James Hanratty

Personal

Passions

Notable

Traits

British homicide; a petty criminal, he was illiterate and feeble minded. He was convicted of the murder of Michael Gregsten after the longest murder trial in Britain and hanged at Bedford Prison on 4/04/1962. On 8/22/1961, Gregsten, 38, married with two kids, and Valerie Storie, his single 23-year-old mistress of the prior three years were cuddling in a parked car about 11:30 PM. A man rapped on the window and when Gregsten rolled it down, stuck a gun in his face. The man got in the back seat and ordered them to drive aimlessly for 30 miles; they stopped for cigarettes and petrol. Finally at a stop, the man shot Gregsten twice in the head, then raped Storie and shot her five times, leaving her paralyzed for life. Hanratty was picked up on suspicion on 10/09/1961 and put on trial on 1/22/1962. Storie was not positive in her identification, however Hanratty was cocky and insolent, changing his story and stupidly incriminating himself. In spite of a lobby of supporters, he was convicted. A Home Office investigation in 1995 concluded that he was innocent and he was posthumously granted a full pardon. A later investigation stated that DNA testing appeared to show that Hanratty was the A6 murderer after all. Link to Wikipedia biography