Man, 92, on trial accused of rape and murder of Bristol woman almost 60 years ago

A 92-year-old man has gone on trial accused of the rape and murder of an elderly woman in Bristol nearly 60 years ago.

Ryland Headley, from Ipswich, denies killing Louisa Dunne, who was 75 at the time, in June 1967.

Avon and Somerset Police reopened the cold case in 2023 and arrested Headley following new tests on semen found on the skirt Ms Dunne was wearing at the time.

Opening the case, Prosecutor Anna Vigars KC told the jury at Bristol Crown Court that those test results showed a DNA match that was "a billion times more likely" to be Mr Headley's than anyone else.

Her clothes had been kept in police storage for decades.

The prosecution said that Ms Dunne was found by neighbours inside her home in the Easton area of the city after returning from a friend's house.

They described how she was discovered lying on her back on a pile of old clothes, with blood coming from her and vomit in her mouth.

"She was fully dressed, but her knickers were around her ankles, and a nylon type stocking was lying across her neck," added Mrs Vigars.

At the time, police found her house had been broken into and a sash window had been forced open, with a palm print discovered.

The investigation in 1967 took thousands of palm prints from local males, but no match was found.

A post-mortem examination at the time found she had "extensive abrasions" on her face and that the most likely explanation was that a hand had been pressed against her mouth.

An intimate swab tested positive for semen, but DNA testing was not available at the time.

The jury heard that Headley, who appeared in the dock wearing a red jumper, had already pleaded guilty of raping two other elderly women, just weeks apart in 1977.

One victim, an 84-year-old woman, said she would scream, and he replied to her: "If you do that, that will be worse for you."

Mrs Vigars outlined to the court that Headley told the other victim, a 79-year-old, he had a gun, saying: "If you do what I tell you, you will be all right, if not, I will kill you. Do not scream or make a noise or I will kill you."

Read more from Sky News:
Girl, 13, charged with rioting
Nursery worker convicted of mistreating children
UK could see 32C this week with heatwave

The prosecution said the offences demonstrated that Headley had "a tendency" to act in the same way that he allegedly did 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," the prosecution added.

Headley denies raping and murdering Ms Dunne.

The trial at Bristol Crown Court is due to last up to three weeks.

(c) Sky News 2025: Man, 92, on trial accused of rape and murder of Bristol woman almost 60 years ago