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Mike Ferguson
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Mike Gibson
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Mike Ferguson
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Mike Ferguson
Foreign. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 471 of the True Crime all the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and and with me as always is my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson. Gibby, how are you?
Mike Gibson
Hey, I'm doing good, how about you?
Mike Ferguson
I am doing amazingly. I'm so excited. We talked about it on Patreon but the studio is is coming together. I've had a few hiccups with not having what I needed, having to go out order things, but I believe next week we will be in the new studio.
Mike Gibson
Well, just remember I said measure twice before you cut. You did, but you decided to measure once and cut and so now you need more material.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, that was my problem. I misunderstood you. But I am excited about it. It's coming together nicely and I think it's going to look great.
Mike Gibson
I think it's going to look really good.
Mike Ferguson
And, you know, that helps us out with putting some video on YouTube. But also that's the second episode every week.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
And I know people have been clamoring for more content, so they're going to get it. Hopefully everybody's ready for it. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shout outs. We had Jabin Hussein.
Mike Gibson
Hey. Jabean.
Mike Ferguson
Noah Nixon.
Mike Gibson
Well, hey, thanks. And Square.
Mike Ferguson
Laurie Smith. Laurie. Genevieve. Roland.
Mike Gibson
Genevieve. I love that name.
Mike Ferguson
Genevieve. Joe.
Mike Gibson
Hey, Joe.
Mike Ferguson
Debbie Klein.
Mike Gibson
What's going on?
Mike Ferguson
Debbie and Stacy Oishi jumped out at our highest level. Yeah. I'm saying it different ways to hopefully keep changing it, encompass the correct version.
Mike Gibson
Could you say, hey, Stace?
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, you can. I have to say the whole name, though.
Mike Gibson
It's a lot of pressure on you.
Mike Ferguson
Everything's a lot of pressure on me. And if we go back into the vault this week, we selected Gia Pico.
Mike Gibson
Ada Gia.
Mike Ferguson
So appreciate all the support we get. We have an episode out right now on True Crime all the Time Unsolved, where we're talking about Angelica Gandera. She went missing in 1985 while making this relatively short walk from her grandmother's house to her home in Temple, Texas. And this is a little bit different as far as Unsolved goes, you know, we're 40 plus years on, but authorities have identified what they've called two very strong suspects. But as of right now, no arrests have been made. So I, I think for people who normally can't handle unsolved, this one, you know, is fairly close, I believe, to being solved. So check it out, give it a listen. Also wanted to remind Everybody, you know, CrimeCon's coming up quick. I actually can't believe how soon it's we're going to be there.
Mike Gibson
Going to be there before we know it.
Mike Ferguson
If you haven't made your plans and you haven't bought your tickets and you're going to go to crimecon.com just make sure you use our promo code, TCAT. That'll save you a little bit of money off your standard badge. Yeah. All right, buddy, are you ready to get into this episode of True Crime all the Time?
Mike Gibson
You know I am.
Mike Ferguson
In June 1967, 75 year old Louisa Dunn was murdered inside her home in Bristol, England. The murder became one of the oldest cold cases in modern UK history. 58 years later, advancements in forensic technology helped authorities identify the killer. And we love advances in forensic technology. Right. We talk about a lot of cases where know that's how they're solved or on unsolved, we talk about that's probably what it's going to take, right, to solve some of these really cold cases. Now, more often than not, we're in the US Talking about US cases, but the same holds true for cases all around the world. And this is just another example of a case solved after almost six decades.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, it's a long time, but thank goodness. Right. They kept really good care of evidence.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. And we'll get into all the particulars, but, you know, that's one of the things it always comes down to. Right. First of all, what was collected, how was it collected, and then how was it stored. And based on all that, are they able to get, you know, a viable sample when it comes to DNA? Louisa Dunn was born in England in 1892, when Queen Victoria was still on the throne.
Mike Gibson
Well, that's very British. Queen Victoria.
Mike Ferguson
Well, the. Yeah, I don't know what that last accent was, but actually this whole episode is going to be very British because we are in England.
Mike Gibson
In England, yeah.
Mike Ferguson
In 1915, Louisa married Teddy Parker, a union leader and Labor Party counselor. They had two daughters named Edna and Iris. Teddy and Louisa were involved in local politics, and their home was said to have been a hub of political activity.
Mike Gibson
Sounds like it was a lot of fun. Maybe.
Mike Ferguson
Not sure how you're equating a hub of political activity with fun, but maybe, maybe that was fun to them.
Mike Gibson
Got all those players coming and going, you know, just watching, sitting back, taking it all in, learning from them.
Mike Ferguson
Well, and I can't help but think about, you know, one of our favorite TV shows, Peaky Blinders. Right. Takes place a little bit later than where we are in the story right here. But, you know, there is a lot of political things going on in the show.
Mike Gibson
There is.
Mike Ferguson
You have a lot of people who are into communism in England at the time. Louisa's granddaughter Mary Dainton, told the Guardian, mom said Gran used to join in with the political chat that went on in the house. My grandmother supported my grandfather. She must have been in the position of a lot of women where she ran the house and looked after the children while he went on with his career. And, and, you know, let's face it, I. I think that was the model for a lot of people, a lot of families going back into the early 1900s all the way up to what Gibbs, 1950s, 1960s, until things started to change a little bit, where more women were entering the workforce. And then it all. To me, it almost became like you had to have two incomes.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, exactly. Right.
