Two people have been arrested by detectives investigating the murder of a mum thirty-one years ago.
Just after 10pm on August 24th, 1991, Veronica Anderson took a phone call at her home. Whoever it was, and whatever they said, prompted her to leave the house in a hurry and get a neighbour to babysit her seven-year-old son.
She drove her son to the neighbour's home saying she would be back in ten minutes as she "had an appointment". Five hours later she was found in her Cortina car with her throat cut.
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In a statement today, Cheshire Constabulary said two people had been arrested. "Detectives investigating the murder of Vera Anderson which took place on 24 August 1991 in Penketh, Warrington have arrested two people," a spokesperson said.
"Today (Wednesday 23 March), a 70-year-old man from Widnes and a 61-year-old woman from Warrington have been arrested on suspicion of murder. They both remain in custody being questioned by detectives."
Mother-of-two Veronica, known as Vera, left her home in Widnes at 10.10pm on Saturday, August 24, 1991, after receiving the phone call. Shortly after 3am on Sunday, August 25 1991, the 42-year-old was found dead in her car off 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 in Penketh, off the A580 East Lancashire Road. Vera had left her home in Hadfield Close at 10.10pm on August 24 after receiving the phone call.
Vera was slumped over the driving wheel. No murder weapon was ever found but nearby was a single blood-stained "Minette" cotton glove and a length of sash cord.
A murder investigation was subsequently launched by Cheshire Constabulary. However, despite exhaustive enquiries over the years, no-one has ever been convicted in connection with her death.
Last year, on the 30th anniversary of Vera’s death, officers issued a new appeal for anyone who has any information about the case, to come forward. Detective Inspector Adam Waller said at the time: “Vera’s family have been left devastated by her death and have had to live with what happened since 1991. The family have never received closure from Vera’s death and I would appeal to anyone with information to come forward.
“Someone must know what happened that day and I would appeal to them to get in touch. We appreciate that 30 years is a long time ago but the smallest detail may help us in bringing justice for Vera and her family."
Potential links to other murders
The murder was potentially linked to two others believed to have been committed by the same man, who was dubbed "The East Lancs Ripper". The other two victims were vulnerable sex workers. Veronica, known as Vera, was a divorced mother of two.
The first victim was Linda Donaldson, whose naked and mutilated body was found behind a hedge in a farmer’s field at Winnick Lane, Lowton, near Leigh.
The grim find was made on Tuesday October 18, 1988. On the same day, a TV dramatisation of the Jack the Ripper murders - which had taken place exactly 100 years previously - was screened. The 31-year-old victim had been repeatedly stabbed.
Just over two years later, the detective’s fears of a second murder had been realised - and it was feared the same person was responsible. Two children, fishing at Pennington Flash, Leigh, spotted five plastic bin bags.
Inside them was the dismembered body of Maria Christina Requena, 26, also a sex worker, from Manchester. The youngsters saw the bags floating in the 170-acre lake, less than two miles from where Linda’s body had been discovered.
Maria, a mother-of-one, had vanished on New Year’s Day 1991 and her remains were found less than a week later on January 6th. The locations and the savagery of the murders meant they have always been linked, but the killer has never been identified.
