a6 murder

[Tony]

Extremely unlikely :


1) Full transcript of the trial.

2) Charles France's deathbed writings.

3) Jean Justice's recordings of Alphon's phone conversations.

4) John Lennon's 40 minute documentary film about the A6 Murder Committee's Campaign.

5) All the police files relating to the A6 murder.

6) John Kerr's missing census form on which he wrote down what Valerie Storie told him.

7) Peter Alphon's bank statements from 1961 to 1962.

8) William Ewer's bank statements from 1961 to 1962.

Hello Jimarilyn,

I’d like to see all that stuff as well.

Alphon’s bank statements have always been most interesting but I can’t recall anyone asking about Ewer’s bank statements for the same period.
Now I bet they would make interesting reading if read in tandem.
Great shout.

Tony.

[Rigby]

Regarding redacted and 'lost' files. It's possible that previous researchers have copies of them (Bob Woffinden ?). The ASSI document should have contained the complete court transcript but there are often duplicates of that in other files. I think there were other ASSI files which were/are now open. As with all such files most often the best bits are the scrawled marginalia

[Rigby]

Extremely unlikely :


1) Full transcript of the trial.
...

This is a start. Note the missing pages.

[Graham]

With reference to the trial transcripts and missing pages, etc., whilst I have every admiration for anyone with the knowledge and patience to delve into the records, do we know if Hanratty's trial records are any different to those of anyone else back in those days? Can anyone say for sure that it's highly unusual for trial records to be 'lost'? I'm only asking because I don't think it would be wise to read too much into missing records from Hanratty's trial if such an eventuality is/was relatively common.

Cheers,

Graham

[jimarilyn]

This is a start. Note the missing pages.

Hi Rigby,
I see what you mean. Very careless and remiss of them to allow William Nudds's evidence from day 5 to go missing besides the missing 55 pages from day 11.Speaking about that paragon of virtue, William (Billy Liar) Nudds the following very interesting and revealing article appeared in the press 7 months after the state execution of James Hanratty. (Nov 3rd 1962 in fact) :-

"An accused man was said by his counsel at Middlesex Sessions yesterday to have been 'got at' by other prisoners while in custody because of the part he played in the A6 Murder Trial. The man, David Weston, aged 54, described as a driver, of Colville Gardens, Notting Hill, had had a nervous breakdown and spent some time in the prison hospital, added Mr. J Booth for the defence.

Weston was sentenced to a total of 6 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to 2 charges of stealing cars and a charge of forging a car registration book. He also pleaded guilty to 2 charges of obtaining a total of £785 by falsely pretending that he was negotiating major business deals.

Appearing with Weston was Florence Margaret Snell, aged 39, housewide, of the same address. She was placed on probation for 3 years after pleading guilty to 2 charges of stealing cars and one charge of forging a car registration book.

Pleas of 'not guilty' by Weston to stealing another car and obtaining £600 by false pretences, and against Snell of obtaining a total of £1,385 by falsely pretending that Weston was negotiating in business deals were accepted by the prosecution.

Detective Sgt M. Bliss said that Weston had 15 previous convictions and one finding of guilt when a juvenile. Snell had 3 previous convictions.

Mr. Booth said that it was bad luck for Weston that while he was trying to go straight after his release from prison on the last occasion, he became the manager of the Vienna Hotel, Maida Vale, and one of the guests at the hotel was the person wanted for the A6 Murder. Bullets were found at the hotel and Weston informed the police.

At the trial, where he gave evidence under the name of Glickberg, his past history was brought out. He had difficulty in keeping a job afterwards and he again turned to crime. Since Weston had been in custody he had been 'got at' by the other prisoners."

[Tony]

Extremely unlikely :


1) Full transcript of the trial.

2) Charles France's deathbed writings.

3) Jean Justice's recordings of Alphon's phone conversations.

4) John Lennon's 40 minute documentary film about the A6 Murder Committee's Campaign.

5) All the police files relating to the A6 murder.

6) John Kerr's missing census form on which he wrote down what Valerie Storie told him.

7) Peter Alphon's bank statements from 1961 to 1962.

8) William Ewer's bank statements from 1961 to 1962.

And you can add to the list:

9 A picture of Michael Clark taken round about 1961/62; so that we can compare Valerie’s first nominee as the gunman to pictures we already have of Messrs Alphon and Hanratty taken 1961/62.


Tony.

