Texas Car Dealer and Two Marines Face Consequences for Murder-for-Hire in Cover-Up of Former Couple's Affair

A car dealer from Texas and two ex-Marines face life in federal prison after being found guilty in the shooting deaths of a former couple discovered deceased in a car at a Tennessee construction site back in 2020. 

The charges were initially brought in December 2021, followed by an indictment in July 2022. Erik Charles Maund, 48, associated with Maund Automotive Group in Austin, along with Bryon Brockway, 48, and Adam Carey, 32, were convicted on Friday for a murder-for-hire plan that led to the deaths of Holly Williams, 33, and William Lanway, 36.

Even though Maund was cleared of kidnapping charges unlike Carey and Brockway, all three face a mandatory life sentence according to the federal murder-for-hire resulting in death statute.

At the onset of the case, authorities suspected that the victims, discovered in Nashville on March 13, 2020, had been killed as part of Maund's attempt to cover up an affair with Holly Williams, which Lanway, Williams' former boyfriend, had threatened to expose.

As per the Department of Justice, Maund, described as "married, living in Austin, Texas, [and] a partner in Maund Automotive Group," had corresponded with Holly Williams before visiting Nashville, where she resided. Messages indicated plans for a rendezvous at Maund's hotel.

In early March 2020, Lanway began messaging Maund, allegedly threatening to reveal his relationship with Williams and demanding money to keep quiet. On that day, Maund contacted Gilad Peled, who claimed ties to the Israeli Defense Forces and later struck a plea deal in the prosecution towards the end of 2022.

With Peled, Brockway, and Carey's involvement, the victims were surveilled for days. On March 12, 2020, Williams and Lanway were fatally shot.

"On that day, Brockway and Carey, armed with firearms, confronted H.W. and W.L. in the parking lot of H.W.’s apartment complex in Nashville and murdered W.L. by shooting him multiple times," the indictment stated. "They then kidnapped H.W. and drove her and the body of W.L. to a construction site on Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville, where they murdered H.W. by shooting her several times. The bodies were then discarded at the construction site, and within hours of the murders, the Pinger account used for communication was deleted, and a rental car rented by Brockway was returned."

Reports initially portrayed Williams and Lanway as having a romantic relationship, but later stated their estrangement: Lanway had reportedly been arrested in early March 2020 for attacking Williams, who had allegedly obtained a protection order against him.

The indictment revealed that Maund wired over $750,000 to Peled's account as payment for the kidnapping and murder of Williams and Lanway.

Following the guilty verdicts, U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis condemned the murders as "heinous" crimes, commending the FBI, Metro Nashville Police Department, and the trial team for their dedicated work in presenting the case to the jury.