The mystery behind the infamous A6 Murder | Forensic Files

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Although his family’s council flat in St Johns Wood, North London was compact, Charles France
always opened the door to his good friend, Jim Ryan, whenever Jim needed a place to stay.
Wednesday August 30 1961 was one such occasion. 24-year-old Jim slept on the sofa in the sitting room, as he did every time he visited.
Although the France family didn’t know much about Jim’s background, he was an exceptional house
guest - tidy, polite and friendly. Charles’s wife, Charlotte, thought of Jim as a son.
Her three daughters called him “Uncle” and loved when he came to stay, as he spoiled them with chocolates, flowers and pocket money.
During his most recent stay, Jim Ryan joined Charles and Charlotte France in the sitting
room where the couple were watching television. Suddenly, an alert flashed on the screen. Police
were seeking an unidentified man for questioning in relation to a murder that had occurred the week
prior. The alert was accompanied by a composite sketch, known as an Identikit, of the wanted man.
The identikit image showed a man with a pale face, slicked back dark hair, deep set brown eyes
and bushy eyebrows. His right eyebrow was raised, giving him a somewhat inquisitive expression.
While studying the sketch, Charlotte France remarked that it looked like her houseguest - Jim Ryan, the only exception being that Jim had blue eyes.
Jim heard Charlotte but said nothing, keeping his eyes affixed to the television.
A week earlier on August 22 1961, Michael Gregsten and his girlfriend, Valerie Storie,
took a seat inside their favourite pub, The Old Station Inn. After ordering a pint for them both,
Michael spread a map out on their tabletop. The couple worked for the Roads Research Laboratory.
36-year-old Michael was a research scientist and 22-year-old Valerie was an assistant.
That night they were organising a car rally for their work social club. Being car fanatics, this was a task that suited them both. Along with their love of cars,
Michael and Valerie shared many other things in common such as music, theatre and their work.
Yet, the couple’s relationship was not without controversy. Michael was married to another woman, with whom he had two children. The Gregson marriage was
rocky. Despite numerous attempts, Michael was unable to patch things up with his wife.
He met Valerie Storie at work and the two quickly developed feelings for one another.
As that relationship escalated, Michael moved out of his family home to a flat in Windsor,
just west of London. He and Valerie planned to marry once Michael was officially divorced.
Michael’s wife was aware of the affair and didn’t approve, refusing to grant her
husband a divorce to remarry. Michael was certain she would come around eventually.
Both he and Valerie couldn’t wait to spend the rest of their lives together. At 9pm, Michael and Valerie left The Old Station Inn in Michael’s grey 1956 Morris Minor.
They drove towards Slough, a town 30 kilometres west of Central London. The summer evening was just beginning to get dark when the couple turned down a long lane
off the A4 Highway that led to a cornfield. Picturesque and secluded, the cornfield
served as a lovers lane for couples. Michael and Valerie visited the area often. On occasion,
they’d wander down to the adjacent River Thames. On this night, they remained in the Morris Minor.
Unlike previous visits, there were no other cars in sight. Approximately half an hour later, Michael and Valerie heard a loud tap on the driver’s side
window. Outside was a man. He signalled for Michael to wind down his window. He then poked the barrel of a .38 caliber revolver through the opening.
The man was immaculately dressed in a clean and crisp dark suit, white shirt and tie. His face was partially concealed by a handkerchief tied over his nose and mouth.
Valerie scoffed, thinking it was a joke. But Michael was noticeably concerned. He did as the man asked and handed him his keys so he could unlock the back door. Taking a seat
inside, the hijacker told them in a thick cockney accent, “This is a hold up. I am a desperate man.
I have been on the run for 4 months. If you do as I tell you, you will be alright.”
The man told the couple that he hadn’t shot anyone before. Animated and excited, he said he felt like a cowboy pulling off a stunt.
Michael and Valerie annoyed the hijacker - they kept asking what he wanted, to which he replied in a huff, “It’s alright. There’s no hurry.” He ordered
Michael to drive further into the cornfield. It was now pitch black. The air was still.
On the man’s order, Michael killed the engine and the lights. Every time Michael or Valerie
attempted to glance at the stranger in the backseat, he ordered them to look straight ahead.
The man made small talk as the trio sat in the car. He inquired about Michael and
Valerie’s relationship and asked if they were married. In return, he told them about himself.
He revealed that he had been in institutions or remand homes since he was eight-years-old.
Nearly an hour later at 10.30, there was movement at a house nearby. The trio watched
as a man emerged from the property's back door. They wondered whether he would spot
the Morris Minor in the cornfield. The gunman warned Michael and Valerie not to say anything
if he happened to approach. Moments later, the man walked back inside and closed the door.
At 11.30PM, nearly two hours since the ordeal began, the gunman’s hunger got the better of him.
He ordered Michael out of the car and to the vehicle’s boot. Placing a blanket down so his hostage would be comfortable, he instructed Michael to get in.
Michael pleaded with the man, telling him that there was an exhaust leak that allowed fumes into
the boot. He would surely die if confined in the small space for a period of time.
The hijacker agreed that this was a bad idea. Instead, he forced Michael to drive the car
towards London, approximately an hours drive away. On the journey, the man told Michael to
pull over at a milk machine. However, nobody had a sixpence to make a purchase so they continued on.
What should have been a 28 mile journey east, soon became a drive all over the English countryside.
The man spoke nearly nonstop. Eventually the fuel warning light came on and Michael pulled the Morris Minor into a garage.
He approached the elderly pump attendant, asking if he could put two gallons into the tank.
He tried to covertly alert the attendant to what was happening in the car but failed to do so.
The trio drove on to Stanmore, moving away from London. There, the hijacker spotted a cigarette machine. He didn’t usually smoke, but ordered Michael out
and watched as he walked across the road to purchase a pack. Instead of making a run for it,
Michael returned to the car, presumably so Valerie wasn’t left alone with the man.
The traffic had thinned considerably by the time the three drove north to St Albans
and further north towards Luton. The Morris Minor then hit the A6 motorway, heading towards Bedford, approximately 60 miles
north of London. By this stage, the man was tired and needed to rest. It was nearing 1.30AM.
He looked out the rear window for somewhere suitable to stop. He ordered Michael to pull
over twice so he could, quote: “kip” - a slang word for a nap. Both times he changed his mind.
As they continued past the small village of Clophill and up a hill, the man saw
the perfect stop place. He told Michael to pull off into a layby alongside the road.
Michael didn’t want to, but eventually relented. His nerves were understandable. Anyone passing by
could see the name of the area printed on a sign in flashing lights...Deadman’s Hill.
The man told Michael and Valerie he would have to tie them up while he had a kip. He took Michael
and the pair searched the boot for a suitable material to use as a restraint. Unable to find
anything, they returned to the car. The man ended up tying Valerie’s hands using Michael’s tie.