Mike Ferguson
Unless you had one person who was making a boatload of money. I mean, you think about today, for so many people, it takes two incomes.
Mike Gibson
It does.
Mike Ferguson
To make it. Teddy was considered a potential mayoral candidate, but he suffered a stroke and was hospitalized in the early 40s. He died in 1945. In 1952, Louisa married John Dunn, a night watchman. John died in 1961. So she was married a couple of times. Her husbands Both died in 1967. Louisa was living alone in her home in the eastern neighborhood of Bristol. She was estranged from her family for unspecified reasons, but she did have a good group of friends in her neighborhood whom she saw regularly. She was a well known figure in Easton. Neighbors often saw her on her doorstep watching people pass by.
Mike Gibson
Oh, I love watching people passing by.
Mike Ferguson
It reminds me of my grandfather. I've probably said it on this podcast before, but he was the ultimate people watcher.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
I mean, if he wasn't outside kind of scoping things out, he was in his, like, living room window, you know, looking through the blind.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
He was so curious about what everybody was doing and it was almost like a hobby. He didn't have a lot of hobbies.
Mike Gibson
Right.
Mike Ferguson
I'll be honest with you. So that was kind of like his hobby.
Mike Gibson
I used to, you know, back in the day when I'd go to lunch. Well, we used to work at the old location. There's a place down there I would go to eat lunch some, a lot of times by myself by the time I was able to get lunch.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Because nobody else wanted to go with. I get it.
Mike Gibson
Yeah. I didn't want to say that, but thank you. But I go down there and I was eating, I'd be watching other people eating together and I'd be like making up what they're talking, talking about, you know, I just make up my own mind.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. As you were thinking to myself, man, I wish somebody would come eat with me. I will say my wife used to love to go to the mall.
Mike Gibson
Right.
Mike Ferguson
I feel like nobody goes to the mall anymore. But back when the mall was a big deal, she used to love to go to the mall and we would walk and she would just. People watch or we'd sit on a bench and eat a hot pretzel. But she was mostly just people watching. Louisa lived a simple life. According to the Guardian, she supported herself with her pension and her prized possessions were her books.
Mike Gibson
Do you have a prize book in your collection?
Mike Ferguson
I mean, I guess I'd have to say, you know, living on the edge. The Mike Gibson Story.
Mike Gibson
That's a pretty good book.
Mike Ferguson
Ghost written by Rex West.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, it was like 500 some pages. It's a pretty deep read.
Mike Ferguson
Deep. Yeah, deep is not a word I would use. On June 28, 1967, Louise's neighbors were worried when they noticed that one of her windows was open and they hadn't seen her outside. Neighbor Violet Allen climbed through the open window and found Louisa's body in the front room of her home. Louisa had been raped and died of strangulation and asphyxiation. And you and I always talk about people finding a dead body. Sometimes it's a loved one, a family member. That has to be horrible. Sometimes it's a stranger. I still don't think that can be all that great. Right. For that person.
Mike Gibson
Right.
Mike Ferguson
Here you have a neighbor who has some familiarity with the victim. That has to be very tough.
Mike Gibson
I think my greatest fear would be, like, what if no one noticed I was missing? How long would I be laying there before being discovered?
Mike Ferguson
Well, unfortunately, it would probably be about a week before I checked up on you. You know, you're. You're here the same night every week.
Mike Gibson
Right.
Mike Ferguson
And sometimes we talk in between recording sessions, but not always. And, you know, a whole week could go by before I would miss you. I mean, I'm not saying that to be mean or anything. It's just if you didn't show up, then I'd be. I'd start to get worried.
Mike Gibson
You text. But then would the text stop after I don't reply? Or would you take it to the next step and be like, reaching out to one of my kids, like, hey.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, I would probably do that. I don't think I'd drive up. You live pretty far away, actually.
Mike Gibson
But that's good to know.
Mike Ferguson
I would definitely try to maybe reach out to one of your brothers or your kids, something like that. So this is a violent scene. No doubt about it. Right, right. Rape and murder. Authorities launched a large scale effort to find the killer. Investigators fingerprinted over 19,000 men in the area, and they took 1300 statements. That's a big chore to fingerprint 19,000 people. Yeah, yeah, because this is the 1960s. Right. There's no technology where you can just put your fingers on a fingerprint reader. They. They would have had to have rolled them, you know, the old school with the ink and all that.
Mike Gibson
I'm thinking, are they just grabbing people off the street as they pass by?
Mike Ferguson
Well, I don't know what the criteria was, other than being a man. I guess if you were A man you were being fingerprinted. Now, 1300 statements, that's, that's going to take quite a while, too. Again, I don't know how they came up with the people who were going to be asked to do each of these. Investigators had a palm print on file that was found on a window at the back of Luis's home, but there was no match. So I'm assuming when it said they were fingerprinting 19,000 men, they were also taking the palm print too, because that's what they had. Now, does that mean that they then had to try to match all 19,000 of these?
Mike Gibson
It sounds like it to me because.
Mike Ferguson
That is taking even more time. It was just last week, right. We talked about the state of Oklahoma not having a computerized way to search for fingerprint matches. So obviously in the 60s, they definitely wouldn't have had that. So you're, you're, you're back to the old reviewing the person's prints against the lifted print. And that's a very manual process.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, very time consuming.
