# Ryland Headley convicted in 1967 Louisa Dunne murder after DNA and palm print evidence revive cold case

A Bristol jury found Ryland Headley guilty of the rape and murder of Louisa Dunne, ending a case that police believe may be the UK’s longest-running cold case ever solved.

Headley, now 92, had denied both charges. The jury at Bristol Crown Court returned its verdict after nine hours and 53 minutes of deliberations. Mr Justice Sweeting said he would sentence Headley the following morning.

The case dates back to June 1967, when Headley, then 34, forced entry into Dunne’s home in Bristol before attacking her. Dunne, a 75-year-old widow and mother of two, was found dead by neighbours on the morning of 28 June inside her terraced house on Britannia Road in Easton. Police found no sign of a violent struggle in the home. The trial heard that she had died from asphyxia caused by strangulation with a scarf and pressure on her mouth.

The breakthrough came decades later, when Avon and Somerset detectives revisited evidence from the original investigation and sent items for DNA testing. A blue skirt worn by Dunne was tested in 2024 and DNA recovered from it was said to be a one-in-a-billion match to Headley. His DNA had already been on the national database after an unrelated offence in 2012.

The investigation also benefited from a palm print. A left-hand print taken from an upstairs window at Dunne’s home had been compared with 19,000 men and boys in 1967, but no match was found. After Headley was arrested in 2024, police took palm prints from him and an expert later identified more than 25 matching characteristics.

The original inquiry had been limited by the forensic techniques available at the time. Semen was found on swabs taken from Dunne’s body, but scientific testing was not advanced enough to resolve the case then. Investigators sealed the evidence and preserved it for future analysis.

Headley had a previous prison sentence for raping two elderly women in 1977. In the 2025 trial, he used a hearing loop and an intermediary, and the court sat shorter days to help him maintain concentration. His lawyer, Jeremy Benson KC, said he had no recollection of visiting Dunne or having sex with her and denied that he raped or killed her.

Speaking after the verdict, Avon and Somerset detective inspector Dave Marchant said police forces around the country were now looking at whether Headley could be linked to other unsolved offences. That wider search could determine whether the Dunne case is not only solved, but also a clue to further crimes.

Sources

  • The Independent, sourceId 5858, on the verdict, the original 1967 case and the DNA match.
  • The Independent, sourceId 5858, on the palm print evidence and police review of other possible crimes.