Nick Morale, 56, of Terrell, Texas, was arrested on April 2, 2013 on charges of making a terrorist threat against a public official. According to the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office, Morale called the Kaufman County Crime Stoppers tip line on April 1, at 1:43 p.m. and threatened that an unidentified county official would be the “next victim”. The call came just two days after Kaufman County D.A. Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia were shot and killed inside their Forney home.
According to the complaint filed with Judge Howard Tygrett of the 86th District Court in Kaufman, Texas Department of Public Safety Investigator Eric Williams was able to obtain a detailed call record and identify the number that made the threatening call. After receiving records for the phone number, he was able to identify the owner of the phone as suspect Nick Morale.
Morale is being charged with a felony and is being held on a $1,000,000 bond. Lt. Lewis of the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office made it clear that all threats will be taken seriously and will be investigated and prosecuted “in order to ensure the safety of citizens and our public officials.” He declined to name who Morale had threatened.
Lewis said that although Morale has been arrested for the threat, “At this time, there is nothing to link Mr. Morale to the investigation of the murders of Mike and Cynthia McLelland or Mark Hasse.” He reiterated that at this time there is no identified suspect or suspects in the three murders, and no one has been arrested for the murders. The investigation is ongoing and all leads are being followed up on. Lewis asked that the public utilize the Kaufman County Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-877-847-7522 if you have any information in the McLelland or Hasse cases.