A 92-year-old man has been told “die in prison” after being sentenced for the rape and murder of a woman in 1967.
Ryland Headley, who murdered 75-year-old Louisa Dunne, was jailed at Bristol Crown Court for life with a minimum term of 20 years.
The granddaughter of Louisa Dunne, who was a 20-year-old student when her grandmother was murdered, told the court how the 92-year-old’s evasion from justice for almost 60 years had a devastating effect on her family.
Mary Dainton described how Dunne’s home in Britannia Road, Easton, had been a hub of social and political activity due to her grandfather, Edwin Parker, being a key figure in the city’s Labour movement.
She said: “The death of my grandmother had a far-reaching effect throughout my family. I feel it falls to me to speak for the people who are no longer here. Sadly, my grandfather died in 1945 and the social and political elements of my grandmother’s life went with him.”
“Her death had a big impact on my mother, my aunt and her family. I don’t think my mother ever recovered from it. The anxiety caused by her mother’s brutal rape and murder clouded the rest of her life. The fact the offender wasn’t caught caused my mother to become and remain very ill.”
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