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Find the right content for your market. Hanratty telephoned Scotland Yard several times, saying he had fled because he had no credible alibi for the date in question, but repeated each time that he had nothing to do with the A6 murder. On Tuesday, 22nd August, 1961, Michael Gregsten, 36, a research physicist, called at the address of his estranged wife at Sabine House, Abbots Langley, and. All of this money was anonymously donated to Slough Mobility Transport for the purchase of two new vehicles, one of which was named 'Valerie'. The gunman got out of the car and approached her; pleading for her life, she took a pound note from her pocket, screaming, "Here, take this, take the car and go." Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Michael Gregsten with his wife Janet 1962 OLD PHOTO at the best online prices at eBay! At the trial Nudds also stated that the man, upon leaving, had asked the way to a bus stop for a 36A bus, though his statement to police had merely mentioned the 36 bus. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. [citation needed]. In 2002 Valerie was finally vindicated when DNA evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that Hanratty was guilty. The hotel manager, William Nudds, made a statement to police naming the last occupant of the room as 'James Ryan'. At Deadman's Hill the man ordered Gregsten to pull into a lay-by. He started to bombard his own solicitor with threatening phone calls and letters. You don't want it to be blown out. They were confronted by a man with a gun. 341,587,075 stock photos, 360 panoramic images, vectors and videos, Share Alamy images with your team and customers. Valerie wrote: "Hanratty committed a crime and was found guilty and was hanged. She wanted to write a book to finally give her version of events but did not get round to this before her death in 2016. [4][5][6][7] By 1937, the family had moved to Wembley in northwest London. Inside a parked Morris Minor was a 36-year-old scientist, Michael Gregsten, and his 22-year-old girlfriend, Valerie Storie. If you're looking for a way to stay up to date with the latest breaking news from around Bedfordshire, the BedfordshireLive newsletter is a good place to start. When Alphon found out, he flew into a rage. The case became a cause celebre, with politicians and pop stars, legal experts and writers joining the campaign to prove he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice. During 1962, the case caught the interest of London businessman Jean Justice, the son of a Belgian diplomat and partner of barrister Jeremy Fox. [15][16] Storie, an only child, lived with her parents in Cippenham, a suburb of Slough. That night, after stopping for a drink at The Station Inn at Taplow, they stopped on a countryside road to discuss their future. He stayed in a room the night before the crime from which bullets that had been fired from the murder weapon were recovered. The dead man, who has been identified as physicist Michael John Gregsten, 34, from Abbots Langley in Hertfordshire, had been shot twice in the head with a 38-calibre revolver. Valerie Storie survived the shooting but was left paralysed and wheelchair-bound. But for the next 40 years Valerie was slammed by campaign groups and celebrities who were convinced Hanratty was innocent, making her reluctant to speak to the media during her lifetime. Drain the heater and clean it. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. They were, though, generally relaxed talking in their cornfield. With some justification it seemed, since Michael had a tendency to spend willingly rather than save. The trial lasted 21 days, the longest in English legal history up to that time.[21]. In 1999 the case was referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). In police line-ups, Storie did not recognise Alphon, but eventually identified Hanratty. He had the same identifying manner of speech as the killer. Hanratty would be convicted after a trial lasting almost four weeks but his execution marked the beginning of a forty-year journey of cries of a miscarriage of justice, media frenzies, legal arguments, criticism of the police, a referral to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and finally a Court of Appeal ruling in 2002 when DNA evidence would finally put an end to the furore; he was indeed guilty. He would have been wrongly identified by three witnesses at identification parades; first as the person at the scene of the crime and secondly (by two witnesses) driving a vehicle close to where the vehicle in which the murder was committed was found. [citation needed], On 7 September, Meike Dalal was attacked in her home in Richmond, Surrey, by