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Extremely Dark Facts And Stories July 2025
Do you love all things scary, dark, and creepy? Subscribe to the That Got Dark newsletter to get your weekly dopamine fix of the macabre delivered RIGHT to your inbox! Warning: Disturbing content ahead, including stories involving murder and extreme violence. On June 30, 2025, a 92-year-old man, Ryland Headley, was convicted of raping and murdering a woman named Louisa Dunne in Bristol, England — a crime he committed nearly 58 years earlier, in 1967. Dunne was 75 years old at the time. For decades, the case remained unsolved until a breakthrough came over 55 years later. In 2023, investigators reviewed the cold case and discovered new forensic evidence: a DNA sample from Dunne's clothing that matched Ryland Headley, who was already in the national DNA database. Headley had a history of sexually assaulting elderly women, with convictions from the 1970s. His palm print also matched one found on Dunne's windowsill. He was arrested and stood trial in 2025. On June 30, 2025, Headley was convicted of rape and murder, and the next day, he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 20 years, effectively ensuring he will die in custody. The creepy (albeit interesting) grave of Timothy Clark Smith, who suffered from severe taphophobia — the fear of being buried alive. Smith took extraordinary precautions before his death in 1893, including having his grave custom-built with a cement shaft leading down from a glass window at the surface directly above his face. Inside the tomb, he arranged for a breathing tube, a bell in his hand, and reportedly a chisel or hammer — tools meant to help him alert others and potentially escape if he awoke underground, so he could be rescued. Today, the glass is heavily clouded by condensation and plant growth, limiting visibility. However, visitors in the past claimed to be able to see his skeleton. If you feel like checking it out yourself IRL, Smith's grave is in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, Vermont. On July 13, 2025, a 19-year-old died after falling into an industrial meat grinder. The victim, a sanitation worker at Tina's Burritos food processing plant in Vernon, California, reportedly fell into the meat grinder during a nighttime cleaning shift. Apparently, the machine turned on while he was cleaning it, pulling him in. Coworkers said they heard his cries for help but were unable to stop the equipment in time. Emergency responders arrived quickly but pronounced him dead at the scene. In a statement to The U.S. Sun, a Tina's Burritos spokesperson said, "He was cleaning an empty kettle that was being sanitized and prepped for the next day's production run." No foul play is suspected. In 2014, two Dutch students, Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon, went missing while hiking a trail near Boquete, Panama. They never returned, and after weeks of searching, their belongings — including a backpack with their phones and camera — were found near a river. Oddly, where the backpack was found, Kremers' clothing was also found, neatly folded next to the river. Some time later, their bones and remains were discovered scattered nearby. In fact, Lisanne's boot was found with her foot still inside. It was also discovered that their phones had tried to call for help many times. What's even more disturbing is that the camera had strange nighttime photos taken in the dark jungle. You can see those photos here. Investigators believe the two likely got lost, had an accident, and died, while many think there may have been foul play. Their exact cause of death has never been confirmed. In 1987, a man named Kenneth Parks in Toronto, Canada, got out of bed one night and drove almost 15 miles from his home, where he killed his mother-in-law, then attempted to kill his while sleepwalking. Parks, who said he was unconscious through the whole ordeal, had entered his in-laws' home with a key he'd been given in the past. He bludgeoned his mother-in-law to death with a tire iron, then attempted to choke his father-in-law to death, who miraculously survived the attack. In an extra surprising twist, Parks then drove straight to a police station (still covered in blood), and told the cops, 'I think I have just killed two people.' Parks would even go on to say he was fast asleep when he surrendered. A year later, he was acquitted of murder and attempted murder using a rare legal defense known as 'non-insane automatism,' supported by evidence of parasomnia (a sleep disorder). Last month, authorities in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, discovered almost 400 corpses at a crematorium. The remains were found abandoned and piled across multiple rooms and had reportedly been there for up to two years. Grieving families had apparently been given fake ashes in place of their loved ones' remains. The crematorium's owner and an employee were arrested and charged with mishandling human remains. Officials are working to identify the deceased and notify families. In 2024, Russ McKamey — the owner of McKamey Manor, a notorious "torturer" haunted house attraction in Tennessee that was featured in a Hulu documentary — was arrested and charged with attempted murder, rape, and domestic assault after allegedly strangling his girlfriend during multiple incidents. McKamey Manor had already gained attention for its extreme and controversial experiences, where participants endured intense psychological and physical horror-style challenges. The arrest subsequently led to renewed scrutiny and public outcry over the attraction's practices. Charges were ultimately dropped in September 2024, and despite public backlash, McKamey Manor remains in operation. On July 12, 2025, a man died after falling down an elevator shaft while exploring the abandoned Southwest Detroit Hospital in the Corktown neighborhood. He was with a group of people inside the five-story building, which has been vacant since 2006. Emergency responders arrived, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are still investigating