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92-Year-Old Ryland Headley Sentenced to Life for 1967 Cold Case Murder

Avon and Somerset Police have launched inquiries into other unsolved offences following the case-ending forensic breakthrough.

An undated handout photo issued by Avon and Somerset Police of Ryland Headley, now aged 92.
Louisa Dunne was killed in her home in 1967.
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Overview

  • Mr Justice Derek Sweeting imposed a life term with a minimum of 20 years and told Headley he will die in prison.
  • A Bristol Crown Court jury found Headley guilty of raping and strangling Louisa Dunne in June 1967 after nearly ten hours of deliberation.
  • DNA recovered from Dunne’s preserved blue skirt matched Headley’s profile at a one-billion to one probability when tested in May 2024, and a 1967 palm print matched 25 characteristics of his print taken in November.
  • Detectives had sealed key evidence in 1967 and reopened the case in 2023, leveraging modern DNA and palm-print analysis to secure the conviction.
  • Authorities, including the National Crime Agency, are now examining Headley’s potential links to other unsolved offences from the 1960s and 1970s.