In an unexpected turn in a high-profile murder-for-hire case, former Austin car dealer Erik Charles Maund, along with two co-defendants, Bryon Brockway and Adam Carey, have been granted a new trial. A U.S. district judge handed down the decision after identifying "discrepancies" in exhibits presented to the jury during their trial for the 2020 kidnapping and murder of a Tennessee couple. KXAN reports that the court acknowledged multiple errors in the evidence submitted, including three exhibits that were not shown to the jury, and nine that were shown but not formally admitted into evidence.
Maund, who had been acquitted on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap, faces a retrial on the charge of murder-for-hire with death resulting. His co-defendants Brockway and Carey, also convicted on the murder-for-hire charge, will face a retrial on this count as well as for conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping resulting in death. According to the details revealed in court documents, one exhibit was provided to the jury without required redactions, including the date the murders occurred. Despite the error not being listed in the formal notice, the defendants identified it ahead of a key hearing.
CBS Austin indicates the ruling for a new trial was predicated on an administrative mistake identified by the presiding judge. The judge has clarified that the retrial will be limited only to the counts on which the jury had delivered guilty verdicts, as the principle of double jeopardy prevents retrial on the acquitted charges.
The original trial, which concluded in Nashville the previous year, had resulted in Maund being found guilty of orchestrating the murders of Holly Williams and William Lanway in March 2020. With the announcement of retrying the case, the legal process is once again in the spotlight, raising questions about the integrity of court proceedings. As the defendants prepare for their new day in court, the families of Williams and Lanway anticipate another round of proceedings, hoping for a resolution that upholds justice.
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