Could man behind UK’s oldest cold case murder have more victims? | UK News

Police are investigating whether a 92-year-old man convicted of a murder dating back to the 1960s could be behind further attacks.

Ryland Headley, of Clarence Road, Ipswich, raped and murdered 75-year-old Louisa Dunne in Bristol in June 1967, but was not charged until a cold case review in 2023 matched his DNA to evidence gathered at the scene.

Investigators at Avon and Somerset Police are now working with forces across the country and the National Crime Agency (NCA) to see if they can get justice for more victims in cold cases.

Det Insp Dave Marchant described Headley as a “dangerous serial offender” and said nothing was off the table when it came to pursuing him for other crimes.

Mrs Dunne was a well-known figure in her neighbourhood of Easton. Her death sparked a huge manhunt, but eventually the trail went cold.

Ten years later, Headley would admit the rapes of two other women, aged 84 and 79, in Ipswich and ask for 10 other burglaries to be taken into account when he was sentenced.

The victims of his burglaries were always the same – elderly or middle aged women living alone.

But with a national police computer and DNA profiling still decades away, Headley’s crimes were not linked to Mrs Dunne’s death.

The “eerily similar” nature of the crimes, however, would later provide police with powerful ammunition when building a case against Headley after modern forensics provided a crucial breakthrough.

The key to solving the case was finally unlocked in 2023, when investigators re-examined the skirt Mrs Dunne was found in.

Semen was still present on the fabric, and when the sample was analysed a DNA match to Headley was found.

Had Mrs Dunne’s case been reviewed earlier, it might not have yielded the same results as Headley’s DNA was only added to the police database in 2012 – when he was arrested for an assault for which he was never charged.

Police believe Mrs Dunne’s murder is the oldest cold case ever to be solved in the UK.

Mr Marchant, of Avon and Somerset Police’s major crime review team, told the he was keeping an open mind as to whether Headley had further victims.

“It was eerily similar – the method of entry, the offences that these women were subjected to and the demographic,” he said.

“I would describe him as a serial offender and a dangerous serial offender at that.”

Mr Marchant added: “We are working with other colleagues across the county and colleagues in the NCA to understand what we can do to try to uncover if there are any other offences we can potentially bring him to justice for.”

Heidi Miller, regional forensic coordinator at Avon and Somerset Police, noted such a brutal crime is not usually a first offence.

She said: “I wonder, what else has he been involved in through the years?”

Headley was considered to be a kindly old man by neighbours, known for stopping to chat about gardening and his cat.

But this is irrelevant to the cold case team.

“Outward appearance shouldn’t belie what lies beneath,” Mr Marchant said.

“Some people are capable of the most disgusting, abhorrent things and can still present an outward appearance of normality – and that’s the case with Mr Ryland Headley.”

Headley is due to be sentenced for Mrs Dunne’s murder and rape at Bristol Crown Court later.