
Las Vegas, Nevada: 58-year-old Eric John Holland was sentenced by Clark County District Judge Tierra Jones to between 18 and 45 years in prison for the murder of 65-year-old Richard P. Miller. Richard was last seen in November 2021.
On Tuesday, July 19, 2022, Holland plead guilty to second-degree murder and felony theft.
The charges were filed against Holland following a brief vehicle pursuit after an officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department attempted a traffic stop on December 23, 2021. Following the stop, Holland was found to be driving a stolen vehicle and an inspection of the vehicle revealed Richard's severed head concealed in a cooler.
A medical examiner revealed that Richard had been shot several times.
In speaking with the Las Vegas Review Journal during a jail house interview Holland disclosed "there was a reason" for the shooting.
He alleged that he and Richard had gotten into an argument and that both men, at that time, had been armed with a gun. Following the shooting, Holland stated that he couldn't move his friend's body because of his size.
"I had so much regret about this that it was eating me up," Holland told KLAS-TV. "I got nothing for pleading guilty," he said. "I just didn't want to put the family through anything more."
Holland alleged that he believed his friend had murdered Jing Mei Zhu, his former wife. Richard and Jing had been married in 2018 and divorced less than a year later, allegedly when Jing left and moved to China.
"I can tell you that Eric believes that she is dead and Richard killed her," David Westbrook, Holland's attorney said. "He believes that very strongly."
"He might be wrong that Richard killed Jing Mei Zhu. Only time will tell on that," David said. "But you can't question his motivation because he's not getting anything for this. He has no reason to make this up."
The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that LVMPD does not have an open missing person case for Jing.