Mike Ferguson
The case was reviewed in 2009 and 2013, but there were still no hits in the national fingerprint database. So obviously by that point, quite a bit of time had gone by. Right. The case was cold to some degree, probably a large degree, but also by that time, computer systems and databases and all of that were a thing.
Mike Gibson
And you wonder if the suspect in the case was thinking, I'm good, I don't need to worry, they're never going to find me.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, I always wonder that because I think it's probably a mix. I think there are some people who are scared to death as time goes by and they're seeing on tv, Right. That this technology or that technology is coming online. You know, how worried are they that they're gonna finally catch me? Yeah, I think after a certain period of time goes by, there's probably a big sigh of relief and, you know, you're not worried about it.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
But then when the technology starts coming online, that's got to change it for you.
Mike Gibson
Then you're wondering, man, did I leave a print? Did I leave anything there that could come back and bite me?
Mike Ferguson
And then does it become kind of that waiting for the knock on the door? And if it is, to me, that's a really tough way to live. Now, you earned it, you deserve it because of what you did. In June 2023, Crime Review Officer Joe Smith with the Avon and Somerset police was asked to take a look at the case. Smith was formerly a police officer. Her role as a crime review officer is classified as a civilian job. Avon and Somerset's major and statutory review team has been looking at cold cases since 2008. Smith went to the police archive to retrieve 17 boxes of paperwork and evidence from the Louisa Dunn case. She told the Guardian. When I saw that it was dated 1967, I knew we were only going to solve this through forensics. So I went to the archive to look at the exhibits boxes. I opened the first one and put the lid back on again immediately. Most of our cold cases are in forensically sealed bags with barcodes and case reference numbers. These weren't. They just had brown cardboard luggage labels saying what they were. It meant that they'd never been subject to modern forensic examinations.
Mike Gibson
Well, how strange would that have been to see that though?
Mike Ferguson
Well, strange but also maybe promising because they haven't been tested. So you might think, oh, okay, we could get a hit. Yeah, but at the same time, you know, they're sitting in what is essentially probably like what your mom used to send your lunch with with you in back in elementary school, a brown paper bag or something like that.
Mike Gibson
Oh, brown bagged it.
Mike Ferguson
So you got to wonder, right, if there's something in here, are we going to be able to use it? Did it hold up? How was it collected all that stuff? Smith and her colleagues spent the rest of the day bagging items for testing. You know folks, I got really tired of standing in the grocery aisle and looking at labels trying to figure out what's good for me. That's why I have a membership to Thrive Market. Thrive Market is a membership based grocery service where you can shop from wherever you are. All you got to do is hop on their app. The membership breaks down to $5 a month and it gives members access to weekly sales, personalized shopping with filters, autoship and save, free gifts and peace of mind knowing there's no junk in any of the products they carry. Instead of paying fees on every grocery delivery order, you pay once for the year and benefit from it every time you shop. My wife and I order a lot from Thrive Market. Her favorite is the Smash Foods Raspberry Superfood Fruit Spread. She loves it. Now my favorite are the crisps from the Good Crisp Company, specifically sour cream and onion. They're amazing. The simple fact that I can shop specifically for high protein or low sugar through filters makes the membership a no brainer for me. Thrive Market gives you versions of all the foods you love with less sugar, fewer sketchy ingredients and more nutrition. Ready to make some healthy swaps and become a member. Join Thrive Market with our link thrivemarket.com tcat for 30% off your first order plus a free $60 gift. Nothing happened for the next eight months. Smith said, I was excited, but it wasn't met with a huge amount of enthusiasm. Let's just say there was some skepticism as to the value of submitting something so old to forensics. It wasn't seen as a priority and I get that. Right. You're talking about something that at that point is, you know, 50 years old. Plus there are obviously cases happening daily, weekly, yearly. Many of them would take priority over this.
Mike Gibson
Yeah. The urgency is just not going to be there.
Mike Ferguson
In the spring of 2024, authorities sent a blue skirt Louisa was wearing at the time of the murder and sample of her hairs to a forensic scientist for testing. They found semen on the skirt and a full DNA profile was developed in late August 2024.
Mike Gibson
Wow. You think they were like high fiving each other?
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, I think they were very excited, for lack of a better word about this finding. But I also go back to the perpetrator. Right. We talked about it. You asked the question, a question that the perpetrator would probably ask themselves over the years. What did I leave behind? We already know she was raped. We said that. Now, in 1967, there wasn't a lot you could do with semen, but once DNA came online and then obviously through the years as it advanced. Well, there was a lot you could.
Mike Gibson
Do with it, of course. Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
So if I'm the perpetrator and I'm sitting at home, I'm worried, I think.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, you'd have to be.
Mike Ferguson
The DNA was put through a database and a match was identified. 92 year old Ryland Headley, a widower from Ipswich. In addition to the DNA match, Headley's criminal record made him a strong suspect. He was arrested for raping two elderly women in Ipswich in, in 1977. The victims were 79 and 84 years old.
Mike Gibson
You know, all rapists are terrible people.
Mike Ferguson
But yeah, I don't think there's any good ones.
David Taylor
No.
Mike Ferguson
As far as I know, no.
Mike Gibson
But what I don't like about this guy is that he's targeting elderly women because they're vulnerable.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly why.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
You know, could somebody have, I don't know if this is the right term, but, you know, a fetish for older women? I guess so. But I think by and large people target elderly women in these types of cases for the exact reason you just said. Right. They're they're vulnerable, they're less likely to be able to put up a massive fight.
Mike Gibson
Right.
