The attack on Swedish housewife Mrs Meike Dalal on Thursday, September 7th 1961

[Graham]

There was, of course, another potential blackmail target - a pair of targets, in fact. Any ideas???

Graham

[Sherlock Houses]

What I find more than a bit interesting regarding the payments [into Alphon's deposit and current accounts] is the fact that in May 1967, approximately two and a half years before giving Paul Foot access to copies of his bank statements, Alphon had told journalists that £5,000 had been paid into his accounts in about 8 instalments over the course of a couple or so months. It's not as if the whole 5 grand was paid in one lump sum which seems to have been the mistaken perception on this forum over the last several years. These round figured payments smack very much of blackmail payments and perhaps the agreed contract was for less than £1,000, which was subsequently reneged on forcing Ewer to come up with the required hush money.

[Graham]

Good post, Ed. I have never considered the A6 Crime as being carried out by a hired gunman, but of course Mr Alphon and his weird personality traits certainly gave that impression to, for example, Paul Foot. The problem with Alphon was that he changed his story and his mind about as often as I change my socks - he also lapped up the attention he was receiving, especially from Messrs Justice and Fox.

Another point to consider is that a hired gunman would, I should think, have demanded at least part-payment for their services prior to carrying out their assignment. The earliest 'large' deposit into Alphon's account (according to Paul Foot) was on October 9th 1961 - well after the murder. (The Krays bumped off someone they'd paid to do a killing - and a lot less that £5000, incidentally - when the bloke didn't carry out his appointed task).

Paul Foot's analysis of Alphon's finances is interesting reading. I posted a good deal of it some time ago, but basically Alphon received about £7500 between October 1961 and June 1962, most of it in cash. As Foot says, Alphon collected fees from various newspapers for his story, Foot thinks about £2500, and also compensation from the police. Foot goes on to say that Alphon almost certainly had some spectacular wins at the races during this period, doubtless because he could afford to lay large bets.

The thing is, most of the sums paid into his account are round figures, so someone, somewhere, was handing over large wads of money in neat sums from £100 to £800. Foot also expresses some astonishment that Alphon spent nearly the entire ca. £7500 that passed through his hands in the same time-period as it was paid into his account. He lived at the Ariel Hotel (4-star) for four months, hired private cars, paid off his lawyers, bought a greyhound, etc., etc. Foot suggests that even such a high lifestyle wouldn't account for all his money over the given period, so a good deal of it was spent in unknown ways.

We will now never know how much of that £7500 was as a direct result of Alphon's 'activities' regarding the A6 Crime, but there's no doubt that good old Peter Louis made a bob or two out of it.

Graham

[Ed James]

I want to consider the case for Alphon being financed as the gunman. Like much of what we can only do, is try to place a reasonable interpretation on known facts.

Paul Foot reckoned that some £5,000 paid by cash into Alphon's newly opened accounts was unexplained. This may be an overestimate but certainly the origin of a sizeable sum is at issue.

To summarise arguments on the A6 murders threads, those sceptical of the hired gunman thesis, say no one would have paid the large sum involved (a professional assassin could have been engaged for less), a humble umbrella repair man wouldn't have access to such monies and that as a skilled gambler Alphon was lucky on the dogs and in any case who would have hired an unstable character like Alphon.

Those who give some credence to Alphon being hired, suggest Ewer was well heeled and far from being an umbrella repair man and that the regularity/frequency /round figures and timing of payments( in the aftermath of Alphon ceasing to be a suspect and during the criminal process against Hanratty) don't point to successful and sustained gambling winnings- so what other source of funds could have been involved.

What has troubled me ,if Alphon was the gunman, was why was the money paid in the first place (surely he wouldn't incriminate himself) and, if it was blackmail ,why did the payments abruptly stop. I rule out the money as being payment for a job done. It was certainly well above the rate for the job. Could it have been that those behind any hiring were troubled by the cranky and unpredictable Alphon: although the perpetrator, he was capable of owning up or at least saying he had been approached but turned the job down. and could blow their cover at a critical time before Hanratty's conviction.


I suspect if Ewer was the principal he would not have been initially known to the gunman and that any dealings were between France and Alphon. Certainly Alphon spent the money on luxury accommodation as if he expected the payments to continue. But the payments stopped in March 1962 shortly before France committed suicide.

Did Alphon lose his contact and even if suspecting Ewer to be the principal could Ewer be dismissive once Hanratty had been executed? It would be horribly ironic if Ewer had used the £2,000 or so made available to him by Janet to pay off Alphon ,rather as a down payment on a larger house to help accommodate her.

Ed

[Limehouse]

Nats,

I wonder if Hanratty's girl-friends would have thought him 'kind and gentle' had they known that he visited prostitutes on a regular basis? By his own admission, two or three times a week sometimes!

Dupplin Muir,

Hanratty showed France The Vienna receipt by his own volition - he wasn't asked. Why should he do that, I wonder? Making conversation, perhaps? Showing off to the Frances that he could afford what he plainly thought to be an expensive hotel?

However, I can't actually rule out that the cartridges were planted at The Vienna, even though I don't think they were.

Graham

Hi Graham,

It is quite possible, even likely, that he did this out of respect to those girlfriends who did not want a sexual relationship. They may have been happy with a bit of kissing and smooching and with dates to the cinema and dances, but not a sexual relationship.

