A former Kaufman County, Texas, judge says he was questioned by agents just hours after the slain district attorney and his wife were found but insists he had nothing to do with it and doesn't even own a gun.
"If I was in their shoes, I would want to talk to me," Eric Williams said in an interview at his house. "In the investigators' minds, they want to check with me to do their process of elimination."
Williams, a former Kaufman County justice of the peace, was charged with theft and later convicted in a high-profile trial. He was kicked out of office, and his law license was suspended. He was sentenced to two years' probation and is appealing his conviction.
But he said he is not bitter and wouldn't want to harm anyone.
"I've cooperated with law enforcement," Williams said. "I certainly wish them the best in bringing justice to this incredibly egregious act."
Williams' name has swirled around the courthouse because his trial was sensational news in this small community, and it included testimony of death threats.
William said he was contacted Saturday night by investigators -- only about three hours after Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found dead inside their Forney home.
He said he met the agents at a nearby restaurant, where he allowed them to swab his hands for gunpowder residue. He also gave them his and his wife's cellphones, which they returned the next day.
"I know I didn't do anything," he said. "I know where I was."
Williams said he was at home with his wife or up the street at his in-laws late Friday and Saturday.
Williams, a one-time police officer, said investigators who searched his home during the theft investigation found guns but added he no longer has any weapons.
"I got rid of everything," he said.
Williams said agents have not searched his house.
He expressed shock at the crime and sympathy for the victims' families.
"I want to say my deepest condolences go out to the McLelland family and all the people at the courthouse," he said.
Asked if he is angry at prosecutors, he said, "No, I'm not. Obviously that was also a part of them doing their jobs."
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