he Incident
Former Kaufman County attorney and Justice of the Peace, Eric Williams, convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of: District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife Cynthia, and top prosecutor Mark Hasse. Eric, along with his estranged wife Kim Williams,planned the murders together, even going so far as to renting a storage unit and stocking it with weapons. He sent an anonymous e-mail to authorities from his own computer after the McLellands were found dead in their home. Their death came only three months after Mark Hasse's murder. The reason for these killings was revenge. McLelland and Hasse prosecuted Eric Williams for burglary and theft of computers from the county's IT department. After being convicted, Williams lost his Justice of the Peace …show more content…
Now attorneys for Eric Williams want a new trail based on a newly discovered finding of brain damage. After being convicted, brain scans show that the hippocampus, the part of the brain that regulates emotion, has shrunk from previous head trauma. Had they known before the trial they could have pushed for a lesser sentence. Eric Williams' attorneys would have given a case based on damage to his brain caused by his uncontrolled diabetes.
There is a link between diabetes and brain damage, however, it it more likely to cause him to struggle with his memory and have the ability to have complex thoughts. Kim Williams testified against her husband that he planned the murders in great detail. That does not sound like the cause of his problems.
Because Eric's hippocampus is “broken” he understands things differently. The damage is at the overlap of gray and white matter; this could mean he has brain damage from earlier trauma that causes him to have poor executive function of how Eric's emotions are
Former Kaufman County attorney and Justice of the Peace, Eric Williams, convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of: District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife Cynthia, and top prosecutor Mark Hasse. Eric, along with his estranged wife Kim Williams,planned the murders together, even going so far as to renting a storage unit and stocking it with weapons. He sent an anonymous e-mail to authorities from his own computer after the McLellands were found dead in their home. Their death came only three months after Mark Hasse's murder. The reason for these killings was revenge. McLelland and Hasse prosecuted Eric Williams for burglary and theft of computers from the county's IT department. After being convicted, Williams lost his Justice of the Peace …show more content…
Now attorneys for Eric Williams want a new trail based on a newly discovered finding of brain damage. After being convicted, brain scans show that the hippocampus, the part of the brain that regulates emotion, has shrunk from previous head trauma. Had they known before the trial they could have pushed for a lesser sentence. Eric Williams' attorneys would have given a case based on damage to his brain caused by his uncontrolled diabetes.
There is a link between diabetes and brain damage, however, it it more likely to cause him to struggle with his memory and have the ability to have complex thoughts. Kim Williams testified against her husband that he planned the murders in great detail. That does not sound like the cause of his problems.
Because Eric's hippocampus is “broken” he understands things differently. The damage is at the overlap of gray and white matter; this could mean he has brain damage from earlier trauma that causes him to have poor executive function of how Eric's emotions are