In the privacy of a white marquee, relatives of James Hanratty, executed in 1962 for the notorious A6 murder, yesterday took part in a religious ceremony as his remains and that of an aunt were reburied five hours being been exhumed.
Carrying bouquets, they walked slowly towards the graveside of a family member they believe was hanged for a crime he did not commit. Although distressed at the exhumation, they had agreed in the hope that it might finally prove that Hanratty had been wrongly executed.
The order of service for the reburial ceremony said it was: ''In the cause of truth, justice and peace, for them and for all those who remember them and grieve their passing.''
Despite the hopes of the family, Scotland Yard officers believe that yesterday's exhumation will provide DNA evidence that conclusively proves Hanratty was the murderer of civil servant Michael Gregsten, and the man who raped Valerie Storie before shooting her five times, leaving her for dead.
At the original trial, the Crown relied heavily on Ms Storie's identification evidence, delivered from a wheelchair.
However, Hanratty's conviction has long worried campaigners and criminologists who believe it was unsafe. Hanratty maintained he was innocent, claiming he was 250 miles away, in Wales, when the attacks took place.
His execution was high on the minds of legislators when parliament voted to abolish the death penalty three years later.
Before dawn yesterday, at Carpender's Park cemetery, Bushey, Hertfordshire - where Hanratty's remains have lain since the family were granted permission to remove them from Bedford jail, where he was hanged - a priest said prayers for the convicted murderer and Annie Cunningham, his aunt, who was buried in the same plot last year.
The exhumations followed a Court of Appeal ruling that DNA testing would serve the interests of justice, after the case had been referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Evidence presented to the court last year, strongly suggested DNA analysis linked Hanratty with the murder.
Ms Storie remains convinced that Hanratty was the man who murdered her lover and shot and raped her.
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