Man Jailed After Human Head Found in Ice Chest Has Felonies Spanning 4 Decades: Prosecutor

A man who was jailed after police discovered a severed human head and body parts in the truck he was driving has previous felony and federal criminal convictions spanning across four decades, a Las Vegas prosecutor told a judge Tuesday.

It started on December 23 when Eric Holland, 57, refused to pull over during a traffic stop, according to 8 News Now. At one point, Holland got out of the truck he was driving and into another. Police say both trucks were allegedly stolen. Holland was taken into custody after running from police in the second truck, but when authorities investigated the coolers in the backs of one of the trucks as it was being processed to be impounded, they discovered the dismembered body and severed head.

Holland is currently facing a murder charge and is being held without bail ahead of a court appearance next week. Prosecutor Giancarlo Pesci cited Holland's criminal history in his assertions to the judge that he is a threat to the community and should not have the option of being released on bail.

Holland's convictions, which fall under several names, date back to the 1980s and span across three states, Nevada, California and Texas.

An arrest warrant in Las Vegas has been out for Holland since May 2019 for a 2018 case that accused him of embezzlement, identity theft, issuing false checks and theft, according to court records. He posted the $5,000 bail set for that case.

He was also convicted of felony theft charges in Las Vegas for a forgery case filed in 2000 and ended up serving prison time in Nevada.

His convictions go back to 1987 and 1997 in California, the latter of which he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest causing substantial bodily harm.

And in 1991 in Texas, he was convicted of attempted escape and aiding in an escape.

Justice of the Peace Harmony Letizia set a preliminary hearing of evidence for January 27.

Holland was not asked to enter a plea to the murder charge against him, and his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Sarah Hawkins, declined outside court to comment on his behalf.

Holland's alleged victim was identified Tuesday as Richard P. Miller of Las Vegas. The Clark County coroner said Miller died last Thursday from multiple gunshot wounds and his death was a homicide.

"The victim is literally cut into pieces," Pesci said in court. "His head is cut off."

Police later found receipts in the vehicles for items purchased from a home improvement store where Pesci said Holland was seen on security cameras pushing a cart with a saw in it.

"This is an individual who literally had the body cut up into pieces in that car that he flees from the police [in]," he told the judge, "who has felonies spanning four decades and a current case pending."

Outside court, Pesci said Holland and Miller knew each other, but he didn't know the extent of their acquaintance.

KLAS-TV in Las Vegas reported that court records showed Holland was accused in 2018 of stealing a truck and selling it.

His previous convictions as an adult date to 1987 in California for embezzlement, property theft and false identification, Pesci said, and Holland also had a conviction in federal court in Texas in a counterfeiting case.

Records show Holland also was convicted in 1991 in U.S. District Court in Texas of attempted escape and aiding in an escape. His post-prison supervision was transferred to Nevada in 2014.

"Holland threw various items at officers in an attempt to flee, but he was taken into custody," police said in a statement.

"I mean, you can imagine the horror when you open up an ice chest and you find a human head inside," Spencer said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.