They pleaded with him not to kill them. He reassured the couple, “If I was going to shoot you, I would have done it before now.”
The man then noticed a duffle bag of laundry in the front seat. He asked Michael to pick
it up and pass it over. As Michael reached down, the man shot him twice at point blank
range. One bullet entered his left ear, the other his left cheek. Michael slumped over.
Valerie screamed, “You shot him, you bastard! Why did you do that?” to which the man replied,
“He frightened me. He moved too quick and I got frightened.” As Valerie sobbed, the man warned, “Be quiet will you, I am trying to think.”
They argued for nearly 20 minutes as to whether Michael should receive medical attention.
The man then removed the handkerchief from his face and ordered Valerie to kiss him. When she refused, he threatened her with his gun saying, “I will count 5.”
As Valerie turned to kiss her attacker, a truck drove by. For a few seconds, the man’s face was illuminated by the passing headlights. Valerie took in his features.
The man ordered Valerie into the back seat. He covered Michael’s face with a rag, before raping Valerie. A few other cars passed but none
for long enough that Valerie could get another good look at the man’s face. When he was finished,
Valerie asked the man to take the car and drive away. He reassured her that he was in no hurry.
He needed to get rid of Michael’s body and asked Valerie to help him. Together they dragged Michael from the car, dumping him by the side of the road.
The man then ordered Valerie to show him how to start the Morris Minor and change its gears.
Twice he stalled and twice Valerie had to show him how to restart the engine. Eventually, he hopped out of the driver’s seat, leaving the engine running. It was 3.30AM.
Valerie handed him a one pound note from her raincoat and pleaded for the man to just go. He
replied he would have to hit her over the head or something. She begged to be left unharmed.
The man seemingly relented. He turned away and walked back towards the car. When he was about six feet from Valerie he turned suddenly and fired several bullets at her.
Valerie fell to her knees and then to the ground, coming to rest next to Michael’s body.
The man reloaded and shot at Valerie another three times. He calmly took the driver’s seat of the Morris Minor and sped off towards London.
That morning of Wednesday August 23 1961 began as a normal workday for engineering foreman,
James Skillett. He picked up a friend as usual, and the two travelled together in his car towards the town of Stratford, heading towards London.
As they pulled up to a set of traffic lights in the eastern London town of Ilford, they
noticed a car being driven erratically. It was a grey Morris Minor. The car swerved in its lane,
narrowingly missing James’s car as it sped past. A crunching sound could be heard as the driver of
the Morris Minor changed gears and dodged further vehicles approaching from the opposite lane.
James Skillett and his passenger caught up to the Morris Minor at a roundabout.
Pulling alongside it, James’s passenger wound down his window and James leant over him. He shouted,
“Are you f***ing mad or something? You ought to get off the f***ing road!” The driver of the Morris Minor looked over and
laughed before driving off. The car haphazardly drifted out of sight. Earlier that morning at 5.20, a young man named John Kerr had started work for the day.
He had a job with the ministry of transport counting the number of cars that passed by a
specific location on the A6 motorway, near Deadman’s Hill. At 6.45AM, he crossed over
a grassy knoll and came across the bloodied bodies of Michael Gregsten and Valerie Storie.
Detective Superintendent Robert Acott of Scotland Yard was assigned to the murder investigation.
With 28 years experience under his belt, he was confident the perpetrator would soon be found.
Details of Michael’s Morris Minor were circulated throughout the press and at 6 that night, Detective Acott received the first break in the case. A man walking his dog on
Avondale Crescent in Ilford spotted the Morris Minor parked on the street at an odd angle.
The front registration plate was damaged and there was blood spatter inside and outside the vehicle.
A local resident reported the car having been parked there since 7.45AM. There were no foreign fibres, hair, or fingerprints present throughout the vehicle.
However, two empty .38 calibre cartridge cases were found within. They matched similar cases found at the crime scene.
The next morning of August 24, housewife Audrey Willis heard a knock at the back door of her house
in Old Knebworth, approximately 37 miles north of where the Morris Minor was found. According
to The Guardian, Audrey opened the door to find a man wearing a long grey raincoat, dark trousers
and brown shoes. He was around 30 years old, with a pale and long, thin face and dark deep set eyes.
The man enquired as to whether her husband was home. When Audrey replied that he was out,
the man presented a black revolver from his pocket and forced his way inside. He asked Audrey for money and something to eat. She gave him four pounds and some milk
and cookies. After he had drunk the milk and pocketed the biscuits, he asked Audrey
to remove her shoes and go with him to the back door. As she did as requested, the man took off.
A search of the area failed to find the intruder. Detectives believed that this incident was related to the A6 attack on Deadman’s Hill.
Later that evening, cleaner for London Transport, Edwin Cooke was doing his job inspecting the buses
at Rye Lane Garage in Peckham, South London. As he searched the rear of the A36 bus for rubbish
he lifted the back seat. According to author Paul Foot, Edwin made a habit of checking this
seat on every bus he cleaned after once coming across two dead rats nestled in the space.
On this occasion, Edwin Cooke lifted up the seat and found a dirty handkerchief.
Underneath was a fully loaded revolver and 5 boxes of ammunition. The gun was quickly confirmed to be the .38 caliber used in the A6 attack.
The cleaner was positive the weapon and accessories had been deposited there that day,
as he had cleaned the same bus the night before. The busy A36 bus travelled two routes that day throughout London. Police offered an amnesty
for anyone who saw anything suspicious on the bus to come forward. Nobody did. As detectives continued to hunt for the A6 gunman, both families of Michael Gregsten and Valerie
Storie were coming to terms with the attack that had forever changed their lives. Michael’s wife
Janet was bereft at the loss of her husband. In an attempt to take her mind off things,
on August 31, she went to her brother in law’s antique shop in North London. As reported in the Daily Sketch, she was helping her brother in law,
William, set up a picture display in the store front window when she noticed a man walking by.
She grabbed William's arm and pointed to the man. He was slim, approximately 5 foot 6 inches
and immaculately dressed in a suit with dark hair, a pale complexion and deep set eyes.
Janet Gregsten was certain this was the man who had killed her husband as his face resembled
Identikit images based on witness accounts of the man seen driving Michael’s Morris Minor in
the hours following the shooting. They watched him walk into a dry-cleaner across the road.
William tried to calm Janet but she couldn't be consoled. She believed she had just crossed paths with her husband’s killer.
A short while later, William went to the dry-cleaner to enquire about the man. The manager told him that he had brought in a green suit to have tailored the week earlier.
He had given the dry cleaner an address in St John’s Wood and a name. Although his given
name was abbreviated to an initial, William had something to work with. It was J. Ryan.
