard units, are never activated to serve with federal military forces. Mandatory retirement age is 70. The guard is not an armed force, nor does it have any law enforcement authority. A physical examination is not required, and there are no specific physical fitness requirements. There generally is no requirement for routine physical fitness training. Soldiers are required to volunteer at least 200 hours annually. They receive little or no pay.

 Soldiers are responsible for purchasing their own uniforms, patches, rank insignia and accessories. The guard generally does not have any formal bases or assets of its own. Units are typically assigned to a National Guard armory in their area. The guards website is www.txsg.state.tx.us. SOURCE: Texas State Guard