Ryland Headley will now be a consideration in several unsolved cold cases following his conviction for committing rape and murder in 1967, police have confirmed.
Detectives in the joint Norfolk and Suffolk major investigation team will carry out “extensive inquiries” into Headley’s activities since he moved to Ipswich in the early 1970s.
The former railway worker was jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years in prison at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday, after being convicted of the rape and murder of Louisa Dunne 58 years ago.
Headley, now 92, was told by judge Mr Justice Sweeting that he would die in prison for the “pitiless and cruel act by a depraved man”.
He broke into Mrs Dunne’s home in the Easton area of Bristol in June 1967 before raping and killing the mother-of-two in her front room, which she was using as a bedroom.
For almost six decades, Headley evaded justice for that crime before cold case detectives at Avon and Somerset Police sent items for forensic analysis last year – resulting in a DNA match.
However, in 1977 he was sentenced to life imprisonment after his fingerprint linked him to the rape of a 79-year-old widow in Ipswich – and he admitted a second rape on an 84-year-old widow in the town.
That sentence was later reduced to seven years following an appeal, with Headley serving around two years before being released from prison.
He was still living in Ipswich when Avon and Somerset officers arrested him on suspicion of Mrs Dunne’s rape and murder in November last year.
A spokesman for Suffolk Police said: “Following Ryland Headley’s conviction for murder occurring in Bristol in 1967, coupled with the fact he was previously convicted of stranger rape offences in Ipswich in the 1970s, there have understandably been inquiries speculating as to his potential involvement in other unsolved homicide and stranger rape cases, particularly those which have occurred within Suffolk.
“The Joint Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team (MIT) will carry out extensive inquiries into Ryland Headley’s activities since he moved to Ipswich in the early 1970s.
“He will now be a consideration in several unsolved case reviews across Suffolk and the MIT remain open to any credible new information provided in this regard.
“However, it would be inappropriate to make comment on his status as a suspect or otherwise in respect to any specific cases, given these are all crimes which remain unsolved and which are subject to review and potential re-investigation.
“We are aware that over time allegiances and perspectives change, and if anyone has any information – however small it may seem – that could assist our enquiries, please contact the Joint MIT’s Unsolved Case Team, by either emailing: unsolvedcasereviews@norfolk.police.uk or calling: 01953 423819.”