the incident, but they say there are no signs of foul play. Earlier in July, a man was found dead, wrapped in a blue tarp and a blanket, in the open‑air donation area outside a Goodwill store in Pasadena, California. A store employee discovered the body among donated items near the drop‑off bins — though not inside a locked receptacle. There were no visible injuries on the man's body, but authorities suspect that drugs may have played a role in his death. The LA County coroner has deferred the cause of death pending further examination, and the man's identity remains private pending next-of-kin notification. In August 1978, Janet Parker, a medical photographer at the University of Birmingham, fell ill with what was eventually diagnosed as smallpox — despite the disease having been declared eradicated just a year earlier. She worked one floor above a laboratory that was still conducting research on the smallpox virus. Investigators believe the virus somehow escaped through a poorly sealed duct or air system, leading to her accidental exposure. Despite being hospitalized and placed in isolation, Janet died on Sept. 11, 1978. Her case sparked national panic, led to mass vaccinations in Birmingham, and triggered a formal inquiry that changed how dangerous viruses are handled in labs. She remains the last known person to die from smallpox. Back in 2012, a woman's stomach had to be removed after she'd been given a liquid nitrogen shot at a bar in Lancaster, England. 18‑year‑old Gaby Scanlon had been out celebrating her birthday at Oscar's Wine Bar and Bistro in Lancaster when she was served a nitro‑Jägermeister shot prepared with liquid nitrogen. Moments after drinking it, she experienced "agonising pain" as smoke poured from her mouth and nose, and her stomach rapidly expanded and ruptured. Doctors performed emergency surgery, removing her stomach and reconnecting her small intestine to her esophagus to save her life. After an investigation, the bar was fined £100,000 in September 2015 for failing its duty of care — no risk assessment was carried out, and staff hadn't warned customers to wait until the nitrogen had fully evaporated. On June 21, 2025, a hiker from Brazil, Juliana Marins, fell into a steep ravine near the summit of Mount Rinjani, an active volcano in Indonesia. Though she initially survived the 1,600-foot fall, poor weather and dangerous terrain delayed rescue efforts. Her body was found four days later, on June 24, almost 2,000 feet below the trail. An autopsy later confirmed she died from blunt force trauma. In other terrible hiking news, just days later, on June 18, 2025, six men were hiking near Rattlesnake Falls in Northern California when three of them — Matthew Anthony, Matthew Schoenecker, and Valentino Creus — jumped into the waterfall's pool and were swept away by the strong current. Creus had begun struggling in the water, prompting the other two to leap in to help, but all three drowned. The remote location, fast-moving water, and poor weather made search efforts difficult, and the remaining hikers had to be airlifted out for safety. Rescue divers located the victims' bodies on June 21, and they were officially identified over the next two days. In 19th-century Paris, the city's morgue became a popular tourist attraction where people came to view dead bodies on public display. Located near Notre Dame, the morgue showed the corpses of unidentified people behind glass windows in the hopes someone might recognize them. But instead of just helping with identification, it turned into a major spectacle, sometimes drawing more visitors than the Eiffel Tower. People lined up to stare, vendors actually started selling snacks outside, and newspapers turned the stories behind the bodies into sensational headlines. Bodies were shown until they decomposed too much, then wax figures were used. Eventually, the morgue was closed to the public in 1907 due to ethical concerns. In February 2013, a woman in Turkey was decapitated in a go-kart crash. The victim, 24-year-old Turkish university student Tuğba Erdoğan, had reportedly been racing around a corner when her vehicle collided with a safety barrier. Apparently, her scarf or seat belt became entangled around her neck, and the force of the impact decapitated her. Witnesses reported the belt tightened during the crash, though later investigations suggested the scarf may have also played a role by getting caught in the kart's shaft. Some families in the UK who lost loved ones in the recent Air India plane crash were given the wrong remains. A lawyer for about 20 of the families says DNA tests showed that some of the remains were mixed up — in one case, parts from more than one person were in the same coffin, and in another, the remains didn't match the family at all. One family even had to cancel a funeral when they found out the body wasn't their relative. Indian officials say they followed the proper steps and are now working with the UK to sort things out. In case you didn't know the original story: On June 12, 2025, an Air India Flight carrying 242 people — 230 passengers and 12 crew members — crashed into a medical college hostel shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. At least 270 people were killed (including those on the flight and on the ground), making it one of India's worst aviation disasters in history. A cause is still being investigated. Finally, in 1993, a lawyer named Garry Hoy died while trying to show off how strong the windows were in his office on the 24th floor of his office building, the Toronto-Dominion Centre. He threw himself against the glass — a stunt he had apparently done before — but this time, the glass didn't break, the entire window frame gave way, and he fell to his death. Garry's death was ruled an accident and is remembered as one of the strangest in legal history. The law firm he worked for closed a few years later, partly due to the shock of the event. Are you obsessed with this kind of content? Subscribe to the That Got Dark newsletter to get your weekly dopamine fix of the macabre delivered RIGHT to your inbox!
