92-Year‑Old Jailed for Life in UK’s Longest‑Running Cold Case: 1967 Rape and Murder

In a landmark legal outcome, 92-year-old Ryland Headley has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years after being found guilty of the rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne in Brysitol in June 1967—marking one of the UK’s oldest cold-case convictions.

Breakthrough Through Modern Forensics

• In a renewed investigation launched in 2023, Avon and Somerset Police uncovered a DNA match from semen on Dunne’s skirt and pubic hair using advanced techniques—making it one billion times more likely to belong to Headley than anyone else 

• A palm print on a rear window at the scene, preserved since 1967, also matched Headley’s, corroborating the forensic evidence

Trial and Verdict

The trial at Bristol Crown Court began in June 2025, with jurors presented with compelling evidence linking Headley, then 34, to the violent crime. He was convicted on both charges—rape and murder—and Judge Derek Sweeting ruled he will die in prison, stating his crimes were "pitiless and cruel" 

A Pattern of Violence

During legal proceedings, the court acknowledged Headley’s history of similar violence: in 1977, he raped two elderly women after breaking into their homes, a fact introduced as relevant “bad character” evidence. The judge noted these offences reinforced the prosecution’s case 

Impact on the Victim’s Family

The granddaughter of Louisa Dunne, who was 75 and a widow living alone when she died on June 28, 1967, described the decades-long wait for justice. She recounted how her mother suffered deep emotional strain over the unresolved case .

Landmark for Cold‑Case Justice

This case, spanning nearly 58 years, stands as one of the longest intervals between offence and conviction in UK history. Detectives and prosecutors lauded the persistence of investigators and the power of combining traditional preservation with cutting-edge forensic science 

Detective Inspector Dave Marchant of Avon and Somerset Police affirmed that renewed cold-case reviews could bring other long-forgotten criminals to justice: “You should never give up…there was a chance a suspect could still be alive—and he was.” 

Final Word

The conviction of Ryland Headley represents a triumph for forensic breakthroughs and a clear message: no crime is too old to be solved, and justice can still prevail—even after generations.