Secrets and Schemes: The Murder of Holly Williams and William Lanway

Fraulein Motte
9 min readMar 20, 2024

On March 13, 2020, a construction worker discovered a couple seemingly killed in a tragic car crash. However, upon further investigation of the crash site, authorities realized that the couple had died under much more sinister circumstances.

What happened to Holly and William, and why?

William “Bill” Lanway and Holly Williams | Credit: Shanta Joiner via ABC News

Early Life

William “Bill” Lanway was born on March 17, 1983, in Clarksville, Tennessee, to Candy Kay Lanway and Lyle William Lanway.

When Bill was just 3 years old, on November 23, 1986, a distressing event unfolded at Candy Lanway’s residence at 431 Circle Drive. Lyle Lanway, Bill’s father, was found holding him hostage with a .22 caliber rifle. He made threats to harm both Bill and himself unless Candy, his estranged wife, returned promptly from a shopping trip. Law enforcement intervened, engaging in negotiations with Lyle for a span of 5 hours. Eventually, Lyle agreed to release Bill to his mother. Subsequently, Lyle was apprehended and taken into custody, where he was held at the Stress Unit of Memorial Hospital.

Nevertheless, on November 27, 1986, being granted a day pass from the hospital for Thanksgiving, Bill’s father returned to Candy’s home. There, he launched a vicious attack on Candy and her friend, Jerry Beard, stabbing them…

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Fraulein Motte

I'm an independent writer based in Tennessee, USA. I specialize in covering true crime and other related topics. Contact: frauleinmotte@gmail.com