By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News
A Texas district attorney and his wife whose Saturday shooting deaths have sparked a multi-agency investigation were remembered by a friend as "witty" people who were "deeply in love," NBCDFW.com reported.
Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were slain at their home just two months after another prosecutor in the county was shot to death.
A connection has not yet been made between the killings, but a white supremacist group was reportedly thought to be planning to retaliate over indictments in a racketeering case and the state recently warned of the danger posed by Mexican drug cartels, who have slain many law enforcement officials in Mexico.
Friends and former colleagues in Kaufman County tried to accept the sudden loss of a couple who left behind five children.
"They were deeply, deeply in love and so attached to each other," Tonya Ratcliff, the county tax assessor and longtime friend, told the NBCDFW.com.
"Not just in front of each other, but apart from each other. You would never hear one of them say an ugly word about the other one," she said.
"They were just a wonderful couple, and it was a pleasure to be around them -- and I will miss them," she added.
'An attack on the justice system'
Kaufman County Judge Bruce Wood described McLelland as a friend and colleague and said he and McLelland had spoken regularly about Hasse and the investigation.
"This is not just an attack on two very fine people, but an attack on the justice system," Wood told Reuters.
"I can't fathom someone doing this. It is completely senseless, and completely out of the blue. Perhaps it is retaliation, but we won't know that until someone is caught," he added.?
Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was gunned down near the Kaufman County Courthouse while on his way to work on Jan. 31, and McLelland vowed that he would catch the killer.
A district attorney and his wife were found shot dead in their Texas home on Saturday, a chilling crime that has become a murder mystery. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports.
"I hope the people that did this are watching. Because we're very confident that we're going to find you, pull you out of whatever hole you're in, bring you back and let the people of Kaufman County prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law," McLelland told reporters on the day of Hasse's slaying.
While law enforcement authorities said there was no immediate evidence of a link between the killings, they?acknowledged checking on the welfare?of other employees of the district attorney's office and said they would increase their presence at the county courthouse.
On the day Hasse was killed, the Justice Department announced that the Kaufman County DA's office was among investigative bodies involved in a racketeering case against the white supremacist group Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.
The hate group was suspected of "actively planning retaliation" against police and prosecutors who helped gain indictments in Houston against dozens of its members, the Dallas Morning News reported in February.
In February, the state's?Department of Public Safety?issued a?report?highlighting the threat of Mexican drug cartels operating in Texas.
The FBI and the Texas Rangers division were leading the investigations, which at one point at least, examined any possible ties to the March 19 shooting death of Colorado prisons director Tom Clements, Reuters reported, adding that no connection had been found.
A tip line has been set up for the investigation and anyone with information to share with investigators is asked to call 1-877-847-7522.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related:
District attorney, wife shot to death in Texas county where assistant DA was killed, police say
?
Lynsi Torres Fall Out Boy Alabama hostage mta Beyonce Superbowl weather.com nemo
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.