Vera Holland

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Thames Valley (POLICE)

Offense Location:

Reading, Berkshire

Summary:

Vera Holland was strangled to death and her body set alight; her murder remains unsolved. At the time of her death, Vera Holland (born 1948 or 1949) lived with her third husband, Brian, on St Barnabas Road in Shinfield Rise, south Reading, Berkshire. She was a devoted mother of three who vanished during a short walk to pick up dinner in November 1996.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

At 6:10 pm on 14 November 1996, Holland left her home to make a three-minute walk to the KFC restaurant on Shinfield Road. She was wearing a three-quarter-length pink coat, green tartan skirt, black jumper and black shoes. There was no sign of her on CCTV reaching her destination, and it is believed that she never made it to the restaurant. Brian reported her missing at 10.45 pm when she had failed to return home. Motorists on the A327 road, between Shinfield and Arborfield, alerted fire services to a blaze by the side of the road at 5.30 am on Saturday 16 November 1996 at an illegal fly-tipping site at Two Bridges. The site was about three miles south of Vera's home. Once the fire had been extinguished, Vera's body was discovered in a beige carpet on a pile of rubbish which included logs and tyres. Traces of her blood were found on the carpet and she was partially clothed in her undergarments: a suspender belt and petticoat. The post-mortem found that Vera had died of strangulation and there was bruising to her face. There was no sign of sexual assault.

Additional Details:

Eighty police officers from Thames Valley Police were involved in the investigation into Holland's death in the first year. At the height of the investigation 1,669 people were interviewed and 777 statements were taken. Over 100,000 leaflets appealing for information were sent out to local people. Fingerprint and blood tests were carried out on Brian Holland and the family home was sealed for three days while forensic teams searched the house, removing over 100 forensic samples. Two sightings of a light-coloured Ford Fiesta shortly after 5 am on 16 November near the entrance to Hall Farm, across the bridge from where Holland's body had been found. It was seen to drive off at speed on to the farm estate. A white Transit van seen several times for lengthy spells on 15 November in the location of Two Bridges. A black Ford Granada was seen in the area on the night of Holland's disappearance. In February 1997, the police made an appeal for more information about the carpet in which Holland's body had been found. It was a section of bedroom quality carpet measuring 9 feet 4 inches (2.84 m) by 8 feet 2 inches (2.49 m) and was fawn or beige. It had two furniture-sized indentations on one side – possibly from matching pieces of bedroom furniture – and two radiator pipe holes on the opposite side. Soil and weeds growing on the carpet led police to believe that it had previously been stored outside. On 17 December 1996, at 6.30am, Vera's second husband, Richard Stevens, 50, and his wife, Kaye, 42, were arrested. Mr and Mrs Stevens lived just a few houses from Vera and her husband, Brian. The couple were held for 13 hours then released on police bail. In January 1997, Vera's husband, Brian, was arrested in connection with her death. He was held for a day before being released on police bail. No one else has been arrested or charged in connection with Vera Holland's death. On Friday 20 June 1997, Vera Holland's funeral was held at Caversham Crematorium, Reading. On 16 October 1997, the inquest into Vera's death recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. The case also caught the attention of investigators reviewing the crimes of Christopher Halliwell, a convicted serial killer known for targeting women. While the head of the major crime review team acknowledged Halliwell's potential as a suspect, no definitive link could be drawn. In January 2017, Thames Valley Police announced that new witnesses had come forward leading to further investigations, but no arrests had been made.

Case Last Updated:

Apr 27, 2026