Las Vegas police chase truck thief, discover suspect has severed head stashed inside

It was the day before Christmas and in the city of Las Vegas 57-year-old Eric Holland found himself wanted by police over a suspended registration.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan police air unit followed Holland as he fled the area, and in a parking garage Holland switched from his stolen Toyota Tundra truck, to a gold Chevrolet Avalanche, which he also allegedly stole.

Police eventually caught up with Holland at an apartment building. "Holland threw various items at officers in an attempt to flee, but he was taken into custody," according to the Las Vegas police department.

When authorities searched the gold Chevrolet Avalanche truck, they found a severed head inside. Cooler containers found elsewhere in the vehicle had a torso and a pair of human legs, too.

"The officer opened up one of the ice chests and discovered a human head inside that ice chest," according to a homicide detective working the case.

"We’ve recovered evidence that shows that he purchased tools that were used to dismember the victim’s body and then placed him into several ice chests that we recovered during the initial arrest."

Per CNN, the defense from Eric Holland’s lawyer is why would his client lead police to these human remains. "In order to presume that Mr. Holland had prior knowledge of the contents of this truck, you would also have to believe that he [led] police to the body intentionally. The question is, why would he do this?"

The deceased was identified as 65-year-old Richard P. Miller. His cause of death was identified as being from several gunshot wounds. Police say Holland and Miller knew each other and the victim in this case had been listed as missing since November 2021.

Local outlets following the story revealed that Eric Holland’s criminal history goes as far back as the 1970s. Prosecutors were also able to link the suspect to purchases from Home Depot, where he reportedly bought "trash bags and ties" that authorities believe were used for Richard Miller’s murder.

At the Clark County Detention Center, Holland faced charges of using "another person’s ID, auto embezzlement of more than $3,500, intent to use a false check and theft of more than $3,500 from outstanding warrants," according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

This is in addition to a murder charge over the human remains found in the back of the vehicle. Holland’s next court appearance is on January 27.