When Headley was arrested at his home in November last year on suspicion of murdering Mrs Dunne, he told detectives: “I don’t know what you are talking about. Very strange, very strange.”
A 92-year-old man has been found guilty of raping and murdering a pensioner nearly 60 years ago in what is thought to be the UK’s oldest cold case.
Ryland Headley, then aged 34, forced entry into the home of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne in Bristol before attacking her in June 1967.
Headley, of Clarence Road, Ipswich, avoided justice for decades until a DNA breakthrough when Avon and Somerset detectives sent off items from the original investigation for testing.
Those results provided a DNA match to Headley, who since the murder had moved to Suffolk, and had served a prison sentence for raping two elderly women in 1977.
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He had denied rape and murder but was found guilty of both charges by the jury at Bristol Crown Court on Monday.
The trial heard a pathologist concluded Mrs Dunne died from asphyxia due to strangulation from a scarf and pressure on her mouth.
Swabs were taken from Mrs Dunne’s body, which tested positive for semen, but scientific examinations at that time were limited.
Police also recovered a left-hand palm print from an upstairs window at her home, which was compared to 19,000 men and boys in 1967 but none matched the suspect.
Headley, then a railway worker, was living with his wife in Picton Street – around a mile and a half from Mrs Dunne, but crucially just outside the geographic area in which men and boys were asked to give prints.
He uprooted his family to London a short time later, then moved to Ipswich, with his palm print never taken in Bristol.
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Eventually, police gathered the evidence – including clothing worn by Mrs Dunne when her body was found – and sealed it away to await for scientific advances to enable further investigation.
The case was re-examined in 2023 and Mrs Dunne’s blue skirt was sent away for forensic testing in May last year.
DNA recovered from the skirt matched Headley to a ratio that meant it was one billion times more likely to be his DNA than that of someone else.
His DNA had been taken by police and uploaded to the national database after an unrelated offence in 2012, which did not result in a charge.
When Headley was arrested at his home in November last year on suspicion of murdering Mrs Dunne, he told detectives: “I don’t know what you are talking about. Very strange, very strange.”
During previous arrests, Headley had provided his fingerprints but had not given palm prints. On the 2012 form, it noted “arthritis in both wrists, palms not flexible”.
This time, Headley’s palm prints were taken and a fingerprint expert found more than 25 characteristics that matched with the 1967 print.
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The trial heard Headley had been jailed for the rape of two elderly women in 1977 whose homes he had broken into – threatening them with violence if they did not comply.
He also asked for a further 10 offences of overnight burglaries previously to be taken into account when he was sentenced.
During the 2025 case, Headley used a hearing loop and was assisted by an intermediary. Jurors were told the court would sit for shorter days to enable Headley to maintain concentration.
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Jeremy Benson KC, representing Headley, said his client had “no recollection” of having visited Mrs Dunne or having sexual intercourse with her.
“He certainly didn’t rape her and he didn’t kill her,” Mr Benson told the jury in his closing speech.
Speaking after the verdicts, Det Insp Dave Marchant, of Avon and Somerset Police, said forces across the country were now examining whether Headley could be linked to other unsolved crimes.
“Ryland Headley has now been convicted of three rapes of elderly women within their own addresses, and in the case of Louisa Dunne, her murder as well,” he told the PA news agency.
“In 1978, when he was sentenced, he admitted to a number of other burglary offences.
“I think there’s every possibility that there are other offences out there – over the 60s, 70s, however long a time period – which Mr Headley could be culpable for.
“We are working with colleagues across the country and other police forces and the National Crime Agency to try to understand and identify those potential further offences, and if possible, can we match them through any forensic techniques etc and if we are able, hopefully then get him before a court to face justice over those matters too.”
Speaking outside Bristol Crown Court Mary Dainton, the granddaughter of Louisa Dunne, said: “The death of my grandmother has had a far-reaching impact throughout my family.
“I was just 20 years old when my grandmother died and I’m now almost the same age as she was when she was killed.
“I only have one memory of meeting my grandmother due to family circumstances. I was 14 at the time and visited her in hospital.”
She added: “Louisa’s brutal death had a big impact on my mother and her wider family. I don’t think my mother ever recovered from it. The anxiety clouded the rest of her life.
“When people found out about the murder, including friends, they withdrew – there is a stigma attached to rape and murder in my experience, so I have rarely talked to anyone about this until now.”
“Since Ryland Headley was charged, I’ve struggled emotionally in ways I did not anticipate, and it falls to me to speak for people who are no longer here. It saddens me deeply that all the people who knew and loved Louisa are not here to see that justice is being done.”