According to the Daily Sketch, William did not have to wait long before he ran into J. Ryan
again. The next day he was sitting at a cafe on Finchley Road in London when a pair of
exquisitely made leather shoes caught his eye. As he looked up to see the man sporting the shoes,
he realised it was the same man he had seen yesterday from his shop. William followed the man to a florist and phoned Scotland Yard. An officer arrived and William
explained the situation. The florist revealed that the man had come in to send roses to his mother,
Mrs Hanratty. The names of J. Ryan and Mrs Hanratty were taken down by Scotland Yard.
But as there was nothing to link this man to the A6 attack, it was not followed up.
The investigation into the A6 attack was slow. Detectives admitted that they had little to go on.
September 11 1961 marked nearly 3 weeks after the shooting. In Maida Vale, west London,
hotel manager Robert Crocker was busy inspecting the rooms of the Vienna Hotel.
Robert arrived at room 24, a large basement room with multiple beds. It was unoccupied at the time.
Robert gave it the once over, looking for anything out of place or missing. On one of
the armchairs next to a single bed were two .38 calibre cartridge cases. Robert’s first thought
was to simply throw them away but he decided to call his local police and report the finding.
Scotland Yard confirmed that the cartridges matched those fired from the A6 murder weapon.
Hotel records were checked to see who had stayed in room 24 when Michael Gregsten and Valerie
Storie were abducted. Being a basement suite, room 24 was not often used. It was mainly given to
travellers when the other rooms were booked out. As such, only 3 people had stayed there recently.
One was a man who had given his surname as Rapur. The second was named Frederick Durrant.
The third man had stayed in room 24 on August 21 - the night before the shooting. Jim Ryan.
In late September 1961, Charlotte France appeared at Scotland Yard. It had been a
month since the A6 shooting, and Charlotte had a growing suspicion towards someone she knew well.
A week after the attack, the France family hosted a longtime family friend, Jim Ryan,
at their council flat in St Johns Wood. He’d slept on their sofa and was otherwise his typical self.
The frantic search for the A6 gunman was well underway and his likeness was featured on
televised news reports. Charlotte France had noted the suspect bore striking similarities
to Jim Ryan, but he remained silent when she mentioned it. Now Charlotte had come forward to
the police to formally implicate Jim in the crime. She also revealed his full name - James Hanratty.
25-year-old James Hanratty was a seasoned petty criminal. At age 15 he began dabbling in minor crimes. By age 17, he had been put
on probation for a year after taking and driving a motor vehicle without consent.
Two months later he underwent a medical examination for national service but according
to the documentary, “Murder Casebook,” was denied entry on the grounds of being illiterate.
Following this, James Hanratty started breaking into houses and stealing property. He became adept
at breaking into windows without being seen and wiping surfaces clean to remove his fingerprints.
James was caught and served time in prison where he tried to take his own life.
On release in 1957, James Hanratty told his family he was going to stop his criminal behaviour.
However, he soon returned to prison for stealing cars. In April 1961, James, freshly out of prison, knocked on his parent’s door.
This time, he assured his parents that he was done with crime for good. All he wanted was a
normal and straight life. His father, overjoyed and eager to set James on the straight and narrow,
quit his job he had worked for 26 years and lost his pension in order to set up a window washing business with James. They worked well together,
built up a steady clientele base and his family remarked they had never seen James so cheerful.
However, James Hanratty’s life as a law abiding citizen was short lived. Three months after the beginning of their business endeavour, James’s parents took a long overdue
holiday. They were under the impression that James would handle the work himself.
Instead, he bailed on his job and vanished. He stole a car and made his way to his favourite place in the U.K - Soho, London.
Known for its vibrant nightlife, restaurants and shops, James Hanratty loved Soho,
part of London’s West End. With nowhere to stay, James checked himself in to cheap boarding houses
and hotels under the alias Jim Ryan. As luck would have it, one day he ran into an old friend,
Charles France. Charles offered James a place to stay in his council home in St John’s Wood.
When he wasn’t crashing on the France family sofa, James would spend a night or two in
boarding houses. During this time, he stole approximately 2000 pounds worth of jewellery.
Charles France helped by valuing the stolen jewellery before James sold it to antique dealers and willing buyers in criminal circles.
After Charlotte France informed detectives that James Hanratty was the suspect they were looking for, they headed for Ireland.
According to Charlotte, James had travelled there to obtain a driver’s license.
Detectives flew into Dublin on September 29. All air and seaports to Ireland were
sealed as James Hanratty’s boyish face appeared in newspapers. Despite an extensive search, including speaking with a man who wrote postcards on
behalf of James to send to his mother, detectives returned to England on October 5 empty handed.
At the time, James Hanratty was living it up in Soho, having returned from Ireland in
mid September. A proficient driver, James had received his driver’s license with no problems.
He befriended an antique dealer and stayed in her apartment. James spent considerable money from his proceeds of crime to buy a car. He would
wine and dine women and take them to the theatre at the London Palladium. On October 5 1961, James Hanratty’s luck changed. He was at one of his favourite
local hangouts - The Rehearsal Club, when an acquaintance told him that officers were
snooping around, looking for him in relation to the A6 shooting. Pale faced and panicked,
James rang his good friend, Charles France. Charles tried to calm James, telling him he
had nothing to worry about and to go to Scotland Yard to clear his name. Hanratty abruptly hung up.
Charles France was dismayed. He hadn’t kept James on the line long enough for his call to be traced.
The following day, James Hanratty phoned Scotland Yard from a public phone booth.
He spoke to Detective Acott explaining that he was innocent. However, he couldn't come forward
as he was wanted for housebreaking after his fingerprints had been found at a crime
scene the month prior. James Hanratty told the detective he couldn’t take another prison stint
but desperately wanted the matter of his alleged involvement in the A6 attack cleared up.
James then called the newspaper offices of the Daily Mirror and spoke with an assistant editor.
Hanratty explained his predicament and professed his innocence, telling the editor he had a watertight alibi for the night in question.
Later that night, James Hanratty made another call to Detective Acott. Acott pleaded for Hanratty to turn himself in for questioning but again he refused.
The next afternoon, Hanratty called Detective Acott again. He elaborated on his alibi further, telling the detective that he had spent the night of August
21 at the Vienna Hotel under the alias Jim Ryan. The next day, when the A6 attack took place,
he had taken a train 200 miles north to Liverpool to stay with friends. He had been there for three nights before returning to London. Hanratty explained
three men could vouch for him but they would not do so as they themselves were criminals.
Detectives drove to Liverpool and searched for anyone who might admit to being Hanratty’s alibi.
They had no luck. On October 11, 4 days after his last contact with Detective Acott,
James Hanratty entered a cafe in Blackpool, a seaside town 50 miles north of Liverpool.
Confident he’d be safe from the officers searching for him in London, Hanratty ordered a meal
and took a seat near the jukebox. He bowed his head when two police officers entered the cafe.
