Cold Case Justice: Solving the Murder of Louisa Dunne | ITV News Documentary

Documentary narrated by ITV News West Country Crime Correspondent Robert Murphy.

A 92-year-old man has been found guilty of murdering a Bristol pensioner almost six decades ago.

Louisa Dunne, who was 75, was strangled and raped in her home in Easton in June 1967.

Police launched an investigation after her body was discovered by neighbours on the morning of 28 June that year, but for almost 60 years, the crime was unsolved.

Ryland Headley, of Clarence Road, Ipswich, has now been found guilty of her murder.

The pensioner denied rape and murder but was found guilty of both charges by the jury at Bristol Crown Court.

It is one of the biggest gaps between crime and punishment in criminal history: 58 years and two days.

Headley was arrested on 19 November last year on suspicion of murder. His arrest followed a forensic review of the case in 2023 by Avon and Somerset Police's cold case unit.

When Headley was arrested at his home in Suffolk, he told detectives: “I don’t know what you are talking about. Very strange, very strange.”

The trial also 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.

The trial also heard a pathologist concluded Mrs Dunne died from asphyxia due to strangulation from a scarf and pressure on her mouth, with a hand forcibly held over it.

The defendant did not give evidence during the trial.

Bristol Crown Court heard that in 2023 forensic scientists tested Mrs Dunne's clothing and swabs taken from the scene and were able to extract DNA profiles for further examination, which matched the profile of Headley.

The court heard the pensioner, who was 34 at the time of the crime, forced entry into the home of Louisa Dunne before sexually attacking and fatally strangling her.

Headley pleaded not guilty to the rape and murder of Mrs Dunne. But jurors did not believe him and returned with a majority verdict after deliberating for more than 9 hours.

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