Louisa Dunne: Man, 92, faces trial next year for 1967 rape and murder of Bristol woman

A 92-year-old man will face trial next year accused of the murder and rape of a woman found dead in Bristol 57 years ago.

Ryland Headley is accused of killing 75-year old Louisa Dunne in 1967. Mr Headley, of Ipswich, Suffolk, was arrested and charged on Tuesday 19 November.

He did not attend a brief hearing at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday 21 November where Judge Martin Picton set a trial date of Monday 16 June.

The trial will take place a High Court judge and is expected to last up to three weeks, with a plea and trial preparation hearing fixed for Friday 14 February.

Chief inspector Vicks Hayward-Melen of Avon and Somerset Police said that Headley's arrest followed a review in the cold case that began in 2023.

The review included further forensic examination of items involved in the case.

Louisa Dunne's murder reached national headlines at the time - police interviewed 8,000 people and took 30,000 statements before investigations wound down in the early 1970s.

The pensioner was found dead in the front room of her home in Easton on 28 June 1967 by a neighbour. She had spent the previous evening enjoying stewed gooseberries and custard with a friend.