Upon exiting the cafe, James Hanratty was promptly arrested. He told the policemen his name was Peter
Bates. But after arriving at Blackpool police station he confessed to being James Hanratty.
Detectives Acott rushed to the station, arriving at 7 the next morning to interview his prime
suspect. Although the Hanratty family had a trusted family lawyer, James was not given
the option of having him present. According to author Paul Foot, Detective Acott leant over a
desk and spoke to Hanratty about the Vienna Hotel, saying, “I can’t make it too clear
how desperate your position is. I must tell you now. After your leaving room 24 on 22nd August...2
empty cartridge cases were found at the end of the bed you tell me you slept in that night.”
James replied, “You’re kidding me Mr Acott aren’t you?” In response, Detective Acott said, “I’m not kidding you Jimmy, this is very serious business.”
The only other person present in the interview room was another detective, who took notes of
what went on. When the interview concluded, these notes were not signed by or read to James Hanratty
to ensure they were an accurate representation of what was discussed from his perspective.
James then told the officers in his heavy Cockney accent that he was off to have a good kip, explaining he was tired and could sleep anywhere.
The next day, those who witnessed the Morris Minor driving in the hours after the shooting were asked to view an identification parade to pinpoint the driver.
Standing before them, amongst several decoys, was James Hanratty. Two out of three witnesses picked James as the car's driver. A third witness,
the pump attendant who fuelled the car shortly before the shooting, pointed out someone else.
Still, there was one other person who could shed light on James Hanratty’s involvement
in the A6 attack. Barely surviving the ordeal that killed her partner, Valerie Storie had spent the past seven weeks in hospital recovering.
After being raped and gunned down, Valerie Storie lay in shock beside the body of her boyfriend,
Michael Gregston. She couldn’t move her legs. The killer had driven away in Michael’s Morris
Minor. Valerie desperately tried to get the attention of passing motorists by waving her
petticoat but she was concealed from the road by a grassy knoll. Fearing she was going to die,
Valerie made the words “blue eyes” and “brown hair” out of pebbles to give authorities clues to her and Michael’s assailant.
After hearing Valerie’s pained groans, a farm labourer discovered the couple and sought help.
Council worker John Kerr arrived and flagged down the first car that drove past,
telling them to call an ambulance. It was clear to John that Michael had been deceased for some time
so he focused his attention on Valerie. John wrote down Valerie’s recollection of the attack
on the back of his work papers, in case she passed away before speaking with authorities.
According to John, Valerie described the man responsible as a little taller than she was,
with large staring eyes and light fairish hair. John turned his notes over to the
first police officer who arrived but they were eventually misplaced. Valerie Storie was taken to hospital in a serious condition. Two bullets were lodged in her body.
One had struck her spinal cord, paralysing her from the waist down. This also meant Valerie
couldn’t feel pain from her injuries, so she was able to speak coherently to detectives.
They noted that her attacker was a man in his thirties, 5 foot 6, with a medium build.
However, inconsistencies were gradually emerging - Valerie herself had written in pebbles that her
attacker had blue eyes and brown hair. One of her rescuers noted her saying that he had light
fairish hair. And the police, following their initial interviews at Valerie’s bedside,
reported to the press that the offender had dark brown hair and deeply set dark brown eyes.
These inconsistencies would become a lingering issue throughout the investigation. No one could accurately explain why they existed.
Three days later, Valerie assisted in the creation of an Identikit of her attacker.
A second sketch was also made based on the collective recollections of all those who had seen the driver of the Morris Minor in the hours after the attack.
As this sketch was an amalgamation of multiple witness accounts, it looked very different from
the one Valerie provided. This was a notable flaw in the Identikit process - the human
expression can be very difficult to capture. If multiple people contribute their descriptions,
the result is often an image vastly different to the actual face of the subject.
Despite this issue, there was one similarity between both sketches. The offender’s right eyebrow was raised higher than his left.
Both images were circulated in the media, in the hope someone would recognise the wanted man.
The Liverpool Echo commented that each sketch was “dominated by dark staring eyes.”
This descriptor was withdrawn on August 31, for reasons unknown. Now the offender had blue eyes.
Regardless of the inconsistencies, when Charlotte France saw the sketches on television,
she was overcome with a sense of recognition. The man was sitting beside he, watching the same
news report. When she looked at the sketches, she saw James Hanratty. Following the arrest of James Hanratty,
he was brought to Valerie's hospital bedside to participate in an identity parade.
The matter was urgent, as Valerie had confided to Detective Acott, “My memory of this man’s face is
fading, I am so afraid that when confronted with the man, I may not be able to pick him out.”
Valerie stared intently at the 12 men standing at her bedside. For 10 minutes she scrutinised their
every feature and movement. She whispered to Detective Acott who in turn instructed
the men to say the line, “Be quiet will you, I am thinking.” One by one they repeated the sentence.
Valerie looked at them one more time and said the number of the man she thought was her attacker.
This man had said “finking” instead of thinking in his thick cockney accent - just like her
attacker had. As the men filed out, Detective Acott squeezed her arm and said, “Well done.”
Valerie had picked James Hanratty. When James began housebreaking, he dyed his red hair black under the impression it would hide his
identity. At the identity parade, James had very noticeable regrowth. Under the hospital lights,
his hair looked a very unusual colour. It was also heavily reported in newspapers
that police were looking for a suspect who had natural red hair but may have dyed it black.
It was unclear whether Valerie had read this description prior to the parade. James Hanratty approached Detective Acott and asked him if it was fair to
be put on parade with his hair in the condition it was. Acott’s reply was, “I did not ask you to get your hair dyed Jimmy. If you have any complaints, you can tell the judge.”
Two days later, James Hanratty appeared in court handcuffed to a detective. He vehemently denied
his involvement in the A6 shooting. In response to the charges, all he had to say was “All right.”
Just over one month later, a magistrate sent James for trial at the Old Bailey in London. At the
time, the legal system only tried someone for the most serious of the crimes they had committed if
they were charged with multiple crimes. Because of this, all charges for the attack on Valerie
Storie were dropped and James Hanratty only faced trial for the murder of Michael Gregsten.
As detailed by author Paul Foot, a prison medical officer assessed James Hanratty prior to trial.
He noted: “He is in my opinion, quite fit to plead, he knows the difference between right and wrong, and must be held responsible for his actions.”
Crime correspondents covering the case indicated that James Hanratty would likely be acquitted
due to the lack of evidence against him. The main evidence to be used by the prosecution was Valerie
Storie’s identification of him, the fact he used the word kip for nap, and his cockney accent.
Certain himself that he would be found not guilty, James signed a deal with the Daily
Express for 5000 pounds for the exclusive to his story once the trial was over.
He wrote letters through a scribe to his parents, relatives and friends professing his innocence.