Mike Ferguson
But you talk about DNA and then you talk about kind of the. His M.O. this is a person who attacked women in their late 70s, 80s, and we said it, right. In 1967, Louisa was 75 years old. So she kind of fits into that pattern.
Mike Gibson
So for the authorities, they have to feel really good about what they have here.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. I mean, the DNA match alone. Right. Has them feeling really good. Headley was convicted and jailed for life. But at an appeal hearing, doctors told the court that the rapes occurred due to sexual frustration from Headley's marriage to what they described as his ambitious and demanding wife. So the sentence was reduced and. And Headley spent only two years in jail. All right, please make that make sense to me. You go from convicted and jailed for life to two years. Why? Because he was sexually frustrated. Right. How many of us aren't?
Mike Gibson
How does it make it okay?
Mike Ferguson
Right. How does that mitigate or make better in any way what he did or not? Not excuse it, but you know what I'm saying? I just don't get that.
Mike Gibson
And if. If your partner is ambitious and demanding, I mean, that's describing a lot of partners out there.
Mike Ferguson
Well, sure. Let's face it. Does everybody get as much sex as they would like? I would say if people were being honest, the answer for many would be no. But in no way does that excuse or form the basis of it being less wrong no. To rape these elderly women.
Mike Gibson
You don't get a lesser sentence because according to your doctor, you're sexually frustrated.
Mike Ferguson
Well, apparently you do. The guy just did.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, it's true.
Mike Ferguson
You said you don't, but he did not. You should not. Yeah, that's for sure. Forensic scientists determined that the DNA from the Dunn crime scene was 1 billion times more likely to belong to Headley than anyone else.
Mike Gibson
Those are pretty solid odds.
Mike Ferguson
They are. And, you know, we see that kind of number all over the place. One in so many trillion. Now we're seeing one in so many quadrillions or. I don't know. These are numbers I can't even really understand. But basically what you're saying in a lot of these cases now is there aren't as many people on the entire planet as the odds are of this being anyone else, if that makes sense now. One in a billion. Obviously, there are more than a billion people and were and have been for some time, but it's still a very, very strong piece of evidence.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, I would say you'd have to feel really good about the fact that you got your killer with that DNA.
Mike Ferguson
Because there's three times less people in the United States.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
And that's not even factoring in how many males. So. Yeah, it just doesn't. It doesn't seem likely. Right, that it's anybody else but him. Now, Headley's DNA had been in the system since 2012, when he was arrested but not charged over an unrelated matter. After identifying Headley, investigators knew they needed to work quickly because of his advanced age. I said it right. The guy was 92 years old.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, that's up there.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. I mean, the average age of a male is. I don't know what it is, but it's probably not 92. I'm assuming it's less than that.
Mike Gibson
78, I think.
Mike Ferguson
Quite a bit less than that. Before they could make an arrest, they had to prove he was in Bristol at the time of the murder. In the 11 weeks between the DNA match and the arrest, the review team read all 1300 statements and police records to see if Headley was part of the original inquiry. He wasn't. Former Detective Sergeant Barry Fraling spent days at the Bristol City archives looking up electoral roll and rate payment records to prove Headley and his wife were living in Bristol in 1967. Records showed Headley was a railway worker and lived a mile and a half from Luis's home.
Mike Gibson
Oh, I'm sure they were smiling ear to ear on that one.
Mike Ferguson
But his name didn't come up in 1967 because he lived outside of the search area. So apparently the search area was not all that big if he only lived a mile and a half away.
Mike Gibson
So maybe they were looking at things within a mile.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, maybe. After the murder, Headley left southwest England with his family and may have spent time in London before moving to Ipswich. In Suffolk, the review team also found former officer Bobby Day, who was involved in the original investigation, and Norman Taylor. The doctor called when Louisa's body was found. The vast majority of witnesses in this case, though, had passed away by 2024. And you're going to have that on a case that's over 50 years old. It gives you figure even people who were new to their jobs, who would be in their 20s, they would still be in their mid to late 70s at this point.
Mike Gibson
That's true. That's one of the problems with older cases, right?
Mike Ferguson
It is.
Mike Gibson
Unfortunately, time takes its toll.
Mike Ferguson
It does. On us all.
Mike Gibson
On us all. Yep.
Mike Ferguson
That's why, you know, DNA has been such a game changer. The Suffolk police also provided the statements from the Ipswich rape victims. They described how Headley snuck into their room and threatened to kill them if they did not comply. I'm still upset that this guy got two years for being convicted of raping two women aged 79 and 84 after initially essentially receiving a life sentence. There wasn't a ton of details around it, but it's a head scratcher.
Mike Gibson
It's just really insulting.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. I think for the victims and the victim's families, that's a really tough one. Ryland Headley was arrested on November 19, 2024. When he was told why he was being arrested, Headley said, I don't know what you're talking about. Very strange, very strange. The first part doesn't surprise me, right. I don't know how many people who, if they were confronted with this type of horrible crime right off the bat say, oh, yeah, you got me. Right. I don't think that's the norm. Most people say, I don't know what you're talking about. Wasn't me, wasn't me. Now, later on, they might ultimately cave, but I don't think, by and large, most of these people cave right from the get go. The part that got me was the very strange. Very strange.
Mike Gibson
Sounds like just plain denial to me.
