BUSINESSMAN Erik Charles Maund was one of four men charged in connection to the 2020 kidnappings and murders of a Nashville esthetician and mechanic.
Erik Charles Maund, his former mistress, Holly Williams, her boyfriend, William Lanway, and their fatal love triangle were the subject of a 20/20true-crime exposé that left audiences reeling.
Who is Erik Charles Maund?
Erik Charles Maund, born in 1975, was a businessman and former partner of Maund Automotive Group and Maund Toyota.
The Austin, Texas car dealership was founded by his grandfather, Charles Maund.
Along with his father, uncle, and cousin, Maund worked at the dealerships, where he was in charge of the parts and service departments.
In 1999, he married Sheri Blaschke, the daughter of a local, prominent businessman.
Shortly after tying the knot, the duo welcomed a son, Doug Maund, in 2002.
In January 2020, while visiting his son in Nashville, Tennessee, Maund hired Holly Williams, whom he knew under the alias, Layla Love, as an escort.
Williams, who was a local esthetician, also moonlighted as an escort, and knew Maund under his alias, Erik Moore.
At the time, Williams was also in a tumultuous, on-again, off-again relationship with William Lanway, a local mechanic.
Williams and Maund reportedly hit it off during their encounter in Nashville, and made plans to see each other again when Maund was back in town.
Though Maund did travel to Nashville a few times in early 2020, their illicit affair would be short-lived.
Months later, Lanway found Maund’s cell phone number after going through Williams’ phone.
He was able to trace it back to the Maund Automotive Group, which revealed Maund’s true identity – and his massive net worth.
Lanway then texted Maund, demanding $25,000.
He threatened Maund that unless he received the money, he would not only publicly reveal Maund used an escort in Nashville, but also tell Maund’s wife about the affair.
Maund, terrified that his wife would find out about the affair, and that his relationship – and reputation – would be ruined, enlisted the services of three other men to deal with the threats.
In early March, Maund transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars, in multiple wires, to an Austin-based security firm owned by one of those three men, Speartip Security.
The three men then traveled to Nashville to surveil Lanway and Williams.
On March 11, 2020, two of the men confronted the duo in their apartment’s parking lot.
They were allegedly told by Maund to kill both Lanway and Williams, and to make it look like a robbery gone wrong.
The men managed to shoot and kill Lanway, kidnap Williams, and drive her and her former – now deceased – boyfriend’s body to a nearby construction site.
At the site, the men shot and killed Williams, and left both bodies at the site.
The following day, police found Williams and Lanway, both shot to death, in a car that had rolled down a hill and crashed into a nearby tree.
Investigators and police were initially stumped but were able to uncover the truth after connecting hard evidence, like fingerprints and DNA at the scene of the crime, with video surveillance footage at the apartment complex.
They also used cell phone records to their advantage, pinpointing calls and texts between Maund and the victims, and Maund and the three men.
Where is Erik Charles Maund now?
On December 10, 2021, Erik Charles Maund was charged, along with three other men, in connection with the March 12, 2020 murders of Holly Williams and William Lanway.
The three-count indictment charged these individuals “with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping resulting in death, and carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence,” as stated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Tennessee.
Following a two-week trial, the jury deliberated for seven hours before finding two of the men “guilty of murder-for-hire resulting in death, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and kidnapping resulting in death,” as reported by ABC News.
On Friday, November 17, 2023, a federal jury found Maund guilty of hiring men to kill his mistress, Holly Williams, and her blackmailing boyfriend, William Lanway.
Erik Maund’s attorneys sent a statement to 20/20 shortly after the verdict, claiming that they intend to appeal the case.
“Erik Maund is not guilty of the charges in the indictment,” they wrote.
“Mr. Maund and counsel intend to pursue appeals on the remaining charge for which the jury returned a guilty verdict,” they added.
On Friday, February 9, 2024, the ABC true-crime investigation show covered the case, revealing chilling details about the 2020 murders and the three-year investigation – and court case– that followed.
The two-hour 20/20 episode is also available to stream exclusively on Hulu.
Who else was charged in the deaths of Holly Williams and Bill Lanway?
Erik Charles Maund wasn’t the only person involved in the gruesome murders of Holly Williams and William Lanway.
Shortly after receiving the first of many threatening messages from Lanway, Maund sought the help of three men.
As revealed in the federal indictment from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Tennessee, the three other men charged are Gilad Peled, Bryon Brockway, and Adam Carey.
Gilad Peled is the owner of Speartip Security Group, a security company in Austin, Texas, and claimed to be a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces.
Bryon Brockway is a former active-duty US Marine who previously served in a Special Operations Capable unit called Force Recon.
Brockway also owns Ink Force LLC, a security company in Austin.
Adam Carey, the only man not located in Texas, was a former active duty US Marine who had previously served in the Marine Corps’ Special Operations Group.
Carey lived in Richlands, North Carolina.
In December 2022, Peled pled guilty to three charges, including murder of hire, conspiracy to kidnap with death resulting, and kidnapping resulting in death.
In the November 2023 trial, Brockway and Carey were convicted on all charges, including ” kidnapping resulting in death and conspiracy to commit kidnapping,” as reported by ABC’s KVUE.
Maund was notably only convicted of murder-for-hire with death.
Maund, Brockway, and Carey face a mandatory life sentence in federal prison.
The trio will face separate sentencing hearings in 2024.
Peled, despite cooperating with authorities and reaching a plea deal, also faces sentencing in 2024.