GEORGETOWN — A man, his mother and his adoptive father are facing charges following an interagency probe into reports of an assassination plot targeting a judge overseeing a child-custody case, Sheriff Mike Gleason said.
A bitter courtroom battle centered around a Liberty Hill family situation is believed to have sparked the incident, which led to extensive safeguards for the unidentified Williamson County jurist and his family, the sheriff added.
“The undertaking taken by the Round Rock Police Department, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s (Service) — what it takes to protect a judge, his wife, two children, the victim, her daughter and everybody involved 24/7 for almost three weeks to a month — was a huge undertaking providing massive manpower to provide protection for these people at all hours of the day and night,” Gleason said.
Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said judicial safety is a top priority in the effort to carry out justice.
“Our judges sit on the bench every day and hear cases that are emotional and controversial, and they do their best to serve the residents of Williamson County,” he said. “We will do whatever it takes and use every resource at our disposal to ensure that our judges are safe.”
Meanwhile, authorities have declined to specify the exact protective measures that were put into place.
“Security for our employees and elected officials is of the utmost importance to Williamson County,” said county spokeswoman Connie Odom. “We are constantly evaluating and enhancing our security measures so we provide a safe environment for them as well as the public. However, we do not comment on specific security measures to better safeguard our security strategy.”
According to Gleason, Clinton Harmon, 38, has been charged with attempted capital murder, a first-degree felony, and is being held on a $2 million bond. He was arrested in Louisiana and, at press time, was slated to be extradited to Williamson County, the sheriff added.
The sheriff also named two other defendants: Teresa Harmon, 59, and Matthew Harmon, 60.
They were arrested in Bastrop, and each is being held on a $1 million bond for the third-degree felony counts of retaliation, Gleason said.
Late last week, the sheriff detailed the case during a press conference, saying the chain of events began with an emergency call about 2:30 a.m. March 8 alerting peace officers to a double shooting in Liberty Hill.
A teenager making the call reported his mother and her boyfriend had been shot by an unknown intruder as they slept in their home, the sheriff said.
Both victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds — the woman was shot 11 times and her boyfriend hit twice in the neck and arm.
“Remarkably, both victims survived,” Gleason told reporters.
Investigators noted nothing was taken from the home, raising suspicions the event was no random act of violence but a targeted hit, the sheriff added.
According to the sheriff, the female victim identified her ex-husband as the only person she would suspect of having carried out the attack, as the two were in the throes of a child custody battle over their 7-year-old son who was not at home at the time of the intrusion.
“Text messages between the female victim and (a man) indicated his frustration over financial matters and her relationship with her current boyfriend,” Gleason said.
In July, law-enforcement officials heard about a person of interest in the case from his former girlfriend in Louisiana, the sheriff said. The tipster voiced concerns the man and two relatives were planning an illicit activity in Williamson County, investigators said.
The ex-girlfriend spoke of a meeting in Bastrop County among the trio, detailing how they would kill the victim and an unidentified judge presiding over the custody case, according to the sheriff.
“They discussed using fentanyl to drug the victim, obtaining her license plate number and hiring — quote, unquote — ‘thugs from Austin’ to carry out the crime,” the sheriff said.
Gleason said law officers surreptitiously surveilled the judge’s and victim’s homes in a complex operation requiring cooperation among multiple law-enforcement agencies.
Ultimately, the main suspect was located in Bastrop via a GPS tracker on his vehicle, Gleason said.
On Sept. 8, Gleason said, the man was arrested in New Orleans as he attempted to board an airplane. Two other relatives were taken into custody in Bastrop County, the sheriff added.
At the outset of the press conference, Gleason noted the coincidental timing of a recent panel discussion in which he participated that focused on security of justices and court personnel.
The panel included Gleason, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht and other prominent officials. The discussion was tied to the Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act passed by Congress earlier this year designed to strengthen judiciary protections.
“It’s kind of ironic that we stand here and talk about this today,” Gleason said. “A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in a symposium with Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht and Sen. John Cornyn talking exactly about this as this case was unfolding. And I couldn’t even tell them about it due to the ongoing nature and integrity of the investigation.”
