A6 Rebooted

[Graham]

Try this Graham ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWjJrllcdkM

Thanks for that, Alfie. Very interesting. You don't hear accents like the presenter's these days, that's for sure....

Graham

[Sherlock Houses]

Cheers Spitfire,
Alphon appears to have been an only child and one fathered relatively late in life. It would be interesting to know more about the life of Mr Alphon senior, who was of an age to be active in both WW1 and WW2.

Curously enough Cobalt, Felix Alphon celebrated [or not] his 70th birthday the very day James Hanratty was murdered by the state. Mr Alphon, as is fairly well known, emigrated from France in the early part of the last century and did in fact see service during WW1. He was a small man [about 5ft 5 inches tall] and you may find the following nine attached records which I came by 7 years ago rather interesting [or not as the case may be]......

[cobalt]

Thanks for that Sherlock. Impressive sleuthing. It looks as though Felix Alphon spent a less than eventful 8 months in the army reserve before succumbing to a weak stomach.

You may have suspected that my reasons for raising the matter were to see if Felix Alphon had any connections to military intelligence or, more broadly, the corridors of power. Unless what you have retrieved is an elaborate ‘legend’ then it seems no such link existed at all. (A two year exemption from army service on the basis of a dodgy stomach does seem a generous dispensation mind you, from my non-medical perspective.)

I have outlined earlier my feelings about a possible cover-up after the execution of James Hanratty. Whether Hanratty was innocent or guilty I think most of us can appreciate that any legal system would close ranks and defend its judgments in order to maintain public confidence. That is in the nature of any institution answerable to the public. Where we will disagree is the extent to how far a system would go to protect itself.

What I have found more difficult to understand is the way the A6 murder enquiry developed before Hanratty was arrested. I remember Doreen Lawrence saying that, following the murder of her son, she sensed that something was not quite right about the way the investigation was progressing. Eventually, this was officially put down to institutional police racism, although the spectre of police corruption has always hung around the case as well.

In the A6 Case the police had both the car and the murder weapon in their possession within a day or two. This was actually extremely good fortune since the car could have been garaged in some obscure lock-up and the weapon flung into the Thames. Yet despite such a flying start no progress seems to have been made. In fact, until Hanratty was arrested the police might as well have had neither of these two crime exhibits, for they had been unable to make any use of them whatsoever. It is claimed that a few persons of interest were pulled in for questioning but quickly discounted, neither their names nor statements being known to us. Why these persons were deemed worthy of questioning would be, I am sure, of great interest to all of us on this site.

The police are heavily reliant on ‘information received’ and would surely have had all their informants on red alert in the wake of such a crime. If the culprit was the ‘lone nutter’ beloved of Hollywood crime drama then information would be thin on the ground of course. But in the UK a ‘nutter’ still has to acquire a gun and in the case of James Hanratty he was well-known in criminal circles. Yet his name was not put forward. Even more puzzlingly, he was not pursued even when cartridge cases were later found in a hotel room where he had stayed. For me this is as inexplicable as the failure to retrieve any useful forensic evidence from a car which had housed a murder and sexual assault.

In contrast to this apparent lack of underworld information is the plethora of evidence which falls into police hands. The car. The revolver. The cartridge cases which survived a week’s cleaning in a hotel room. We could add to this the Swiss Cottage tip off where, for the first time we know of, Hanratty’s name came into the enquiry without being pursued. Even Alphon fell into their hands, twice. The second time he was outed as public enemy number one on the lam, even although the police could have located him fairly easily through the almanac provider.

I can already anticipate Graham reminding me that hindsight is a grand thing and that the police are fallible, often following false leads. He is right of course. I could go further and say that experienced police I have spoken to claim there is no such thing as a 100% explanation in a murder case. Even where the evidence is clear and the accused admits his guilt there are always unexplained minor details of timing, access to premises, unattributed strangers that stay unresolved.

For all that, what comes across to me in the A6 Case is the police being steered, whether they were aware of this or not, in certain directions.

[Spitfire]

Thanks for that, Alfie. Very interesting. You don't hear accents like the presenter's these days, that's for sure....

Graham

John Morgan, who died in 1988.

[Alfie]

Pubic hair (stop s******ing at the back)

I find it interesting that samples of pubic hair were taken from Gregsten's body, and later from Alphon and Hanratty. Doesn't this suggest that the police wanted these samples to compare to hair[s] found either in the car or on Valerie? Or was this collection just a matter of routine?

If the police did in fact retrieve a hair from the scene, would there have been any way of proving that it came from one of the three men?

Edit: The forum's 'naughty word detector' is working overtime if it catches Sn!ggering", LOL.

[Alfie]

The motive

Still catching up with old posts after dodging most of the English winter by holidaying in the antipodes. Some good points being made, but I think this one might be wrong ...

It was Alphon who first claimed a definite purpose for a gunman in a cornfield, namely to force the couple to split up

I think you'll find that Blom-Cooper was the first to moot such a purpose in his book, published in 1963: "Many theories have been advanced – some of them wildly fantastic – to explain France’s predicament," he wrote while musing on France's suicide. "It was even suggested that he had arranged for Hanratty to be hired to go out and scare the couple in the cornfield ..."

Alphon didn't so much as hint at a similar motive until March 18, 1964, when in a telephone call to Justice he finally named Ewer as the mastermind (Foot's Mr X) and told Justice that, "I was there to separate a couple of people, you understand, in the car." (Foot, p. 339)

My guess is that Alphon got the idea from reading Blom-Cooper's book.

[NickB]

As I understand it, Blom-Cooper felt that the trial failed to find out what actually happened - not explaining why Hanratty was in the cornfield being a prime example.

