LONDON – A 92-year-old man was on July 1 told he would die in prison after he was jailed for a 1967 rape and murder, in what is thought to be the UK’s oldest solved cold case.
Ryland Headley, who was convicted of raping and killing 75-year-old Louisa Dunne after breaking into her house nearly 60 years ago, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 20 years at Bristol Crown Court in south-west England.
After passing sentence, Judge Derek Sweeting told Headley: “You will never be released, you will die in prison.”
He said that Headley, who was 34 at the time of the crime, had “violated the sanctity and safety of Mrs Dunne’s home where she had every right to feel secure”.
“She must have experienced considerable pain and fear before her death.”
The judge mentioned Headley’s previous convictions for breaking into the homes of two elderly widows in 1977 and raping them.
He was initially sentenced to life in jail for those convictions, which was later reduced to seven years on appeal.
They showed a “chilling pattern of behaviour”, the judge added.
Police reopened Ms Dunne’s case in 2023 and matched DNA from the victim’s skirt and other items from the original probe to Headley, who spent around two years in prison sentence for his 1977 crimes.
Doughty Street Chambers, the legal team representing Headley, said it was Britain’s oldest cold case murder – an unsolved case for which new information emerges.
Palm print
During the initial investigation, police had found a left-hand palm print from Ms Dunne’s home, where she was found dead from strangulation.
The palm print was compared to 19,000 men to no avail at the time.
At the time, Headley was a railway worker who lived just outside the area in which men and boys were asked to give prints.
Reaching a dead end, police sealed away forensic evidence for half a century. Both DNA testing and later Headley’s palm print resulted in matches.
When Headley was arrested at his home in November 2024, he told detectives: “I don’t know what you are talking about. Very strange, very strange.”
“For 58 years, this appalling crime went unsolved and Ryland Headley, the man we now know is responsible, avoided justice,” said Ms Charlotte Ream of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Ms Dunne’s granddaughter Mary Dainton told the court the murder had a “far-reaching effect” on her family.
“I feel it falls to me to speak for the people who are no longer here,” she said.
Earlier, Ms Dainton said: “I was just 20 years old when my grandmother died, and I’m now almost the same age as she was when she was killed.”
Police said they were looking into other possible cold cases Headley could be linked to.
“Ryland Headley has now been convicted of three rapes of elderly women within their own addresses, and in the case of Louisa Dunne, her murder as well,” said Mr Dave Marchant, of Avon and Somerset Police, on June 30.
“I think there’s every possibility that there are other offences out there – over the 60s, 70s, however long a time period – which Mr Headley could be culpable for.” AFP
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