With SXSW and spring break on the horizon, Austin is buzzing with things to do. We’ve got the details on the five best events this weekend. For a full list of happenings, visit our events calendar.
Texas Keeper Cider Taproom Opening Party Celebrate the grand opening of Texas Keeper Cider's new taproom with good people and good booze this Saturday. Visit the new digs — located right next to the Texas Keeper Cidery — and enjoy an exclusive tasting of limited-release ciders and wines from Texas and beyond. Guests will also enjoy live music, lawn games, and more.
Long Center presents Carol Burnett Spend an evening with the one-and-only Carol Burnett at the Long Center this Saturday. The pioneering actress visits for an engaging experience where the audience asks the questions. This 90-minute conversation is sure to be unforgettable. Snag your tickets to this intimate event before they’re gone!
Gabriel Iglesias in concert Get a good laugh in Saturday night with comedian Gabriel Iglesias. Best known for his rants on Comedy Central, Iglesias brings his Fluffy Breaks Even! comedy tour to the Frank Erwin Center for one night only.
Bullock Texas State History Museum presents Our Global Kitchen Experience food in a brand-new way at the Bullock Texas State History Museum’s newest exhibit, “Our Global Kitchen.” The highly interactive, multi-media exhibit explores the historical, cultural, and scientific intersection of humans and food. Catch a first look at the opening this weekend.
Get a taste of limited-release ciders at Texas Keeper Cider's taproom opening.
Texas Keeper Cider/Facebook
Get a taste of limited-release ciders at Texas Keeper Cider's taproom opening.
A new podcast by Texas Monthly explores the crimes of Erik Maund and his hired hit men.
There’s something about murder for hire in the air this summer (raise your hand if you saw Linkater’s latest), and Texas Monthly is adding to the cultural intrigue with a new podcast.
The Problem With Erik tells a uniquely Austin story about a rich, well-known Austinite, Erik Maund, and a series of misguided plots to hire people to kill his former escort, Holly Williams, and her boyfriend, Bill Lanway. The first two episodes are out now, with more to be released weekly.
This true-crime tale has everything: wanna-be hit men, secret FBI informants, an exclusive man cave called The Sh*thole — you name it.
Holly Williams was an escort in Nashville whom Maund, a married man, would hire while traveling. But meddling in Williams' business affairs was her jealous and abusive boyfriend, Lanway, who texted Maund demanding $25,000, or he’d tell Maund’s wife everything. The blackmail attempt set off a deadly chain of events, resulting in Williams and Lanway being kidnapped, shot to death, and left in a car near a construction site in March 2020.
Police investigate the car.Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department
Erik Maund was a familiar local name thanks to the success of his family business, Charles Maund Toyota. Now, he’ll be remembered for his crimes, as Maund was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire by a Tennessee jury in November 2023. Three of his middlemen (including Charlie Sheen’s former bodyguard) were also found guilty of various charges, including kidnapping resulting in death.
Austin-based podcast producer Ana Worrel (who previously produced the podcast Gone South and HBO’s Euphoria) grew up hearing car and TV commercials for the car dealership, along with plenty of other Austinites. So when Erik Maund was arrested in 2021, Worrel and others she knew had a big reaction.
In the podcast’s first episode, retired Chevrolet dealer Wallace Lundgren says, “If you say the Maund name in Austin in a 7-Eleven, two people say, ‘I bought a car from him.’ ” Worrel’s own mother owned a Toyota Highlander.
“It was just really shocking to hear something [like that about what] felt like such an Austin institution to me at the time,” Worrel says.
Texas Monthly’s print story on Maund’s crimes came out this month, but Worrel, who attended Maund’s criminal trial, knew that audio would be an excellent medium for telling this story.
“There was a whole undercover FBI operation with all of these recorded phone calls and recorded meetings that we incorporate throughout the show; between this undercover FBI informant and the hitman, between Erik and his middleman,” Worrel says. “It's pretty shocking to hear. A lot of them are just the hitman chillingly describing how to get away with murder.”
Worrel and podcast host Katy Vine dig deep into the backstory of Maund and his conspirators’ crimes with plenty of clandestine audio from the criminal investigation. They also weave in personal interviews with involved parties including Williams’ friends and the men who used to hang around the Sh*thole, the nickname for a concrete hangout behind a gas station where Maund and friends would meet up.
Listeners will hear about Maund’s privileged cluelessness and tendency to throw money at his problems; Williams’ up-and-down relationship with Lanway and his attempts to chase away her steady clients; and the men who asked Maund for a total of $750,000 to solve his extortion problem “permanently” — one of whom used digital passwords like “Hitman3A,” Worrel says.
Erik Maund will be sentenced later this year and faces life in prison. Until then, all the twists and turns will drop weekly on Apple Podcasts and other platforms.