[jimarilyn]

Light fairish hair

And you can add to the list:

9 A picture of Michael Clark taken round about 1961/62; so that we can compare Valerie’s first nominee as the gunman to pictures we already have of Messrs Alphon and Hanratty taken 1961/62.


Tony.

Hi Tony,

I knew I'd forgotten something. That would come very high on that list, if not top. I find it extremely interesting that John Kerr said he wrote down "light fairish hair" on that important piece of paper which tallies fully with what Valerie's doctor (Dr Rennie) said. He said that Valerie picked out a man on that parade who had light fairish hair. Woffinden tried very hard to locate Michael Clark without success. He did discover that he emigrated from this country in 1965.
Acott, under cross examination from Michael Sherrard claimed that Michael Clark was...."5ft 9 inches tall,dark short cropped hair, about 27 years of age, and he was heavily built"
Someone here is not telling the truth and from what I've learned over the years about Acott I would place my trust in Dr. Rennie's version.

I wonder if Alphon was (and is) the kind of individual to keep a diary. If so then number 10 on my list would be Alphon's diaries from 1961 onwards. Again wishful thinking on my part.

[Tony]

Michael Clark

On the first ID parade Acott was sure he had got his man, Peter Alphon.

Do we know if there was much hesitation on Valerie’s part? Did she, for instance, waiver between Alphon and Michael Clark?
At that point the case against Alphon was realistically over. But surely the whereabouts of Michael Clark should have been known even if it was a simple: “Let us know your address and contact us if you are about to move; you may be needed by the defence.”
I believe Alphon did attend the trial and I wonder what the jury would have thought had Michael Clark been called and him and Alphon looked like two peas in a pod.
A big, big mistake by the defence to not insist on having him brought to court.
Hanratty knew there had been another man picked out by Valerie and whether or not he, Hanratty, had committed the crime you would have thought he would have at least asked Sherard: “what did this other man look like, was he anything like me or did he look like Alphon?”

Is there any way now that Michael Clark or his relatives can be traced? It would be interesting if they had some old photos. If he was in the RAF there are almost certain to be some.

Tony

[Tony]

Googled

If I can get this right this link might be of interest to someone/no-one. Might be worth a look.

http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000056454,00.html?sym=MIS

Tony.

[Steve]

If I can get this right this link might be of interest to someone/no-one. Might be worth a look.

http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000056454,00.html?sym=MIS

Tony.

Thanks, Tony. I had read it before but it's worth another look. Quite a few mistakes in it .....

[jimarilyn]

Fanatical fascists

7) Peter Alphon's bank statements from 1961 to 1962.

8) William Ewer's bank statements from 1961 to 1962.

Just learned something new today about William Ewer. He and Alphon shared a fanaticism for fascism. Page 241 of Jean Justice's 1968 French publication "Le crime de la route A6" is very revealing. My French is a little rusty ( it's a few decades since I passed an "O" level in it) but I still understand a fair bit of what's written in the book. Taking my time reading it though !

[jimarilyn]

Rough translation.

Just learned something new today about William Ewer. He and Alphon shared a fanaticism for fascism. Page 241 of Jean Justice's 1968 French publication "Le crime de la route A6" is very revealing. My French is a little rusty ( it's a few decades since I passed an "O" level in it) but I still understand a fair bit of what's written in the book. Taking my time reading it though !

Imperfectly translated page 241 is as follows ;

At the end of July 1963 Fenner Brockway paid a visit to Ewer and his sister-in-law Janet and invited Ewer to help with the debates in the House of Commons on August 2nd. Ewer was there and in the central corridor he said to Frank, Jeremy and myself : "If it's decided to open an inquiry I would like to see the three of you here after the seance.
"Afterwards I invited Bill to my country cottage and he spent most of that weekend fishing. He knew quite well that I had decided to restore the good name of Hanratty. I told him I intended to write a book, and his reply was "If you speak about me or Janet then you will have me to answer to, and I am not Alphon.
"This was a threatening remark and I could see that the man was on the defensive. His taste in music however brought some comfort to my spirits which since the summer had been sorely tested. I played my old records for him and we both took delight in listening to The Trio of Archduke (?) while the fire was roaring in the distance (??). William Ewer isn't a maniac ; he is different to Alphon in age and lots of other things. They share something in common however : their fanatical fascism. Bill rapped on the table one day, saying " Don't you ridicule the fascist salute, we fought for him in Spain." He didn't rant on about the subject of Hitler like Alphon, but basically his philosophy is....

