Defending the Indefensible or A Tale of Two Liars

Lee Goldberg has been posting quite a bit about James Strauss, the man who passed himself off as a successful television writer at conferences and today, Lee mentioned how, even though there are multitudes of people who feel duped for trusting James Strauss at conferences and individually with their screenwriting questions, career guidance, and industry educations as well as their hopes, aspirations, and dreams, there are just as many defending James Strauss and lashing out people who have uncovered his cons and criminal convictions.

While this may puzzle a lot of people, it does not surprise me a bit. I've seen it before.

Last year, I wrote an off topic post about Eric Williams, a mild-mannered former attorney and Justice of the Peace in Kaufman County, Texas, prosecuted for stealing some computer equipment from the County and sending office supplies to his private practice on Kaufman County's dime. Later, when the Assistant District Attorney, Mark Hasse, was gunned down on his way into the courthouse and people began pointing fingers at Eric Williams, it was an obvious witch hunt. Even Mike McClelland, the District Attorney, seemed to be out to get poor Eric Williams and vowed on television to catch the slime that murdered Hasse and he made no secret of his opinion that Eric Williams needed to be looked at immediately. Then two months later, Mike McClelland and his wife were shot to death in their home.

The Eric Williams accusations flew. But he had passed a gun residue test. But he had an alibi. But his home had been searched. No way he did this. No way.

Of course he did. You've surmised that by now.

Eric Williams and his wife are now awaiting trial. His wife has confessed and truckloads of evidence have piled up against them including the cars he and his wife drove to commit the murders, the weapons, their clothing, computers, phone records. And, his wife has disclosed even a FOURTH planned murder so horrific the imagination can barely comprehend it. Williams' wife told investigators that he had planned to murder former state district judge, Glen Ashworth, with a crossbow. Williams then planned to cut him open while still alive and set him on fire with homemade napalm. As bizarre as it sounds, it explains the "go bag" investigators found in his storage building. The bag contained a cross bow, hunting knife, napalm, and surgical gear.

Denial. Denial. Denial. Eric Williams' supporters are still in denial. And I totally get it. I do. They cannot reconcile the Eric Williams they know based on the allegations of a bunch of investigators they do not know. And, in the beginning I, too, was in denial and I didn't even know the guy at all! I just couldn't imagine a man -- any man -- murdering a human being over being prosecuted for a minor theft.

But then, a few days after the McLellands were murdered, I saw Eric Williams interviewed on television and he was smirking. SMIRKING! Two more people were dead and he was incapable of expressing sympathy without a Chesire Cat grin on his face. My liar-liar-pants-on-fire-radar went off and I knew this man was guilty. A week later he was in jail.

But Eric Williams is a con. He's a narcissist. He may even be a sociopath. And, he can easily convince people he is who he says he is or who he wants to be. People still believe in him even though he is facing death row for murdering three innocent people. Well, they can believe in him all they want but that does not change the evidence against him.

James Strauss, whom I have never met, may also be all these things. I really do not know. I'm not saying his next step is homicide. I'm just saying that people still defend him and people still believe in him even though they KNOW he is not what he says he is and even though they know he lied to them and even though they KNOW he does not have the screenplay or teleplay chops to be paying him to critique their work. Like Eric Williams, people cannot let go of the James Strauss they know based on the allegations of a lot of people they DO NOT know.

Regardless what things people do or say or the evidence against them, there will always be people who fall on their swords defending the guilty. And, I get it. But it does not change the evidence that James Strauss is not a television writer.

• The Case of the Fake Screenwriting Teacher
• Cheatonomics Case Study
• James Strauss and His Fake Writing Credits

Just Keep Breathing

You can feel it. You really can. The freedom to breathe again. Whenever something horrific happens, I often feel like I suck in a deep breath and don't exhale until there is some kind of ending, resolution, or long enough passage of time that I am forced to exhale.

The afternoon breeze today is not so much the clouds giving way to sunny skies as it is the collective sigh of relief from thousands of people who have been hoping and praying that the bloodthirsty Chimera prowling about Kaufman County would not be unstoppable, untouchable, and anonymous forever.

Today, Kaufman County is exhaling. It's not over yet. But we can breathe.

