Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - A 92-year-old man has been found guilty of the brutal rape and murder of Louisa Dunne in Bristol—a crime that remained unsolved for almost 58 years.
Louisa Dunne, 75, was discovered strangled on the floor of
her living room by a neighbour on Britannia Road in Easton, Bristol, on 28 June
1967. At the time, despite a massive investigation involving 19,000 fingerprint
samples, 8,000 house-to-house inquiries, and 2,000 witness statements, police
failed to identify a suspect.
The breakthrough only came decades later when Avon and
Somerset Police reopened the case and modern DNA analysis of a preserved swab
linked the crime to Ryland Headley, a convicted rapist from Ipswich who was in
his 30s when Mrs Dunne was killed.
Detective Inspector Dave Marchant, who led the
investigation, described Headley as a “dangerous serial offender” with a
“shocking and abhorrent history.”
He said there was a clear sense of “gravity” when officers
learned of the DNA match, calling it a powerful example of “old school and new
school policing techniques working together.” This case is believed to be the
oldest cold case ever solved in the UK.
Headley was arrested at his home in November 2024.
Fingerprint experts later confirmed his palm print matched one found on the
rear window of Mrs Dunne’s home—further evidence placing him at the scene.
At the time of her death, Mrs Dunne (pictured below) had
been twice widowed and lived alone but was well-known and liked in her
community. On the night she was killed, neighbours recalled hearing a woman’s
“frightening scream.” The next morning, one neighbour grew concerned when Mrs
Dunne failed to collect her newspaper, eventually leading to the discovery of
her body.
Headley had forced his way into her home, sexually assaulted
her, and then strangled her. His history of violence against elderly women
added a chilling layer to the case. In 1977, he broke into the homes of two
other widows, aged 84 and 79, in Suffolk and raped them—crimes described by
police as “eerily similar.”
Trevor Mason, a Special Branch detective involved in those
Suffolk cases, once called Headley “worse than an animal,” saying his frail
victims “didn’t stand a chance.”
Despite overwhelming evidence, Headley denied raping and
murdering Mrs Dunne. He was finally convicted at Bristol Crown Court and is due
to be sentenced for both crimes on Tuesday.
For Mrs Dunne’s family and the Bristol community, the
verdict closes a painful chapter nearly six decades in the making, delivering
long-awaited justice for a woman whose life was cruelly taken.
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