Mike Ferguson
Why? Couldn't figure out what was very strange, that they were coming and asking him about it. They were accusing him of it. They were arresting him. After the arrest, four fingerprint experts concluded the palm print found at the crime scene matched Headley's palm print, further proof that he was inside Luis's home on the night of the murder. According to the guardian, Headley's neighbors in Ipswich didn't know about his past and considered him a friendly guy who doted on his family and even recently adopted a kitten.
Mike Gibson
You know, when you hear about somebody like this and how they used to be, and maybe they're not like that now, but do you think how you feel about them now changes, like, quickly, or is it something that takes over time as you think about it, more and more like he did what to who?
Mike Ferguson
I think for probably neighbors, that change happens very quickly because, you know, you. You don't really know these people. Yeah, you might think you do, but nobody really knows their neighbors all that well. Not like a family member would.
Mike Gibson
Right.
Mike Ferguson
Right. You're not in the house all the time. You're not seeing fights and you're not seeing them at their worst. Most of the time you see your neighbors at their best unless they're Real a holes.
Mike Gibson
Well that's true.
Mike Ferguson
Which I've had a few.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, you have.
Mike Ferguson
But also Gibbs. He could have been a friendly guy by this point. You think about him being in his 70s, his 80s and then in his 90s. I can't imagine that he was out doing any of this at that advanced age. But that doesn't change what he did right in the 60s and 70s when he was a younger man. You know folks, a well built wardrobe is about pieces that work together and hold up over time. That's what Quince does best. Premium materials, thoughtful design and everyday staples that feel easy to wear and easy to rely on even as the weather shifts. Quince has the everyday essentials I love with the quality that lasts. Organic cotton sweaters, Polos for every occasion, lighter jackets that keep you warm in the changing seasons, and the list just goes on. Quince works directly with top factories and cuts out the middlemen. So you're not paying for brand markup, just quality clothing. Plus they only partner with factories that meet rigorous standards for craftsmanship and ethical production. And that's a big deal for me. I am hooked on their flow knit performance wear. I just got a long sleeved hoodie in the mail the other day and and it's all I want to wear. Everything we've ordered from Quints has been top notch and the prices are amazing. Refresh your wardrobe with quint. Go to quint.com tcat for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com tcatt free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com tcat Ryan Headley's murder trial started on June 16, 2025. In opening statements, prosecutor Anna Vickers KC told the jury, as quoted by the Guardian, what we are talking about is the murder of an elderly and vulnerable lady in her own home. She was in no state to defend herself. Whether it happened 58 years ago or 58 days ago, the murder of any person is a matter of concern to the rest of us. The fact that time has passed doesn't make the killing of any one of us less significant. And I would agree, wholeheartedly, absolutely, perfectly said. With that statement, the jury heard how advances in DNA technology led to Headley's arrest. They also heard a description of Louisa's injuries. She was only 5 3.
Mike Gibson
Oh, that's tiny.
Mike Ferguson
Described as a petite woman, there is no way she would have been able to defend herself against an attacker. Louisa had abrasions on her face and bruises to the back of her head and her right thigh. A pathologist concluded a hand was forcibly held over her mouth and a bruise across the back of her neck was caused by a scarf found under her body that was violently tightened. A vaginal swab tested positive for semen and we talked about it earlier. Right, but. So even though semen was found, DNA testing, as we know, did not exist in 1967. But because Luisa's skirt was preserved for decades, it was able to be tested. A forensic scientist found what was described as a large quantity of semen on the fabric. And I don't know what is meant by large, I mean, that's subjective, but.
Mike Gibson
Well, clearly it was noticeably large and we mentioned it.
Mike Ferguson
Right, but the match ratio meant it was a billion times more likely to be Headley's DNA than anyone else. The jury also heard that after the murder, Headley and his family moved to Ipswich and that in 1977 he raped two elderly women. He broke into their homes and threatened to strangle or smother them if they did not follow his orders prior to trial. The Crown Prosecution Service argued that Headley's two previous rape convictions formed an important part of the case and they were allowed to present that evidence to, to the jury. And that's an important part. Right. We talk about a lot of cases and there are times when a defendant's other acts, other convictions are not allowed to be shared with the jury.
Mike Gibson
But in this case I'm glad they did because it's kind of setting the stage.
Mike Ferguson
Right, well, you're showing the character of someone, you're showing that this person has a propensity for sexual assaults, violence of elderly women. Of elderly women. That's a good point because Louisa was an elderly woman. The accounts of the attacks were read in court. Headley threatened to strangle the 84 year old victim. He told the 79 year old victim he, he had a gun and warned her that he would smother her with the pillow if she didn't follow his instructions. According to the Guardian, Headley admitted to both rapes and asked for a further 10 offenses of burglaries of homes where his prints were found between 1973 to 1978 to be taken into consideration.
Mike Gibson
So you think on the 10 other robberies, does he say that to like set the stage? Like, hey, I didn't rape anybody during those?
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. I don't know what is meant by he wants those to be taken into consideration, but I do think you're probably on the right track. But here's the thing, right? All but one witness had died by the time of his trial. Meaning the prosecution's case relied primarily on written accounts from the 1960s and 70s. Under current legislation, witness statements must be verified by a statement of truth signed by the witness. Because the witnesses weren't available to give evidence in court, their statements had to be treated as hearsay.
Mike Gibson
So lesser value.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. And you know, a lot of times hearsay is not allowed here in the US the prosecution read statements from Luisa's neighbors who heard screams and moans on the night of her death. However, they didn't think the noises were coming from Luis's home and they went back to sleep.
