Easton<\/a> area of Bristol in June 1967 before sexually attacking and fatally strangling her.<\/p>\nPolice launched an investigation after the mother-of-two\u2019s body was discovered by neighbours on the morning of June 28 that year, with officers identifying a palm print on a rear window of her house.<\/p>\n
They also took samples from Mrs Dunne\u2019s body and kept her clothing to await advances in forensic science.<\/p>\n
A post-mortem examination concluded that Mrs Dunne died overnight between June 27 and 28, with a pathologist finding that a hand had probably been forcibly held over her mouth.<\/p>\n
Bristol Crown Court heard that in 2023 forensic scientists tested clothing and swabs and were able to extract DNA profiles for further examination, which matched Headley, now aged 92.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Ryland-Headley-court-case.jpg\")
The skirt Louisa Dunne was found wearing when she died(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
Forensic scientist Andrew Parry said he had examined swabs and tape samples taken from Mrs Dunne\u2019s body, pubic hairs and items of her clothing.<\/p>\n
The jury was told that DNA profiles were given a sliding scale of strength between one and one billion.<\/p>\n
A result of between one and 10 was regarded as weak, while one million plus was graded as \u201cextremely strong support\u201d, Mr Parry said.<\/p>\n
Mrs Dunne\u2019s skirt was examined for the presence of semen and a sample was extracted for further testing to obtain a full DNA profile.<\/p>\n
Mr Parry said he then compared that profile with a cheek swab from the defendant.<\/p>\n
\u201cI compared the two profiles, and the profile of Mr Headley matched the DNA profile from the skirt,\u201d he told the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is estimated that the finding is in the order of one billion times more likely if the sperm cells originated from Mr Headley rather than if they had not, but originated from some unknown unrelated person.<\/p>\n
\u201cTypically, I would expect to see that level of sperm from either drainage of semen from the vagina following full ejaculation, could be a full ejaculation onto the skirt, or the skirt could have come into contact with something heavily stained with wet semen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The court heard Mr Parry had examined loose pubic hairs and obtained a DNA profile.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got a mixture of DNA from at least two people, but there was a prominent \u2013 so a higher level \u2013 male DNA contribution which in my opinion originated from the sperm cells,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DNA profile of Mr Headley was fully represented amongst those prominent DNA components.<\/p>\n
\u201cI then conducted a statistical analysis on that because there was evidence of DNA from more than one person, we used a specialist computer program to do this.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to evaluate the findings statistically, I considered the two possibilities. The DNA originated from Ryland Headley and an unknown individual, or the DNA originated from two unknown individuals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI calculated that the findings was in the order of one billion times more likely if the first alternative was true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna Vigars KC, prosecuting, asked: \u201cSo in other words, one billion times more likely if it was from Mr Headley that it was from two unknown individuals?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Parry replied: \u201cThat is correct, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He told the court he carried out the same tests on a selection of plucked pubic hairs and obtained a partial male DNA profile.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe profile of Mr Headley matched the equivalent DNA in the partial profile,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion it was most likely from the sperm cells in the sample. I conducted a statistical assessment and obtained the same finding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI considered two propositions. The DNA originated from Mr Headley and an unknown individual or the DNA originated from two unknown individuals.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd again the finding was in the order of one billion times more likely if the first alternative was true, that the DNA originated from Mr Headley and an unknown individual.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Parry said his examination of the scarf, and the samples from Mrs Dunne\u2019s neck and face, were \u201cinconclusive\u201d for contact with the defendant.<\/p>\n
Asked about his conclusions, Mr Parry told the court: \u201cIn my opinion there is extremely strong scientific evidence to support the assertion that the sperm cells detected on Louisa Dunne\u2019s skirt and the pubic hair samples originated from Mr Headley.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s accepted that the sperm originates from Mr Headley then in my opinion the findings are what I may expect if Mr Headley had been involved in some sexual activity with Louisa Dunne.\u201d<\/p>\n
Headley, of Clarence Road, Ipswich, has pleaded not guilty to the rape and murder of Mrs Dunne between June 26 and 29 1967.<\/p>\n
His trial, expected to last up to three weeks, continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryland Headley is accused of sexually attacking and fatally strangling Louisa Dunne Rod Minchin and Claire Hayhurst, PA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,30,188,9999,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-195977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-courts","11":"tag-crime","12":"tag-easton","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114707670302089409","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Ryland-Headley-92-first-appeared-before-Bristol-Magistrates-Court-on-Wednesday-accused-of-rape-and.webp\")
A court artist’s sketch of Ryland Headley(Image: PA Wire\/PA Images)<\/p>\n