A dramatic murder-for-hire trial is set to start in federal court. What to know about the case

Three years after an affair, extortion and a million-dollar murder-for-hire plot linked a Nashville couple to a prominent Austin businessman, he and two of the other three men charged in the fatal scheme are going to trial.

Erik Charles Maund, Bryon Brockway and Adam Carey are set to appear in a Nashville federal courtroom Wednesday in what will likely be a tangled trial where prosecutors will work to prove Maund tried to cover up the tryst by any means necessary.

They're facing charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, murder for hire and kidnapping resulting in death in connection with the fatal shootings of 33-year-old Holly Williams and 36-year-old William Lanway.

A fourth man, Gilad Peled, who owned the private security company prosecutors say Maund hired to shoot the couple, pleaded guilty last December. He's scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 1. The details of his plea agreement remain under seal.

Here's what to know about the case.

How the case unfolded

Maund was in Nashville visiting his son in college when he struck up a relationship with Williams, who had been in an on-again, off-again relationship with Lanway. Maund used the fictitious name "Erik Moore," according to a federal indictment.

Maund last saw Williams in February 2020 at a Nashville hotel. Three weeks later, Lanway, who had uncovered Maund's actual name through his cell phone number, began texting the Texas businessman demanding money, according to court records.

He threatened to uncover the affair. Maund was married at the time. It's not clear if Williams was aware of Lanway's actions.

Instead of reporting the alleged extortion to the police, Maund hired Peled's security company. Together they, Brockway and Carey plotted over encrypted messaging apps to kidnap and kill the couple, court records said.

On March 5, 2020, Maund withdrew $15,000 for the first of a series of payments, the indictment said.

Carey traveled from his home in North Carolina to Nashville and began surveillance on the couple. Carey allegedly tried to corner Lanway in a supermarket grocery store, but failed, according to court records.

Brockway flew from Austin to Nashville on March 11, 2020, picked up a rental car and met Carey. The next day, Brockway and Carey confronted Williams and Lanway in the parking lot of her apartment, according to court records.

They shot Lanway twice in the head, then put the victims in Carey's rental car and Williams' 2005 Acura and drove them three miles away to a construction site that was on Old Hickory Boulevard, the indictment said.

They then shot Williams in the head, according to court records. Lanway was found head-down on the front passenger floorboard while Williams was found in the backseat of her Acura.

Nashville police launched a homicide investigation, ultimately turning the case over to federal authorities. The four were arrested in December 2021.

Who were Holly Williams and William Lanway?

Williams worked as an aesthetician who specialized in skin care and makeup artistry, according to her Instagram profile.

She grew up in Murfreesboro. Friends and family described her as sweet and trusting.

“She was really good at what she did in medical esthetics,” colleague and friend Marie Carroll said in 2021. “If you met her, she looked like a Kardashian and you didn’t know what to expect. But then she made you feel just involved immediately. She was very humble and like really quiet but just sweet."

Williams and Lanway, who went by Bill, dated off and on. Court records show Williams called police on Lanway at least three times in the year before their deaths.

Lanway suffered from a history of abuse. As a child, he was held hostage at gunpoint by his father. A week after, his father stabbed his mother to death.

Years later, Lanway married and had a daughter. When she was 5 years old, she died from brain cancer.

“She died and that hurt him a lot. It just turned him into this pretty shy, timid guy, until we would all go to the bars and then he would have fun,” friend and former boss Brian Wolff said in 2021. “He was just fun to be around. He went to the bars, but he was never any trouble. He just would make you laugh.”

Who is Erik Maund?

The prominent Austin, Texas businessman is the grandson of Charles Maund, who started Maund Automobile Group in 1957. Erik Maund worked at his family's dealerships, though his exact position with the company was not publicly available.

He lived a life of opulence, owning a 10-bedroom, $5 million home that backed up to the Austin Country Club's golf course.

But two months after the deaths of Williams and Lanway, Maund filed for divorce from his wife of 22 years. They were no longer living together and conflict between them was destroying "the legitimate ends of the marriage relationship," according to court records.

He later withdrew the filing, but his wife filed for divorce against him a year later.

Maund, in the months after the killings, continued to make appearances at prominent events, including his father's birthday party at the Four Seasons, photos online showed.

Who are Gilad Peled, Bryon Brockway and Adam Carey?

Peled was the owner of Speartip Security Group, the company Maund hired in Austin. He claimed to be a former member of the Israel Defense Forces and had a stint as a bodyguard for actor Charlie Sheen.

People who worked with Peled and spoke with the Austin American-Statesman in 2021 said they never would have expected the accusations levied against the man.

"I'm blown away," William Pitmon, a local police lieutenant, said at the time.

Peled contracted to work with jewelry stores and luxury consignment stores in the Austin and Dallas area, while the salon he co-owned with his wife was booming with business. They lived in a cushy Lake Travis home and owned a luxury boat for a short time.

The federal indictment said after Maund enlisted Peled's help, Brockway and Carey joined the scheme. Brockway is related to Peled.

Both Brockway and Carey are former Marines.

Brockway spent four years as a team leader for Force Recon, a special operations unit. He started his own security company, Ink Force LLC, in June 2021.

Carey served twice in Afghanistan and spent time in a special operations unit while on active duty. In 2016, he was arrested and charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer. Upon his arrest, he was found with guns, suppressor grenades and flash-bang grenades.

He was later convicted of possessing weapons of mass destruction and served four months in prison, according to court records.

Austin American-Statesman staff reporter Tony Plohetski contributed reporting.

Kirsten Fiscus is a breaking news reporter for The Tennessean. Contact her at kfiscus@tennessean.com or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @KDFiscus.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What to know about the murder-for-hire case going to trial this week