The terror inflicted on officials, their families, and the Kaufman County community cannot be overstated, especially for those of us with close ties to law enforcement. In the beginning, each theory about who would murder ADA Mark Hasse and District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, had its impediments to probability. Could it be a cartel-type revenge for interfering with meth trafficking? Could it have been that disgraced Justice of the Peace who lost the bench last year? Maybe it's that gang of white supremacists who swore bloody repercussions for thirty-something multi-jurisdictional convictions last fall?

The gargantuan horde of investigators was tight lipped and smartly so. The FBI, ATF, US Marshals and Texas Rangers descended on Kaufman County like a swarm of rootin' tootin' locusts and never have I been so glad to see so many suits, badges, and ten gallon hats.

Each theory was ridiculously thin and fantastic but plausible in its own way. But there was no arguing that people were being murdered. Who would have this kind of training and equipment? Who would know where Mark Hasse parked every day and know the best and fastest way to escape downtown Kaufman? Who would be able to put in motion the strategic murders of the McLellands on the weekend that they were expecting Easter company and happened to have put away the guns kept in every single room of the house? And who would be prepared to show up on short notice? Like maybe when the thunder started clapping loud enough to disguise gunshots?

Yeah. We all knew somebody was either close or was watching closely.

Judges, prosecutors, and important elected officials were under tight guard. But the rest of us spoke about the murders privately and in hushed voices. Who was watching? What was the motive? Who might follow us home if they knew we were a county receptionist, court clerk, or had a uniformed officer or public official living in a house that was not being guarded?  There was no limit to where our fearful imaginations went.

And, as expected, online comments erupted on posted news articles. Some comments were vicious and said that Kaufman got what it deserves. Some were sympathetic and hopeful. Some were political and made it about gun control. Some said the investigation was going nowhere. I'm guessing that is because the Feds didn't friend them on Facebook, create a Twitter account, or put evidence pics on Instagram.

Shortly after ADA Mark Hasse's death, a friend of mine told me that DA Mike McLelland was certain former Justice of the Peace Eric Williams was behind Hasse's murder. Williams was the guy convicted of stealing computers from the courthouse and using county library funds to supply his own private law office. My friend was close to the McLellands and suggested I review the Eric Williams trial so that I, too, would know what the former Justice of the Peace was capable of.

I was skeptical. I thought my friend was running on raw emotion because she was too close to the situation but I did what she asked. I reviewed the trial. And yeah, Williams had a history of being a mouthy bully but murder? Tough to believe. Even after the McLellands were murdered, I had doubts that Eric Williams would kill three people over two years probation and a $5000 fine. But when you dig a little deeper, you realize he lost a lot more than that. He lost the bench, his reputation, his law practice, his income, his health benefits and retirement benefits and probably his military commission. And, he knows weapons. He has the training. He knows Kaufman County.

Then one afternoon, I saw a video excerpt of Eric Williams being interviewed at his front door. There he was. Blue polo. Giant smirk. Extending his condolences to the McLelland family. Wait. What? A smirk while he was extending condolences? Then it was blah blah blah bringing justice for this incredibly egregious act and he's STILL smirking.

A chill - - a physical chill - - darted up my spine. That cliche exists for a reason, people!

REPORTER: Anything you'd like to tell the community or somebody who might think, you know, this Eric Williams guy, you know, has an ax to grind and this Eric Williams guy might have done this? What would you say?

ERIC WILLIAMS: I would say ask someone who actually knows me from the past and they'll tell you that that's not me.

Smirk gone. It's a full blown smile.  It had only been FOUR days since the McLellands were found dead and he was smiling while he talked about it. And then I knew. Yeah. He did it. Maybe not alone. But he did it. And, if I knew, I knew the swarm of local, state, and federal investigators knew. They were taking their time amid rumors of white supremacist boogieman, they were tracking down all other leads, and they were arresting anyone and everyone who made a terrorist threat but they knew. They just had a job to do and a method of doing it.

And now, even though formal capitol murder charges still haven't been filed, Eric Williams is all over the news and the evidence is piling up against him so everyone else knows, too. And, the online comments? No change. The story may have changed but the comments from the public are the same.

Meanwhile, the world is still mad and violent. Two explosions just went off at the Boston Marathon finish line and a lot of people are down. I can barely conceive something so horrible and violent. And yet, I can.

Deep breath . . .