A Texas businessman allegedly hired a hitman to kill his mistress and was so happy with the results, he left a glowing review on Google! WTF.
On Monday, Erik Charles Maund (above) was one of four people arrested for the murders of Holly Williams, 33, and William Lanway, 36, a couple whose bodies were discovered in a car wreck in Nashville almost two years ago.
The investigation began on March 12, 2020, when a construction site worker discovered a 2005 white Acura sedan crashed in a dirt road off Old Hickory Boulevard. The vehicle had seemingly gone off the construction road, down an embankment, and hit a tree. While the airbags were deployed, cops quickly realized it wasn’t the crash that had caused the fatalities — the passengers had been shot!
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Investigations soon determined the two bodies were that of an estranged couple who had been involved in several domestic violence incidents. Lanway, specifically, had been arrested for aggravated assault and false imprisonment for attacking Williams just eight days earlier. Holly even had an order of protection out against him, which was issued after he was arrested for punching her in December. But he couldn’t exactly be a suspect in this crime.
So for nearly two years, the case remained unsolved… until this week.
On Monday, a federal indictment was unsealed which claimed that the former couple had been killed by members of SpearTip, a security company based in Austin, Texas — hired to murder the pair by Erik Charles Maund.
According to the indictment, Maund often traveled to Nashville to visit a relative. In early February 2020, he emailed Holly, whom he’d had a relationship with in the past, hoping to meet up while he visited on February 5 – 7. Once he returned home on March 1, however, Erik received text messages from a man later identified as William Lanway, who’d also had a “personal romantic relationship” with Holly. He demanded payment or else he was going to reveal the affair (Erik was married at the time).
It was at this point, the indictment continues, that Erik enlisted the help of Gilad Peled, the owner of SpearTip Security and reportedly a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces. Bryon Brockway, 46, and Adam Carey, 30, both former active-duty Marines, were also brought onto the case.
Investigators revealed that on March 5, Erik withdrew $15,000 from his bank account, the same day an “intelligence report” was prepared and provided to Peled, by a relative of Brockway (who worked for a cyber security company).
Around this time, Carey began flying in and out of Nashville (he is originally from Richlands, North Carolina). Prosecutors believe his trips were actually to surveil Holly and William — and that he learned info about Holly’s car, address, etc, as well as confirming the couple lived together at the time. Gilad even assured his client the team would “use everything at their disposal to stop the attempted extortion of Maund.”
The next week, Erik wired $150,000 to an account controlled by the alleged hitman. That day, Brockway and Carey confronted Holly and William while armed with firearms in the parking lot of their apartment complex. Lanway was murdered after being shot multiple times, according to court docs.
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Holly was then kidnapped and driven (alongside the body) to the construction site mentioned at the beginning, where she was also shot dead. The bodies were discarded in the crashed car and the hitmen returned home. Shortly after, communication between the hitmen and Erik was deleted. Since March 11, 2020, Erik has reportedly transferred more than $750,000 to Peled’s bank account to pay for the hitmen’s services, according to cops.
On Friday, Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and FBI agents finally arrested all four men across multiple states (Texas, California, and North Carolina). They have been charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping resulting in death, and carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during and concerning a crime of violence.
Awful. But that’s not the wildest aspect of this true crime story…
Shockingly, just three days before the arrest, someone using the name Erik Maund on Google left a dazzling 5-star review for SpearTip, writing:
“Speartip is very professional and on top of it. They get the job done in an expedited time. Couldn’t imagine using anyone else!!”
“Expedited time”?! Holy s**t!! This is actually going to be evidence in the trial, isn’t it??
The company even responded — which is just mind-boggling! They said:
“Thank you for the kind words. Always a pleasure working with you.”
Who the hell considers leaving a review for A HITMAN?! So crazy! Reactions, Perezcious readers?
[Image via Metropolitan Nashville Police Department & Google Reviews]