Texas DA Killed: Were Mike McLelland And Wife Cynthia's Death Caused By Revenge?

A Texas District Attorney and his wife were mysteriously found dead in their home near Forney, Texas, near Dallas, Saturday night. Cynthia and Mike McLelland died of gunshot wounds, reports say. The Texas DA's death comes only a few months after the county's Assistant DA Mark Hasse was killed on his way to his office in January 2013. A prison official was also suspiciously killed recently in the area.

"[The Texas DA's killing] was a targeted attack," former Kaufman, Texas, Mayor Darren Rozell told CNN.

While the county's law enforcement agency will not confirm whether they believe the killings of McLelland and Hasse are connected, Mike McLelland allegedly confided that he carried a concealed weapon because he was in fear of such an attack. Following the death of his assistant DA, McLelland said that he promised to capture "the scum" that killed Hasse.

"We're not stopping, we're not slowing down," Mike McLelland said at the January press conference.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Kaufman County authorities were investigating the Aryan Brotherhood at the time of Hasse's death. An indictment alleged that the white supremacist gang was involved in racketeering operations, and was capable of "extreme violence and ... retaliat[ion] against those believed to be cooperating with law enforcement."

While no direct connection has officially been established between the indictment of the gang operations and the death of the Texas DA, the fact that Mike McLelland made public comments regarding the prosecution of Aryan Brotherhood members in the past raises suspicions among those involved in the new murder investigation. The Texas DA was quoted in saying that his office "put some real dents" in the gang's regional operations in recent times.

An ongoing investigation into Hasse's killing revealed that authorities were trying to link his death with that of Tom Clements, the prison official shot at his home last month. The man suspected in Clements' death, Evan S. Abel, was killed in a police shootout in Texas on March 21. Authorities still have little in the way of fresh leads on the killings of Hasse and District Attorney McLelland.