The murder conviction of James Hanratty, who was hanged 40 years ago
protesting his innocence, was today upheld by the Court of Appeal which ruled that DNA evidence established his guilt "beyond doubt".
Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, sitting with Lord Justice Mantell and Mr Justice Leveson, announced their decision in the posthumous appeal to a packed court in London.
Hanratty, 25, went to the gallows on April 4, 1962, for the notorious A6 murder in Bedfordshire, in which scientist Michael Gregsten, 36, was shot dead.
His 22-year-old mistress, Valerie Storie, was raped and shot. She survived but was left paralysed from the waist down.
Giving the lengthy ruling of the court, Lord Woolf said: "In our judgment ... the DNA evidence establishes beyond doubt that James Hanratty was the murderer."
He said the DNA evidence "made what was a strong case even stronger".
Hanratty's case - one of the country's longest-running alleged miscarriages of justice - was referred back to the Appeal Court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).
Since his execution at Bedford Prison, Hanratty's family and supporters have fought to prove that, though a petty crook, he was not a killer.
PA