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- The Guardian
‘Graveyard spiral': why Louisa Dunne cold case breakthrough may be a rare win
Fewer cold cases such as the 1967 murder of the Bristol woman Louisa Dunne are likely to be solved because of police budget cuts, 'haphazard' investigations and loss of scientific knowhow, experts have warned. While praising Avon and Somerset police for catching 92-year-old Ryland Headley 58 years after he raped and murdered Dunne, specialists in scientific evidence, law and criminology expressed concern at challenges ranging from the storage of evidence to the skill of DNA analysts and the modest size of cold case teams. Prof Angela Gallop, a forensic scientist nicknamed the Queen of crime-solving, said: 'It's great when they solve these crimes, it always means something to the families of the victims. 'But police budgets are so tight, they have enough problems funding current investigations, never mind these old ones. There are lots of cases waiting to be unlocked.' Days before the Headley trial began, a commission on forensic science chaired by Gallop concluded that the sector in England and Wales was in a 'graveyard spiral' leading to an increase in unsolved crimes. The commission said the two countries had lost their national forensic science service and the commercial market that followed had 'collapsed'. Police forces were taking more testing in-house or moving away from 'traditional' forensic science, because they perceived commercial provision to be too slow and too expensive, the commission concluded. Gallop said: 'At the moment, forensic science isn't working for anyone. There aren't the scientists to help the police – a lot of them have been deskilled or become disenchanted because it's all about quick cheap tests, not scientific investigation. 'There aren't enough of us with the right experience. We're in a sorry state.' Carole McCartney, professor of law and criminal justice at the University of Leicester, said cold case investigations could be 'haphazard'. She said: 'There are 43 police forces [in England and Wales], 43 different ways of doing things and they're all on a budget.' A big concern is that the forces do not have the budget or expertise to run complex storage facilities. McCartney said: 'I've spoken to forensic scientists who say they won't touch a case if the evidence has come out of a police store because they can't attest to its integrity.' She said, ironically, it may be easier to solve very old crimes than new ones because some evidence from historical cases is still stored centrally. Avon and Somerset police has been feted for the cold case inquiry, codename Operation Beatle, that led to Headley being jailed for life, but some of the serious challenges faced by the police emerged, not least the small size of the cold case team that caught Headley. There were only six part-timers – two officers and four retired detectives now working as civilian investigators. They have about 30 unsolved murders on their books, and also look at rapes, missing people and unidentified bodies. McCartney said when she visited a different force she was told they had an 'amazing' system. 'It turned out to be four retired cops in a bunker sifting through boxes and Googling the cases.' Glyn Maddocks KC, a solicitor based in south Wales, said: 'Forces [in England and Wales] store material differently: they're all deciding slightly differently what to test and what not to test, what to take swabs off and what not to. It's quite chaotic.' Maddocks said forces carrying out their own scientific investigations could lead to miscarriages of justice. 'People have this idea that forensic science is independent.' The Headley case has made headlines around the world, a reminder of the fascination cold cases hold. Ed Talfan, the creative director of the Welsh production company Severn Screen, which has made two celebrated cold case shows based on real-life crime, Steeltown Murders and The Pembrokeshire Murders, said such investigations made powerful drama. Talfan said: 'Cold cases hold a particular power, because victims' families not only have to endure the pain and shock that comes with losing a loved one, but then navigate the terrible limbo that follows. 'When a breakthrough does finally come, sometimes after decades, I think audiences respond to the families' feeling of release – not from the pain of losing their loved one, but from the pain of not knowing. I don't think families ever get closure. But knowing the facts, knowing who was responsible, gives them something that matters deeply.' Prof David Wilson, emeritus professor of criminology and presenter of the Channel 4 cold case series In the Footsteps of Killers, said: 'We really like an ending. We've always been attracted to solving the mystery.' But he said there were no happy endings. 'We might get a denouement in terms of what happened, but that doesn't necessarily bring family and friends any form of closure. The ripples continue.' Women's campaign groups are keen that Dunne, who was killed aged 75, is not forgotten and have called for the investigations into Headley to continue. The campaign group Women Against Rape said: 'We're glad the appalling crimes against Louisa Dunne are finally recognised. 'But how many other women has this man raped and murdered? Solving cold cases doesn't atone for continuing refusal by the authorities to treat violence against women and girls as a serious crime.'
