I was browsing some unsolved murders like I sometimes do when I have a spare half hour and read about the unsolved murder of Vera Holland. I started writing the article and assumed it was going to be a short one until I found out about a suspected serial killer named Christopher Halliwell who could potentially be responsible for the death of not only Holland but an array of missing women in and around the area over the years since the eighties.
I was actually pretty shocked at the amount of missing woman and unsolved murders of women there were and Halliwell is a real piece of work. I would like to flesh out the details and go all in with these cases at a later date- so expect this post to get an overhaul in the near future.
On the 16th of
November 1996, the body of a murdered woman, later identified as 47 year old Shinfield
Rise resident Vera Holland, was found burning in a mound of illegally dumped waste
which had been set ablaze by her killer.
Firefighters recovered her remains as
they battled the fire at a fly tip known to locals as “two bridges”, just off
the A327 motorway- a stones-throw away from the victim’s home. It was later
revealed that she had been asphyxiated.
Holland had been
missing since the 14th November 1996 after she went out with the intention of
picking up take-out food from KFC. Her husband reported her missing when she
failed to return, and was later informed of the devastating news.
The crime still remains unsolved 20 years later.
With no suspects or
persons of interest, attention turned to a remorseless, suspected serial killer
and former taxi driver, Christopher Halliwell, who is currently spending life
in prison for the murders of 20 year old Becky Godden in Swindon in 2003 and 22
year old Sian O’Callaghan in Wiltshire in 2011.
Both the locations of
the bodies of Godden and O’Callaghan were under a 50 minute drive from
Shinfield and there is an eight year gap between the two murders. Both victims
had also been strangled.
In fact, there is a
string of missing people’s cases and unsolved murders in the south-west of
England from 1995 onwards that could possibly be the handy work of Christopher
Halliwell.
Officer Steve Fulcher
(who lost his position while working on the case due to gross misconduct) highlighted what he
considered an important detail: Three women went missing or were possibly murdered in the south-west on
the same date, March 19th, of different years- Sian O’Callaghan
(A confirmed victim) Linda Razzell (although her husband was arrested) and yet another missing woman,
Claudia Lawrence (also unsolved). He expressed his disappointment with the
local police for not further exploring the connection after he was relieved
from his position.
This article in the Sun newspaper contains a statement made a friend of the killers ex-wife stating "The date was “special” to the killer, 52, as it was the one on which he was dumped by a girlfriend in the Eighties."
Halliwell.
(Pic source: dailymail)
According to an article in the Guardian from this year, Halliwell was inquiring how many
victims it would take to be officially classed as a serial killer while he was
incarcerated for an unrelated crime. An old cell mate of Halliwell's, an armed
robber by the name of Ernest Springer, told interviewers that the suspected
serial killer would constantly talk about serial killers and was particularly interested
in Myra Hindley, whom was something of an idol to him. The twisted taxi driver’s
internet search history exposed an interest in an array of exploitative pornography.
Investigators do not
believe that Callaghan and Godden were Halliwell’s first victims, and believe
that there are probably more unsolved murders of woman that could be the work
of Halliwell- including Linda Razzell whose remains were found in Swindon in
2002. He is not as of yet forensically tied to any of the cases but they say
that does not rule him out as the potential perpetrator.
A woman named Sally Ann John, who
went missing in Swindon in 1995, and lived very close to Halliwell at the time,
is also thought of as a possible potential victim. She worked as a call girl,
and Halliwell was known for requiring the services of those working in the sex
industry and would cruise around the red light district in his taxi (a green
Toyota Avensis )- which is where he met Godden. [X]
Halliwell also had a
collection of pencil drawings in his home, with rural or isolated locations as
the subject. These were thought to be indications of the burial sites of other
victims.[X]
If you have any information of the murder of Vera Holland, please do not hesitate to contact the relevant authorities.
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