Ryland Headley guilty: Man, 92, convicted of murder of Louisa Dunne in Bristol in UK’s longest-running cold case

London – On Monday, a 92 -year -old man was convicted of raping a woman in southwestern England, southwestern England, in what is believed to be the longest cold situation in the UK ever.

A jury in the Prestol Crown Court found Riland Hedley, who was 34 years old, guilty of attacking the 75 -year -old Louisa in June 1967.

“Luisa Dan died in a terrifying attack that was carried out at the place where she should have felt safely – her home,” said Prosecutor Charlotte Reem. “Over the course of 58 years, this horrific crime and Ryland Headley have not been resolved, the man we know now is responsible, and avoid justice.”

Dan was found in her home by a neighbors on June 28, 1967. The cause of her death was found to be strangled and suffocated. It was also raped.

Investigators kept Dan clothes, including the blue skirt, and other samples of her body to perform more examination. They also recovered palm from a window believed to have used her to enter her home.

In 2023, the case was re -examined and the skirt was sent away from the forensic test in May last year. DNA was recovered from the clothing component that connects Hedley to the killing scene after adding its DNA to the national database in 2012 for an unrelated accident.

Forensic scientists concluded that the DNA of the skirt is identical to Heidliz and that palm printing was also. Heidley was arrested at his home in Suffolk in November.

Heidley was convicted on two accusations of rape in the late 1970s, after he attacked women between the ages of 79 and 84, in Epswich. He acknowledged that he was guilty of charges in 1978 and was imprisoned for seven years.

The testimonies of the two women were read during the Heidley 2025 trial.

“The voices of the victims of his crimes in 1977, he is very strong and attached,” said Inspector Dave Marchant, one of the senior investigation officials in the case. “I think it gives us an insightful look what happened in 58 British Road (home without) to some extent.”

Dan Mary Denton’s granddaughter said she was amazed when I heard Hidley had been arrested. “I have accepted that some murders are never resolved and that some people should live with this void and sadness,” she said.

Marshant said he was working with the National Crime Agency to determine whether Heideley may be responsible for any other crimes that have not been resolved over the years. He said, “Crimes of this size should never pass and we will remain uncompromising in ensuring that we do our best to progress in other killing cases that were not resolved in the Avon and Somerset area.”

Heidley will be judged on Tuesday.