Daily Mirror
02-07-2025
- Daily Mirror
A skirt stored in a box solved the rape and murder of pensioner 60 years later
Ryland Headley was 34 when he strangled 75-year-old widow Louisa Dunne at her home in Easton, Bristol, on June 28, 1967 before leading a double life that saw him dubbed "a family man" At 92 years old, Ryland Headley might have believed his darkest secret had died with time. For almost six decades, he lived quietly, a pensioner often seen tending to his garden in Ipswich, seemingly carefree. But this week, in a verdict at Bristol Crown Court, Headley was found guilty of the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. The cold case - that was left unsolved for 58 years - has now become one of the longest-running murder cases ever solved in British history. And at the centre of the breakthrough was a blue skirt, bagged and labelled by an officer all those years ago, then rediscovered by Detective Jo Smith from Avon and Somerset Police 's major crime review unit who reopened the box. READ MORE: Ryland Headley, 92, to die in jail for 1967 rape and murder of Louisa Dunne, 75 Inside, she found the skirt Mrs Dunne had worn the night she died. "I understood we were potentially sitting on something that could finally yield answers," she told the Daily Mail. The skirt still held a semen stain. From that, forensic scientists were able to extract a complete DNA profile thanks to modern techniques that were lacking in 1967. When that DNA was uploaded to the national database, it pinged a match to 92-year-old Ryland Headley, a man who'd given a routine cheek swab to Suffolk Police in 2012 during an unrelated investigation. Experts concluded it was a billion times more likely the semen came from Headley than from someone else. Added to that was his palm print - taken decades later after arthritis in his wrists had once made palm printing difficult - matched to one left on Mrs Dunne's window during the 1967 attack. Hairs found on her body were also tied to him through DNA. For Mrs Dunne's family, it has been a haunting, nearly lifelong wait for justice. "I was just 20 years old when my grandmother died and I'm now almost the same age as she was when she was killed," said her granddaughter, Mary Dainton, now 78, outside of court on Tuesday. "Louisa's brutal death had a big impact on my mother and her wider family. I don't think my mother ever recovered from it. The anxiety clouded the rest of her life." Louisa Dunne, a twice-widowed mother-of-two, spent the night before her death visiting a friend. Her last known words were: "Good night. God bless. I don't know when I'll be seeing thee." She was found the next morning by a concerned neighbour. Her body was cold and a stocking had been tied around her neck. She had been strangled. Swabs at the time tested positive for semen. But without DNA technology and with a search radius that missed Headley's home by just a few streets, the trail quickly ran cold. Mrs Dunne's cause of death was recorded as asphyxia due to strangulation and pressure on the mouth. Swabs taken from her vagina tested positive for semen. Unbeknownst to police then, the killer had already started building a double life. Headley was a British Rail worker and a father-of-four who had emigrated from Jamaica in 1956 as part of the Windrush generation. He married a Barbadian nurse, lived in modest rented homes, and seemed to be a quiet family man. But that image crumbled after his 1978 conviction for the brutal rapes of two elderly women in Suffolk. He pleaded guilty and was handed a life sentence, later reduced to just seven years. Released in the early 1980s, he lied to his family that he'd been set free because he was innocent. To the outside world, Headley was a polite, soft-spoken man known simply as 'Riley.' Even a local councillor who walked with him in later years described him as 'a nice chap.' But in reality, he was a depraved sexual predator who preyed on the elderly. Police now believe his 1967 murder of Louisa Dunne may not have been his only undiscovered crime. 'He's a serial offender,' said Detective Inspector Dave Marchant. 'We need to identify if there is anything else out there. It doesn't matter how old a case is, whether it's from this morning, a year ago or in this case, nearly 60 years." Both his rape victims from 1978 are long dead but the statements they gave 48 years ago were read out in court during his latest trial. What Headley said before raping them was chilling indeed. To the 84-year-old, he spoke of wanting "to care for you" before telling her that if she didn't do what he wanted: "I'll strangle you." As Louisa Dunne's family left the courtroom, her granddaughter said: 'It saddens me deeply that all the people who knew and loved Louisa are not here to see that justice is being done." Ryland Headley was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 20 years for the murder and rape of Louisa Dunne
BBC News
02-07-2025
- BBC News
Ryland Headley suspected of more crimes, says Suffolk Police
