The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Never Text Your Ex

Posted on | December 16, 2021 | Comments Off on Never Text Your Ex

Say hello to Holly Williams and her boyfriend William Lanway and, while you’re at it, go ahead and say good-bye, because they’re both dead. The couple lived in Nashville, and died there after they attempted an extortion scheme that backfired in the worst possible way. You see, it all started when Holly’s ex-boyfriend, a successful Texas businessman named Erik Maund, decided to get in touch with her:

Mr. Maund, a 46-year-old married auto dealer from Austin, Texas, traveled to Nashville a few times a year to visit a relative, prosecutors said. As he prepared for his trip in early February 2020, Mr. Maund reached out to Ms. Williams, an old romantic acquaintance, asking her to meet up while he was in town, according to the indictment.
On Feb. 5, Mr. Maund allegedly texted Ms. Williams, 33, again, noting he was looking forward to being with her that night.
“Good day beautiful! … I’m in Nashville,” he said, according to court documents. “I’ll meet you in the bar like last time. Text me when you arrive.”
On March 1, Mr. Maund began receiving threatening text messages. Mr. Lanway, 36, was in a romantic relationship with Ms. Williams and wanted Mr. Maund to pay him not to expose the affair, prosecutors said.

NEVER TEXT YOUR EX!

Nothing good ever happens as a consequence. Time moves in one direction, and going backward — attempting to rekindle the old flame — is a formula for heartache. And also, perhaps, murder:

On Friday, Mr. Maund and the three men he allegedly paid $750,000 to kill the Nashville couple were arrested on kidnapping, murder and gun charges. . . .
Mr. Maund “communicated multiple times” with Gilad Peled, the owner of Austin-based firm Speartip Security. According to the indictment, the company advertised “responding to extortion demands” on its website. Mr. Peled, 47, said he was a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces and the Mossad.
On March 5, an unnamed accomplice gave Mr. Peled an “Intelligence Report” on Ms. Williams, the indictment said. That same day, Mr. Maund allegedly withdrew $15,000 from his Bank of America account. The money eventually made its way into Mr. Peled’s personal and business bank accounts, according to prosecutors.
Mr. Peled allegedly sent Adam Carey, 30, of Richlands, N.C., who served in the United States Marine Corps’ Special Operations group, to Nashville on March 7 to surveil Ms. Williams and Mr. Lanway.
Mr. Carey sent a report two days later. It included Ms. Williams’ address and vehicle information and confirmed that Mr. Lanway had been staying in her apartment.
“[The report] advised that Adam Carey and others would use ‘everything at our disposal to include, intimidation … ’ to stop the attempted extortion,” the indictment says.
Mr. Carey and other unnamed accomplices tried to contact Ms. Williams and Mr. Lanway on March 10, prosecutors said. They showed up at Ms. Williams’ apartment, but the attempt to speak with her was “unsuccessful,” according to court documents. That day they also allegedly tailed Mr. Lanway in a grocery store but did not approach him directly.
Mr. Carey received additional help the following day when Bryon Brockway, 46, arrived from Austin. According to the indictment, Mr. Brockway owns a security company and served in the United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance, a Special Operations intelligence unit.
On March 12, Mr. Carey and Mr. Brockway allegedly confronted Ms. Williams and Mr. Lanway in the parking lot of Ms. Williams’ apartment complex. Prosecutors said they shot Mr. Lanway multiple times, including twice in the head.
They then allegedly forced Ms. Williams into her 2005 Acura sedan and drove her to a construction site while Mr. Lanway’s body was in the car. Once they arrived, Mr. Carey and Mr. Brockway shot Ms. Williams “multiple times including a shot to the head near her right temple,” the indictment says.
The next day, Mr. Carey and Mr. Brockway drove to Memphis, Tenn., where Mr. Brockway got on a flight to Austin, the lawsuit says. Mr. Carey then drove to Austin.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department found Ms. Williams and Mr. Lanway’s bodies on April 10, 2020, police Chief John Drake said in a news release — nearly a month after Mr. Carey and Mr. Brockway allegedly killed them.
Since March 11, 2020, Mr. Maund paid “in excess of $750,000” to Mr. Peled, Mr. Brockway and Mr. Carey for “the kidnapping and murder” of Ms. Williams and Mr. Lanway, the indictment says.

Has anyone ever gotten away with a murder-for-hire plot?

OK, Hillary Clinton, maybe, but in other cases, the feds are actually going to try to catch the killers, rather than deliberately covering it up with some “suicide” nonsense, but I digress . . .

My point is that I’ve seen enough true-crime shows on TV to understand how difficult it is to get away with murder-for-hire. Once the cops figure out who had a motive to kill the deceased victims, the rest of it is just a matter of getting warrants to seize your phone, your computer, etc. But that’s assuming that you can actually find an authentic hit man to do the job. Most of the time, when someone tries to hire a hit man to murder their wife or husband or whatever, they end up talking to an undercover cop wearing a wire pretending to be a hit man.

Stupid is as stupid does, however, and a guy that’s dumb enough to text his ex is dumb enough to think he can get away with murder. On the other hand, the two extortionists are dead, so that’s a bit of a silver lining to this dark cloud of stupidity. Also, Hillary Clinton may have gotten away with murder, but at least she never became president.




 

Category: Crime

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