Ryland Headley, aged 34 at the time, broke into the home of Louisa Dunne in Bristol in June 1967 and attacked her. Her body was discovered the following morning by neighbours in her terraced house on Britannia Road, Easton. Mrs Dunne, who lived alone and had been widowed twice, was found lying on a pile of clothes in the front room, which she used as a bedroom.

Hours before she was found, neighbours reported hearing a woman screaming. Police at the time found no signs of a violent struggle and the investigation eventually stalled, despite collecting forensic evidence and palm prints from the crime scene. A left-hand palm print was recovered from an upstairs window and compared to 19,000 men and boys, but no match was found.

The case remained unsolved for over half a century until advances in forensic science enabled Avon and Somerset Police to re-examine items from the original investigation. In May 2023, Mrs Dunne’s blue skirt was subjected to modern DNA analysis, which revealed a match to Headley at a probability ratio of one billion to one.

Headley, of Clarence Road, Ipswich, denied both charges but was convicted on Thursday following nearly 10 hours of deliberation by a jury at Bristol Crown Court. He did not give evidence during the trial.

Mr Justice Sweeting acknowledged the sensitive nature of the case. Addressing the jury of eight men and four women, he said: “This was a case that has been in the public eye. It involved many details which are no doubt distressing. If you are summoned again in the next 10 years for jury service, you are entitled to refuse.”

During the trial, a pathologist testified that Mrs Dunne had died from asphyxia, caused by strangulation with a scarf and pressure applied to her mouth, likely by a hand.

Although swabs taken from her body in 1967 tested positive for semen, the available scientific methods at the time were inadequate for identification. Headley’s DNA had been added to the national database following an unrelated matter in 2012, which did not result in charges, and it was this that enabled the breakthrough.

At the time of the murder, Headley, then a railway worker, lived with his wife on Picton Street, around a mile-and-a-half from Mrs Dunne’s home – just beyond the perimeter within which local men and boys were asked to provide palm prints. Shortly afterwards, he moved first to London and later to Ipswich, never submitting his palm prints in Bristol.

He was arrested at his home in November 2023. When questioned, he told detectives: “I don’t know what you are talking about. Very strange, very strange.”

Previous records from 2012 noted that Headley had arthritis and that his palms were not flexible, which had prevented earlier palm print collection. Following his recent arrest, prints were taken and a forensic expert found over 25 matching features with the 1967 crime scene print.

The court also heard that Headley had served a prison sentence for raping two elderly women in 1977, offences which similarly involved breaking into their homes and threatening them with violence.

Detective Inspector Dave Marchant of Avon and Somerset Police said forces nationwide were now reviewing whether Headley may be connected to other unsolved offences.