lives for something good. they stood up and they did what they were supposed to, and they died for it. this is my chance to tell you the story of the murders of mike and cynthia mcclelland. prosecutor bill wirskye thought if he could prove eric williams had killed cynthia, that would obviously show he killed mike. you ll hear the story of a massive law enforcement investigation state, local, federal agencies working together to build an airtight case. one of the first witnesses called c.j. tomlinson, dallas police officer and friend of the mcclellands. c.j. told the jury how he and his parents found the mcclellands. i took a couple more steps inside the residence, i was hollering for mike. mike, mike! for three days, prosecutors brought a blizzard of witnesses. they told the jury williams had
runway. he survived but he had very severe brain injury. did he decide to fly again, at any point? he did. why do you think you want to fly again? he almost died. it s like being thrown from a horse. he wanted to be the person he was before. and he did it? he did. but it took a long time. mark s colleagues in the da s office admired his strength to fight through adversity. they also got a kick out of his weakness, his love for sugary snacks. he had a sweet tooth. he would eat people stuff. every monday, and we will get donuts for them, and he would always get their first. in 2011, mark and shannon got a new boss, that seemed to fill right in with their office family. the newly elected district attorney, mike mclelland. my name is michael clung, the criminal district warning for kaufman county. mike stepdaughter, christina foreman, says he loved the job. i think he really did
those are gunshots, we need to go. we packed up real quick and hopped in the car. the car camera was rolling, as he and his partner drove toward the gunshots. about halfway over a man had been shot, and give us a location. we ve got a gentleman on grove street and madison that just got shot. that s just a block from the courthouse. shannon noticed that her secretary was looking out the window at some commotion on the street. my secretary turned around and she was crying. initially, i wanted to comfort. i couldn t imagine she was crying about. when she turned from the window, she said, it s mark. mark cassie, her friend and colleague. my natural instinct was that he had been hit by a car. she said no, he was shot. who is it? oh my god, it s mark hasse-y! coming up, get you another
expected to be in danger when she started the career she always wanted, practicing law. why did you want to be a lawyer? oh my gosh. in second grade, a judge came to my class and i fell in love with that, and i wanted to be a judge or a lawyer. her dream came true. by 2008, shannon had passed the bar exam, and got her first job as a prosecutor with the kaufman county district attorney s office. on the second floor of the courthouse in the center of town. i love to the office, the people around me were so knowledgeable. they were almost all from dallas. one of those lawyers from dallas was mark cassie, an experienced prosecutor. a guy who lived his job. did you learn anything? oh god. of course. we will go to mark for almost everything. that s because mark had prosecuted some of the worst criminals in texas. he was tenacious, he was an intellectual, and he was very quick on his feet. marcus busch is a lawyer with the department of justice.
rolled up. anybody know anything about him? he s one of the da prosecutors. while she was getting updates on mark. i don t know how many minutes passed by when a prosecutor came into the courtroom saying how bad it was. about an hour earlier, shannon had walked from the parking lot to the courthouse. that is the same route her friend and colleague, mark, was walking when he got shot. now, too afraid to go anywhere, she stayed inside praying for him. we are now just waiting to hear if he is going to live. but that news travels fast! it did not take very long for his trial partner to waken to the room and shake their head crying. that s when we knew he was gone. i can only imagine how horrible a moment that is. it is horrible. it will be in my brain forever. i will never ever forget that. there is not a day that goes by, that i do not go by here and think back to that day. and exactly what happened.