He assured his family that they had nothing to worry about. An excerpt of a letter taken from the book by Paul Foot reads:
“Well mum, I know it must be hard for you and dad right now, but I want you to have faith
in me. If I had done this terrible thing I would have took my own life weeks ago.
As you know I love you and dad very much. Though I left home I was thinking of you all the time, and
I am not saying that just because I am in trouble… But I have got my faith in my defence... They are
both very intelligent men, and without any doubt they know I am innocent...As I said before,
please have faith in me. I will soon straighten this terrible thing out.” In order to have the case heard sooner, on January 2 1962,
it was decided that the trial would be moved from London to where the A6 murder occurred.
This was a huge setback for James Hanratty. It meant the jury would be comprised of Bedford
locals, many of whom had thorough knowledge of and were still outraged about the attack.
The trial began on January 22 1962, near five months after the crime. On the third day, James Hanratty shocked his defence team. He had a confession to make.
James admitted he had lied to detectives about his alibi. He had not been in Liverpool with three
criminals, but instead by himself in the Welsh seaside town of Rhyl, 43 miles west of Liverpool.
He told Detective Acott he was in Liverpool as he thought his three criminal friends would
vouch for him, and he took a train there to offer them 250 pounds to give him an alibi.
When his friends refused, not wanting to become involved, James Hanratty was in a bind.
He didn’t want to say he was in Rhyl because there was nobody there to verify it,
so he stuck with his Liverpool alibi. Now however, he had a change of heart. Although his legal team warned him that changing his alibi made him look guilty, James said he
did not want to take the stand unless he could tell the truth. His defence barrister conceded.
As far as he was concerned, James was well regarded as a good natured, likeable person.
He felt it was important for the jury to meet James, regardless of his changing alibi.
Valerie Storie was wheeled into court in a hospital bed. The damage to her spinal cord meant that she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
Her testimony was read aloud, part of which included the statement, “While I was facing him after he shot Mike...a car came up from behind and lit up his face.
He seemed to be staring through me with very large icy-blue eyes.” The defence team picked apart Valerie’s recollections and the different descriptions
she allegedly gave of her attackers physical appearance - specifically the colour of his
hair and eyes. All the written records of her describing her assailant had since been
lost - so records of what she said could not be backed up in court. The cartridge cases found in the Vienna Hotel room where James Hanratty stayed were debated
in court. The prosecution argued that James had bought the gun just prior to the A6 murder.
They claimed he practiced firing some shots, leaving the casings in the hotel room.
His defense argued it was an unlikely scenario. However, the courtroom was about to hear more
incriminating evidence against James Hanratty. It came from his good friend, Charles France.
As mentioned by author Paul Foot, three days before the trial began, Charles France attempted to take his own life and was admitted to hospital.
His treating psychiatrist stated that his depression had been brought on by Charles introducing James Hanratty to his family. Charles allegedly told his doctor:
“The bastard, it could have been my dear wife and daughter who he killed.” Charles appeared
in court with two mental health nurses to give evidence against James and it was damning.
He testified that a few weeks before the A6 murder, he and James had been at a dog track.
Afterwards, they caught the bus back to London. When they hopped on it was empty. Charles went
to take a seat at the front of the bus but James motioned for him to sit toward the rear with him.
Pointing to the back seat, Charles told the jury that James said words to the effect of,
“This is the only seat that lifts up, and it’s a good hiding place.” Meanwhile the investigation into James Hanratty’s Rhyl alibi received a boost
when the bed and breakfast he claimed to have stayed at was identified. The landlady gave
evidence that he had stayed there for two nights over the period of the A6 murder.
However, she was a poor record keeper and did not have any documentation to support her claim.
James described in detail the room he stayed in, including that it had a green bath.
The prosecution claimed that the bed and breakfast was fully booked at the time.
What they were unaware of and something the landlady reluctantly admitted at the trial
was that there was an extra bed in one of the private bathrooms. It was given to guests when there were none others available. It had a green bath inside.
The prosecution was without a clear motive in the case against James Hanratty. As Valerie Storie had been raped, it was theorised the defendant was sexually motivated.
However, there was never any inkling that James behaved violently towards women. Past
girlfriends testified that James behaved like a perfect gentleman. One went so far as to label him as impeccable. Other women in his life described him similarly.
When James Hanratty took the stand, he answered questions calmly and without hesitation.
At one stage, the prosecution compared his features to the Identikit image saying, “Hanratty,
do you always hold your right eyebrow higher than your left?” To which he replied, “I do not know
Sir because I can not see it.” His response prompted the courtroom to fill with laughter.
James told the truth about his criminal past saying, “The man who committed this is a maniac and a savage...I am not a man the court can approve of,
but I am not a maniac of any kind. I can prove it with my past girlfriends. I am a decent - I
cannot say honest - but I try to live a good and respectable life except for my housebreakings.”
The trial against James Hanratty lasted 21 days. It was the longest against one
defendant in British history. Over 80 witnesses were called to give evidence. On February 17 1962, the jury retired for deliberations.
Six hours later, they returned to ask for clarification of the phrase “reasonable doubt.”
Another four hours passed before they reappeared. For the murder of Michael Gregsten, James Hanratty was found guilty. The verdict sent shockwaves through the courtroom.
The judge noticeably hesitated before delivering the sentence. James Hanratty was sentenced to death by hanging.
In response, James’s mother collapsed and fainted. James, visibly distressed, fell forward onto the dock. He was asked if he had any final words to which he replied,
“I’m innocent my Lord, I will appeal. That is all I have to say at this stage.”
-- Watching the chaos unfold in court was a man harbouring a secret. He wanted to make a confession… but would have to wait a little longer.
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March 2nd, 1962 Dear Mum, Just a few lines in answer to your kind and welcome letter which I received the other day.
I was very pleased to hear that you were all in good health and spirits at home.
Things are just the same here. I am over the shock now and I am patiently waiting for my appeal,
which you already know is the 12th March and I will be looking forward to seeing you then.
I have had one or two letters from different people all expressing their faith in me and
the outcome of the appeal. All I ask is when I go to court that I be given a fair trial and I
feel this time the circumstances are different. I have great faith in [my defence], he said to me
“The guilty will be punished and the innocent set free.” It is clear to thousands of people not only in here that the jury has made a terrible mistake.
I can’t say at this stage that I am feeling happy, but I am keeping my spirits up and that is what really counts…
Goodnight, God bless you all. James. While James Hanratty awaited his appeal, his legal team had been busy trying to further
verify his Rhyl alibi. They found an additional four witnesses who claimed to have seen a man
resembling James in Rhyl at the time of the A6 murder. One recalled the strange colour of his
hair, thinking it must have been a wig. However, James’s legal team chose not to introduce these
new witnesses at the appeal. Instead, they argued that the judge had misdirected the jury.
The appeal was ultimately dismissed. As detailed by author Paul Foot, as the judge announced the
dismissal, a woman in a wide-brimmed straw hat rose from her seat in the public gallery.
