UK UK- Veronica ‘Vera’ Anderson, 42, sandwich business owner, found in her car, strangled, throat slit & killer tore out chunk of Vera’s hair, 24/8/91,

[dotr]

Very lengthy article, rbbm

How glove could be key clue in murder of mum who left son with pal for 10 min

DESCRIBED fondly as ‘salt of the earth’, 42-year-old Veronica ‘Vera’ Anderson was a fun-loving, popular and family-orientated mum of two. Her daughter, Lorraine, spoke of her as a ‘prop…

www.thesun.co.uk

• Charlotte Owen , 8 Sep 2024
• 
• ''And for all intents and purposes, Vera had a very ordinary life, both at home and at work.
  
  She ran her own sandwich business delivering to businesses and offices, was a ‘bubbly kind of person’ who ‘everybody liked’, and was one of the few female regulars at the Roll Inn Truck Shop and Motel, in Widnes, Cheshire.
  
  The one night Vera received an unknown phone call which prompted her to leave her then seven-year-old son in the care of a neighbour, saying she would be gone for ten minutes.
  
  It was a decision which proved fatal because five hours later she was found dead, slumped over the steering wheel of her blue Ford Cortina car – having been strangled and with her throat cut.''

''The attack was neither sexual nor a robbery and police have since said the level and nature of the violence used had all the hallmarks of a hitman.''
''The killer also tore a large piece of Vera’s hair from her scalp either before, during or after the attack.
It may have been taken as proof that her life had been taken.
It has never been found.
Chief Inspector Adam Waller described the murder as ‘premeditated’ and said: “We believe the killer took with them a large chunk of Vera’s hair. A patch was pulled out on the left side.''

Vera Anderson's Mark II Ford Cortina on a service road at a disused tannery in Penketh, Warrington, where her body was foundCredit: MEN Media

However, they did find a ‘Minette’ glove – used when handling hazardous materials in industry – stained with Vera’s blood in the area.

''The unsolved murder of Vera: A timeline​

• At 10:10pm on Saturday, August 24, 1991, Vera received an unknown phone call which prompted her to leave her then seven-year-old son in the care of a neighbour.
• Between 10:45pm and 11:15pm a brown hatchback type vehicle is spotted emerging from the service road where Vera Anderson’s body was later found.
• At 11pm a car matching Vera’s was seen by a resident at the end of a service road in the middle of a former tannery works off Tannery Road in Warrington.
• A couple returning from a social club saw it in the same place at 1:30am.
• At 3am, a man who was chasing youths he suspected of trying to get into his car, came across Vera’s car, saw her body and alerted police.
• Vera’s case ran cold for decades until two people were arrested on suspicion of her murder on March 23, 2022 but they were both released and no longer under investigation''

 

[dotr]

Mar 4, 2024 #truecrime #unsolved #ManchesterEveningNews
On August 25, 1991, the body of Vera Anderson was discovered in the driver's seat of her car in an old works yard in Penketh, near Warrington in Cheshire.Her brutal murder had all the hallmarks of a hitman - her throat had been cut, and a piece of her hair had been ripped from her scalp, possibly, detectives believe, as proof the job had been done.It was obvious from the start how Vera had been killed - yet to this day, the reason as to why her life was taken, remains a mystery.It’s a case that has had some of Cheshire Police’s most experienced investigators stumped for over three decades, and one they refuse to give up trying to solve.

The crime scene in Penketh in 1991 (Image: Newsquest)

Police identify person in CCTV appeal in probe into murder of Vera Anderson in 1991

DETECTIVES investigating the murder of a woman 32 years ago have released a CCTV image of a man they would like to speak to.

www.runcornandwidnesworld.co.uk

'It is believed that Vera, who ran a business making and selling sandwiches, was killed at some point between 11.30pm and 2.30am.
The identity of the caller remains a mystery, but at around 10.30pm a woman matching Vera’s description was sighted in the Crown and Cushion pub in Penketh.''
'One of Cheshire’s longest unsolved murder investigations, the case featured on Crimewatch Live on BBC One last September in an attempt by police to appeal for information.''
''Following an appeal in 2021, a 70-year-old man from Widnes and a 61-year-old woman from Warrington were arrested the following year due to information from the public.
They were subsequently released without charge.
Today's CCTV appeal was to identify a man who visited the Tesco Extra store on Winwick Road in Warrington on March 9, 2013.''

