News, Bristol
Avon and Somerset PoliceA 92-year-old man has been found guilty of the rape and murder of a Bristol woman in a case that remained unsolved for nearly six decades.
Louisa Dunne, 75, was found strangled on her living room floor by a neighbour on Britannia Road in Easton, Bristol, on 28 June 1967.
Convicted rapist Ryland Headley, of Clarence Road in Ipswich, has now been found guilty of Mrs Dunne’s murder following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.
Senior investigating officer Det Insp Dave Marchant said Headley, who was in his 30s when he killed Mrs Dunne, was “predatory” and said his other crimes were “eerily similar”.
Headley is set to be sentenced on Tuesday.
He was only linked to the mother-of-two’s murder in 2023, when a review of the case uncovered new DNA evidence.
HandoutDet Insp Marchant said: “This is a marrying of old school and new school policing techniques.”
He added it was believed to be the oldest cold case to be solved in the UK.
Mrs Dunne had been twice widowed and lived alone, but was well-known in the local area.
Headley was accused of forcing entry into her home before sexually attacking her and then strangling her.
The night of her death, neighbours reported hearing a woman’s “frightening scream”.
Det Insp Marchant said a neighbour was first alerted to something unusual happening when the paper they left for Mrs Dunne was not taken in on the morning of 28 June 1967.
Despite the efforts of police 58 years ago, no key suspect was identified.
It was only when the case was re-examined by Avon and Somerset Police decades later, that DNA testing of a swab that contained semen was linked to Headley.
Det Insp Marchant called Headley a “dangerous serial offender” and said there was a sense of “gravity” when police were told of the positive result.
After Headley’s arrest, fingerprint experts compared his palm print to one collected from the rear window of Mrs Dunne’s home, which matched Headley’s.
Detectives collected about 19,000 prints from men and boys at the time with no success. They also made about 8,000 house-to-house inquiries and 2,000 statements.
