AUSTIN, Texas — One of the suspects in a murder-for-hire allegedly plotted by an Austin businessman has pleaded guilty to three counts.
Court documents show that on Wednesday, Dec. 14, Gilad Peled pleaded guilty to the charges of murder of hire, conspiracy to kidnap with death resulting and kidnapping resulting in death.
Peled was indicted in December 2021 – along with Austin businessman Erik Charles Maund, Byron Brockway and Adam Carey – in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Holly Williams and William Lanway in Nashville, Tennessee, in March 2020.
According to an indictment obtained by KVUE in December 2021, Maund frequently traveled to Nashville to visit a relative. In February 2020, he began texting Williams, whom he previously had a relationship with, ahead of a visit.
The indictment stated that Williams' estranged boyfriend, Lanway, found out and began demanding money from Maund. Lanway allegedly threatened to expose Maund's relationship with Williams if Maund didn't pay him.
Williams and Lanway were found dead in a car in Nashville on the morning of March 12, 2020.
Court documents showed the couple was kidnapped and shot to death before their bodies were left in a car near a construction site. According to a press release from the government of Nashville, their bodies were discovered by a construction worker.
A federal investigation culminated in connecting Maund to Peled, Brockway and Carey, who investigators allege carried out the crimes.
According to the indictment, Peled, Brockway and Carey traveled to Nashville to kidnap, threaten and intimidate Williams and Lanway. The indictment stated Maund paid the three men more than $750,000 for the kidnapping and murder.
Peled, Brockway and Carey all have backgrounds in military and security. The indictment listed Peled as a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces and the owner of Speartip Security, a security services company based in Austin.
In July 2022, KVUE reported that Maund faces additional charges for allegedly trying to arrange the murder of one of his co-defendants from behind bars after his arrest in December.
Peled faces life in prison and will be sentenced in April.
Maund, Brockway and Carey are still pending trial.