An e-fit of the man possibly linked to the murder of Veronica Anderson, who was killed in August 1991(Image: Liverpool Echo)

Suspect still 'under investigation' 18 months after murder arrest

Veronica Anderson left her home after a mystery phone call and never returned

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Tortoise]

No mention of whether they have extracted his/the murderer's DNA from the glove.

 

[trendsetter]

I'm puzzled by the CCTV images from 2013; they weren't released until earlier this year (February). CCTV isn't kept for 10 years as a matter of routine so the police identified them at the time as being important, kept them and yet did nothing with them for years. Why? Also, how were they connected to a murder that happened in 1991? Lastly, where can we see these images?

 

[dotr]

2022

Thirty one years ago a mum of two received a phone call which led to her murder

“We will work on any snippet of information and are committed to doing everything to find those responsible and bring them to justice.”

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

'The 42-year-old was found in her vehicle in Tannery Lane in Penketh, Warrington. It was parked set back from the road in what was at the time a lovers' lane hideaway - a winding road of derelict buildings and open land - popular with courting couples. The location was a mile from her Widnes home, off the A580 East Lancashire Road.'

The scene off Tannery Lane, Penketh, 31 years ago where Vera Anderson was found murdered in her blue Cortina at 3am on August 25th 1991
''One potentially key line of enquiry is a brown hatchback car. The car was seen on the service road where Vera's body was later found. At about 11.15pm on the night Vera died a witness was travelling along Tannery Road when a car emerged from the service road - the same road where Vera's body was later found. The car is described as a brown hatchback type vehicle.''

 

[Tortoise]

I'm puzzled by the CCTV images from 2013; they weren't released until earlier this year (February). CCTV isn't kept for 10 years as a matter of routine so the police identified them at the time as being important, kept them and yet did nothing with them for years. Why? Also, how were they connected to a murder that happened in 1991? Lastly, where can we see these images?

images in appeal made on 27 Feb 2024
Police investigating murder of Vera Anderson 32 years ago issue fresh CCTV appeal

They have since been identified and eliminated from the enquiry per today's article in the Sun linked in first post

 

[Tortoise]

I think the caller had to be someone she knew, or knew of, to have not been worried about meeting and sure she would be back for her neighbour babysitting so quickly. But I think it would have had to have been something seemingly pressing, a good reason given, for her to get her son out of bed and not ask the person to come to her house instead. Perhaps a woman made the call to entice her, for the murderer.

 

[trendsetter]

images in appeal made on 27 Feb 2024
Police investigating murder of Vera Anderson 32 years ago issue fresh CCTV appeal

They have since been identified and eliminated from the enquiry per today's article in the Sun linked in first post

The article says that the two people in the 2013 CCTV video have been identified - it doesn't say that they've been eliminated; here's the relevant part of the Sun's story:

"Vera’s case ran cold for decades until two people were arrested on suspicion of her murder on March 23, 2022.

A 70-year-old man from Widnes and a 61-year-old woman from Warrington were brought into police custody but, after being questioned by detectives, were released and are no longer under investigation.

The case again went silent until February this year when detectives released a CCTV image of a man they wanted to speak to.

The image was captured at Tesco Extra on Winwick Road in Warrington on March 9, 2013. He was in the company of a younger woman, also pictured.

However police later confirmed the people in the CCTV footage were also identified, and there have been no further developments in the case."

I think you're confusing them with the 2022 arrests.

 

[Tortoise]

The article says that the two people in the 2013 CCTV video have been identified - it doesn't say that they've been eliminated; here's the relevant part of the Sun's story:



I think you're confusing them with the 2022 arrests.

Yes, you're quite right. It was an incorrect assumption of mine since there have been no arrests and the investigation appears not to have progressed.

 

[dotr]

Neal Keeling and Ben Haslam 08 Sep 2024

Police continue to search for murderer after mum found dead in car

Vera Anderson rushed out the house before being found hours later in her Ford Cortina

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

Vera Anderson pictured in the lounge of a house in Avondale, Widnes, where she lived in the late 70s and early 80s.
''A more recent revelation has led to police believing she was, in fact, killed between 10.45pm and 11.15pm on August 24. At around 11.15pm a brown hatchback car came out of the service road of the old tannery works at speed and was close to colliding with another car being driven along Tannery Lane.

The car is thought to have been driven by the killer and was the style of a Talbot Horizon, Datsun Cherry, Vauxhall Astra or Mitsubishi. In March 2022, Cheshire Police announced a 70-year-old man from Widnes had been arrested on suspicion of murder and was questioned by police. The force confirmed to the ECHO the suspect was still under investigation last year.''