Ryland Headley’s sickening attack on Louisa Dunne went unsolved for 58 years – until science finally caught up with the monster
A vile sex predator will rot in jail after being convicted of Britain’s longest-running cold case murder – nearly six decades after he raped and strangled a defenceless widow in her own home.
Ryland Headley was just 34 when he forced his way into 75-year-old Louisa Dunne’s Bristol terrace house and subjected her to a horrific attack that shocked the tight-knit community of Easton back in June 1967.
Cops busted the startled 92-year-old at his Ipswich home in dramatic footage shown to jurors – the moment his past finally caught up with him after 58 years of freedom.
Watch your back, we’re coming after you,” warned Detective Inspector Dave Marchant after yesterday’s guilty verdict. His chilling message to other cold case killers: nowhere is safe.
The frail pensioner – who refused to give evidence during his trial – showed no emotion as the jury delivered their damning verdict after nearly 10 hours of deliberation at Bristol Crown Court.
The Night Terror Struck
Mrs Dunne was known as the neighbourhood’s friendly face – always standing on her doorstep in her trademark headscarf, keeping an eye on Britannia Road. But on that June morning in 1967, the twice-widowed mother-of-two’s absence sparked immediate concern.
The fact that she wasn’t out on the doorstep was unusual for her,” neighbours told the court.
When Violet Allen and Hilda Stedman went to check, they discovered a sash window forced wide open. Inside, they found a scene of unimaginable horror.
The pathologist’s findings painted a grim picture – Mrs Dunne had been strangled with her own scarf while a hand was forcibly held over her mouth. She’d been found lying on a pile of old clothes in her front room, which she’d been using as a bedroom.
Hours before the grim discovery, residents heard a woman’s terrified screams piercing the night air. But help came too late.
A Monster’s Pattern Emerges
What makes Headley’s conviction even more stomach-churning is his proven track record as a serial predator of elderly women. In 1977 – a decade after murdering Mrs Dunne – he was jailed for raping two other pensioners in their homes.
He’s now three times convicted of rape, stranger rapes, breaking into elderly women’s addresses overnight,” DI Marchant revealed.
The testimonies from his 1977 victims, read out during the trial, left jurors visibly shaken. One survivor’s account offered a haunting glimpse into what Mrs Dunne’s final moments might have been like.
“Just incredibly powerful and harrowing,” the detective said. “It gives us an insight into probably what happened within 58 Britannia Road.”
The court heard how Headley – then a railway worker living with his wife just a mile away – had slipped through the original investigation’s net. When police took thousands of palm prints from local men, he lived just outside the search zone in Picton Street.
Within months of the murder, he’d uprooted his family to London before settling in Ipswich – taking his dark secret with him.
Science Catches a Killer
For 58 years, Mrs Dunne’s blue skirt lay sealed in evidence boxes alongside other forensic material, waiting for technology to catch up. That moment finally came in May 2023 when cold case detectives sent the garment for cutting-edge DNA testing.
The results were explosive. Semen found on the skirt matched Headley’s DNA profile – prosecutors said it was “a billion times more likely” to be his than anyone else’s. His palm print also matched one left on the window.
Jeremy Benson KC, defending, desperately claimed his client had “no recollection” of visiting Mrs Dunne. He certainly didn’t rape her and he didn’t kill her,” he insisted.
The jury wasn’t buying it. They convicted him of murder by a 10-2 majority and unanimously found him guilty of rape.
Hunt for More Victims
Police now fear Headley’s reign of terror may stretch far beyond the three convictions. In 1978, he admitted to numerous burglary offences, and detectives are working with forces nationwide to uncover potential links to other unsolved attacks.
“I think there’s every possibility that there are other offences out there,” DI Marchant warned.
Mr Justice Sweeting will sentence the monster tomorrow morning, when he’ll hand down what amounts to a death sentence – at 92, Headley will never taste freedom again.
The judge told jurors the case had been “distressing” and excused them from jury service for the next decade if called.
For the residents of Britannia Road, justice has finally come – even if it took nearly six decades. Their beloved neighbour, who loved nothing more than watching the world go by from her doorstep, can finally rest in peace.
As one detective put it: “No case is too old or too cold.”