a man claiming to be the A6 murderer, whom she later identified as Alphon in an identity parade on 23 September. Although Hanratty's blood group (O) was the same as the murderer's, it was a fairly common blood type shared by 36% of the British population, including Peter Alphon and, apart from Storie's identification, there was no other evidence that Hanratty had ever been in the Maidenhead area. Was this a miscarriage of justice? I had found the guilty person. On 11 September, two cartridge cases were found in the guest basement bedroom of the Vienna Hotel, which were matched with the bullets that killed Gregsten and to the ones in the gun found on the bus. They had been here on a few occasions before, to make love or simply to spend time alone together. Michael wound down his window, only halfway, when a gun was thrust through the gap, its muzzle pointing directly at them. After his release, his father resigned his job as dustman with Wembley council to start a window cleaning business with his son in a futile attempt to keep him away from crime. That's basically taking the rest of his brothers life with him, since he knew he wouldn't be cleared. [17], Late in the evening of Tuesday, 22 August 1961, Valerie Storie was sitting alongside Gregsten in his car in a cornfield at Dorney Reach, Buckinghamshire. 1945: Ex-soldier buried his wife on Anglesey beach after . He was struck by how calm and measured she was throughout the whole ordeal. Michael J. Gregsten, mmn = Oulet, GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1962 4a 7 AMPTHILL. Professor Hobbs said: 'It is important that people understand that it is very easy to jump on a bandwagon and come up with a conclusion that is wrong.'. The manager of the Alexandra Court Hotel reported a man who had locked himself in his room for five days after the murder, and the police picked him up. They had never been disturbed before and it was easier to talk here rather than anywhere else. With the gun was a handkerchief which provided DNA evidence many years later. However, there was another person called William Usher, who did have two fingers missing from one hand, which looked withered. Among the prosecution team at the trial was Geoffrey Lane, who was subsequently appointed Lord Chief Justice. His wife, Maureen Hanratty, said the family had been 'put through hell' because of the behaviour of the authorities. At about 9pm on August 22, 1961, Michael Gregsten, 36, and his girlfriend Valerie Storie, 22, were sitting in their Morris Minor 1000 car in a lay-by at Dorney Reach, Buckinghamshire, when. In August 1961, 22-year-old Valerie Storie and 36-year-old Michael Gregsten were the victims of James Hanratty in the notorious 'A6 Murder'. Hanratty was initially buried in the grounds of Bedford Gaol, but, on 22 February 1966, his remains were exhumed and re-interred in a grave at Watford, later shared with his aunt.[22][23]. Where was the money going to come from? The full text of the Court of Appeals Decision: This page was last edited on 26 January 2023, at 14:31. The case for Hanratty's innocence was pursued by his family as well as by some of the opponents of capital punishment in the United Kingdom, who maintained that Hanratty was innocent and sought to draw attention to evidence that would cast doubt on the validity of his conviction. He wrote a suicide letter to Hanratty; it was full of spite and venom, but at no point actually accused him of committing the murder. [34] Modern testing of DNA from Hanratty's exhumed corpse and members of his family convinced Court of Appeal judges in 2002 that Hanratty's guilt was proved "beyond doubt". At about 6:45am on 23 August 1961, the body of Michael John Gregsten (28 December 1924 - 23 August 1961)[10][11] was discovered in a lay-by on the A6 road at Deadman's Hill, near the Bedfordshire village of Clophill, by John Kerr, an Oxford undergraduate conducting a traffic census. The argument for contamination was dismissed as "fanciful" by the judges, who concluded that the "DNA evidence, standing alone, is certain proof of guilt". And when she was found the following morning she was able to give a hugely detailed description of what happened. After some investigation, 'Ryan' turned out to be James Hanratty, a 25-year-old petty criminal with four convictions for car theft, larceny and burglary. The Police tracked down a Mrs Dinwoodie, who served in a sweetshop in Scotland Road, and who recalled a man like Hanratty asking for directions. On 3 July 1957, aged 20, five months after his release from Wormwood Scrubs, Hanratty was sentenced at Brighton Magistrates' Court to six months' imprisonment (he served four) for a variety of motoring offences, including theft of a motor vehicle and driving without a licence. Storie recalled that he pronounced "things" as "fings" and "think" as "fink".