a6 murder

[Derrick]

In any case Hanratty would have gone to the house where he had previously stayed the night - if he was really there and looking for him.

Yes, I'd forgotten about the taxi, but as you say Hanratty knew where Evans lived and worked.

Hanratty knew Evans only as John.

There is no evidence of Hanratty knowing Evan's address or how he would have found the house again. Evans most likely drove Hanratty to the fair and back to his house afterwards when it was probably dark. Funfairs stayed open way past dark in those days.

[NickB]

According to Magee, Hanratty said he did not go to the fairground where Evans worked because during his July visit he did a bunk with Evans’ shoes and so felt unable to return there.

[Victor]

There is no evidence of Hanratty knowing Evan's address or how he would have found the house again. Evans most likely drove Hanratty to the fair and back to his house afterwards when it was probably dark. Funfairs stayed open way past dark in those days.

Hi Derrick,

There is evidence Hanratty knew Evan's address - he spent a night there, however, this evidence does not prove that he remembered it exactly.

Which is just the same as there being evidence that Hanratty knew how to operate the gears on a Moggie, but that doesn't mean he could have always done so without difficulty when under great stress.

KR,
Vic.

[NickB]

Hanratty did not want to say he had been to the fairground or the house, as he would then be asked why he didn't see Evans there. He thought it would be easier to explain why he did not look thoroughly enough for Evans.

[Black Rabbit]

Hanratty did not want to say he had been to the fairground or the house, as he would then be asked why he didn't see Evans there. He thought it would be easier to explain why he did not look thoroughly enough for Evans.

You know this because you asked him????

[Victor]

Hanratty did not want to say he had been to the fairground or the house, as he would then be asked why he didn't see Evans there. He thought it would be easier to explain why he did not look thoroughly enough for Evans.

You know this because you asked him?

Hi BR,

Well he wasn't in Rhyl, so had to make something up to go along with all the vague generalities about a grey-haired middle-aged lady, and a guest house with a green plant and hat stand... Therefore as he wasn't there Nick's explanation is reasonable.

KR,
Vic.

[NickB]

You know this because you asked him?

We are all postulating why he did or said certain things without being able to ask him. But surely, if he had been in Rhyl, he could have found the fairground had he wanted to.

On the subject of asking him ...

Some people believe the Rhyl witnesses were credible. But they "did not find support from Hanratty himself". We know this because Sherrard asked him.

[Graham]

Rhyl "Alibi"

Very briefly, because all this has been posted before, this is what Hanratty told his defence about his claimed visit to Rhyl:

1] He arrived by bus in the evening. (The only bus he could have got from Liverpool arrived at Rhyl at 8.19pm and at least one of the Rhyl "witnesses" claimed to have seen him or someone resembling him before this time).

2] He knew Terry Evans as "John" and said he tried to contact him to fence some stuff for him. He didn't go to the fairground because he'd walked out of a job there during his previous (genuine) visit to Rhyl. He didn't say if he had been to Evans' house, but he did say that he considered the shoes he'd taken as a gift, implying that there was no reason he couldn't have gone to Evans' house.

3] When he couldn't find Evans he began to search for a room. (This in itself weakens a lot of the evidence of the "witnesses" because it nullifies the times some of them said they saw Hanratty around Kinmell Street area).

4] The next day he went to Dixie's cafe he said he knew Evans used, but he wasn't there and no-one he asked knew where he was. (So why on that day didn't he go to Evans house or the fairgorund?) He also said he had a shave at a barber's shop (his defence checked on barber's in Rhyl, none of them could recall seeing anyone like Hanratty, which his supposedly highly noticeable hair).

5] He spent time in amusement arcades and in Woolworth's on Wednesday afternoon, then said that in the evening he went to the fairground but couldn't find Evans. (If anyone at the fairground saw him, they didn't contact his defence [as far as I'm aware]). In the evening he said he went back to Dixie's cafe then spent a second night at Ingledene.

6] On Thursday morning he went back to Liverpool.

The above is not speculation, it's the bare bones of what he told his defence about his visit to Rhyl. My comments are in brackets.

Graham

[Derrick]

Well he wasn't in Rhyl...

Hi Victor
So where was he?

Mr Swanwick didn't know either, as the transcript shows;

Swanwick: What you did was to go to Paddington where you could dump your case and go to the Maidenhead and Slough area--

Gorman: When? Are you suggesting he went that morning? On that day? Is there any evidence to support this?

Swanwick: No.

Derrick

[babybird67]

where was he????

Hi Victor
So where was he?

Mr Swanwick didn't know either, as the transcript shows;



Derrick

On the A6 murdering and raping his victims that's where he was!!!!


Jeez. Honestly!

[Victor]

So where was he?

Mr Swanwick didn't know either, as the transcript shows;

Hi Derrick,

Why are you so hung up on what Swanwick thought? It doesn't matter where he was holed up before or after the crime, it only matters if he can prove he was elsewhere at the time - which a signature in a guestbook, even under the "Ryan" alias, would do.

We know he was at the Frances on the Monday, and sending a telegram from Liverpool on Thursday, and in the back of a Moggie in-between!

KR,
Vic

[NickB]

a signature in a guestbook, even under the "Ryan" alias, would do

As he did each night when travelling around Ireland.

[Graham]

And he kept the receipt from his Monday night stay at the Vienna and showed it to the Frances.

Pity he didn't have any railway or bus-ticket stubs, or receipts, or signatures in guest-books in Rhyl or Liverpool.

Graham

[babybird67]

And he kept the receipt from his Monday night stay at the Vienna and showed it to the Frances.

Pity he didn't have any railway or bus-ticket stubs, or receipts, or signatures in guest-books in Rhyl or Liverpool.

Graham

And we all know why that was don't we....

[Graham]

Hanratty seems to have left calling-cards all over the place, with the notable exception of Liverpool until Friday 25th August 1961, and of course Rhyl.

Now then....I wonder why that should be?

Graham