Mike Gibson
Which is kind of bothersome, right? You wake up, you hear these types of noises and you're like, eh, not next door. I'm just going to go ahead and go back to bed.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, yeah. I don't know. I mean, we talk about it quite a bit. I mean, this is, you know, much different than the case in New York, right. The famous case that we did where a bunch of people witnessed somebody being attacked and they didn't do anything. This happens, I think, more often where someone, or in this case, a couple hears something in the middle of the night, but they're not sure what it is. Okay, are you going to get up? Are you going to investigate it? Are you going to call the police? I think a lot of times people don't because they don't want to be wrong and they don't want to be seen as the person who kind of cries wolf. Right. Calls the police when nothing is really wrong.
Mike Gibson
Well, that is a good point.
Mike Ferguson
Now, in hindsight, it's pretty easy. I'm sure they would have said, hey, I wish we would have called or we would have done something. Alice Clark described Louisa as her best friend in her statement. She last saw Louisa on June 27. When Louisa visited her around 7:30pm she was in good spirits. Louisa's neighbor, Violent Fortune, went to bed at 11:45pm she told the police, I was awakened suddenly by what sounded like a scream. It wasn't a long piercing scream, but a crying out. It sounded muffled and I thought it came from the street outside. Violet did look outside, but she didn't see anyone. And so she went back to bed. Her statement continued, I had been in bed for about two minutes when again I heard someone cry out. I could distinguish it was the voice of a woman. The cry lasted for two or three seconds and I was aware at the same time of another voice. I cannot say if that one was a man or woman, but she didn't think either that the noise came from Louisa's home. Neighbor Harold Hodson said, I hear a loud scream. It was a frightening scream. It was an adult woman. It sounded as if someone was being attacked. After the scream, there was a sound of moans or as if the sound was being muffled. He thought it was a man he knew beating his wife. The noise stopped and he went back to sleep.
Mike Gibson
Oh, it's just Fred or Edgar just beating his wife. I'll go back to bed now.
Mike Ferguson
That's so strange. It is strange right now. Maybe this was during a time when people didn't intervene or pry into other people's business. I don't know. I know today if you thought someone was beating their wife, I would hope that person would call the police.
Mike Gibson
I would hope so, too.
Mike Ferguson
Neighbors were worried the next morning when they didn't see Louisa and saw that a window was open. And this was when neighbor Violent Allen climbed in and found Louisa's body in the front room. And she told the police that Louisa was cold as ice. In closing statements, Headley's lawyer, Jeremy Benson, told the jury, any loss of life is tragic. It would be perfectly natural and understandable for you to feel that after 58 years, someone should be found responsible for the death of Louisa Dunn. But that would be revenge and not justice. Your task is to consider the evidence dispassionately. You must put aside any sympathy or prejudice and only convict Ryland Headley if on the evidence the prosecution has presented, has made you sure of his guilt.
Mike Gibson
Dispassionately?
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. I mean, I think that's kind of a big part of it. Now, is it possible for everyone that I don't know. He also noted that Headley had no recollection of visiting Luisa's home or having intercourse with her and did not rape or kill her.
Mike Gibson
Well, I mean, he is 92, so maybe he just doesn't have the memory that he used to. That could be one thing. Or he's just lying.
Mike Ferguson
Well, how many people admit to remembering that they committed a heinous sexual assault and murder? But to your point, he could have some memory issues as well. On June 30, 2025, Rylan Headley was convicted of rape and murder. The murder verdict was a majority, 10 to 2. The rape verdict was unanimous.
Mike Gibson
That DNA kind of sealed that deal.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Now, that is interesting to me, because logically, you would think if he was the person who raped her, he was the person who killed her as well.
Mike Gibson
But I guess if you don't feel confident that no one came in after he raped her and killed her.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, I see what you're saying, but what are the odds of that?
Mike Gibson
Oh, it's like so minimal, but now.
Mike Ferguson
Maybe there was an argument that there was more than one person there. He raped her, another person killed her. Yeah, I didn't see that in the research, but that could be a possibility. Or at the very least, something that the defense offered up. But the following day, he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 20 years. Now, I'm not sure it matters what you really make. The minimum. The guy's 92 years old, Gibbs.
Mike Gibson
Right.
Mike Ferguson
He's not living to be 112.
Mike Gibson
I don't think at that point, you're thinking he's going to die in prison.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, there's no doubt about it. Now, if it was like his other conviction and they turned around and gave him two years, he might make it two years and get out. I also wonder what it's like to be 92 years old heading to prison.
Mike Gibson
What kind of attitude you go in there with. Can't really act like a tough.
Mike Ferguson
I was going to say, what attitude can you have? You can't back anything up at 92 years old.
Mike Gibson
I mean, probably have a bad hip, knee, shoulder. Well, everything.
Mike Ferguson
I have that at 52.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
So I can only imagine what it would be like at 92. The other thing that is. I don't know if ironic is the right word, but he preyed on elderly women pretty hard. Not to think that there might be some guys in prison who might want to prey on him. Being elderly, probably. If they're. If they get a chance. If he's not segregated or something like that.
Mike Gibson
An easy target.
Mike Ferguson
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Mike Ferguson
During the hearing, the defense noted that Headley was going to turn 93 in September and asked the judge to take into account his behavior since he was released from prison in 1980. And I'll be honest with you, I have a real problem with that. First of all, this is a guy who got to live the majority of his life a free man.
