Man charged with 1967 murder after ‘DNA match’ 60 years later

A 92-year-old man was charged with raping and murdering an elderly widow after police found a billion-to-one DNA match on her clothing almost 60 years later, a jury has heard.

Louisa Dunne, 75, was found strangled on her living room floor in Brittania Road in Easton, Bristol, on 28 June 1967.

Ryland Headley, of Clarence Road in Ipswich, appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Monday. Jurors were told Mr Headley had previously been jailed for the rape of two elderly women in 1977.

At the time of her death, swabs were taken from Mrs Dunne’s body, which tested positive for semen but scientific examinations were limited. In 2023, the case was re-examined and DNA testing of the swabs matched Mr Headley.

Mr Headley is accused of forcing entry into Mrs Dunne’s home before attacking her.

Jurors heard Mrs Dunne, who was using her front room as a bedroom, was found lying on a pile of old clothes by neighbours.

Police found no evidence of any violent struggle into the house, jurors also heard.

Anna Vigars KC and Ramin Pakrooh are appearing for the prosecution, while Jeremy Benson KC and Abigail Bright will defend Mr Headley.

Mrs Vigars, prosecuting, told the court a number of local women were “worried” about Mrs Dunne as they had not seen her all morning on the day she was found.

“The fact that she wasn’t out on the doorstep was unusual for her,” Mrs Vigars said.

“So, two of the local women, Violet Allen and Hilda Stedman, then went over and found the front door shut and the sash window near the front door open as far as possible.

“When she looked through the window, Violet Allen could see Mrs Dunne’s legs by the side of the table so, with the help of two other women, she climbed in through the window and went over to her.

“Violet Allen took hold of Mrs Dunne’s hand and immediately realised that she was dead because her hand was ice cold.”

Jurors heard swabs were taken from Mrs Dunne’s body which returned a positive result for semen, but scientific examinations at that time were limited.

Mrs Vigars told the court police also recovered a palm print from a window at Mrs Dunne’s home which was compared to thousands of men and boys in 1967, but none matched the suspect.

However in 2023 the case was re-examined and DNA testing of the swabs matched Mr Headley.

The court heard the semen matched Mr Headley’s DNA with a “match ratio that meant it was a billion times more likely to be Mr Headley’s DNA than that of someone else”.

The jury was told Mr 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.

He also asked for a further 10 offences of overnight burglaries of homes where his fingerprints had also been found to be taken into account when he was sentenced, which took place between 1973 and 1978.

“We say that these offences demonstrate to all of us that Mr Headley has a tendency to act in exactly the same way that we say that he did back in 1967, in other words, to break into people’s homes at night and, in some cases, to target an elderly woman living alone, to have sex with her despite her attempts to fend him off, and to threaten violence,” Mrs Vigars said.

“Behaviour that he had already used, we suggest, back in 1967 on Mrs Dunne, the difference being that in that case his violence killed her.”

The trial continues.