A man jailed for life for the rape and murder of a woman 58 years ago will be considered as a suspect in several unsolved cold cases, police have Headley, 92, was convicted of raping and murdering Louisa Dunne in 1967 after breaking into her home in joint Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team (MIT) said it would carry out "extensive inquiries" into Headley's activities since he moved to Ipswich in the early former railway worker was told he would serve a minimum term of 20 years in prison at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday and would "never be released". The judge, Mr Justice Sweeting, said the attack on Mrs Dunne was "pitiless and cruel" and that Headley, of Ipswich, Suffolk, had shown "no remorse" for his actions. Justice Sweeting told the court Headley had been planning to rape the 75-year-old widow, who lived aged 34, he broke into her home and "brutally" attacked her before fatally strangling her. For almost six decades, Headley evaded justice for the crime before cold case detectives at Avon and Somerset Police sent items for forensic analysis last year - resulting in a DNA force assessed the case's evidence archives in 2023 and found the skirt Mrs Dunne was wearing at the time of the attack. After it was sent for forensic testing, a full DNA profile was obtained and indicated a "billion to one" match to Headley. In 1977, Headley 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 sentence was later reduced to seven years following an appeal, with Headley serving about two years before being released from was still living in Clarence Road, Ipswich, when Avon and Somerset officers arrested him on suspicion of Mrs Dunne's rape and murder in November 2024. 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."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."The force said it would be "inappropriate" to comment on specific cases, given the crimes were "subject to review and potential reinvestigation"."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 inquiries, please contact the joint MIT's unsolved case team," Suffolk Police Dunne's case is thought to be the UK's longest-running cold case to be solved.
Free Malaysia Today
02-07-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
92-year-old man jailed in UK for 1967 murder and rape
An artist's sketch shows Ryland Headley appearing via video link at Bristol magistrates' court in November. (PA/AP pic) LONDON : A 92-year-old man was today told he would die in prison after he was jailed for a 1967 rape and murder, in what is thought to be the UK's oldest solved cold case. Ryland Headley, who was convicted of raping and killing 75-year-old Louisa Dunne after breaking into her house nearly 60 years ago, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 20 years. After passing sentence at Bristol crown court in southwest England, judge Derek Sweeting told Headley: 'You will never be released, you will die in prison.' He said that Headley, who was 34 at the time of the crime, had 'violated the sanctity and safety of Mrs Dunne's home where she had every right to feel secure. 'She must have experienced considerable pain and fear before her death.' The judge mentioned Headley's previous convictions for breaking into the homes of two elderly widows in 1977 and raping them. He was initially sentenced to life in jail for those convictions, which was later reduced to seven years on appeal. They showed 'chilling pattern of behaviour', the judge added. Police reopened Dunne's case in 2023 and matched DNA from the victim's skirt and other items from the original probe to Headley. Doughty Street Chambers, the legal team representing Headley, said it was Britain's oldest cold case murder – an unsolved case for which new information emerges. Palm print During the initial investigation, police had found a left-hand palm print from Dunne's home, where she was found dead from strangulation. The palm print was compared to 19,000 men to no avail at the time. At the time, Headley was a railway worker who lived just outside the area in which men and boys were asked to give prints. Reaching a dead-end, police sealed away forensic evidence for half a century. Both DNA testing and later Headley's palm print resulted in matches. When Headley was arrested at his home last November, he told detectives: 'I don't know what you are talking about. Very strange, very strange.' 'For 58 years, this appalling crime went unsolved and Ryland Headley, the man we now know is responsible, avoided justice,' said Charlotte Ream of the crown prosecution service. Dunne's granddaughter Mary Dainton told the court the murder had a 'far-reaching effect' on her family. 'I feel it falls to me to speak for the people who are no longer here,' she said. Earlier, Dainton said: 'I was just 20-years-old when my grandmother died and I'm now almost the same age as she was when she was killed.' Police said they were looking into other possible cold cases Headley could be linked to. 'Ryland Headley has now been convicted of three rapes of elderly women within their own addresses, and in the case of Louisa Dunne, her murder as well,' said Dave Marchant, of Avon and Somerset police, yesterday. 'I think there's every possibility that there are other offences out there – over the 60s, 70s, however long a time period – which Mr Headley could be culpable for.'