[jimarilyn]

Moving up in the world

William Ewer had sold his boutique in Swiss Cottage before Christmas of 1966 and gone upmarket to the posh Oxford Street. I bet the rates/rents for an antiques shop in Oxford Street were slightly higher than in Swiss Cottage..............

Not forgetting of course that in November 1969 acting on behalf of an anonymous person (maybe himself ?) he bought a Holbein miniature masterpiece for £21,000 (a world record for any miniature) at Sotheby's. A far cry it would seem from being some sort of humble umbrella repair man.

[Tony]

William Ewer had sold his boutique in Swiss Cottage before Christmas of 1966 and gone upmarket to the posh Oxford Street. I bet the rates/rents for an antiques shop in Oxford Street were slightly higher than in Swiss Cottage..............

Not forgetting of course that in November 1969 acting on behalf of an anonymous person (maybe himself ?) he bought a Holbein miniature masterpiece for £21,000 (a world record for any miniature) at Sotheby's. A far cry it would seem from being some sort of humble umbrella repair man.

Yes Jimarilyn,

Our Bill was certainly a mystery man.

Tony.

[Graham]

I agree - there was almost certainly a bit more to W Ewer than met the eye at the time of the A6 Case.

Ewer was married to Janet Gregsten's half-sister and according to Woffinden the couple lived for a time in 1943 in a single large room in the house in Hampstead (posh!) owned by Janet's mother's partner. So Ewer and Janet's acquaintance obviously went back a long way. Also according to Woffinden, his 'umbrella repair shop' in Swiss Cottage was actually an antiques business - hard to see how anyone could make a decent living repairing brollies. He also, of course, knew Louise Anderson, so right away there's a link, however tenuous, between Ewer and Hanratty, but whether or not they actually knew each other or ever met is impossible to say. (I think all of this has been recorded on this thread, maybe on the old boards, so nothing new here). I'd say that our Bill, like plenty of antiques dealers before and since, maybe sailed a little too close to the wind on occasion... However, with regard to the purchase of the miniature, he only acted on behalf of whoever bought it at auction, so it wasn't necessarily his £21000 he handed over. But it does illustrate that Ewer's circle, whatever it might have been, included at least one wealthy associate - I reckon £21000 in 1969 = about £250000 in 2008 terms. He also received an undisclosed libel settlement from The Sunday Times together with a further £1000 from Jonathan Cape Ltd, the latter being the publisher of Paul Foot's book. So yes, Ewer was obviously not short of a bob or two.

I'm not sure I'd put too much in Ewer's claimed Fascism, as noted by Justice, as back in the 1960's such people were far from rare. It was the heyday of the National Front, for example.

What's always puzzled me in Ewer being the infamous 'Central Figure' in the A6 Case is that Janet was well resigned to Gregsten's various infidelities, and admitted openly that she accepted them. I feel sure that if a well-off, kindly figure like Ewer, whom she had known for nearly 20 years, exercised his charm and persuasion he could have carried on an affair with Janet without resorting to having her wayward husband killed; and in fact after the trial they did indeed indulge in what I assume was a short-lived, er, liason. And why not? She would certainly need some measure of comfort after what she'd been through, she was an extremely attractive woman, etc., etc., and Ewer by all accounts looked after her in ways other than bedding her.

The other puzzle is Ewer's letter to The Sunday Times of 16 May 1962, which he described as a 'true statement' of his involvement with the A6 Case. There are aspects of this letter that commentators have found very odd. There's not room here (and I don't have the time) to dissect this letter word by word, but nevertheless he does make some perplexing statements.

I just wonder if Foot, Woffinden and (possibly) Justice in looking for a motive for the A6 Murder, felt that Ewer fitted the bill. Ewer was obviously very touchy about what was implied about him, but again I wonder if that was not a sense of guilt but rather a healthy fear of being unjustly implicated by the (perfectly legitimate) musings of journalists.

Has anyone with greater investigative skills than I ever traced Ewer's life and career (apart from the purchase of the miniature) since the A6 Case? Do we know, for example, where he lived and when he died (if he is dead - if not, he must be clocking on a bit)? Did he ever meet Alphon, who treated Ewer to his well-known harrassment by telephone?

It's one enormous spider's web, isn't it?

Thoughts, please!

Cheers,

Graham