James Hanratty

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James Hanratty (4 October 1936 – 4 April 1962), also known as the A6 Murderer, was a British murderer and rapist who was one of the final eight people in the United Kingdom to be executed before capital punishment was abolished. 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. Gregsten's girlfriend, Valerie Storie, was raped, shot five times, and left paralysed. 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. The gunman ordered Gregsten to drive in several directions, before stopping beside the A6 at Deadman's Hill, where the offences took place. The initial prime suspects were Hanratty, a petty criminal, and Peter Louis Alphon, an eccentric drifter. In police line-ups, Storie did not recognise Alphon, but eventually identified Hanratty. Storie's testimony was critical in securing a guilty verdict, but this was questioned by many who felt the supporting evidence too weak to justify conviction. Hanratty's brother fought for decades afterward to have the verdict overturned. In 1997, a police inquiry cast major doubt on Hanratty's guilt. It concluded that he was wrongfully convicted, and the case was sent to the court of appeal. However, in 2002, the court ruled that subsequent DNA testing of surviving crime scene evidence conclusively proved Hanratty's guilt beyond any doubt.