She shouted, “It’s not true, he didn’t do it! Ask the conductor of the 36 bus!”
Everyone froze and turned to look at her. She took her seat again. The conductor of the A36 bus, where the murder weapon was located, did not recognise the woman
or understand what she meant. There was another female conductor who worked on that bus also,
however she was never questioned as to what the strange comment might mean. Watching from the public gallery was a man who had attended both the trial
and the verdict. His friends had noticed a change in his behaviour that week. He became agitated with moments of hysterics. He had something that he wanted to get off his chest
and ended up writing a letter to the Daily Express. It was published two days after James Hanratty’s appeal was denied. The letter read: “I’ve studied
the case very closely and I believe Hanratty was innocent. There has been so much confusion and
doubt in this extraordinary case that I’m prepared to do all in my power to seek a reprieve”.
He signed it with his name - Peter Alphon. The next day, the landlady of a doss house in Acton, London called the police. In one of her
rooms she had discovered the body of a middle aged man. A blue exercise book was by his body.
It contained written letters to each of his family members. The letter to his wife,
Charlotte, apologised for him bringing someone he thought to be a friend but was actually a monster
into their house. It was the body of James Hanratty’s longtime friend - Charles France.
Charlotte France told the Sunday Times that the family had been pestered by calls in the lead up to Charles death.
The caller had threatened, “If Hanratty dies, you die!” An inquest ruled Charles’ death a suicide.
The judge refused to disclose the bulk contents of the letters Charles had penned to his loved ones.
However, they were written, quote: “in great bitterness and great feeling against Hanratty.”
Meanwhile, James Hanratty’s execution date of April 4 1962 loomed nearer. In a last ditch effort to save him, James’s legal team lodged a petition with the Home Office.
They sought a pardon in light of the new witnesses that had come forward in Rhyl. On
March 28, James’s father handed in a petition to the Home Office. It was filled with the names of
90,000 British citizens requesting James Hanratty be pardoned due to a miscarriage of justice.
They were skeptical of the strength of the prosecution's evidence implicating James
in the murder of Michael Gregson. Some even questioned Valerie Storie’s ability to recall
the physical characteristics of her attacker, given she had gone through serious trauma.
Many weren’t convinced that she could accurately identify her rapist, as the crime
happened in the dark of night and only caught a momentary glimpse of him from a passing light.
Four days submitting the petition, the Hanratty family received a letter from the Home Office.
There were no sufficient grounds to provide James Hanratty with a pardon. His execution would go ahead in two days’ time.
When James heard of the decision, he wrote a letter to his father. It read, in part:
Dear Dad, I can’t say how sorry I am that this has turned out this way, but that was not my fault, it was the fault of others. I am writing this letter,
knowing this is my only chance to thank you and Mum for all you have done for me. And
the only way I can pay my respect to you and the family is to show what kind of man I really am,
though I am about to take the punishment for someone else’s crime, I will face it like a man,
and show both courage and strength, and try to make you proud of your son. The night before his death, James was visited by his brother Michael. The brothers had been
incredibly close since childhood and James was particularly protective of Michael.
He asked Michael to continue the quest to prove his innocence after he was gone. He was certain that the truth would come one day.
On the morning of April 4 1962, James Hanratty was joined by two priests. After spending hours with the convicted killer, both priests were convinced of his innocence.
They prayed together before James was led to the gallows. As his family prayed together in a nearby church, James Hanratty was hanged.
Two days prior to James Hanratty’s execution, housewife Audrey Willis again heard knocking
on her back door. She opened it to find the same man who had forced entry into her home
the day after the A6 murder. Yet again, he wielded a black revolver. He asked for food and some money before fleeing out the back door much like he did the first time.
Long considered to be related to the A6 murder, the fact that this second confrontation occurred
while James Hanratty was in prison assured detectives that it must be unrelated.
However, to those who believed in Hanratty’s innocence it meant something else entirely. That the A6 murderer was still on the loose.
Just before the forced entry at Audrey Willis’s home, Peter Alphon left his friends in London saying he had a “job to do.” He returned to London the night
before James Haratty’s execution and went out with some friends for dinner. He was acting strangely,
telling his friends that he felt the floor was going to give out underneath him. Prone to fits
of hysteria, Peter’s friends were concerned - lately he seemed to be acting stranger than ever.
Not much is known about Peter Alphon’s childhood. His father held a respectable
position as a records clerk in Scotland Yard but he and Peter fought often and as a result
their relationship was strained. Peter did however, get along very well with his mother.
He left school at 15 and served in the Royal Air Force briefly, before leading a nomadic lifestyle as a door to door salesman and occasional bartender in London.
An eccentric man, Peter had difficulty keeping any job for a long period of time.
In 1953, he received a minor conviction for taking and riding away a motorcycle.
Extremely well read, Peter Alphon studied extensively on astrology and theosophy
and also had an interest in witchcraft and black magic. He had fascist beliefs and greatly admired
Adolf Hitler. Although they didn’t get on, Peter’s father gave him a small allowance,
which combined with his earnings, led Peter to live a comfortable life. With no fixed address,
Peter often checked into boarding houses for a few nights at a time before moving on.
Although it seemed an open and shut case for those investigating the A6 murder, James
Hanratty was not the first or only suspect. Four days after the attack and desperate for leads,
Scotland Yard reached out to hotel staff for help. As printed in the Daily Sketch on August 27
1961, their appeal read: “Do you have a lodger who has not stirred out for the past few days?”
Long term border, a schoolteacher named Miss Perkins read the appeal. She spoke to her
landlord, Peter Sims of the Alexandra Court Hotel in Finsbury Park, London. She was very
concerned by the behavior of the man who boarded next to her in room 80 on the second floor.
He paced incessantly in his room, talking to himself. He also rummaged through his wardrobe
all night and Miss Perkins could hear the sound of something metallic being rattled. Annoyed
by the constant noise, Miss Perkins knocked on his door once to ask him to be quiet. There was
no response and the strange noises continued. She noticed that since the A6 murder, the man
had hardly left his room. He hadn’t been to the communal dining room for a meal for four days.
The man was listed in hotel ledgers as Frederick Durrant. However this was an alias. His real name was Peter Alphon.
A detective paid Alphon a visit. He gave an alibi for the night of the A6 murder,
saying he visited his mother before checking in to another hotel. The Vienna Hotel. It was the same one that James Hanratty had stayed in. The one in which
the .38 callibre cartridge cases belonging to the A6 murder weapon were found. Alphon
admitted to staying in the basement room where the casings were found on the night of the murder.
After two hours of questioning, Peter Alphon was released. He returned to the police station the following morning to ask if he could be of any more assistance.
