Erik Maund: Texas car dealer gets life in prison alongside 2 Marines for shooting dead former couple
AUSTIN, TEXAS: A Texas car dealer faces life in prison along with two men who served in the U.S. Marine Corps after their convictions in the fatal shooting of a former couple found dead in a car at a construction site in Tennessee last year, KVUE reports.
The three convicts first faced charges related to the crime in November 2021, then faced an indictment in July of 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, Nov. 17, of a murder-for-hire plot which resulted in the deaths of Holly Williams, 33, and William Lanway, 36.
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Why did Erik Maund shoot the couple?
Even though Maund was acquitted of the kidnapping, unlike his co-defendants Carey and Brockway, the three men still face mandatory life sentences under the federal law on murder-for-hire resulting in death.
Authorities said early in the case that they believed the victims, whose bodies were found in Nashville on March 13, 2020, in a car that had left the road, were killed as part of an effort of Maund, married, to conceal an affair with Holly Williams, an encounter that Lanway, Williams’ former boyfriend, had threatened to reveal.
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 traveling to Nashville where she lived. Maund and Williams, who, according to the indictment, “had a prior relationship” planned to meet at the hotel where Maund was staying.
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” Have a nice day my beauty ! said one of Maund’s emails, adding: “Looking forward to [sic] later. I’m in Nashville. I’ll meet you at the bar like last time. Send me a message when you arrive.
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Erik Maund started receiving text messages almost a month later
On March 1, 2020, nearly a month later, Maund began receiving text messages from Lanway, according to the indictment. Lanway allegedly blackmailed him into revealing Maund’s relationship with Williams and demanded money in exchange for his silence.
Maund contacted Gilad Peled that day, who “introduced himself as a former member of the Israel Defense Forces.” Peled entered into a plea deal in the charge in late 2022. After Maund sought help from Peled, Brockway and Carey, the victims were monitored for several days. On March 12, 2020, Williams and Lanway were shot and killed.
Even though Erik Maund was acquitted of the kidnapping, unlike co-defendants Carey (left) and Brockway (right), the three men still face mandatory life sentences under the federal murder statute for account of another person resulting in death (Metro Nashville Police Department)
What does the indictment say?
“On the same day, Brockway and Carey, while armed with firearms, confronted HW and WL in the parking lot of HW’s Nashville apartment complex and murdered WL by shooting him multiple times” , the indictment states.
“They then kidnapped HW and drove her and WL’s body to a construction site on Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville, where they murdered HW by shooting her multiple times. The bodies were then dumped on the construction site and a few hours after the murders, the Pinger account used to communicate was deleted and a rental car rented by Brockway was returned,” the defendant added.
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 the Austin American Statesman, they were separated. Lanway was reportedly arrested in early March 2020 on charges related to Williams’ attack, and Williams reportedly obtained an order of protection against Lanway.
According to 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 killings “heinous crimes” following the verdicts.
“Nearly three and a 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 investigative work exceptional work done in this case by the FBI and the Metro Nashville Police Department, as well as the incredible work of the trial team, presenting the government’s case to the jury.
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