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N.B. Under the rules governing contempt of court,"The Daily Sketch" could not publish this story until after a verdict had been arrived at:
Two days after Hanratty"s conviction on February 19th 1962 the following story appeared in The Daily Sketch:
Amazing Story of Mrs Gregsten"s Intuition
SHE SAW HIM AT THE CLEANERS,
......Only eight days after the murder---when Scotland Yard were without a positive clue to the killer-Mrs Gregsten pointed to Hanratty and said"
"Thats the man the police are looking for!"
Mrs Gregsten"s 50 year old brother-in-law *, Mr William Ewer,had taken her to his antique shop in the station arcade at Swiss Cottage,North London,to try to help her get over the tragedy which struck her life.
On the morning of August 31st,Mrs Gregsten wasstanding in the shop window
helping Mr Ewer hand a picture--a Wilson Steer* interior.Suddenly she clutched Mr Ewer"s arm and pointed to a man with jet black hair wal;king into Burtol"s cleaners shop only two yards across the arcade.
"Thats the man,He fits the description" she said."But its more than that ,I"ve got an overpowering feeling that its him"...........
Said Mr Ewerlast night,"I calmed her down.......I went into the cleaners later and talked to the manageress"
She told me the man had brought in a green suit on August 21st to have a tear in the coat mendedand the trousers tapered.He had called in that day to ask if it was ready.He gave the name J.Ryan and an address in St John"s Wood.
Neither Mr Ewer or the police knew that J.Ryan was an alias of James Hanratty or that he stayed with Charles Dixie France ,in the road named, only a mile away.
[Mr Ewer then said he went in search of the man]
The next day he went to a cafe in Finchley Road.As he sat drinking a cup of tea and pondering the almost hopelessness of the A6 murder he spotted a pair of hand -made Italian shoes
My eyes travelled upwards to a well cut blue suit.Then I found myself staring into those blue eyes again.It was the same man.
Stunned by this miracle ,according to the story,Mr Ewer decided to follow the man.He watched him go into aflorists shop in finchley Road.Then,acting on impulse,HE RANG SCOTLAND YARD. A Squad car arrived.I introduced myself and told the police my story. The police[the article doesnt say which police]then made inquiries at the florists shop,and the manageresss there,a Mrs Dorothy Morrell,told them that the man had come in on September 1st and said he wanted to send some roses to his mother-a Mrs Hanratty of 12 Sycamore Grove,Kingsbury.
The article continues:
A report was made to Scotland Yard, but the murder Squad had never heard of Jimmy Ryan---or Kingsbury Road....
.....but Bill Ewer could not rest.He walked into the shop of a "business associate"-58 year old Mrs Louise Anderson,who has an antiques business in Greek Street Soho,
He did not know that Hanratty,whom Mrs Anderson had befriended,had been in the shop only that morning.[/I]
On the very same day as the Sketch article,a very similar article appeared in the Daily Mail by Bernard Jordan.
The publication of these articles was the first indication that Scotland Yard had Hanratty"s name and his alias long before they started to hunt him as the murderer.
[Its worth noting that up to that morning, the 31st August, neither in her detailed conversations with policemen nor with the identikit experts had Valerie Storie spoken of the killer"s blue eyes.On the contrary she had told police after the murder he had "deep set" brown eyes".]
Taken from "Who Killed Hanratty" by Paul Foot.
* Mr Ewer apparently later became Mrs Gregsten"s lover.
* Wilson Steer---a Chelsea painter whose work commands very substantial sums of money
Two days after Hanratty"s conviction on February 19th 1962 the following story appeared in The Daily Sketch:
Amazing Story of Mrs Gregsten"s Intuition
SHE SAW HIM AT THE CLEANERS,
......Only eight days after the murder---when Scotland Yard were without a positive clue to the killer-Mrs Gregsten pointed to Hanratty and said"
"Thats the man the police are looking for!"
Mrs Gregsten"s 50 year old brother-in-law *, Mr William Ewer,had taken her to his antique shop in the station arcade at Swiss Cottage,North London,to try to help her get over the tragedy which struck her life.
On the morning of August 31st,Mrs Gregsten wasstanding in the shop window
helping Mr Ewer hand a picture--a Wilson Steer* interior.Suddenly she clutched Mr Ewer"s arm and pointed to a man with jet black hair wal;king into Burtol"s cleaners shop only two yards across the arcade.
"Thats the man,He fits the description" she said."But its more than that ,I"ve got an overpowering feeling that its him"...........
Said Mr Ewerlast night,"I calmed her down.......I went into the cleaners later and talked to the manageress"
She told me the man had brought in a green suit on August 21st to have a tear in the coat mendedand the trousers tapered.He had called in that day to ask if it was ready.He gave the name J.Ryan and an address in St John"s Wood.
Neither Mr Ewer or the police knew that J.Ryan was an alias of James Hanratty or that he stayed with Charles Dixie France ,in the road named, only a mile away.
[Mr Ewer then said he went in search of the man]
The next day he went to a cafe in Finchley Road.As he sat drinking a cup of tea and pondering the almost hopelessness of the A6 murder he spotted a pair of hand -made Italian shoes
My eyes travelled upwards to a well cut blue suit.Then I found myself staring into those blue eyes again.It was the same man.
Stunned by this miracle ,according to the story,Mr Ewer decided to follow the man.He watched him go into aflorists shop in finchley Road.Then,acting on impulse,HE RANG SCOTLAND YARD. A Squad car arrived.I introduced myself and told the police my story. The police[the article doesnt say which police]then made inquiries at the florists shop,and the manageresss there,a Mrs Dorothy Morrell,told them that the man had come in on September 1st and said he wanted to send some roses to his mother-a Mrs Hanratty of 12 Sycamore Grove,Kingsbury.
The article continues:
A report was made to Scotland Yard, but the murder Squad had never heard of Jimmy Ryan---or Kingsbury Road....
.....but Bill Ewer could not rest.He walked into the shop of a "business associate"-58 year old Mrs Louise Anderson,who has an antiques business in Greek Street Soho,
He did not know that Hanratty,whom Mrs Anderson had befriended,had been in the shop only that morning.[/I]
On the very same day as the Sketch article,a very similar article appeared in the Daily Mail by Bernard Jordan.
The publication of these articles was the first indication that Scotland Yard had Hanratty"s name and his alias long before they started to hunt him as the murderer.
[Its worth noting that up to that morning, the 31st August, neither in her detailed conversations with policemen nor with the identikit experts had Valerie Storie spoken of the killer"s blue eyes.On the contrary she had told police after the murder he had "deep set" brown eyes".]
Taken from "Who Killed Hanratty" by Paul Foot.
* Mr Ewer apparently later became Mrs Gregsten"s lover.
* Wilson Steer---a Chelsea painter whose work commands very substantial sums of money
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