UK- Louisa Dunne, 75, SA & strangled, @ home, Bristol, 28 June, 1967, Suspect, 92, arrested 2024, * oldest cold case murder arrest in British history*
- Thread starter dotr
- Start date
Found guilty of murder by a 10-2 majority, and guilty of rape by a unanimous verdict.
Rest in peace Louisa.
Headley had his DNA on the national database since 2012.
I wonder if they tried to get a DNA profile from the Louisa Dunne evidence prior to 2023.
The crime review officer makes it sound like the evidence hadn't been looked at for many years.. "..oh my word, I don't think these have ever been subject to any modern forensic examination".
Rest in peace Louisa.
Headley had his DNA on the national database since 2012.
I wonder if they tried to get a DNA profile from the Louisa Dunne evidence prior to 2023.
The crime review officer makes it sound like the evidence hadn't been looked at for many years.. "..oh my word, I don't think these have ever been subject to any modern forensic examination".
Headley had denied both the rape and murder of Mrs Dunne after being charged in November 2024. He is set to be sentenced for both crimes on Tuesday.
www.bbc.co.uk
Ryland Headley guilty of murder in ‘UK’s oldest cold case’
A 92-year-old is convicted of raping and murdering Louisa Dunne in her Bristol home in 1967.
www.bbc.co.uk
Man, 92, found guilty of 1967 rape and murder | Avon and Somerset Police
The murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne in 1967 has been solved after a man is convicted following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.
www.avonandsomerset.police.uk
police interview at link, as well as background and timeline to investigation.
I can hardly believe two jurors thought he raped Louisa but weren't convinced he murdered her.
- 28 June 1967
- 1967
- October 1977
- 3 December 1977
- 12 December 1977
- May 1978
- 2012
- 2023
- May 2024
- Sept 2024
- 19 Nov 2024
- 20 Nov 2024
- June 2025
Man, 92, found guilty of 1967 rape and murder | Avon and Somerset Police
The murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne in 1967 has been solved after a man is convicted following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.
www.avonandsomerset.police.uk
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 58,081
- Reaction score
- 174,462
rbbm.
www.dailymail.co.uk
''Detective Inspector Dave Marchant, of Avon and Somerset Police said Headley's conviction showed no case was 'too old or too cold' to be investigated.
He said: 'We're unwavering in our determination to bring offenders to justice.
'For me, there is no cold case which is too old, too cold for us to complete a further review and investigation on.
'If there are lines of inquiry and evidence, we will pursue them relentlessly. We will do everything in our power to identify offenders to bring them to justice.
'My message to them is watch your back, we're coming after you.'
Forces across the country are 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,' DI Marchant said.''
Man, 92, is guilty of the rape and murder of 75-year-old woman in 1967
In what is thought to be the UK's longest-running cold case ever solved, Ryland Headley has now been found guilty of murdering and raping Louisa Dunne in 1967.
''Detective Inspector Dave Marchant, of Avon and Somerset Police said Headley's conviction showed no case was 'too old or too cold' to be investigated.
He said: 'We're unwavering in our determination to bring offenders to justice.
'For me, there is no cold case which is too old, too cold for us to complete a further review and investigation on.
'If there are lines of inquiry and evidence, we will pursue them relentlessly. We will do everything in our power to identify offenders to bring them to justice.
'My message to them is watch your back, we're coming after you.'
Forces across the country are 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,' DI Marchant said.''
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 58,081
- Reaction score
- 174,462
Very glad A&S are getting results with some of their many cold cases.
Apparently touch DNA has come a long way in the last few years, so perhaps they now feel confident that the technology is there to detect minute profiles.
"Watch your back, we're coming after you" is great fighting talk from A&S.
Apparently touch DNA has come a long way in the last few years, so perhaps they now feel confident that the technology is there to detect minute profiles.
"Watch your back, we're coming after you" is great fighting talk from A&S.
"Over the past two weeks,
the frail pensioner listened attentively to court proceedings via a special hearing loop
but has shown no sign of any emotion.
Clearly adept at hiding his true nature,
at least one member of Headley's own extensive family still refuses to accept his guilt
and insists he is 'the nicest, kindest man'.
Another relative describes him
as being 'a little mouse'
who played second-fiddle to his 'matriarch' wife.
'He always seemed to be in his own world.
He never joined in with anecdotes or reminiscences or jokes.
He just sat quietly in the corner'.
Having got away with murder,
Headley might have been expected to keep a low profile
but by 1977
– the Queen's Silver Jubilee Year –
Suffolk Police suspected they had a serial sex attacker in their midst
after attacks on elderly women.
Home Office psychiatrist Dr David Muller concluded
that the attacks, by a 'very disturbed man',
'may be a campaign of revenge against females for some reason hidden in his past'
and warned that the rapist was
'cunning, devious and could commit murder if he meets with resistance'."
Last edited:
That's a second Bristol case where a killer then goes on to become a serial rapist. The other one being Ronald Evans.
So much for the idea that offenders always follow a clear pattern of escalation.
RH's known murder was when he was in his mid 30s. His known rapes were when he was in his mid 40s.
Ten year gap between the known offences. Plus he could potentially have been offending in Bristol in the 1950s and early-mid 60s, and even earlier than that in the Caribbean.
So much for the idea that offenders always follow a clear pattern of escalation.
