Las Vegas police pulled a man over following a brief pursuit and found a severed head, legs and a torso in the back of the truck he admitted to stealing.
via People:
On Dec. 23, at about 3:42 p.m., patrol officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department tried to stop a man driving a truck when he took off, the LVMPD says in a release.
As the officers chased the driver through the streets of Las Vegas, the department’s air unit tracked the truck from above.
The air unit saw the man get out of the Toyota Tundra with the suspended registration he was driving and jump into another truck — “a gold Chevrolet Avalanche,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by CNN.
Officers tried to stop the driver, who fled a second time, according to the release. The air unit led officers to an apartment complex.
“Officers approached the vehicle and observed the suspect, later identified as Eric Holland, 57, exiting the truck,” according to the LVMPD. Holland allegedly threw various items at the officers as he tried to get away, but he was taken into custody, the LVMPD says.
Officers discovered human remains in the bed of the truck, according to the LVMPD. They found a black plastic trash bag with a severed head inside that was giving off a “foul odor,” according to the criminal complaint.
Police found coolers found in the gold truck allegedly contained “two human legs” and “an apparent human torso,” the complaint says.
“Through the course of the investigation, LVMPD detectives identified Holland as the suspect in the homicide,” the LVMPD says in a statement.
The victim has been identified as Richard P. Miller, 65, of Las Vegas, according to the Clark County coroner’s office. His death has been ruled a homicide. He died of multiple gunshot wounds.
On Tuesday, a judge denied bail for Holland, who remains held in the Clark County Detention Center, online records show.
“Proof is evident and the presumption is great that Mr. Holland committed murder,” the judge said, the Associated Press and KTLA report.
Holland has not yet entered a plea.
Holland’s public defender, P. David Westbrook, said that his client did not kill anyone and that he just happened to steal a truck that had body parts in it, the Associated Press and KTLA report. Holland, Westbrook said in court, is “a hapless car thief who just picked the wrong car.”
Prosecutors must prove that Holland knew the body was in the truck “and that he actually caused the death,” he said.
Miller and Holland knew each other, say authorities, the Associated Press and KTLA report.
They have not provided details about an alleged motive.
Holland is a prior felon in Nevada, California and Texas, The Mercury Newsreports.
Either that man is lying or he has the worst luck ever.
