Bodycam footage released by police shows the moment shocked pensioner Ryland Headley was left bemused as he was arrested on suspicion of killing 75-year-old Louisa Dunne in 1967
Police footage shows arrest of Ryland Headley
This was the moment a shocked 92-year-old man was arrested at his home for a murder carried out nearly 60 years before.
Police bodyworn footage captured Ryland Headley being detained for the murder of Louisa Dunne in what was Britain’s oldest cold case review. A trial into the killing of the 75-year-old in Bristol on 27 June 1967 remains ongoing. But after it was shown to the jury, Avon and Somerset Police have released a video, which are the first images of the defendant. In footage, a startled looking Headley asks cops: “Where are you getting this from?” as he is arrested.
In the video starts with officers turning up to his home in Ipswich, Suffolk, and asking if Headley can open up his door. He responds by asking “who are you?” and then when told it’s the police states; “No, no. You can’t come now. What do you want to come in for?”
The female police officer adds: “I’ll explain, because it’s a bit sensitive so we’d like to come in to speak to you properly please. ” Headley tells cops: “I’ve just got up and I’m very sick. I’m very sick. Not well at all.”
The statled defendant then asks: “What is this about?” The officer responds: “I’ll tell you inside because we don’t want other people hearing. So can we just come inside and get you seated?”
A second officer is heard telling him: “I’m here today because I’m arresting you on suspicion of the rape and murder of Louisa Dunne, which happened in Bristol, in June 1967. The reason I’m arresting you is because the police have investigative material that indicates that you were responsible for that rape and murder of Mrs Dunne, which happened at Britannia Road in eastern Bristol, June 1967.”
Throughout, Headley repeats ‘yeah’ at regular intervals. The officer then reads him his rights and Headley adds: ” Wait, wait. Where are you getting all this from?”
The officer states: “We have investigative information, so we have material that suggests that it is yourself and we need to arrest you and take you into custody so we can conduct an interview with you. So we can hear your events and interview you about it.”
The trial heard Louisa’s body was found by neighbours the next morning after the attack, but in the decades that followed no-one was brought to justice over her death, Bristol Crown Court heard. Her skirt, along witih other items from the scene, were kept in storage and were recently reexamined to try and make a breakthrough.
Jurors have been told there is “extremely strong” scientific evidence to suggest semen samples found on the skirt came from her alleged murderer. Giving evidence, a forensic scientist told jurors that recent direct DNA matches linking semen samples from Mrs Dunne’s pubic hair and the blue skirt suggested they were “one billion times” more likely to have come from Headley than from anyone else.
An earlier statement from pathologist Dr Albert Hunt, who carried out Mrs Dunne’s autopsy revealed the cause of her death as asphyxiation due to strangulation and pressure on the mouth. Headley, of Ipswich, Suffolk, denies raping and murdering Ms Dunne in June 1967.
The trial continues.