Eric Holland: Vegas man who killed friend and hid his severed head in truck gets up to 45 years in prison
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: Eric John Holland, the man arrested by police in a stolen truck in which a severed head and body parts were later found, has been sentenced by the court. The 58-year-old will now serve up to 45 years in prison, with a minimum of 18 years after Clark County Judge Tierra Jones sentenced the convict in a 2021 case. He was found guilty of second-degree murder and grand theft after pleading guilty in court in July, according to the Associated Press. Officers were able to catch him after he eluded a traffic stop in Las Vegas last December, prompting a chase. Holland managed to switch trucks as he fled, as both vehicles were pelted with rocks, and he was eventually caught by authorities.
The human remains were found in the second vehicle in large refrigerated boxes. The news agency reported that the remains were later identified as those of 65-year-old Richard P Miller, who was a friend of the killer and had been missing since November 2021. The investigators later discovered that Miller's body had several bullet wounds. On his motive behind the murder, Holland said the two got in a heated argument, where Miller threatened him, "He had a gun, and I had a gun.”
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Coming up at 11: Eric Holland, who killed a man, dismembered him and drove around with a severed head & body parts spoke with us from his jail cell today.
— Sasha Loftis (@SashaLoftis) December 2, 2022
He was sentenced to at least 18 years in prison. The @8NewsNow Investigators first to report his arrest last December. pic.twitter.com/6h1PgOF8Pp
Holland also told cops about the challenge he faced while moving the victim’s body, since Miller was 6'4 and 250 lbs, and that’s when he decided to use a saw, coolers, and trash bag with the aim to bury him in pieces. "I had so much regret about this that it was eating me up," added Holland. "That I was trying to do right by him." In court, Holland repeated, "It's a terrible thing that happened, and I'm just so sorry. I was going to bring it up in court, but I'm not going to because of family members. There was a reason, and I hope that they'll get closure today."
Adding another angle, Holland in a jailhouse interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal shared that he believed Miller had killed his own ex-wife Jing Mei Zhu. He divorced her after a few months alleging she moved back to China in court.
David Westbrook, attorney to Holland told the Review-Journal ahead of sentencing, "I can tell you that Eric believes that she is dead and Richard killed her. He believes that very strongly." Meanwhile, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has no person missing under her name.