A MAN aged 92 has been jailed for the rape and murder of Louisa Dunne in Bristol 58 years ago.
Mrs Dunne, the elderly widow of Irishman John Dunne, was found dead in her home in Britannia Road, Easton, in June 1967.
Ryland Headley, of Clarence Road in Ipswich, denied the offences but a jury unanimously found him guilty of rape and guilty of murder by a majority of 10 to two.
This week, he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years.
“It saddens me deeply that all the people who knew and loved Louisa are not here to see that justice is being done,” said Mary Dainton, the granddaughter of Louisa and her first husband, Edwin Parker.
Case reviewed
Mrs Dunne had two daughters with Mr Parker, who served as an Alderman, before his death in 1945.
Some years later, she remarried John Dunne, a widower from Ireland who worked as a nightwatchman for the Bristol Corporation.
He also predeceased her, passing away in 1961.
The crime scene on Britannia Road in Bristol (Image: via Avon and Somerset Police)Mrs Dunne, 74, was found dead at the home where she lived alone by a neighbour on Wednesday, June 28, 1967.
The cause of her death was determined to be strangulation and asphyxiation. She had also been raped.
A re-review of the case began in 2023, with several items submitted for forensic analysis, including a skirt Mrs Dunne was wearing at the time she was attacked.
A DNA profile was obtained from a skirt belonging to Mrs Dunne (Image: via Avon and Somerset Police)A full DNA profile was obtained from it and was found to match Headley, whose profile had been placed on the system in 2012 following an unconnected and unrelated incident.
Headley was arrested following a police operation on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 and charged later that day with Mrs Dunne’s rape and murder.
It was following this that a palm print found on an upstairs bedroom window at Mrs Dunne’s home was also determined to be a match to Headley.
Similar crimes
During the course of his trial, the court heard that Headley was convicted of two counts of rape in the late 1970s.
In both cases, he attacked elderly women in Ipswich in October 1977 by breaking into their homes overnight and threatening them with violence before raping them.
One of the victims was in her late seventies and the other was aged in her mid-eighties.
Headley admitted these offences, with a further 10 burglary offences committed in the 1970s taken into consideration, and was initially sentenced to life imprisonment.
Ryland Headley (Image: Avon and Somerset Police)However, this was reduced to a seven-year jail term following an appeal.
“These offences involved the invasion of other elderly women’s homes and sexual assaults,” said judge Mr Justice Sweeting at Headley’s sentencing this week.
“They reveal a chilling pattern of behaviour.”
Handing down his sentence, he added: “It is normally necessary to explain the effect of such a minimum term in detail but given your age of 92 and for all practical purposes, I can do so in very short terms — you will never be released, you will die in prison.”
‘Stigma’
Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Dave Marchant of Avon and Somerset Police said Headley is ‘finally facing justice for the horrific crimes he committed against Louisa in 1967’.
“The impact of this crime has cast a long shadow over the city and in particular Louisa’s family, who have had to deal with the sadness and trauma ever since,” he added.
“Louisa’s granddaughter Mary has shown remarkable resilience and courage throughout the investigation and trial, and our thoughts remain very much with her.”
Mrs Dunne with her first husband, Edwin Parker (Image: via Avon and Somerset Police)In her statement following Headley’s conviction for the murder of her grandmother, Mrs Dainton explained the effects the case had on her family.
“Louisa’s brutal death had a big impact on my mother and her wider family,” she said.
“I don’t think my mother ever recovered from it. The anxiety clouded the rest of her life.
“When people found out about the murder, including friends, they withdrew — there is a stigma attached to rape and murder in my experience, so I have rarely talked to anyone about this until now.
“Since Ryland Headley was charged, I’ve struggled emotionally in ways I did not anticipate and it falls to me to speak for people who are no longer here.”