[18]. Was James Hanratty Guilty or Innocent? "[25], The journalist and campaigner Ludovic Kennedy wrote many articles asserting Hanratty's innocence. James Hanratty was later tried, convicted and executed for the murder of Michael John Gregsten on the A6 road. [8] Gregsten had separated from his wife Janet (d. 1995[13][14]) who lived with their two children at Abbots Langley. She identified Hanratty from a lineup and testified at his trial. We'll also send you alerts about important breaking news. Get in touch for any commercial. Find Janet Gregsten stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. No defence on the basis of mental history was raised at Hanrattys trial. By As she told food network, "i learned more about myself with every battle and i learned more how deeply talented the other warriors in this tournament are. The man tied Storie's hands behind her back with Gregsten's tie and then saw a duffle bag containing some clean clothing. No DNA other than Hanratty's was found on the handkerchief in which the murder weapon had been found wrapped. Michael Gregsten's widow later went on to have an affair with her brother in law William Ewer, who left his wife. I could not ever relax.". Gregsten at first refused, but the man became aggressive and threatened them with the gun. It's best to encompass . 'There's a very powerful human story in this. She identified James Hanratty as her attacker during an identity parade. Ask the author: Jeremy Craddock on The Jigsaw Murders, Ask the author: Monica Weller on investigating a 50-year-old cold case. [34] DNA was donated by Hanratty's mother and brother,[22] which they expected to exonerate him when compared with DNA extracted from surviving evidence. This is a hold-up, a mans voice said. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Despite this, Michael was having an affair with his 22-year-old lab assistant, Valerie Storie. 2022 Casefile True Crime Podcast. This time, she did. [30], The Hanratty family acting through their solicitor, Sir Geoffrey Bindman, repeatedly called for further inquiries into the case. If you do as I tell you, you will be alright., Extracted from The Long Silence: The True Story of James Hanratty and the A6 Murder by Valerie Storie, the Woman Who Lived to Tell the Tale by Paul Stickler. He then ordered Storie to drag Gregsten's body out of the car to the edge of the lay-by 2 or 3 metres away, before ordering her back into the car to start it for him and demonstrate the operation of the gears and switches. [citation needed]. The other piece of evidence tested, a sample from Valerie Storie's underwear, provided two different sets of male DNA - one that corresponded to Hanratty; and one which the Court of Appeal interpreted as coming from Gregsten.[34]. They covered about 30 miles before the gunman ordered Gregsten to pull into a lay-by on the A6 at Clophill at around 01 . Eventually, the jury retired. Of approximately seven bullets fired, five hit Storie; she fell to the ground next to Gregsten and played dead. One of the final eight people in the UK to be executed before capital punishment was abolished, the petty criminal was hanged at Bedford Jail in 1962 for the murder of Michael Gregsten at Deadman's Hill, near Clophill, on the A6. All you have to do is to click here and type in your email address. E-mail this story to a friend Watch/Listen Detectives search the murder scene Man finds A6. She refused and, having managed to free her hands, tried to disarm him but was overpowered; after he threatened to shoot her, she relented. His DNA was found on a piece of material from Valerie Stories knickers where it would be expected to be if he was guilty; it was also found on the handkerchief found with the gun. Valeries immediate instinct was that it was the farmer coming to find out what they were doing and to tell them to get off his land. Gregsten had been hit twice in the head and died instantly. Through the window of the car and despite the fading light, she could clearly see that he was wearing a suit and tie with a white shirt. She then began to draft a book telling her story of what happened that night on the A6, and of the suspicions she endured for years after, but tragically she died in 2016 before she wrote it. Or did Scotland Yard have the right man all along? Professor Hobbs said: 'She never felt sorry for herself. According to Alphon, a man had paid him a sum of 5,000 to end the affair between Gregsten and Storie. michael gregsten wife. It was about 1954 that Hanratty became attracted to Soho, where he frequented various clubs and other haunts of the criminal underworld. [27] Justice encouraged the initially reluctant Fox to help him expose what he believed to be the fabrication of the case against Hanratty. He also wrote a letter to the coroner, in which he referred to the great harm done to the family by Hanratty. Gregsten was ordered to stop at a milk vending machine and sent into a shop to buy cigarettes, and then to stop at a petrol station for more fuel. I'm thinking." 