When she refused, the man got out and forced her out of the car at gunpoint, pushing her on to the back seat, where he ordered her to undo her brassiere and remove her underwear before raping her. Collaborate with our global Enterprise Sales team. In the evening of Thursday 24 August, the murder weapon, a .38 revolver, was discovered under the back seat of a 36A London bus, fully loaded and wiped clean of fingerprints. France, who had suffered from bouts of severe depression for many years, committed suicide by gassing himself (his third attempt) about two weeks before the execution. Police handout, showing James Hanratty in police custody, Lennon and Ono protest Hanratty's execution. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. However, only two days later, Storie gave a different description of her assailant to the police. Hanratty put a cloth over Michael's bloodied head before raping Valerie on the back seat of the car. 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. Despite this, Michael was having an affair with his 22-year-old lab assistant, Valerie Storie. Moreover, the murderer drove badly, whereas Hanratty was an experienced car thief. Justice took the precaution of making thorough notes, and recording all telephone conversations with Alphon. All of this money was anonymously donated to Slough Mobility Transport for the purchase of two new vehicles, one of which was named 'Valerie'. In 1999 the case was referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). .. They dispatched a telegram to Valerie's place of work, inviting her to the Corn Exchange to "refute any allegations that may be made against you". 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. He also wrote a letter to the coroner, in which he referred to the great harm done to the family by Hanratty. Find Janet Gregsten stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. With some justification it seemed, since Michael had a tendency to spend willingly rather than save. 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. The Hanrattys were warm, gentle, determined people, unlikely parents of a man who had been convicted of shooting Michael Gregsten dead in a lay-by off the A6, raping his girlfriend Valerie Storie and then shooting her, leaving her for dead before driving off in the couple's car. After ignoring her pleas to shoot her as well, or let her get help for Gregsten, the gunman told her to kiss him. Michael gregsten wife / june 11, 2022 june 11, 2022 / were achilles and patroclus cousins. 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. Jamal Edwards, a music producer and entrepreneur, died suddenly in February 2022. He attempted to escape that facility as well, and was sent to Strangeways Prison, Manchester. She was able to see only the body of the man between his waist and shoulders, but his smart appearance seemed at odds with his threatening behaviour. [31] Woffinden wrote that there is no evidence that the witnesses even saw the same Morris Minor. 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. Michael Gregsten with his wife Janet before he was murdered in his car on the A6 by James Hanratty. Hanratty became one of the final eight people in the UK to be executed before capital punishment was abolished, but the others that came after him were seen as 'more clear cut' cases, so the idea of Hanratty's innocence became a beacon for those opposing capital punished. In 2002 DNA evidence proved beyond all doubt that Hanratty was guilty. House-to-house inquiries have also been carried out. DNA samples from both sources exactly matched James Hanratty's DNA. More than 300 homes approved as part of new Luton development, Improvements are set to be made to surrounding roads as part of the development. In the 'Storie papers' is a script containing her stronger feelings on the matter. Valerie Storie after receiving treatment for stab wounds on the A6 where Michael Gregsten was murdered is taken to court during trial against James. [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. He was then buried in the grounds of Bedford Gaol. What Valerie then saw surprised her. 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. [43][44][citation needed], Valerie Storie died on 26 March 2016 aged 77 in the Cippenham house where she had been born. [41], Valerie Storie was quoted as saying "I identified the guilty man. Jet tila michael voltaggio and defending champion and last seasons winner brooke williamson. Professor Hobbs described Valerie as a 'bloody minded and determined' woman with a charming character. I could not ever relax.". But then the other suspect, Peter Alphon, publicly confesses to the crime. [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. He explained: "I felt the story had been misrepresented and needed a retelling from a fresh perspective. On 11 October, Hanratty was arrested by police in Blackpool, at the Stevonia cafe. See the latest news in your area enter your postcode below or visit InYourArea: This story is well known and Hanratty, often referred to as the A6 Murderer, has become Bedfordshire's most notorious killer. Michael wound down his window, only halfway, when a gun was thrust through the gap, its muzzle pointing directly at them. The trial lasted 21 days, the longest in English legal history up to that time.