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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