A 92-year-old man faces sentencing after being convicted of raping and murdering an elderly widow in what is believed to be the UK's longest-running cold case to be solved. Ryland Headley was found guilty by a jury at Bristol Crown Court on Monday afternoon for crimes committed 57 years ago.
Headley was 34 when he forced open a window at the home of Louisa Dunne, 75, in the Easton area of Bristol in June 1967 before attacking her. Mrs Dunne, a mother-of-two, was found dead by neighbours in the front room of her terraced home in Britannia Road on the morning of 28 June.
Pathologist reveals cause of death
A pathologist concluded that Mrs Dunne died from asphyxia due to strangulation and pressure on her mouth, probably from a hand being held over it. Bristol Constabulary, as the force was then known, launched a massive investigation, taking the palm prints of 19,000 men and boys in an attempt to find a match to one left on an upstairs window.
The case remained unsolved for more than 50 years until Avon and Somerset Police detectives sent items from the original investigation for DNA testing for the first time. Semen recovered from a blue skirt worn by Mrs Dunne matched Headley's DNA to a ratio that meant it was a billion times more likely to be from him than anybody else.
Palm print provides crucial evidence
When his left palm print was finally taken in November last year, it matched the print left at the scene. Since Mrs Dunne's murder, Headley had moved his family to Ipswich, where he was jailed for raping two elderly women after forcing open windows at their homes in October 1977.
Headley, of Clarence Road, Ipswich, denied Mrs Dunne's rape and murder but was found guilty by a jury after nine hours and 53 minutes of deliberations. Mr Justice Sweeting will sentence him on Tuesday morning.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
