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DNA in cold cases

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26 September 2025 / Steven Ball
Issue: 8132 / Categories: Features , Criminal , Health
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It took 57 years to bring Louisa Dunne’s murderer to justice. Steven Ball examines the role of DNA in solving historic crimes
  • This article discusses the 1967 rape and murder of Louisa Dunne and the eventual arrest of Ryland Headley in 2024, showing how preserved forensic evidence and advanced DNA profiling techniques (DNA-17) enabled a breakthrough.
  • It contrasts the successful prosecution of Headley with the wrongful conviction of Peter Sullivan in 1986, reflecting on the limits and power of forensic science, and the importance of safeguarding fair trials.

Just after 9.30am on 19 November 2024, an unexpected knock sounded at the door of a suburban Ipswich home. A frail and dishevelled man of 92 years peered out, half asleep and somewhat bemused, to find two police officers standing at the threshold. After delicate persuasion, the officers were let in without any need to use force.

This was the moment of Ryland Headley’s arrest for the rape and murder of an elderly woman in Bristol some 57 years earlier.

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