[21]. According to Alphon, a man had paid him a sum of 5,000 to end the affair between Gregsten and Storie. His wife, Maureen Hanratty, said the family had been 'put through hell' because of the behaviour of the authorities. 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. They were ordered to drive to Deadman's Hill, where the attack took place. The initial prime suspects were Hanratty, a petty criminal, and Peter Louis Alphon, an eccentric drifter. The A6 Committee made a list of claims which, they contended, indicated that Alphon was the murderer: Paul Foot warned "against jumping to hasty conclusions, in particular about Peter Alphon he really didn't know as much as he pretended. michael gregsten wife. [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. Miss Storie's mother, Mrs John Storie, said: "Michael came here last night and had tea with Valerie. After nine hours, they returned to the court and entered a unanimous verdict of guilty. Eight weeks later he was found semi-conscious in the street, having apparently collapsed from either hunger or exposure. Was Michael actually going to leave his wife and two boys? 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. This would be of no interest except for possibly the oddest coincidence in the case. Surely we could do much better?, Man in his 70s attacked in his home by burglars in Luton. [citation needed] Storie gave another statement to the police later that morning, just before she underwent surgery in Bedford Hospital. 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. The day before he died he wrote a letter to his brother Michael in which he said: "I'm dying tomorrow but I'm innocent. Sign up here. Keep an eye on the newspapers, this in years to come will come out.". AboutPressCopyrightContact. Michael Gregston was murdered by James Hanratty 1962. He was struck by how calm and measured she was throughout the whole ordeal. I'm thinking." Despite being pilloried by the media, Valerie Storie withdrew from the limelight and tried to live a normal life. 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. The circumstances of Hanratty's introduction to France's family, and the reasons for the crippling sense of guilt harboured by France for the harm he felt Hanratty had inflicted on them, so great that it could only be expiated by suicide, remain a mystery.[8]. Shortly afterwards, he began psychiatric treatment as an outpatient at the Portman Clinic. When this evidence went to court in 2002, proving Hanratty's guilt beyond any doubt, reporters once again hounded Valerie to speak. All rights reserved. Search for stock images, vectors and videos, Available for editorial use only. The story of the A6 Murderer in Bedfordshire is infamous, but the story of one of his victim's has remained untold, To stay up to date with all the latest news from across Bedfordshire sign up to our free newsletter for daily updates and all the latest breaking news. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Im a desperate man. [12] Kerr alerted Sydney Burton, a farm labourer, who flagged down two cars and asked the drivers to call an ambulance. "James Hanratty killed Michael Gregsten. James Hanratty (4 October 1936 4 April 1962), also known as the A6 Murderer, was a British criminal who was one of the final eight people in the UK to be executed before capital punishment was effectively abolished. He had the same identifying manner of speech as the killer. 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. She refused and, having managed to free her hands, tried to disarm him but was overpowered; after he threatened to shoot her, she relented. Against the wishes of his parents, Hanratty's body had been exhumed and his DNA was compared to that found on Valerie's underwear and the handkerchief in which the murder weapon had been hidden. Even Valerie's own Member of Parliament, Joan Lestor, insisted Hanratty was innocent, and once sent a letter to Valerie inviting her to join the campaign for the A6 Committee. For pouch chewers, reach down in the bottom of the pouch, where the tobacco is moist, and grab a small handful. A man threatened the couple with a gun. Valerie wrote: "Hanratty committed a crime and was found guilty and was hanged. Valerie and Lennon never met, but in 2001 she said: "I felt it was very ironic that he himself died by the bullet and it flashed through my mind that when the news came through that John Lennon had been shot and killed, I felt, well now John Lennon, you know what it feels like to be shot.".