Alphon’s alibi was verified by his mother as well as a hotel worker who remembered Peter
checking into the Vienna Hotel only hours after James Hanratty had checked out. The hotel worker
recalled Alphon asking how to get to Queensway on the morning of the A6 murder. He was told
the best way would be to take the A36 bus - the same bus where the murder weapon was discovered.
Both James Hanratty and Peter Alphon had similar smiles and dark coloured hair (when Hanratty’s
was dyed), and were of similar height. But the similarities ended there. Alphon did not
have a cockney accent. He had dark eyes, not blue. He was also of a slightly heavier build.
He strongly resembled the Identikit Valerie Storie had provided of her attacker. The hotel worked who
interacted with the pair, said in his police statement: “Hanratty was at all times cool,
calm and composed, and left our hotel like a normal man who had had a breakfast after a full
night’s sleep and was leaving for work, whereas Alphon was flurried, hurried and agitated.”
On September 22 1961, before James Hanratty was even identified as a suspect, Peter Alphon’s mother was questioned. Under interrogation, she changed her statement
saying she hadn’t seen her son on the night of the A6 attack, it had been a month earlier.
Detectives were certain that Peter Alphon was the man responsible for the A6 murder.
The problem was, they now couldn’t find him. Police put out a public appeal to locate Alphon.
Just before midnight on September 22, the Daily Mail newspaper received a call. It was from
Alphon. He was in a phone booth outside of Scotland Yard and was about to give himself up. He explained that he was innocent and needed to clear his name.
A reporter met him there and together they went inside. Following a detailed interrogation, detectives felt that Peter Alphon was
less likely to be their man. However, to be sure, they conducted a series of identity parades.
The first included witnesses who had sighted Michael Gregsten’’s Morris Minor being driven by
a man in the hours following Michael’s murder. Also present was the Vienna Hotel worker who
interacted with Alphon. He was the only person to pick Alphon from the lineup. A lineup featuring Peter Alphon was also presented to Valerie Storie
while she recovered in hospital. Her eyes slowly travelled across each person several times.
Alphon spoke of the experience to the Daily Express, quote: “It dawned on me that she
wasn’t quite sure of herself. I began to get hot under the collar. Eventually her
gaze fell on me and stayed...Suddenly she spoke. It was not my number.” Valerie pointed to another man. When she was told that it wasn’t the person they
were suspecting in the A6 murder, she broke down sobbing and said, “I made a mistake.”
As a result, Peter Alphon was dropped as a suspect. From then on, detectives had their sights set on James Hanratty. Peter Alphon was released. He
spent hours pouring over the case long after the trial and execution of James Hanratty.
On the one year anniversary of the A6 murder, James Hanratty’s parents heard a knock at
their door. They let the stranger inside and he took a seat in their lounge room.
He began speaking about James and how he didn’t believe there was enough evidence to convict him.
He told the Hanratty’s that he wanted to write a book about what had happened. It was Peter Alphon. Taking out his cheque book, Peter offered to compensate the
Hanratty’s for what had been done to them. The flabbergasted Hanratty’s became irate.
They asked Peter to leave them alone. He left without incident. A few months later, James Hanratty’s family began getting hang up phone calls.
They were mostly filled with silence. But on one occasion, late at night in January 1963,
Mrs Hanratty picked up the phone. The voice on the line said, “I am the A6 killer Mrs Hanratty. And I am coming to get you.” Peter Alphon continued to bother the
Hanratty’s over the coming years. He also chatted to his friends about the case incessantly.
In 1966, there was an overhaul of a previous law that hanged men could not be buried in a civilian cemetery. As a result, on February 22 1966,
James Hanratty was exhumed from the Bedford Prison grounds and reburied in Wembley Cemetery.
A plain clothed policeman watched on in case Peter Alphon tried to interrupt proceedings.
Later that year, Valerie Storie appeared on TV program Panorama to break her silence.
She threw her support behind James Hanratty’s conviction, telling the interviewer: “I was there, I was on Deadman’s Hill. And I knew it was Hanratty.”
On May 11 1967, just over five years after James Hanratty’s death, reporters from all over the world crammed into the Hotel du Louvre reception room
in Paris, France. Alongside them were two representatives from Scotland Yard. Everyone waited with baited breath as Peter Alphon entered the room.
Earlier in the day, he had phoned a Daily Mirror correspondent telling him that he
was going to hold a very important press conference about the A6 murder. A hush descended as Alphon began to speak. According to the book, “Who Killed Hanratty?”
by Paul Foot, Alphon confessed to being the A6 murderer. He told the stunned reporters:
“A man offered me a large sum of money...and told me to end the relationship between (Michael)
Gregsten and (Valerie) Storie. Another man, a mutual friend, then put a gun in my hand.
I was not told in so many words to murder. It was just said - we will get you a gun...take
it from there. I gave the couple in the car two chances. I spoke a lot of rubbish about
morality and I gave Gregsten two chances to go away...But each time the bloody man came back.”
He alleged that James Hanratty had been framed in the attack. The gun had been given to Alphon
by Charles France, who also disposed of it on the back of the bus. Charles, who was a well
known friend of James Hanratty and implicated James at trial, had since taken his own life.
British newspapers initially covered the conference with some interest however the confession was not taken seriously by Scotland Yard.
They refused to sway from the belief they had arrested the correct man. Having previously confessed to his friends who had even taken a written confession to
the Home Office, Peter Alphon was certain this public admission would lead to his arrest.
The arrest however, never came. Support for James Hanratty continued to grow following Peter Alphon’s public confession.
The A6 Murder Committee was founded which included James’s close family and friends
as well as members of the public who believed in his innocence. The committee travelled to Rhyl and took an advertisement out in the local paper
titled, “Can you help Mr and Mrs Hanratty clear their sons name?” They called for anyone who had seen James Hanratty over the days of the A6 murder to come forward.
Eleven witnesses in total approached the Committee to confirm their sighting of James
Hanratty in Rhyl, including a family who stated he enquired about staying at their bed and breakfast.
Throughout 1969, the A6 Murder Committee held a meeting in Hyde Park every Sunday. With pickets
proclaiming Hanratty’s innocence and naming Peter Alphon as the real murderer, they paraded around
the park, outside the House of Commons and even in front of Peter Alphon’s parents house.
In November 1969, Mr and Mrs Hanratty went to stay with their nephew in Ascot. He said
he would put them in touch with his wealthy neighbours who were interested in James’s case.
On December 9 1969, the Hanratty’s met with their nephew’s wealthy neighbours - John Lennon and Yoko
Ono. The former Beatles band member was intrigued by the case and spoke at length about it to Mr and
Mrs Hanratty. They wanted to make a film about the murder and James Hanratty’s wrongful conviction.
Following the meeting, John Lennon and Yoko Ono stunned onlookers as they arrived at the film
premier, “The Magic Christian.” The couple stepped out of their white Rolls Royce with a banner that
read, “Britain Murdered Hanratty.” The interest from the superstars renewed public interest in the
case. The couple met often with the Hanratty family and a documentary film was produced,
however it was not made accessible to the public. Further witnesses came forward to further implicate Peter Alphon as the A6 murderer.
