Erik Maund arranged the murders of Holly Williams and William Lanway.
What was his motive?
Maund had an extramarital affair with Holly Williams.
Then, Holly Williams and her boyfriend, William Lanway, tried to blackmail Maund over the affair.
In response, Maund arranged for the murder of the blackmailers.
He reportedly paid nearly a million dollars to a middleman who arranged for these murders.
The intermediary is Giland Peled, while the murderers are Bryon Brockway and Adam Carey.
Brockway and Carey have a United States military background, while Peled claims to be a former member of the Israel Defense Force.
Blackmail involves the threat of revealing information that can harm one’s reputation.
That is why legal protection alone cannot shield the victim from the damage this disclosure might cause.
That is why many individuals and businesses choose to pay ransom to prevent a negative outcome.
From that perspective, the crime of blackmail closely resembles kidnapping.
Yet, the punishment for blackmail is usually less severe than for kidnapping.
Nevertheless, Maund decided on murder instead of either paying the ransom or seeking help from the police.
While extortion and blackmail are serious crimes and, from a moral and ethical standpoint, heinous…