In fact Blom-Cooper, an old friend of Sherrard, raised so many concerns about the case it is difficult to understand why he thought Hanratty was guilty.

Personally I suspect he formed this view from watching Hanratty’s performance in the dock, but it would have been difficult for him to admit this emotional basis for his decision in a book that was supposed to concentrate on the technical aspects of the trial.

[Graham]

I read Blom-Cooper's book years and years ago, and don't remember too much about it, except that it gave me the impression at the time that it was written by a lawyer for lawyers. Maybe I should buy another copy (still available) and re-read it. Having just finished re-reading - for the first time in ages - Paul Foot's book, Foot certainly had issues with Mr B-C's appraisal of the trial. Blom-Cooper was as far as I'm aware the first commentator on the A6 to ponder 'had Hanratty been sent to the cornfield?' And by this pondering, it would seem that he opened up a huge can of worms....

Graham

[Graham]

Murder, Mystery and My Family

I've watched two or three episodes of this new series, but note that as far as the 10 episodes are concerned, the A6 Case does not feature. Maybe it will feature in a possible second series, if a second series is planned.

Today's episode concerned Edith Thompson, one of my favourite old-time murder cases, and it didn't surprise me too much that the Judge came down in favour of a new review of Thompson's being found guilty and subsequently hanged. After all, she did not physically contribute to the death of her husband, just as Derek Bentley did not physically contribute to the death of PC Miles.

Graham

[moste]

Murder, Mystery and My Family

I've watched two or three episodes of this new series, but note that as far as the 10 episodes are concerned, the A6 Case does not feature. Maybe it will feature in a possible second series, if a second series is planned.

Today's episode concerned Edith Thompson, one of my favourite old-time murder cases, and it didn't surprise me too much that the Judge came down in favour of a new review of Thompson's being found guilty and subsequently hanged. After all, she did not physically contribute to the death of her husband, just as Derek Bentley did not physically contribute to the death of PC Miles.

Graham

Thanks for the' heads up' on this documentary.
I've watched 1 and 2 episodes on youtube, fascinating stuff. the second one covers the "Mrs Alice Rimmer murder of 1951. Where Edward Devlin and Alfred Byrnes are sent to the Gallows, with the assistance it seems by the Ignoble Herbert Balmer.' Yep, that guy again, indeed!'

[moste]

Quote:My guess is that Alphon got the idea from reading Blom-Cooper's book,
Mmhh, Maybe.

My guess is that Acott got the idea from reading Balmers book
'He who claims the most convictions (by any means fair or foul) reaches the top of the ladder first!'

[moste]

Interesting, and insightful memorabilia S H.

It looks as though Felix Alphon spent a less than eventful 8 months in the army reserve before succumbing to a weak stomach.

That a nice way of putting it Cobalt.

As for me ,I smell some kind of rodent.

[moste]

Felix Alphon

It looks like Felix was born in Brighton ,where it states ,birth:4 April 1892 ,rather than having emigrated from France early part of 20th century.
Also , mention of next of kin being : mother , Madame Laura Alphon ,of 87 Talbot road ,bayswater
Of course I suppose Laura may have had Felix while visiting England, then emigrated later.

[OneRound]

Murder, Mystery and My Family

I've watched two or three episodes of this new series, but note that as far as the 10 episodes are concerned, the A6 Case does not feature. Maybe it will feature in a possible second series, if a second series is planned.

Today's episode concerned Edith Thompson, one of my favourite old-time murder cases, and it didn't surprise me too much that the Judge came down in favour of a new review of Thompson's being found guilty and subsequently hanged. After all, she did not physically contribute to the death of her husband, just as Derek Bentley did not physically contribute to the death of PC Miles.

Graham

Hi Graham - I've only seen the first episode so far but I do plan to watch the others as it certainly has interest and potential for me. I'll comment more about the series as a whole on the separate 'Other Mysteries' thread then.

I doubt though if the A6 case would be featured in any possible future series. Although undoubtedly a controversial case, I feel the programme's QCs and Judge would take the view that the legal process had already been exhausted. I would make the same comment about the Ruth Ellis case which also is not included in this series.

Best regards,

OneRound

[Graham]

Hi Graham - I've only seen the first episode so far but I do plan to watch the others as it certainly has interest and potential for me. I'll comment more about the series as a whole on the separate 'Other Mysteries' thread then.

I doubt though if the A6 case would be featured in any possible future series. Although undoubtedly a controversial case, I feel the programme's QCs and Judge would take the view that the legal process had already been exhausted. I would make the same comment about the Ruth Ellis case which also is not included in this series.

Best regards,

OneRound

Hi OR,

the judge in the TV series appears to rely very much on the judges' summings-up in the cases so far examined. The judge at the trial of Edith Thompson and Fred Bywaters was incredibly biased in his summing-up, yet the jury obviously agreed with him and found them both guilty of murder.
Probably the same applied in Derek Bentley's case.

I think Mr Justice Gorman, the judge at Hanratty's trial, was seen by just about everyone concerned to be scrupulously fair and un-biased in his summing-up to the extent that a verdict of 'not guilty' was expected, even by Mr Gorman himself. And of course after two failed appeals the judiciary are not inclined towards a third.

Ruth Ellis made absolutely no attempt to justify her action in murdering Blakeley, or even to offer any defence, and said so in open court when the prosecution asked her what she meant to do when she fired the gun at Blakeley. She said, simply, she meant to kill him, and that was that. There was a huge public reaction to her death sentence, but it was plain that there would be no reprieve and she herself stated she didn't want to be reprieved.
Tragic, genuinely.

Graham