Mike Gibson
Sure he did.
Mike Ferguson
Now he spent a couple of years in prison, but that was for something completely different. If he had been caught in 1967, he would have spent however long in prison. But he didn't. So if I'm the judge, I would have a hard time really taking that into account. I get it, you're about ready to turn 93. But you should have been in prison for many, many years already. So I don't really feel that bad.
Mike Gibson
I wouldn't.
Mike Ferguson
And your behavior over the last 40 some years to me doesn't really have a bearing on it either. You committed a heinous crime. You deserve to spend your last days in prison. You actually deserve to spend a lot longer than he will. The judge said during sentencing that Headley showed a complete disregard for human life and dignity. Louisa was a vulnerable elderly woman who lived alone. Although he was sentenced to a minimum 20 year term, the judge told Headley that given his age, you will never be released. You will die in prison. And I think if you're making bets, that's kind of a no brainer.
Mike Gibson
Yeah, it's pretty solid.
Mike Ferguson
The judge also noted that the rape and murder had an intergenerational impact, which was a powerful aggravating factor and we mentioned it. Right. But this was one of the oldest cold cases to ever be solved in the UK and Headley is believed to be the oldest person in the UK convicted of murder. I don't know how many people get convicted of murder at 92, I would.
Mike Gibson
Think it'd be pretty slim.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Louisa's granddaughter, Mary Dainton released a statement after the conviction which was published by the Avon and Somerset Police. It read, the death of my grandmother, Louisa Dunn has had a far reaching impact throughout my family. I was just 20 years old when my grandmother died and now I'm almost the same age as she was when she was killed. I only have one memory of meeting my grandmother due to family circumstances. I was 14 at the time and visited her in the hospital. My mother told me that Louise's house in Britannia Road was a place of social and political activity. My grandfather, Edwin Parker, was a member of the Early Labor Party and he loved my grandmother dearly. Sadly, he died in 1945 and the social and political elements of my grandmother's life went with him. Louisa's brutal death had a big impact on my mother and her wider family. I don't think my mother ever recovered from it. The anxiety clouded the rest of her life. When people found out about the murder, including friends, they withdrew. There's a stigma attached to rape and murder in my experience, so I have rarely talked to anyone about this until now. Since Ryland Headley was charged with. I've struggled emotionally in many ways I did not anticipate and it falls to me to speak for people who are no longer here. It saddens me deeply that all the people who knew and loved Louisa are not here to see that justice is being done. And it's an emotional statement, but it's also so very true. She talks about how many different people were affected by what happened to her grandmother. Not just her, not just her mom, but, you know, people in the family, people who knew Louisa and they had.
Mike Gibson
To carry this for 50 plus years.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah. Mary Dainton also spoke to the Guardian after the trial in 1967. She was a 20 year old art student, but she didn't know Louisa well. Right. We mentioned it early on. There was a family rift. She met her grandmother just once. She told the guardian, I remember my grandmother being very keen to be friendly with me and she held my hand Very, very tightly. Mary learned about her grandmother's death from an obituary in the Bristol Evening Post. Her mother didn't want to talk about the crime, according to Mary. She told me, basically, dad and I will handle this. You go away, Live your life. Mary talked about how her mother was affected, saying, my mother had a breakdown. I think she suffered from depression. Later, she found it very hard to make friends. We weren't a very close family in the first place, but what there was in the family fell to pieces. And I think that's a scenario that can occur in a lot of families where a family member is murdered. It changes the family dynamics. We've seen it, Gibbs, with parents of a murdered child, they ultimately divorce. It's too painful to live with each other, to look at someone who resembles your child. We've heard that.
Mike Gibson
And in some cases there's resentment.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, you should have done this or you should have done that. If we would have only done this. Mary eventually accepted that the murder would never be solved. She recalled the moment police told her they found the suspect. She said, I said something to the effect of, my goodness, how old is he? They said, 92. I asked the police, was he married? Did he have children? All they could say was, he's had a life. So I presume that meant he was and he did have children. All I could think was, his poor family, too. I don't think anybody could do that unless they had a very distorted view of what is right and what is wrong.
Mike Gibson
That's a good point. You know, what about his family members? They got to say, what the hell? Dad, Grandpa.
Mike Ferguson
Everything they thought they knew about this guy, in some respects, is kind of a lie right now. He might have been a good guy later on in his life. Doesn't change the fact that he was a rapist and murderer.
Mike Gibson
Kind of cancels that out.
Mike Ferguson
And how would you feel if you found out that your dad, your grandpa, your great grandpa, was a rapist and murderer?
Mike Gibson
I would think it would change how you felt about it, about him.
Mike Ferguson
And maybe everything you thought you knew, your whole world, maybe, would be turned upside down. Although the murder of Louisa Dunn is now solved, many suspect that Ryland Headley committed other crimes that have not yet been linked to him. Women's groups in the UK have called for the investigation into Headley to continue. The group, Women Against Rape, issued a statement that said, in part, we're glad the appalling crimes against Louisa Dunn are finally recognized. But how many other women has this man raped and murdered? Solving cold cases doesn't atone for continuing refusal by authorities to treat violence against women and girls as a serious crime.
Mike Gibson
Well, it is a serious crime.
Mike Ferguson
Well. And I can't help but go back to, you know, what he was accused of and ultimately convicted for in the 1970s, and what was his ultimate punishment? Two years.