1985: West German spy chief defects to East, Man finds A6 murder weapon - broadcast 25 August 1961. [12] Kerr alerted Sydney Burton, a farm labourer, who flagged down two cars and asked the drivers to call an ambulance. Despite being pilloried by the media, Valerie Storie withdrew from the limelight and tried to live a normal life. Hanratty said he had called into a sweetshop in Scotland Road and asked directions to 'Carleton' or 'Tarleton' Road. Sign up here. Valerie later wrote of it: "In times of trouble one could always go to one's MP and ask for, and possibly receive help and understanding. By August 22nd 1961 the marriage of Michael and Janet Gregsten had been in difficulties for some time.The 3 year love affair between Valerie Storie and Gregsten had intensified and on 1st August 1961 Gregsten had taken what seemed like an irrevocable step to end his marriage.He took a flat in Maidenhead and told his wife he would be moving in on In October 1955, aged 18, Hanratty appeared at the County of Middlesex Sessions, where he was sentenced to two terms of two years' imprisonment, to run concurrently, for housebreaking and theft. Valerie and 36-year-old Michael Gregsten were held captive in their car for five hours by a gunman who forced them to drive 60 miles from Buckinghamshire to Bedfordshire before shooting them. A woman who was raped and shot in a car with her lover - and was then hounded by people who were convinced her attacker was innocent, has told her story in a new book from beyond the grave. At about 1.30am on Wednesday 23 August, the car was on the A6, travelling south, when the man said he wanted a 'kip' (sleep). Having recently re-read the late Paul Foot's excellent book "Who killed Hanratty", which he painstakingly researched for over 5 years I remain convinced (rightly or wrongly) that the original suspect, Peter Louis Alphon, is the real murderer of Michael Gregsten. When this evidence went to court in 2002, proving Hanratty's guilt beyond any doubt, reporters once again hounded Valerie to speak. Gregsten's girlfriend, Valerie Storie, was raped, shot five times, and left paralysed. Although Gregsten and Storie offered to give him all their money and the car, the man appeared to have no plan and seemed to want them to stay with him. When Paul was handed what he calls the 'Storie papers', made up of her own notes on that fateful night as well as police tapes, he decided her story needed to be told. After a failed escape attempt, Hanratty was transferred to Camp Hill Prison, Isle of Wight. On 7 September 1954, aged 17, Hanratty appeared before Harrow Magistrates' where he was placed on probation for taking a motor vehicle without consent, and for driving without a licence or insurance. We choose the most important stories of the day to include in the email, including crime, court news, long reads, traffic and travel, food and drink articles and more. Jet tila michael voltaggio and defending champion and last seasons winner brooke williamson. [8], Hanratty's capital murder trial started at Bedfordshire Assizes on 22 January 1962 before Mr Justice Gorman and a jury; it was originally to have been heard at the Old Bailey, as requested by Hanratty's defence counsel, Michael Sherrard QC, later CBE. The case involved the death of a man who lived not far from Hanratty and Mr Stickler thinks he could have heard about it while he was in prison for house breaking. But in May 2002 the Court of Appeal ruled that the DNA evidence had established his guilt "beyond doubt". According to this, Hanratty had gone to Rhyl to sell a stolen watch to a 'fence', arriving there in the evening of Tuesday 22 August and staying in a boarding house near the railway line. After leaving the school in 1951 at the age of 15, Hanratty, still illiterate, joined the Public Cleansing Department of Wembley Borough Council as a refuse sorter. They took with them maps and other things to organise a car rally being held at their office this weekend. Detectives and tracker dogs have spent the day searching the surrounding area and so far two cartridges have been found. [8], Hanratty claimed that he was staying with friends in Liverpool at the time of the murder, where he had also gone to see one of his criminal friends and former cell mate Terry McNally from Dingle to sell some jewellery. The Long Silenceis, in essence, Valeries