DEATH HOUSE: The home of DA Mike McLelland (inset left), killed with wife Cynthia two months after ADA Mark Hasse was slain, is roped off yesterday. (
)
Investigators probing the weekend murders of a Texas district attorney and his wife found the initials “AR” written on a wall of their home — indicating they were gunned down by members of the notorious Aryan Brotherhood gang.
The letters were found in the home of Kaufman County DA Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, when their bodies were discovered Saturday, a family friend said.
Texas officials pointed Sunday in the direction of the murderous white-supremacist group, which was targeted by a federal/state task force last year.
But the disclosure of the letters was the first indication of evidence linking the brotherhood to the double murder.
The slayings come after the broad-daylight killing of Assistant DA Mark Hasse outside the county courthouse in the town of Kaufman in January.
The three murders prompted law-enforcement agencies across Texas to go on high alert yesterday and provide stepped-up security and 24-hour protection for prosecutors and their families.
“I suggest everyone should be careful about what goes on, whether they’re public officials or otherwise,” Gov. Rick Perry said.
“This, I think, is a clear concern to individuals who are in public life, particularly those who deal with some very mean and vicious individuals,” he told reporters.
Thirty-four members of the Texas arm of the Aryan Brotherhood were indicted last November thanks to the efforts of local prosecutors, including McLelland.
The indictment described the gang as being responsible for murders, arson, assault and other crimes, and prone to “extreme violence and threats of violence to maintain internal discipline and retaliate against those believed to be cooperating with law enforcement.”
After Hasse was killed, Mike McLelland said he carried a gun wherever he went — even when walking the family dogs — because he believed he could be targeted outside his home.
But on Saturday, he was gunned down with up to 18 rifle shots in the home. CNN reported shell casings of a .223-caliber rifle.
McLelland was believed to be shot while trying to escape. His wife was shot once.
In Kaufman yesterday, investigators said little about the murders, but armed law-enforcement officers were seen patrolling one side of the courthouse and outside the home of McLelland’s replacement, Brandi Fernandez.
“I would be less than honest if I told you I was not worried,” County Judge Bruce Wood, who said he was given a police bodyguard, told reporters.