William Lanway

William Lanway, a 36-year-old white male, was an auto mechanic from Clarksville, Tennessee, whom friends described as the "life of the party." His outgoing personality, however, hid a troubled past. He and his on-again, off-again girlfriend, 33-year-old Holly Williams, had a relationship that was often tumultuous. On March 13, 2020, a construction worker in Nashville made a grim discovery: Williams' white Acura had crashed down an embankment and into a tree on a construction road. Inside were the bodies of Lanway and Williams. What might have appeared to be a tragic accident was quickly ruled a double homicide, as an autopsy revealed both had been shot to death.

The investigation into their murders uncovered a shocking murder-for-hire plot that began after Williams, an esthetician, had a brief relationship with Erik Maund, a married and wealthy car dealership owner from Austin, Texas. After Maund visited Nashville in early 2020, he began receiving text messages from Lanway, who had learned of the affair. Lanway threatened to expose the relationship to Maund's wife if he was not paid.

In response to the extortion attempt, Maund contacted Gilad Peled, who ran an Austin-based security company and was a purported former member of the Israeli Defense Forces. Peled, in turn, hired two former U.S. Marines, Bryon Brockway and Adam Carey, to confront the couple. Investigators found that Maund had transferred over $750,000 to an account controlled by Peled as payment for the plot.

According to authorities, the plan culminated in murder on March 12, 2020. Brockway and Carey confronted Lanway and Williams in the parking lot of her apartment complex. They allegedly shot Lanway multiple times, killing him on the spot. They then kidnapped Williams, drove her and Lanway's body in her car to the construction site on Old Hickory Boulevard, and shot her to death before staging the scene to look like a car crash.

The complex investigation spanned multiple states and led to federal involvement. In December 2021, authorities announced the arrests of the four men involved in the conspiracy. Erik Maund was arrested near Austin, Gilad Peled at the Austin airport, Bryon Brockway in San Diego, California, and Adam Carey at his home in North Carolina. The men were charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping resulting in death, and firearms offenses.

Before trial, Gilad Peled pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution, testifying against the other men. In November 2023, a federal jury convicted Erik Maund, Bryon Brockway, and Adam Carey for their roles in the murder-for-hire scheme that took the lives of William Lanway and Holly Williams.