‘This was like a scene out of a movie’: Friday’s ‘20/20’ episode features murder-for-hire plot

Friday’s episode of “20/20” features the investigation into Erik Maund, who was convicted of the connected murders of Holly Williams and her estranged partner Bill Lanway in Nashville in 2020.

The episode, according to a teaser from ABC News, features exclusive interviews with investigators who uncovered the murder-for-hire plot that led them to arrest Maund and his associates.

In a separate teaser posted to X, the site formerly known as Twitter, ABC revealed that the episode will also go into the crime scene examination, showing the state of the crashed car and the exact area where it was found.

The 2020 Nashville murders

Per ABC News, Nashville Metro police received a call on March 13, 2020, from a construction worker who noticed a white Acura crashed into a tree.

When authorities arrived, what initially looked to be a deadly car crash involving Williams and Lanway was determined to be something darker when investigators noticed several gunshot wounds.

“This was like a scene out of a movie,” Nashville Police Department Detective Patrick Cuthbertson shared about the case to ABC News.

After discovering that Williams installed cameras in her apartment due to alleged domestic issues with Lanway, investigators secured camera footage and found footage of Williams earlier that month bolstering the apartment door to stop a group of men from entering.

How Maund got involved

According to the “20/20” teaser from ABC News, Maund was a wealthy Austin car dealer with a wife and two kids. In February 2020, he went to visit his son in Nashville, and while visiting, he allegedly had an affair with Williams, per People.

The following March, an anonymous text was sent to Maund, demanding that he send $25,000 or else information about his affair would be revealed publicly, per ABC News.

According to People, the police determined that Maund then hired Gilad Peled — who previously did consulting security work for Maund’s dealership — to find the person who sent the text. Peled hired Adam Carey and Bryon Brockway — who were former Marines — to assist in the private operation.

Once it was discovered that Lanway sent the text, Maund’s team allegedly sent Carey and two other men to Nashville on March 11, according to ABC News. The group of men reportedly went to Williams’ apartment three times to make contact with her.

When Brockway joined the team in Nashville, he allegedly proposed murdering Williams with Carey and Maund agreed, according to ABC News.

On March 12, Willams and Lanway stepped out of Williams’ apartment and were ambushed and kidnapped, per People. Eventually, the couple were driven to a construction site and murdered. Their bodies were found the following morning.

The investigation of Maund

ABC News reported that investigators found Carey’s phone contact in both victims’ phones. After confirming Carey was one of the men on Williams’ security footage, they identified connections between him and the other men, including Maund.

Because the case involved multiple states, the FBI became involved, and on Dec. 10, 2021, the agency had enough evidence to arrest Brockway, Carey and Peled, according to ABC News. Peled worked with investigators and agreed to call Maund, who shared enough information during the conversation that investigators were able to arrest him.

Per The Tennessean, in November 2023, Maund, Brockway and Carey were found guilty of concocting and carrying out the murder-for-hire plot. Maund was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, but found not guilty of kidnapping resulting in the deaths.

Where and when can I watch new episode of ‘20/20’?

According to ABC News, the “20/20” episode on Maund will air Friday night at 7 p.m. MST and stream on Hulu beginning Saturday.

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