Mike Gibson
Yeah.
Mike Ferguson
It's so sad for raping two women. I mean, number one, what are you saying to him? If you get out and do it again, maybe your punishment won't be that bad. It wasn't this time.
Mike Gibson
But.
Mike Ferguson
But also, what are you saying to women? We don't value you. We don't value your. Your rights, your safety. It's just a. It's a bad thing all the way around how. How women have been treated in a lot of aspects. But I'm talking specifically about this one. Right, right. Crimes of sexual assault and that nature and the punishment that people ultimately received.
Mike Gibson
I mean, it's almost laughable to think, why would women even come forward? It's hard enough to confront your victim of something like that, but to know that if you do, if they use one of these excuses, they'll probably get out in a year or two and then you're gonna have to deal with that.
Mike Ferguson
The fact that this person's out. The fear. Yeah, all of that retaliation. In July 2025, the Guardian reported that the National Crime Agency was working with the Avon and Somerset police to identify whether Headley committed other offenses. A spokesman said at the time the Joint Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team, or mit, will carry out extensive inquiries into Ryland Headley's activities since he moved to Ipswich in the early 1970s. He will not be a consideration in several unsolved case reviews across Suffolk. And as of January 2026, Ryland Headley has not been linked to any additional crimes. Now, does that mean he didn't commit any? No, obviously it doesn't. If he was committing crimes in the 60s and 70s, which we know he was, but I meant more crimes. Did they collect something that could be used now, mainly DNA? Well, there's no guarantee they did because, let's face it, they didn't know what DNA was in the 60s and 70s.
Mike Gibson
Very true.
Mike Ferguson
And if they were collecting things and putting them in paper bags and how did they store them? Maybe things were lost. That happens quite a bit in cases we talked about. Or even if they did collect something, there's no guarantee that a viable sample could be derived so many years later. But the one thing I will say is it's hard for me to believe this Guy didn't commit additional crimes. Very tough to think he sexually assaulted and murdered Louisa. And then we know he raped two other elderly women in the 70s. You're telling me all those other years he did nothing? That's tough. It's tough to believe.
Mike Gibson
Well, at least her family gets some answers.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, those that are left, right? I mean, a lot of them have died, but yeah, her surviving family members get answers, and that's always a good thing. I think what people, I guess I'll say have trouble with is the fact that it took almost 60 years. But better late than never. You'd have to say that.
Mike Gibson
Oh, absolutely. I mean, at least there's some form of closure.
Mike Ferguson
Yes. Now, in a perfect world, you would have want this. You would have wanted this guy caught sooner, you know, committed to jail time. Much sooner than 92 years old, because he's not going to do that much time. He's. He doesn't have long to live.
Mike Gibson
And I know it's impactful to his existing family.
Mike Ferguson
Absolutely.
Mike Gibson
But you know what? When you do something like that, it could catch up to you. Should catch up to you. And you're going to have to deal with the consequences.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, but you can still feel sorry for them, right? They didn't do anything wrong.
Mike Gibson
Oh, I feel sorry for them, yeah.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But that's it for our episode on Louisa Dunn. We got a voicemail, Gibbs. You want to check that out?
Mike Gibson
Let's hear it.
David Taylor
Hey, Mike and Gibby. I'd like to give you guys a call. Oh, this is David Taylor from El Paso, Texas. Hey, you know, I'm listening to August, sometime in August 2020, and you're making, you know, you're talking about the unrest in the United States and, and Facebook and social media and all the idiot dumbasses on social media. And here we are today, the 29th of January, 2025, and we're still in the same spot we were five years ago. I know, running a Facebook page. And like you said, your group page and your personal page, you can't tell just because of the name. And that probably was the furthest thing from your mind when you started. So I'm sorry you had to put up with that B.S. but anyhow, keep, Keep it up and keep your head on a swivel, you know, especially these days. But take care. Have a great night. Talk to you later. Thanks.
Mike Ferguson
Yeah, I appreciate the voicemail. I mean, I. I think when it comes to social media, right, you got to take the good with the bad. You have to, you know, we have a lot of amazing fans who interact with us on social media, different platforms, but not everybody is going to like us. And so you're going to get people who write in nasty things. That's just part of it.
Mike Gibson
We have got thicker skin over the years.
Mike Ferguson
No, you develop thicker skin. No doubt about it. You have to, or it would drive you up the wall. Yeah, but that is it for another episode of True Crime all the time. So for Mike and Gibby, stay safe and keep your own time ticking. Sa.
Hosts: Mike Ferguson ("Ferg") and Mike Gibson ("Gibby")
Release Date: February 9, 2026
This episode delves into the brutal 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunn in Bristol, England—a cold case that went unsolved for 58 years before forensic advances led to the conviction of 92-year-old Ryland Headley. Ferguson and Gibson break down the investigation, discuss societal and legal themes, and offer insight into how advances in forensic science finally brought justice for Louisa and her family.
“How many of us aren’t [sexually frustrated]? How does it make it okay?” — Mike Ferguson (25:19)
This episode shines a spotlight on the devastating, long-term impact of violent crimes, the persistence of investigators, and the profound advances in forensic technology that led to long overdue justice. The hosts thoughtfully discuss not only the facts of the case but also broader questions around societal attitudes to violence against women, justice delayed, and the emotional toll on victims’ families across generations.
For listeners, this episode offers a comprehensive, empathetic, and thought-provoking examination of a historic UK cold case.