Frayed nerves and a palpable tension cloak this quiet Texas county where the FBI, the Texas Rangers and half a dozen other agencies are on the hunt for the killer or killers bent on taking out top criminal justice officials.

Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found dead in their house Saturday, two months after an assistant district attorney was gunned down in broad daylight outside the county courthouse.

The killings have residents and prosecutors in Kaufman, east of Dallas, on edge - and on guard.