James Hanratty Criminal Date of Birth: 04.10.1936 Country: Great Britain

James Hanratty Biography

James Hanratty, one of the last English criminals to be hanged, was convicted for murder and sentenced to death. Born in Bromley, Kent, Hanratty made a living primarily through car theft. However, he was executed for a much more serious crime - the murder of Michael Gregsten, which occurred on August 23, 1961. Gregsten was traveling with a woman named Valerie Storie, who survived the attack but was left paralyzed.

Hanratty's innocence was vigorously advocated by both his family and various organizations supporting the abolition of the death penalty in the United Kingdom. In 2002, his body was exhumed for DNA testing, following the insistence of his family. However, the results only confirmed Hanratty's guilt, disappointing his relatives.

Michael Gregsten, the victim, was a scientist working in a research laboratory in Slough. He lived with his wife and two children in Abbots Langle. Valerie Storie, who worked as his assistant in the same laboratory, later revealed that she had been having an affair with Gregsten. On August 23, 1961, Gregsten's body was found in a dead-end road off the A6, while Storie was discovered nearby, severely wounded and paralyzed.

According to Storie, on August 22, 1961, she and Gregsten were sitting in their car in a cornfield when a stranger knocked on the window. Gregsten lowered the window and was immediately confronted with a revolver pointed at his face. The assailant entered the car and forced Gregsten to drive further into the field and stop. The two hostages spent two hours locked in the car with the criminal, who continuously threatened them. Eventually, the attacker demanded to be driven, randomly taking them through the suburbs of North London. Despite Storie and Gregsten offering him all their money and their car, the assailant wanted something else. In the end, he tied up his victims and shot Gregsten, allegedly for making a sudden movement. He then raped Storie, forced her to retrieve Gregsten's body from the car, and fired approximately seven shots, leaving Storie permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Storie pretended to be dead, and the criminal fled in the stolen car.

Discrepancies in Storie's testimony arose almost immediately. The fugitive, who claimed to have been on the run for four months, was dressed in a three-piece suit and meticulously polished shoes. On August 24, the police found a gun and handkerchief on a London bus, which would later provide a DNA sample. They also discovered a suspicious lodger named Peter L. Alphon in a hotel, who initially claimed to have been with his mother on the night of the murder and later at the hotel in Maida Vale, which was confirmed by the police. On September 7, Meik Dalal was attacked in her home by someone claiming to be the A6 killer, and she identified Alphon as the assailant. Bullet casings from the murder weapon were found in the hotel room where Alphon had stayed. Additionally, a hotel employee recalled Alphon inquiring about the bus where the gun was later found. However, Storie failed to identify Alphon, and the hotel manager changed his testimony, stating that another person had stayed in the room where the bullet casings were discovered. This other person turned out to be James Hanratty, a car thief and robber. Hanratty was arrested in Blackpool on October 11. On October 14, Storie recognized his accent during an identification parade, and Hanratty became the main suspect.

During the trial, Hanratty insisted on having an alibi, although he changed his testimony during the process. Neither of the two potential alibis could be fully proven, despite substantial evidence being gathered in both cases. Ultimately, after lengthy deliberations, the jury found Hanratty guilty. His appeal was rejected on March 13, and despite over 90,000 people signing a petition in his defense, Hanratty was hanged on April 4, 1962, maintaining his innocence until his death.