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Sheriff says storage unit with guns, car was break that led to arrests in Texas DA killings

Associated Press
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FILE - This photo provided by the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office shows Eric Williams. Williams, a former Texas justice of the peace seeking revenge for a theft conviction that ended his judicial career, carried out a plot with his wife to kill the men who prosecuted him, authorities said Thursday, April 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Kaufman County Sheriff's Office, File) (The Associated Press)

Sheriff David Byrnes speaks as local, state and federal law enforcement officers hold a news conference in Kaufman, Texas on Thursday, April 18, 2013. Byrnes announced that Eric Lyle Williams, 46, and his wife, Kim Williams, are charged with capital murder in the the shooting deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, last month, and assistant prosecutor Mark Hasse in January. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Rodger Mallison) MAGS OUT; (FORT WORTH WEEKLY, 360 WEST); INTERNET OUT (The Associated Press)

Authorities search a storage unit at Gibson Self Storage as they continue to investigate the slayings of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife and a top prosecutor, Saturday, April 13, 2013 in Seagoville, Texas. Authorities investigating the death of a Texas district attorney arrested Eric Williams, a former justice of the peace and charged him Saturday with making a "terroristic threat" after searching his home. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Michael Ainsworth) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY; NO SALES (The Associated Press)

A sheriff says investigators in the slayings of two Texas prosecutors got their big break from a tip about a storage unit that contained guns and a vehicle tied to the crimes.

When authorities uncovered the storage unit, they also unraveled what they contend was a meticulous revenge plot against the Kaufman County district attorney and a top assistant for their successful prosecution of a former justice of the peace for theft.

That former official, Eric Lyle Williams, and his wife are charged with capital murder in the slayings of the DA, his wife and an assistant prosecutor.

Sheriff David Byrnes says the storage unit was "the watershed event" that helped authorities put everything together.

A friend of Williams' told authorities about the unit.