a6 murder

[Savile Close]

That made me chuckle - I see what you mean about Kirk Douglas. I agree, I thought it unlike any of the other images of Hanratty, but of course I never met him so can't really say. But then I suppose whoever made the wax model hadn't met him either and only had photographs to work from. I wonder if they bought the suit from Hepworths?

Does anyone know if the Hanratty waxwork model is still on display at Madame Two Swords?

[Steve]

I've not been there for years, but I wouldn't expect it to be still on display. Apart from us few Casebook members I think the general interest in the A6 murder has faded away!

[Savile Close]

Most probably melted down and turned into Jade Goody!

[jimarilyn]

That has always been a real puzzle, and gave another reason for some people to strongly suspect that Alphon was the real A6 murderer. When the police interviewed him, I think I am right in saying, he had newspaper clippings relating to the murder in his case.

Hi Steve

Yes, you're quite right about this, which only muddied up the waters further. I think that famous fictional Jewish detective Shylock Holmes would need a large supply of paracetamol before attempting to solve this incredibly enigmatic case, which, as Michael Sherrard realised was dripping with coincidences.

Re. Miss Storie's based Identikit picture of August 29th, she must have agreed with Acott that it was a fairly accurate likeness of the murderer, hence the reason it was published in the newspapers of the day. The image of the man's face was still quite fresh in her mind at that time.

[Steve]

Did Shylock Holmes have a flat in Bekir Street, by any chance?

I suspect that Miss Storie was struggling all along to keep the brief glimpse of her attacker's face fresh in her memory. When other images started to appear she most probably started to get confused. I don't think this is too surprising, she had been through a terrible ordeal after all. Rather than the face being the identifying feature, his voice and mannerisms would have been far more recognisable. She'd listened to his voice for several hours whilst they were travelling in the Morris Minor.

[jimarilyn]

Did Shylock Holmes have a flat in Bekir Street, by any chance?

Rather than the face being the identifying feature, his voice and mannerisms would have been far more recognisable. She'd listened to his voice for several hours whilst they were travelling in the Morris Minor.

Hi Steve,

This is a very interesting observation and one that I agree with you on. Five and a half hours plus of being held hostage in that car is a long time, the equivalent of three or four good length feature films. Unless there were long periods of silence (which I guess very unlikely) there must have been considerable conversation and interaction between the three participants, much more than what's been accounted for so far. Also, I have great difficulty in believing that a gutsy person like Valerie Storie only caught a fleeting glimpse of the murderer when the headlights of a passing vehicle lit up the interior of the car. She must have had lots of opportunities to sneak a good look at his face during that long period.

[Steve]

Hi jimarilyn

According to Miss Storie the fleeting glimpse illuminated by headlights was the one and only occasion she saw the gunman's face. Apparently when he first approached the Morris Minor in the cornfield he was wearing a face mask, a handkerchief covering his face 'cowboy style' and at this point it was still daylight. Later, in the car, it would have been dark and the gunman instructed the couple to keep facing forward and not to look back.

Perhaps Gregsten was able to see more of the gunman's face through the rear view mirror. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he was shot, do you think?

Kind regards,
Steve

[jimarilyn]

Perhaps Gregsten was able to see more of the gunman's face through the rear view mirror. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he was shot, do you think?

Kind regards,
Steve

HI Steve,

It's a possibility of course, although according to Valerie the killer said he shot him (twice) because Michael moved suddenly and quickly and he just panicked. I don't believe this scenario as I think the killer had already made up his mind to shoot them both. In his confessions to the crime Peter Alphon gave a very plausible account of what happened. He said he was on some sort of mission against immorality/infidelity and that he gave Michael Gregsten ample opportunities once out of the car (when they stopped for milk ? and cigarettes) to get away and not return, but he kept coming back.

[Steve]

Hello jimarilyn,

Either scenario is possible; the gunman had already decided to kill them both, or he shot Gregsten in the heat of the moment, perhaps fearing he was about to be attacked. As I said previously, given a straight fight with no gun I think Gregsten would probably have come out on top. For that matter, I wouldn’t have put it past Valerie to have a go at the gunman!

I think it is most likely, however, that the gunman had not decided either way as to their eventual fate. He did tell them at one point that if he was going to shoot them he would have done so already. Most probably he shot Gregsten on the spur of the moment, but that’s not to say that he didn’t at least have it in his mind to kill them both, after first having his way with Miss Storie.

I really don’t believe it was the gunman’s intention to eventually kill them at the point of the abduction in the cornfield. If that had been the case he would not have needed to wear the cowboy-style mask.

Alphon’s mission of morality was a figment of his later imagination, but it is true that both Gregsten and Storie had their own opportunities to flee the scene. Neither could bring themselves to run away leaving the other behind with the gunman and an uncertain fate. Quite touching really, it does point to their relationship being quite a strong one at that time. Although Miss Storie has subsequently said that she thought that the relationship would have been over six months later, and that it had almost run its course by the time of the murder.

