Former Austin car dealer, 2 others convicted in murder-for-hire trial
Three people were convicted in the murder trial for their roles in the 2020 kidnapping and murder of a Tennessee couple, according to Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Wildasin.
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Three people were convicted in the murder trial for their roles in the 2020 kidnapping and murder of a Tennessee couple, according to Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Wildasin.
Erik Charles Maund, 48, a former partner with the Austin-area Maund Automotive Group, was convicted on a charge of murder-for-hire with death resulting. Co-defendants Bryon Brockway, 48, of Austin, and Adam Carey, 32, of Richlands, North Carolina, were convicted on a murder-for-hire charge as well as conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping resulting in death.
Maund was acquitted on the kidnapping charge, as well as the conspiracy to kidnap charge. All defendants face a mandatory life sentence, according to officials.
A fourth defendant, Gilad Peled, entered a plea deal in December 2022, which, according to online records, the court accepted. He is scheduled for a sentencing hearing in December 2023. According to the FBI, Peled “held himself out to be a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces.”
“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,” said United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis. “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.”
According to the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and FBI, Maund was accused of paying Brockway, Carey and Peled around $750,000 to kidnap and murder Nashville residents Holly Williams and William Lanway after Lanway attempted to extort Maund over details about Maund’s alleged relationship with Williams.
Williams and Lanway were killed on March 12, 2020. According to reporting by Nexstar station WKRN, their bodies were discovered by a worker at a Nashville construction site on March 13, 2020.