Erik Maund: Texas auto dealer gets life in prison alongside 2 Marines for fatally shooting a former couple
AUSTIN, TEXAS: A Texas auto dealer faces life in prison along with a couple of men who served in the US Marine Corps after their convictions in the fatal shooting of a former couple found dead in a car at a Tennessee construction site last year, KVUE reports.
The convicted trio first faced charges related to the crime in November 2021 and an indictment followed in July the following year. Now, Erik Charles Maund, 48, who was a car dealer at Maund Automotive Group in Austin, Bryon Brockway, 48, and Adam Carey, 32, were each convicted on Friday, November 17, of a murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the deaths of Holly Williams, 33, and William Lanway, 36.
Why did Erik Maund shoot the couple dead?
Even though Maund was acquitted of kidnapping, unlike his co-defendants Carey and Brockway, the three still face a mandatory life sentence under the federal murder-for-hire resulting in death statute.
Authorities said at the beginning of the case, that they believed the victims, whose bodies were found in Nashville on March 13, 2020, in a car that had gone off a road, were killed as part of the married Maund’s larger effort to cover up an affair with Holly Williams, an encounter Lanway, Williams’ former boyfriend, had threatened to expose.
Maund was “married, living in Austin, Texas, [and] a partner in Maund Automotive Group” according to The Texas Department of Justice and had emailed Holly Williams before he traveled to Nashville where she lived. Maund and Williams who, according to the indictment, “had a prior relationship” made plans to meet at the hotel where Maund was staying.
“Good day beautiful!” one of Maund’s emails said, adding “Looking forward to [sic] later. I’m in Nashville. I’ll meet you in the bar like last time. Text me when you arrive.”
Erik Maund started receiving text messages almost a month later
On March 1, 2020, almost a month later, Maund started receiving text messages from Lanway, according to the indictment. Lanway had reportedly blackmailed to expose Maund’s relationship with Williams and demanded money in exchange for keeping quiet.
Maund reached out to Gilad Peled that day, who “held himself out as a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces.” Peled took a plea deal in the prosecution at the end of 2022. After Maund enlisted the aid of Peled, Brockway, and Carey, the victims were surveilled over a period of days. On March 12, 2020, Williams and Lanway were shot to death.
What did the indictment state?
“On that same day, Brockway and Carey, while armed with firearms, confronted HW and WL in the parking lot of HW's apartment complex in Nashville and murdered WL by shooting him multiple times,” the indictment said.
“They then kidnapped HW and drove her and the body of WL to a construction site on Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville, where they murdered HW by shooting her several times. The bodies were then discarded at the construction site and within hours of the murders, the Pinger account used to communicate was deleted and a rental car rented by Brockway was returned," the indicted further stated.
Holly Williams and William Lanway reportedly had a 'personal romantic relationship'
Nashville police described Williams and Lanway as having had a “personal romantic relationship." However, according to Austin American Statesman, they were estranged. Lanway was reportedly arrested in early March of 2020 on charges related to attacking Williams, and Williams had reportedly obtained an order of protection against Lanway.
As per the indictment, Maund wired more than $750,000 to an account controlled by Peled, as payment to Peled, Brockway, and Carey for the kidnapping and murder of Williams and Lanway.
US Attorney Henry C Leventis called the murders “heinous” crimes following the verdicts.
“Almost three and half years after the murders of Holly Williams and William Lanway, these defendants have finally been held accountable for their heinous actions,” Leventis said, adding “Today’s verdict is a testament to the outstanding investigative work done in this case by the FBI and Metro Nashville Police Department as well as the trial team’s incredible job presenting the government’s case to the jury.”