RH's known murder was when he was in his mid 30s. His known rapes were when he was in his mid 40s.
Ten year gap between the known offences. Plus he could potentially have been offending in Bristol in the 1950s and early-mid 60s, and even earlier than that in the Caribbean.
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 58,081
- Reaction score
- 174,462
Arrest video.
Jailed for 20 years!
"Today,
trial judge Mr Justice Sweeting
imposed a life sentence
and told Headley he was fixing a minimum term of 20 years' imprisonment.
'Given your age and for all practical purposes,
I can do so in very short terms.
You'll never be released and you will die in prison',
Judge Sweeting warned.
'Mrs Dunne was vulnerable.
She was a small, elderly woman living alone.
You exploited that vulnerability'.
'You treated her as a means to an end.
The violation of her home, her body, and ultimately, her life,
was a pitiless and cruel act by a depraved man'."
May the Victim Rest in Peace.
"Today,
trial judge Mr Justice Sweeting
imposed a life sentence
and told Headley he was fixing a minimum term of 20 years' imprisonment.
'Given your age and for all practical purposes,
I can do so in very short terms.
You'll never be released and you will die in prison',
Judge Sweeting warned.
'Mrs Dunne was vulnerable.
She was a small, elderly woman living alone.
You exploited that vulnerability'.
'You treated her as a means to an end.
The violation of her home, her body, and ultimately, her life,
was a pitiless and cruel act by a depraved man'."
May the Victim Rest in Peace.
Last edited:
DI Marchant says: "We will do everything in our power to identify offenders and bring them to justice".
Is this conformation that A&S have the funding in place for forensic reviews and advanced/familial DNA testing of their unsolved cold cases?
In Julie Mackay's book about the Melanie Road murder, she mentions how much of a battle to was to get funding from A&S for the advanced DNA testing.
Is this conformation that A&S have the funding in place for forensic reviews and advanced/familial DNA testing of their unsolved cold cases?
In Julie Mackay's book about the Melanie Road murder, she mentions how much of a battle to was to get funding from A&S for the advanced DNA testing.
ianrutledgeandfrances
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2025
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 13
i think police should look at headley for rape and murder of an elderly lady in somereset in the 80s-winifred locke? just seen her on a link to a podcast
Definitely a similar MO. Climbing through a rear window and manual strangulation.
Not sure if Headley was still in prison in 1983. He got a life sentence for rape in 1977 (reduced to 7 years in 1978).
I don't know if he qualified for parole some time around late 1982 (after serving two thirds of sentence) or if he served his full sentence until 1985.
They had Headley's fingerprints in 1977 and knew he used to live in Bristol.
So why not call A&S police and ask if they have any unsolved attacks on old women there? Preferably ones with fingerprint evidence too...
Headley was in his mid 40s in 1977, so didn't the police think he might have previous offences?
So why not call A&S police and ask if they have any unsolved attacks on old women there? Preferably ones with fingerprint evidence too...
Headley was in his mid 40s in 1977, so didn't the police think he might have previous offences?
I'm not sure if this criminal lived with family or alone,
but c'mon,
staying in prison might be like living in senior accomodation for him now.
Roof over his head, a bed, warm cell, 3 meals a day, medical care, shower time, walks in the yard.
What else does a 92 year-old need?
What he did to those poor elderly and vulnerable women is beyond disgusting.
To be attacked in one's own home is the stuff of nightmares
Shudder!!!
JMO
but c'mon,
staying in prison might be like living in senior accomodation for him now.
Roof over his head, a bed, warm cell, 3 meals a day, medical care, shower time, walks in the yard.
What else does a 92 year-old need?
What he did to those poor elderly and vulnerable women is beyond disgusting.
To be attacked in one's own home is the stuff of nightmares
Shudder!!!
JMO
I watched a short documentary about him last night. Apparently when he appealed his sentence for the two rapes a psychiatrist said wtte it was out of character for him and something like a stress reaction to problems in his marriage, so he was at low risk of re-offending.
When he got arrested in 2012, police fingerprinted him and took his DNA, but didn't take his palm prints because he said he had arthritis. Very sneaky of him.
He presumably also managed to avoid giving up his palm prints in 1977.
Interesting that he seems to have worked on the trains. I wonder in what capacity and also how far afield this allowed him to travel.
He presumably also managed to avoid giving up his palm prints in 1977.
Interesting that he seems to have worked on the trains. I wonder in what capacity and also how far afield this allowed him to travel.
- Joined
- May 5, 2019
- Messages
- 1,761
- Reaction score
- 12,055
my involuntarily knee-jerk reaction is feeling pity for an old man, looking distressed, in his knit sweater, with his cloudy corneas... and then you remember what he's done. its actually quite poetic; he targeted elderly women because of their vulnerability, and now hes the one elderly and vulnerable. and just like he treated his victims, judged showed him no mercy (in terms of sentencing). i know he likely won't live long into his sentence but i do appreciate the judge handing down this sentence so promptly.rbbm.
View attachment 598866Man, 92, is guilty of the rape and murder of 75-year-old woman in 1967
In what is thought to be the UK's longest-running cold case ever solved, Ryland Headley has now been found guilty of murdering and raping Louisa Dunne in 1967.
Similar threads
Online statistics
- Members online
- 61
- Guests online
- 2,528
- Total visitors
- 2,589