A 92-year-old man has been charged in the U.K. with the murder and rape of a woman almost six decades ago, British police said Wednesday.
Louisa Dunne, 75, was found dead by a neighbor inside her home in the southwestern English city of Bristol on June 28, 1967.
Her cause of death was recorded as strangulation and asphyxiation.
The case remained cold for 57 years until nonagenarian Ryland Headley, of Ipswich in eastern England, was arrested on Tuesday and subsequently charged.
The arrest came after Avon and Somerset police began reviewing the case last year, which included further forensic examination of items relating to the case.
“This development marks a hugely significant moment in this investigation,” the force’s detective inspector Dave Marchant said in a statement. “We’ve updated Louisa’s family about this charging decision and a specialist liaison officer will continue to support them in the coming days, weeks and months.”
Marchant said the public may see “operational police activity in the Ipswich area” as a result of the arrest, the BBC reported.
“We recognise this will also come as a shock to the community in Easton,” Marchant said.
Headley appeared in court in Bristol via video-link on Wednesday and was remanded in custody. He was not asked to enter pleas to the two charges. Headley spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address, according to the BBC.
ITV News noted the case is believed to be the oldest cold case murder arrest in British history.
Police did not give details about the new forensic analysis in the case but DNA and genetic genealogy tests are often keys to solving decades-old cold cases. Just last week, investigators in the U.S. announced that they used DNA evidence to solve a 65-year-old cold case involving a 7-year-old boy whose body was found in a culvert.
