A Texas car dealer received a life sentence along with two Marines for fatally shooting an ex-couple.

AUSTIN, TEXAS: A Texas auto dealer faces life in prison along with a pair of men who served in the U.S. Marine Corps after being convicted of killing a former couple found dead in a car at a Tennessee construction site last year, KVUE reports.

Charges related to this crime were first brought against the three convicted in November 2021, with an indictment following in July the following year. Now Eric Charles Maund, 48, who was an auto dealer for Maund Automotive Group in Austin, Bryon Brockway, 48, and Adam Carey, 32, were convicted Friday, Nov. 17, of murder-for-hire conspiracy in which in the deaths of 33-year-old Holly Williams and 36-year-old William Lanway.

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Why did Eric Mound shoot the couple?

Although Maund was acquitted of the kidnapping, unlike his co-defendants Carey and Brockway, the three still face mandatory life sentences under the federal capital murder statute.

At the start of the case, authorities said they believed the victims, whose bodies were found in Nashville on March 13, 2020, in a car that ran off the road, were killed as part of a larger effort by the married Mound to cover up an affair with Holly Williams, a meeting that Lanvey, Williams’ ex-boyfriend, threatened to expose him.

Mound was “married, lived in Austin, Texas, [and] partner of Maund Automotive Group,” according to the Texas Department of Justice, and wrote Holly Williams an email before traveling to Nashville, where she lived. Mound and Williams, who “had a prior relationship,” according to the indictment, planned to meet at the hotel where Mound was staying.

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“Good afternoon, beauty!” one of Mound’s emails said: “Looking forward to [sic] Later. I’m in Nashville. Meet me at the bar, just like last time. Text me when you arrive.”

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Eric Mound started receiving text messages almost a month later.

According to the indictment, on March 1, 2020, nearly a month later, Mound began receiving text messages from Lanway. Lanway reportedly used blackmail to expose Mound’s relationship with Williams and demanded money in exchange for silence.

That day, Maund approached Gilad Peled, who “introduced himself as a former member of the Israel Defense Forces.” Peled made a plea deal at the end of 2022. After Mound enlisted the help of Peled, Brockway and Carey, the victims were observed for several days. On March 12, 2020, Williams and Lanway were shot and killed.

Although Eric Mound was acquitted of kidnapping, unlike co-defendants Carey (left) and Brockway (right), the three still face mandatory life sentences under the federal death penalty statute (Metro Police Department Nashville).

What did the indictment say?

“On the same day, Brockway and Carey, armed with firearms, confronted H.W. and W.L. in the parking lot of the H.V. residential complex. in Nashville and killed W.L. by shooting him several times,” the indictment says.

“Then they kidnapped H.V. and they took her and U.L.’s body. to a construction site on Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville, where they killed H.V. by shooting her several times. The bodies were then dumped at a construction site and within hours of the murders, the Pinger account used for communication was deleted and the Brockway rental car was returned,” the accused further stated.

Holly Williams and William Lanway were reported to have had a “personal romantic relationship.”

Nashville police described Williams and Lanway as having a “personal romantic relationship.” However, according to Austin’s American Statesman, they broke up. Lanway was reportedly arrested in early March 2020 on charges of assaulting Williams, and Williams reportedly obtained a protective order against Lanway.

According to the indictment, Mound transferred more than $750,000 to an account controlled by Peled as payment to Peled, Brockway and Carey for the kidnapping and murder of Williams and Lanway.

U.S. Attorney Henry Leventis called the killings “heinous” crimes after the sentencing.

“Nearly three and a half years after the murders of Holly Williams and William Lanway, these defendants have finally been held accountable for their heinous actions,” Leventis said, adding that “today’s verdict is a testament to the outstanding investigative work done in this case by the FBI and P.D. Nashville Metro Authority, and the incredible work of the trial team presenting the government’s case to the jury.”

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