Kind regards,

Julie

[Dupplin Muir]

Ed James wrote:

If France had 'contracte ' Hanratty to undertake the hi- jacking wouldn't he have developed some greater distance from the rapist and kept him away from his family. Yet such distancing is not readily apparent. Didn't for example France have a drive of Hanratty's car.

But if France was involved in fitting Hanratty up he'd want to keep tabs on him to take advantage of any opportunity to plant evidence.

[Ed James]

Its sometimes worth pausing here and reminding onseself that Hanratty had only just renewed his contact with France after something like 7 years when Hanratty himself was just a child or teenager 'being taught the ropes' by a France who stole slate off roofs etc and had a fair number of convictions for this and that to his name .Now the situation was reversed and Hanratty was the one with recent 'experience' in burglary, France now the one being taught how to keep guard at burglaries etc or just contenting himself with selling on or fencing ,Hanratty's bits and pieces.So Hanratty was mentoring France now.

Hi Nats

Sorry for a delayed response on this point. I think what you say above is important to my question( not really answered ) : what was France doing after the murder & rape and what was the behaviour like towards Hanratty?

Wasn't France heavily reliant on hand outs from Hanratty which reflects the changed situation you identify?

If France had 'contracted ' Hanratty to undertake the hi- jacking wouldn't he have developed some greater distance from the rapist and kept him away from his family. Yet such distancing is not readily apparent. Didn't for example France have a drive of Hanratty's car.

Incidentally, where did Charlotte France think Hanratty was getting his money? She is generally portrayed as not being aware of her husband's and Hanratty's source of revenue. Yet she would have seen Hanratty's Liverpool telegram referring to back for business. What business ?


If there was no 'contract' between France and Hanratty , when did France decide Hanratty was involved in the A6 murder?

Atb

Ed

[Ed James]

Hi DM
A very interesting film showing the frequent flaws with eyewitness testimony.

Here is a very informative film highlighting the weakness of eyewitness testimony even where the victim has made a very determined effort to memorise the perpetrator's features.

Other related films relating to Elizabeth Loftus, the world's leading academic on eyewitness testimony, show that memory is not like a videotape and is open to suggestion and , very interestingly, can be confirmed eternally by police telling an individual after an ID parade 'well done , you have done a great job'.

Videos of eyewitness testimony
See Eyewitness Testimony Part 1

DM

I should make clear that this applies to all eyewitness evidence not just that of a victim , though the shock experienced by victims can be an exacerbating factor.

Ed

[Dupplin Muir]

Thanks Ed!

DM

[Ed James]

Hi DM
A very interesting film showing the frequent flaws with eyewitness testimony.

Here is a very informative film highlighting the weakness of eyewitness testimony even where the victim has made a very determined effort to memorise the perpetrator's features.

Other related films relating to Elizabeth Loftus, the world's leading academic on eyewitness testimony, show that memory is not like a videotape and is open to suggestion and , very interestingly, can be confirmed eternally by police telling an individual after an ID parade 'well done , you have done a great job'.

Videos of eyewitness testimony
See Eyewitness Testimony Part 1
Atb
Ed

[Natalie Severn]

This is a rather pointless post, Nats. But possibly one I should have expected from someone of your 'political' persuasion. Keep to the facts.

Graham

Graham I am pointing out something quite relevant actually [and btw I don't mean about that Daily Mail headline about Cameron having sexual relations with a pig either]. I mean it in the context of that time ---that was as common in Soho-it was common practice in Clivedon,common practice among the highest in the land like Profumo and his Westminster pals---no big deal at that time amongst those people .

[Graham]

Yes Graham -it was indeed fashionable at the time until Profumo brought down his government the following year over his predilections for good time girls.Better though than the shock Mrs Cameron must have had waking up on Monday to the news about hubby's youthful adventures with a dead pig.

This is a rather pointless post, Nats. But possibly one I should have expected from someone of your 'political' persuasion. Keep to the facts.

Graham

[Natalie Severn]

Dupplin Muir,

Hanratty showed France The Vienna receipt by his own volition - he wasn't asked.
Graham

Well that is not certain Graham but I agree Hanratty would have been capable of showing off like that. But as I said Paul Foot did go into this matter in detail and according to Mr and Mrs Hanratty , James Hanratty told them a different version from that of France who he said showed a great deal of interest in knowing about the Vienna Hotel and he told them it was France who asked to see the billhead for the night's stay-not the other way round .Anyway the one thing we know for certain is that France knew by 25th August where Hanratty had stayed overnight on 21st August.

[Natalie Severn]

Yes Graham -it was indeed fashionable at the time until Profumo brought down his government the following year over his predilections for good time girls.Better though than the shock Mrs Cameron must have had waking up on Monday to the news about hubby's youthful adventures with a dead pig.

[Graham]

Nats,

I wonder if Hanratty's girl-friends would have thought him 'kind and gentle' had they known that he visited prostitutes on a regular basis? By his own admission, two or three times a week sometimes!

Dupplin Muir,

Hanratty showed France The Vienna receipt by his own volition - he wasn't asked. Why should he do that, I wonder? Making conversation, perhaps? Showing off to the Frances that he could afford what he plainly thought to be an expensive hotel?

However, I can't actually rule out that the cartridges were planted at The Vienna, even though I don't think they were.

Graham