'Vera suffered devastating injuries. The brutality of this murder is like we have not seen for many years'
In a poignant TV clip, a fresh-faced teenager talks fondly about her mum. "Everyone liked her. She was a bubbly kind of person". The words were spoken by 19-year-old Lorraine Newton, back in November 1991.
The Manchester Evening News can reveal for the first time other chilling elements of the attack. 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. And now, 33 years on, as police release a CCTV image of a man they wish to speak to, Vera's daughter Lorraine - now 51 and a mother of four - has made a new plea for justice.
A phone call which would lead to Vera's death was made about 10pm that day. Whatever the caller said it 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. She told the neighbour she had to collect something for her brother, and would be a short while.
DCI Waller said it was suspected the person who called her may have been local. "Whoever rang her up knew her and she trusted them sufficiently to go out and meet them at a dark derelict building site after 10 o'clock at night, but she did not feel comfortable enough to take her son with her." At the time the disused tannery works housed a chemical works, kitchens business, flagging business, and other small companies.
"Vera suffered devastating injuries. The brutality of this murder is like we have not seen for many years. I would describe it as overkill. She sustained a really serious injury to her throat caused by a sharp object - a knife or razor - but nothing was left at the scene. 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.
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.
One element of the case which has perplexed detectives is the motive for such a sustained, determined, execution. DCI Waller said: "One of the main strands of any murder investigation is victimology - understanding the victim in fine detail. This includes their relationships, any skeletons in cupboards, criminality, going into the fine detail of someone's personal life. This usually leads you to a motive.
'We think this man may have really important information' Police have released for the first time a CCTV image of a man they wish to speak to as part of their investigations into Vera's case. The image is from a Tesco store on Winnock Road in Warrington taken in 2013. Twice divorced, Vera was then in a long common-law relationship with a man called David Anderson, her son's father, and took his name, even after they split up. She had Lorraine with her first husband. She had been in casual relationships with other truck drivers as well the one she was seeing at the time of her murder.
'She was a proper mum - I knew I was loved' The voice of Vera's daughter, Lorraine, breaks slightly as she speaks of her mum. But she has not given up hope that one day the brute who took her mother's life will be identified. Vera ran her own sandwich business delivering to works and offices. "It had been going for 12 months and was getting busier. She wouldn't worry either about doing a so-called man's job, she would do tiling, and the gardens," Lorraine says.
"We have pictures of her around the house - even the young ones talk about her and go to the cemetery with flowers. She was buried even though she told me she wanted to be cremated. Under the circumstances she could not be cremated in case the police ever needed to exhume the body. I felt guilty over that.
Of the 10pm phone call she said: "She obviously thought she was okay going to meet them. She emptied the boot of her car and I think she was expecting to be picking up suitcases - and maybe picking someone up. "They said 'we have found your mum's car' and I asked 'where is she then?' They said they had broken into her house and then I knew something was very wrong.
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