Kind regards,
Steve

[jimarilyn]

Alphon’s mission of morality was a figment of his later imagination, but it is true that both Gregsten and Storie had their own opportunities to flee the scene. Neither could bring themselves to run away leaving the other behind with the gunman and an uncertain fate. Quite touching really, it does point to their relationship being quite a strong one at that time. Although Miss Storie has subsequently said that she thought that the relationship would have been over six months later, and that it had almost run its course by the time of the murder.

Kind regards,
Steve

HI Steve,

If it was merely a figment of his imagination, he certainly provided a credible motive for the murder which had up until then been lacking. It had early on been suggested that it was the work of a "moon maniac" or some sort of sexual deviant. Then there is the not so insignificant matter of Alphon having £7,000 ( a huge amount of money in those days) paid into his bank account in the months following the murder.

Only about £2,000 of this amount can have come from payments for his newspaper interviews or greyhound winnings. This leaves about £5,000 to account for. I would guess that £5,000 in 1962 would be the equivalent of at least £100,000 today. Unfortunately for any researchers (probably very fortunately for Alphon) all of Alphon's bank statements for this crucial period were routinely destroyed under banking policies/legislation of the day. I wonder what the name/names of Peter Alphon's very generous benefactor/s was/were ?

[Steve]

Hello jimarilyn

Yes, the money could certainly have been a motive if Alphon had been the killer. If that had been the case his benefactor would have been Bill Ewer, who owned and ran an umbrella repair shop in Swiss Cottage. I never visited the shop, but I would be very surprised if his business was able to generate the 1961 equivalent of £100,000 to pay someone to frighten Gregsten into ending his affair with Valerie Storie. You are quite right, this is a huge sum of money and one can speculate that Ewer might have been able to find someone to work more cheaply! For that level of payment one could also speculate that he might have been able to employ someone with experience of that kind of work. Alphon would not have been anyone’s first choice!

I don’t know how Alphon got his money, probably only Alphon himself knows that, and I’m quite certain that he is not going to tell us now.

KR
Steve

[Steve]

Hi jimarilyn

One thing that has always puzzled me, though, concerns the events towards the end of Miss Storie’s ordeal in the Morris Minor. My understanding of the circumstances leading directly to Gregsten being shot and killed is that the gunman had decided he was tired and needed to sleep. In order to do this he needed to tie up his captives.

(Frankly, though, I think it is ludicrous to suppose that a gunman would go to sleep in a Morris Minor with two people bound in the front of the car!)

Apparently the gunman tied Miss Storie and then looked for something to tie Gregsten, and at this point the duffle bag was brought forth. Gregsten was shot!

This of course puts the gun in the shooting hand of the gunman, he pulled the trigger instantaneously that he perceived a threat from Gregsten. A few minutes before this he had got out of the car with Gregsten, found a piece of cord in the boot and used this together with Gregsten’s tie to bind Valerie’s hands behind her back and lash her to a point on the back door.

Did the gunman tie up Miss Storie using one hand? Was he holding the gun in the other? I don’t know the answer, but I think it takes two hands to tie someone up, which would have meant putting the gun aside for a moment, in his lap perhaps, and would this not have been a better opportunity for Mike to attack the gunman?

One can only speculate ….

Kind regards,
Steve

[jimarilyn]

Hello jimarilyn

Yes, the money could certainly have been a motive if Alphon had been the killer. If that had been the case his benefactor would have been Bill Ewer, who owned and ran an umbrella repair shop in Swiss Cottage. I never visited the shop, but I would be very surprised if his business was able to generate the 1961 equivalent of £100,000 to pay someone to frighten Gregsten into ending his affair with Valerie Storie. You are quite right, this is a huge sum of money and one can speculate that Ewer might have been able to find someone to work more cheaply! For that level of payment one could also speculate that he might have been able to employ someone with experience of that kind of work. Alphon would not have been anyone’s first choice!

I don’t know how Alphon got his money, probably only Alphon himself knows that, and I’m quite certain that he is not going to tell us now.

KR
Steve

Hi Steve

Perhaps Alphon was paid an agreed, much lesser (than £5,000) amount originally and then reneged on the deal. Then perhaps some kind of blackmail entered the equation. The regular cheques that were paid into Alphon's bank account over the course of the next several months were all for nice rounded amounts like £300 pound here and £800 there. Also, I was under the impression that William Ewer owned an Antiques Shop.

[Steve]

Ewer's shop seems to have been a mixed business, antiques and umbrella repairs. As far as I have been able to determine he started out trading as an umbrella repair shop in the early 1950's and later moved premises to the Station Arcade at Swiss Cottage and at this point he added antiques into his business.

[richardnunweek]

Hi Guys.
A slight change of debate, but still a major mystery in this case this being the question 'Motive'
The most obvious scenerio would be robbery. however at no time did the abductor take the victims pocessions, or am I wrong?
Infact Valerie stated she offered the killer a pound note. just before she was shot, if he would go away, which suggests that she was still in receipt of her assets.
So if not cash, what about the car?
This being the case, when the killer approached the couple in the field , surely he would have simply instructed Gregson to leave the keys in the ignition, and order the couple to leave the vehicle, and walk a hunded paces, giving the gunman ample opportunity to drive away .
This did not happen.
So what was the motive?
Regards Richard.