posthumous autobiography, explaining for the first time every explicit detail of the cat and mouse drive, as Michael and Valerie tried on over twenty occasions to deter and thwart the apparently indecisive Hanratty. Even once she had been shot and was passing in and out of consciousness, she still managed to wave her petticoat to try to attract attention. [29] Fox split from Jean Justice in the 1970s, but continued the fight to clear Hanratty until his death in 1999, three years before the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction on the basis of the DNA evidence retrieved from Hanratty's corpse. Miraculously, Valerie survived, but was left paralysed from the chest down for the rest of her life. For over thirty five years one person remained silent. If you do as I tell you, you will be all right.'. However, what isn't well known is Valerie's side of the story. After driving them around the English countryside for hours, the intruder shot both Michael and Valerie, leaving them on the side of the road at a location known as Deadmans Hill. I repeat that James Hanratty was guilty of the crime for which he was hanged. Alamy and its logo are trademarks of Alamy Ltd. and are registered in certain countries. Historical-Meal-5525 2 yr. ago. Usher admitted remembering Hanratty and the suitcase, and partly remembered the name of the man as 'Ratty'; he was located by private detectives working for the defence, but was never called as a witness. Storie was an assistant at the same laboratory and had been having an affair with Gregsten, although this did not become public knowledge until Storie wrote a series of articles for the popular Today magazine in June 1962, five months after the trial. The car Gregsten and Storie had been using at the time of the attack, a grey four-door 1956 Morris Minor registration 847BHN, was found abandoned behind Redbridge tube station in Essex later that evening. Next, use the -inch open-end wrench and pull out the thermistor by turning it counter-clockwise. On Tuesday, 22nd August, 1961, Michael Gregsten, 36, a research physicist, called at the address of his estranged wife at Sabine House, Abbots Langley, and after taking his 9-year old son, Simon, to play in Cassiobury Park, Watford, he collected his girlfriend, Valerie Storie, 22, from work, and he and Storie went in Gregsten's Morris Minor to the Old Station Inn, Taplow, near Slough. Signing up to the newsletter is simple. Try to reignite the pilot light. [citation needed] Hanratty's defence claimed that Mrs Dinwoodie was mistaken about the date. [12] Gregsten had been shot twice in the head with a .38 revolver at point blank range; Storie had been raped, and then shot with the same weapon, four times in the left shoulder and once in the neck, leaving her paralysed below the shoulders. The police then took the unusual step of publicly naming Alphon as the murder suspect. circa 1962. The suspect falsely identified himself as 'Frederick Durrant'; he was actually Peter Louis Alphon, a drifter surviving on an inheritance and the proceeds of gambling. [43][44][citation needed], Valerie Storie died on 26 March 2016 aged 77 in the Cippenham house where she had been born. Peter Alphon died in January 2009 after a fall at his home. As a result of these facts, after the A6 murder, Valerie was often unfairly characterised as a "loose woman". They kissed only once. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images) Victim's Wife 23rd November 1961: Mrs Janet Gregsten arrives at Ampthill Court in Bedfordshire, to attend the trial of James Hanratty for the murder of her husband, Michael Gregsten. On Tuesday, 22nd August, 1961, Michael Gregsten, 36, a research physicist, called at the address of his estranged wife at Sabine House, Abbots Langley, and after taking his 9-year old son, Simon, to play in Cassiobury Park, Watford, he collected his girlfriend, Valerie Storie, 22, from work, and he and Storie went in Gregsten's Morris Minor to the Old Station Inn, Taplow, near Slough. Nudds also now added that Alphon had left the hotel 'calm and composed'. I therefore have no fear of him. 22:52, 05 Apr 2022. [34][37][39], At the appeal hearing in 2002, Michael Mansfield QC, the barrister acting for the Hanratty family, said that a vial, among surviving evidential items, had been broken which could account for contamination. It also tells the true story of Valerie's complicated relationship with 36-year-old Michael. Michael Gregsten, was shot dead in a car on the A6 in Bedfordshire in August 1961, but Hanratty claimed to be in North Wales resort . It details 22 attempts made by Michael and Valerie to escape or frustrate the gunman, including hatching a plan to drive into a policeman if they came across one on the