Heartbroken family of ‘loving’ mum, 42, found dead hours after mysterious phone call make desperate plea to find killer
THE heartbroken family of a “loving” mum who was found dead hours after a mysterious phone call have made a desperate plea to find her killer.
Vera Anderson, 42, was discovered lying across the driver’s seat of her Mark II blue Ford Cortina in an old works yard in August 1991.
The killer had cut Vera’s throat after probably first rendering her unconscious with a sash cord pulled tight around her neck.
The attack was neither sexual nor a robbery but the level and nature of the violence used had the hallmarks of a hitman.
And now 33 years on Vera’s daughter Lorraine Newton – 51 and a mother-of-four – has made a new plea for justice.
‘She was a proper mum – I knew I was loved’
Lorraine said: “It would be fantastic if the police could get someone for the murder.
“It would be a form of relief to think they have got what they deserved.”
She continued: “I still hope that one day the culprit will get the justice they deserve.
“I would say to anyone who knows who did it to speak to the police. He has got away with this for so long and he could do it again.
“Somebody knows – maybe his wife – if they do I don’t know how they could live with that for 33 years. It is a very hard secret to keep.
“She might have been threatened of course – ‘open your mouth and I’m going to do it to you’.”
Vera lived in Widnes, close to the M62, and her social life centred on the Roll Inn Truck Stop and Motel in Tan House Lane as one of the few female regulars.
At the time of her death Vera had been seeing a trucker for about three years.
The man, who has been eliminated from inquiries, had stayed overnight at her home on August 23, 1991.
At 6am on the following Saturday she drove him to the Roll Inn and he got into his cab and returned to his home.
Later during the day Vera was visited by Lorraine, aged 19 at the time, and her 18-month-old daughter Danielle at her home in Hadfield Close.
Lorraine recalled her mum seeming “very quiet” and added: “there was something she wasn’t telling me”.
A phone call which would lead to Vera’s death was made at about 10pm that day.
Whatever the caller said prompted Vera to get her seven-year-old son out of bed and take him to her next door neighbour to look after.
She left the lights on in her house and the TV on.
Brutal and premeditated
ONE key piece of evidence has led detectives to believe Vera was killed between 10.45pm and 11.15pm on August 24.
At about 11.15pm a brown hatchback type car came out of the service road of the old tannery works at speed and almost collided with another car being driven along Tannery Lane.
The vehicle, which police suspect may have been driven by the killer, was of the style of a Talbot Horizon, Datsun Cherry, Vauxhall Astra or Mitsubishi.
The car has never been traced.
Vera also had injuries to her lower legs from kicking out at the foot pedals of the car as she struggled with her killer.
The key was in the ignition of the Cortina but the fob it was on had been ripped off.
She told the neighbour she had to collect something for her brother and would be a short while.
She emptied a child’s pushchair and a red box containing jump leads for her unreliable car and tools from the boot of her car before driving away.
She was seen by a witness leaving her estate and heading towards Widnes but then may have doubled back in the opposite direction towards Warrington.
At 11pm a car matching Vera’s was seen by a resident of a nearby terraced house parked at the end of a service road in the middle of a former tannery works converted into a cluster of workshops off Tannery Road, Penketh, Warrington.
A couple returning from a social club saw it in the same place at 1.30am.
She was a really nice person. She got on with everybody. She would never hurt anybody.
Lorraine Newton
Then a man who was chasing youths he suspected of trying to get into his car came across Vera’s Ford, saw her body and alerted police.
An officer attended at 3.15am on August 25.
In the footwell of Vera’s car police recovered a cartridge from a blank firing handgun.
Detectives believe a pistol may have been discharged to frighten Vera and stop her from fleeing her vehicle.
The killer also tore a large piece of Vera’s hair from her scalp either before, during or after the attack – it was never found.
It may have been taken as proof that her life had been taken.
Whoever rendezvoused with Vera in a remote, almost hidden location, went there with a garrote, a blade of some kind, a firearm, and police believe one intention – to murder her.
Found just in front of her car was a discarded empty cigarette box of the brand, Embassy Regal, with a blue design on the pack.
They were not Vera’s choice but her DNA was on wrapping inside it.
Vera had bought a packet of Barclay cigarettes the day before from a local shop.
Detectives are convinced the mother-of-two was lured to her death by a phone call made by the killer or an accomplice.
A red herring... and a white glove
DURING the initial investigation a huge amount of police time was dedicated to pursuing a possible sighting of Vera in the Crown and Cushion pub in Penketh after 10pm on the night she died.
A woman resembling her was seen with a man and a photofit of the man was issued and he was regarded as a prime suspect.
But there are now doubts as to whether it was Vera who was in the pub.
A barmaid in the pub said she served the woman suspected of being Vera a lager – but Vera’s drink was stout or pale ale.
Near the scene of the crime police recovered a white minette glove dropped on the service road – they believe – by the killer.
It was forensically linked to Vera.
It is the type used when handling hazardous materials in industry or worn by people with skin conditions.
The sash cord used to strangle Vera was made from Italian cotton on the outside with a synthetic inner.
A spokesperson for Cheshire Police said: “Mother-of-two Veronica Anderson left her home in Widnes at 10.10pm on Saturday 24th August 1991 after receiving a phone call.
“Just hours later (shortly after 3am on Sunday 25th August 1991) the 42-year-old was found dead in her car off Tannery Lane in Penketh, Warrington.
“A murder investigation was subsequently launched by Cheshire Police.
“Despite extensive and exhaustive enquiries over the years, no-one has ever been convicted in connection with her death.
“Vera’s family were left heartbroken over her death and have had to live with what happened for more than 30 years.
“Someone out there must know something about what happened that day.
“Anyone with any information is urged to come forward – even the smallest amount of information can be crucial.
“Anyone with any information is urged to contact Cheshire Police on 101.
“If you do not want to speak to the police then information can also be passed on anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.”