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I had posted the following on the main thread but it was immediately followed by the usual, tired, wrong-headed arguments that Jim did not do it. For those who think that Jim did it, or that there was a possibility that Jim might have done it, I ask the following question?
What motive did Hanratty have for committing the crime?
It will be 50 years next year that this infamous murder was committed by James Hanratty. The works of literature on whether or not Hanratty was guilty are extensive, but little seems to have been written as to why he should have wanted to do what he seems to have done, to wit murder Michael Gregsten and rape and to attempt to murder Valerie Storie.
Leonard Miller in The Shadows of Deadman's Hill took the view that the area where the abduction took place was the sort of area that one would expect to be frequented by a burglar-large houses with relatively wealthy residents etc. The implication being that Hanratty was on one of his burgling expeditions. This is all right as far as it goes, but Hanratty had not burgled any houses that night, so if burglary was on his agenda, why did he abort his mission and abduct the occupants of a Moggie Minor?
If murder and rape had been his intention then there was no reason why he should not have done the deeds earlier in the proceedings. There was little compelling reason to leave the cornfield, let alone drive across London to Bedfordshire. It is true that Hanratty had robbed Gregsten and Storie shortly after the abduction, but the potential pickings offered by the occupants of a humble Moggie Minor could not have provided the reason for the abduction.
If Hanratty had acquired a gun to do stick-ups on the basis that burgling houses was all played out, then it is strange that he should carry on burgling empty houses armed with a revolver.
What Gregsten and Storrie did have in their humble little car was transport-a means to get out of the sticks and back to civilisation in London. Could that have been the reason for the hold up at gun point? It is a distinct possibility, although events subsequent to the hold up show that if originally a return to London was intended, that destination was eventually abandoned for the delights of Bedfordshire. Yet the change of destination could be explained by the tortured reasoning of Jim Hanratty, not the brightest of individuals, who must have realised that a order to Gregsten to drive him to one of his hunting grounds in the Smoke might lead to his arrest. The actual ultimate destination, Deadman's Hill in Beds. may have been en route to Hanratty's intended destination, which really could have been anywhere further north, which obviously would include Rhyl or Liverpool.
But that still leaves us with why Jim was wandering round Dorney Reach that late August evening? Had Jim in fact gone to Maidenhead earlier in the day, perhaps to do a stick up, perhaps for a trial run, although if the latter why take a loaded gun? From Maidenhead had Jim taken a pleasant evening stroll to the riverside village of Bray?
Now this is where my theory may be shot down, but I believe that the M4 roadbridge had been opened in the Spring of 1961. When I was there in 1993 there was also a footbridge alongside the motorway. Was this footbridge there when the motorway opened, or at least in the August after it opened?
If so, Jim, is drawn to have a look at the wonder of the age, the motorway, and so walks from Bray crosses the Thames alongside the M4, on the north bank of the Thames he decides not to retrace his steps, which would mean a hell of a walk back to Maidenhead, but decides to see if he can find Taplow Station. But Jim being Jim, he gets lost. Not only is he lost, he is lost carrying a loaded revolver. He now becomes apprehensive. Carrying a revolver in an area which has recently experienced house break-ins has its risks. Jim does not want to encounter the Old Bill; he happens upon the Moggie Minor and has a bright idea; he could get some much needed practice experiencing the power of ordering folk about with his newly acquired gun and also get a lift back home.
It was only when Jim sat in the back seat of the Moggie did he realise the new problems which he had created for himself. He needed time to 'fink' but no solution ever occurred to him.
What motive did Hanratty have for committing the crime?
It will be 50 years next year that this infamous murder was committed by James Hanratty. The works of literature on whether or not Hanratty was guilty are extensive, but little seems to have been written as to why he should have wanted to do what he seems to have done, to wit murder Michael Gregsten and rape and to attempt to murder Valerie Storie.
Leonard Miller in The Shadows of Deadman's Hill took the view that the area where the abduction took place was the sort of area that one would expect to be frequented by a burglar-large houses with relatively wealthy residents etc. The implication being that Hanratty was on one of his burgling expeditions. This is all right as far as it goes, but Hanratty had not burgled any houses that night, so if burglary was on his agenda, why did he abort his mission and abduct the occupants of a Moggie Minor?
If murder and rape had been his intention then there was no reason why he should not have done the deeds earlier in the proceedings. There was little compelling reason to leave the cornfield, let alone drive across London to Bedfordshire. It is true that Hanratty had robbed Gregsten and Storie shortly after the abduction, but the potential pickings offered by the occupants of a humble Moggie Minor could not have provided the reason for the abduction.
If Hanratty had acquired a gun to do stick-ups on the basis that burgling houses was all played out, then it is strange that he should carry on burgling empty houses armed with a revolver.
What Gregsten and Storrie did have in their humble little car was transport-a means to get out of the sticks and back to civilisation in London. Could that have been the reason for the hold up at gun point? It is a distinct possibility, although events subsequent to the hold up show that if originally a return to London was intended, that destination was eventually abandoned for the delights of Bedfordshire. Yet the change of destination could be explained by the tortured reasoning of Jim Hanratty, not the brightest of individuals, who must have realised that a order to Gregsten to drive him to one of his hunting grounds in the Smoke might lead to his arrest. The actual ultimate destination, Deadman's Hill in Beds. may have been en route to Hanratty's intended destination, which really could have been anywhere further north, which obviously would include Rhyl or Liverpool.
But that still leaves us with why Jim was wandering round Dorney Reach that late August evening? Had Jim in fact gone to Maidenhead earlier in the day, perhaps to do a stick up, perhaps for a trial run, although if the latter why take a loaded gun? From Maidenhead had Jim taken a pleasant evening stroll to the riverside village of Bray?
Now this is where my theory may be shot down, but I believe that the M4 roadbridge had been opened in the Spring of 1961. When I was there in 1993 there was also a footbridge alongside the motorway. Was this footbridge there when the motorway opened, or at least in the August after it opened?
If so, Jim, is drawn to have a look at the wonder of the age, the motorway, and so walks from Bray crosses the Thames alongside the M4, on the north bank of the Thames he decides not to retrace his steps, which would mean a hell of a walk back to Maidenhead, but decides to see if he can find Taplow Station. But Jim being Jim, he gets lost. Not only is he lost, he is lost carrying a loaded revolver. He now becomes apprehensive. Carrying a revolver in an area which has recently experienced house break-ins has its risks. Jim does not want to encounter the Old Bill; he happens upon the Moggie Minor and has a bright idea; he could get some much needed practice experiencing the power of ordering folk about with his newly acquired gun and also get a lift back home.
It was only when Jim sat in the back seat of the Moggie did he realise the new problems which he had created for himself. He needed time to 'fink' but no solution ever occurred to him.
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