Evil in Easton 1967 Unsolved Murder of Louise Jane Dunne of Britannia Road photo above: The Murder Scene Britannia Road Bristol 1967 - Bristol Evening Post The neighbours were concerned. They had not seen ' Mrs Parker' that morning and Easton in the 1960s was still sufficiently community minded for folk to be concerned if there was any variation in anyone's usual routine. The group of women decided to consult Vi Allen who, like Mrs Parker lived in Britannia Road and knew her rather better than most. It was Vi who popped round with a hot meal for the widow and made sure she was alright. Everyone still called her Mrs Parker but her name had, for many years now, been Louise Jane Dunne. Time was when she was married to Alderman Teddy Parker, Labour Councillor for St Paul's Ward and a prominent trade union man. He was an ex-docker who had led unemployment marches in the 1930s and was highly respected. He had been tipped as a future Lord Mayor but died during the Second World War before he could be thus honoured. In the intervening years Louise had married again, this time to John Dunne, a quiet, pleasant Irishman who worked as a night watchman but, in 1960, she had been widowed again. Now, in 1967, aged 74, she had gone downhill. Previously smartly dressed and sociable she had begun to neglect herself and her home. A bad fall the preceding winter had necessitated a hip operation and afterwards the doctor had sent her to 100 Fishponds Road, a grim place which had once served as a workhouse. She hated the regime there and discharged herself before she was well. Since then she took even less interest in food and preferred to get by on a few drams of whisky. Louise took to living in just the downstairs of her house and it was only the efforts of neighbours like Vi Allen and Alice Clarke that ensured she had any nourishing food at all. She had also begun to be increasingly reclusive. Few people were invited into her house and her sharp tongue ensured many kept their distance. This then was the situation existing on the morning of 28 June 1967. The group of women, friends for many years and members of St Mark's Mothers' Union and the Young Wives, took themselves round to Mrs Dunne's house. They noticed a window slightly open and Vi Allen, who was very nimble, climbed through. The curtains were drawn across and it took a minute or two for her eyes to adjust to the dim light in a room which was crowded with furniture. Vi picked her way gingerly across the room and almost stumbled over the inert form of Louise Dunn lying on the floor. She felt her hand which was icy cold and, peering closer, spotted trickles of dried blood running from her nose, mouth and ears. She went to the front door and announced the sad news to the group of waiting women and someone went to call an ambulance. Mrs Fortune who lived next door said she thought she had heard a scream in the night, at about 2 o'clock and wondered if that was when Mrs Dunne had been taken ill. The ambulance arrived and the police were hastily contacted. Vi Allen was told the police would want to question her but they permitted her to go home first and make herself a pot of tea. When they arrived she enquired of them if Mrs Dunne had, as she suspected, died of a brain haemorrhage. They looked surprised and said no, Mrs Dunne had been murdered. 'Didn't you notice the stocking round her neck?' Vi was asked and she admitted she had not in the murk of the room.There was another, worse shock in store, however. Some photographs were produced with the warning that 'they were not pleasant'. The lisle stocking round the neck was pointed out but there was something else awry. The knickers, pulled down, could only mean one thing. The motivation was sexual. Mrs Dunne had been raped. In the days and weeks that followed hundreds of statements were taken and every male in the area over the age of 16 had their hands and finger prints taken. Everyone was asked to account for their movements on that day and who they had seen and spoken to. Vi Allen said that coming home from her early morning job she had exchanged a 'good morning' with Mr Yorke from nearby Alpine Road - they passed each other every day as he made his way to work. He was asked to collaborate her statement. The whole district was turned upside down. Everyone was wondering if the killer was someone they knew. On the day that local papers revealed that the Easton widow had been sexually assaulted the story vied for attention with the news that curvaceous American blonde film star Jayne Mansfield had been killed in a road crash just outside New Orleans. The item was of interest to Bristol readers as the actress had been staying at the Webbington Country Club a couple of months previously and was planning a return. The stark contrast between the two reports added an extra degree of horror to the whole scenario. Local tramps and down-and-outs were interviewed, patrol cars combed the area and picked up men sleeping rough in the St George and central areas of the city. One lead given to the police was by a girl who had returned to Easton by taxi on the night of the murder at 2.10am. As she alighted from the taxi she caught sight of a man, aged about 35, she judged, and about 5 feet 7 inches or 5 feet 8 inches, of medium build and with short hair. He was wearing a three-quarter length brown suedette coat and dark trousers. It struck the girl that he had particularly large hands. When she saw him he was approximately 200 yards away from Britannia Road. An appeal went out to all taxi drivers but no information on the man was ever forthcoming. What seems to have been Mrs Dunne's sole remaining relative was interviewed, a man called George Robins who lived at Lockleaze. He was her son-in-law. He said he was in touch with her by letter on a monthly basis but had not actually seen her for about a year. Eventually all enquiries reached a dead end and life in Easton settled back to normality. No-one was ever brought to justice for the murder of Louise Dunne and it is a chilling thought that her killer may still be in the area, his sinister secret safe for ever? Britannia Road Easton 2005 Off licence in nearby Bloy Street where Louise Dunne was a regular customer. Mrs Stedman was present when the body was found by Mrs Allen.