journey in order to get his attention. Hanratty's initial defence was that he had been in Liverpool on the day of the murder, but then, halfway through the trial, he changed part of his story, claiming that he had in fact been in Rhyl, North Wales. Police handout, showing James Hanratty in police custody, Lennon and Ono protest Hanratty's execution. Mr Gregsten's body was tonight identified by his wife, Janet. According to Storie, the couple were abducted at gunpoint in their car at Dorney Reach, Buckinghamshire, by a man with a Cockney accent and mannerisms matching Hanratty's. On 14 October, Valerie Storie identified Hanratty in an identity parade, after each of the men in the parade had repeated the phrase used by the murderer: "Be quiet, will you? She didn't change her story one iota.'. Private detectives tracked down a Mrs Grace Jones, a landlady with a guest house which had a green bath in the attic as described by Hanratty. She was taken to hospital in Bedford where she underwent surgery for her injuries. In October 2000, the Court of Appeal ordered the exhumation of Hanratty's body. 'What I do find distasteful is that the family's belief in their son's innocence has been boosted by campaigners who have given them false hope. During one of the phone calls, he pronounced "think" as "fink".[20]. Michaels duffel bag containing freshly laundered clothing rested next to it. The gunman knew the Bear Hotel, Maidenhead. After forcing them to drive 60 miles, gunman James Hanratty murdered Michael before raping Valerie and emptying a number of rounds into her body. She was of the opinion that it is for all of us to make the most of what we have been dealt.'. Despite being depicted in the media for decades as a woman who sent an innocent man to his death, Valerie kept quiet. Not so much lying to avoid the death sentence, but putting the burden of clearing his name on his brother, even AFTER his death, makes him the worst type of criminal. 2023 Getty Images. Why did you shoot him?" In the 'Storie papers' is a script containing her stronger feelings on the matter. [1] He was hanged at Bedford Jail on 4 April 1962, after being convicted of the murder of scientist Michael Gregsten, aged 36, who was shot dead in a car on the A6 at Deadman's Hill, near Clophill, Bedfordshire in August 1961. Neutral Citation Number (2002) Crim 1141, 'Musing about The A6 Bedfordshire murder', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Hanratty&oldid=1135732016. Results from testing in June 1999 were said to be strong evidence of a familial match - the evidential DNA was "two and a half million times more likely" to belong to James Hanratty than to anyone else. Lying next to Gregsten, semi-conscious, was Gregsten's mistress, Valerie Jean Storie (24 November 1938 26 March 2016). When Michael rolled down the window, Hanratty thrust a large black revolver into his face and said: 'This is a hold-up, I am a desperate man, I have been on the run for four months. Clear my name.". Following her death, author Paul Stickler was handed Valerie's extensive notes and files, allowing her story to finally be told. I would ask you now to respect my wish to be left in piece.". The couple were found by a police patrol in the lay-by on the A6 at Deadman's Hill, near Luton, at 0645 BST today. During the 1990s, increasingly advanced DNA analysis techniques became widely available. None of it made sense. Learn more about how you can collaborate with us. The pair had been intimate for two years after meeting through work, and seemingly had spoken about marriage. He argued that the evidence may have been contaminated because of lax handling procedures.[34][40]. "I would be terrified of every unusual sound or knock at the door. Valerie Storie was left paralysed after James Hanratty attacked her and killed her boyfriend in August 1961. Shortly afterwards, he began psychiatric treatment as an outpatient at the Portman Clinic. People need to know what this poor woman went through.'. Still can't find what you're looking for? Search for stock images, vectors and videos, Available for editorial use only. [19] Alphon claimed he had spent the evening of 22 August with his mother, and the following night at the Vienna Hotel, Maida Vale; the police quickly confirmed this and Alphon was released. After a five-hour ordeal, ending in a layby on the A6 in Bedfordshire, Michael was shot dead and Valerie was raped, shot and left for dead. Hanratty's uneducated London accent and his 'very large icy-blue eyes' enabled Valerie to identify him from a line-up and she later testified at his trial. After Hanratty received a unanimous verdict of guilty in court, a petition arguing his innocence was signed by 90,000 people, but an appeal was dismissed.