The proprietress of The Old Station Inn revealed that Alphon was in the pub on the night that Michael and Valerie were having a drink before they were attacked.
Still, Scotland Yard declined to reopen the case after a secret police investigation
failed to uncover any new compelling evidence to prove Hanratty’s innocence. To authorities,
Peter Alphon was seen as a meddling individual trying to insert himself into the case.
In April 1992, the Home Office was asked to reopen the case after a fresh confession
from Peter Alphon. This coincided with the release of a television documentary.
A review of the documentary in The Guardian said of James Hanratty, “There cannot be many people left who think he was guilty.” Peter Alphon interfered again, sending
a greeting card to Michael Gregson’s widow, Janet, who promptly reported it to the police.
Even Janet came forward requesting a posthumous pardon for James Hanratty. In April 1994, the case was reopened. An internal inquiry was completed and new evidence gathered.
In January 1997, the inquiry concluded that James Hanratty was wrongfully hanged.
In March 1997, the A6 murder case was handed over from the Home Office to the newly formed Criminal Cases Review Commission - a statutory
body responsible for investigating alleged misacarriages of justice. It took one year but on 11 March 1998, the Hanratty family and supporters heard
news from the Commission. DNA testing had been completed on two pieces of crime scene evidence
that had been kept all these years. They were semen staining from Valerie’s underwear
and mucus on the handkerchief the murder weapon was found wrapped in. Technology at the time of the shooting was limited.
It was only able to ascertain that the male source of the fluids had blood type O.
This was James Hanratty’s blood type but also Peter Alphon’s and 36% of the British population.
Now however, technology had advanced to the stage where DNA testing was possible.
James Hanratty’s mother and brother eagerly supplied saliva and blood samples for comparison.
The results were inconclusive. In March 1999, the case was handed to the Court of Criminal Appeal. It was widely reported that
James Hanratty would have his conviction quashed. The Hanratty’s family solicitor told the Guardian:
“The amount of information not disclosed by the prosecution at the trial is very substantial.
If that material had been disclosed, James Hanratty would not have been convicted.”
James Hanratty’s family were thrilled with the news. They told the media that they had been through hell trying to get James posthumously pardoned.
Hanratty’s appeal was set to be heard in December 2000. In July 2000, due to further technological advancements, the DNA samples from the crime
scene were able to be examined even further. Peter Alphon supplied his DNA for testing
and was officially ruled out as a suspect. His entire confession was a charade.
Alphon died in 2009 in London at the age of 79 after suffering a fall. In his later years he changed his story, coming to vehemently deny any involvement in the A6 murder.
Samples provided by the Hanratty family were also retested against the specimens from the crime scene. The tests came back as a familial match
showing that the semen and mucus samples came from someone related to the Hanratty family.
Michael Hanratty, James’s brother, dismissed the results. He called the DNA testing “flawed.”
He stated the samples from the crime scene were stored with samples from James Hanratty, allowing
cross contamination to occur. The DNA result showed the odds of Hanratty being innocent was
one in a billion. In 2001, James Hanratty’s body was exhumed and reburied after a DNA sample was
extracted from one of his teeth. It was compared against the specimens from the crime scene.
On May 10 2002, the Court of Appeal ruled that there was evidence that showed “beyond doubt”
that James Hanratty was guilty of the A6 murder. The argument that the samples might have been contaminated were called fanciful and beyond
belief. The judge said that DNA alone proved that James Hanratty was guilty of the crime, however
when combined with all of the corroborating evidence there was overwhelming proof of
the safety of the conviction. The ruling put to rest decades of speculation. James Hanratty was
responsible for the murder of Michael Gregson and the rape and attempted murder of Valerie Storie.
Valerie Storie told friends how pleased she was that DNA evidence had proved her right,
after many attempts had been made to discredit her by those supporting James Hanratty. She never married and continued working as a government scientist until 1983.
Having been confined to a wheelchair since age 22, Valerie didn’t wallow over what
James Hanratty had done to her. Instead, she became motivated to better the life of others.
She became the director of the Slough Community Transport Service advocating for the physically
disabled. A former colleague and friend stated of Valerie: “Being disabled herself she understood
what was needed of our buses, having used them since she was unable to drive herself any more.
She took on the council over the needs of disabled people, it was her great passion in life.”
As for her affair with Michael Gregsten, Valerie told her friend that she “paid a bitter price for what she did.” Valerie died in 2016 at age 77.
James Hanratty’s family were unable to accept that he had lied to them and was the perpetrator
of the A6 attack. They kept fighting to clear his name, though public support greatly dissipated.
The family’s refusal to accept James’s guilt consumes them and will continue to consume
future generations. James’s brother Michael spoke on the documentary, Murder Casebook,
that when he dies, his sons will take over trying to get justice for James. In the hours before his execution, James Hanratty wrote a final letter to his brother Michael:
Dear Mike, Well Mick I am going to do my best to face the morning with courage and strength and I am sure God will give me the courage to do so.
I am going to ask you to do me a small favour, that is I would like you to try and clear my name of this crime. Someone, somewhere is responsible for this crime
and one day they will venture again and then the truth will come out, and then Mick that will be
your chance to step in. I feel the police will try to hush it all up if they get the chance.
So Mick I am counting on you to keep your eyes on the papers. Well Mick, with that, time is drawing
near, it is almost daylight...I only wish I could have the chance all over again...Mick
I don’t know what I have done to deserve this. But Mick, that’s fate for you.

Case 172: Michael Gregsten & Valerie Storie

In August 1961, a couple by the name of Michael Gregsten and Valerie Storie were sitting in their Morris Minor car in Dorney Reach, UK, when an intruder forced his way into the back seat brandishing a gun and took them for a drive all over the English countryside...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Jessica Forsayeth Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-172-michael-gregsten-valerie-storie

Brief Summary

James Hanratty was convicted of murder and execution, but questions about his guilt persist due to eyewitness inconsistencies and new evidence.

Key points

A Night of Horror. Michael and Valerie's romantic evening takes a terrifying turn when a hijacker appears.
The Shocking Turn. In a moment of panic, the hijacker shoots Michael, changing everything.
The Investigation Begins. Detectives start piecing together clues after the shocking murder of Michael and Valerie.
James Hanratty's Arrest. James is arrested in a cafe after trying to evade police. He initially gives a false name.
Valerie Storie's Testimony. Valerie, a survivor of the attack, provides crucial testimony in court despite her injuries.
Trial Verdict. After a lengthy trial, James Hanratty is found guilty of murder, shocking the courtroom.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is a hold up. I am a desperate man.

7:28WatchApr 17, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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