British police were today making final preparations to exhume the body of James Hanratty in an attempt to find out whether he was guilty of murder 39 years ago.
The move by Scotland Yard is aimed at resolving Britain's longest running case of alleged miscarriage of justice.
Hanratty (25) was sent to the gallows in 1962 for murder and rape.
He was convicted of killing civil servant Michael Gregsten and raping his lover Valerie Storie before shooting her and leaving her for dead. He had disturbed them in a field, his trial was told.
Campaigners have long argued he was no more than a petty criminal.
Hanratty claimed at the time of the murder, which took place in Deadman's Hill on the A6 in Bedfordshire, that he was 250 miles away in Rhyl in north Wales.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission decided to refer the case back to the Court of Appeal to review new scientific evidence, including DNA. His case may be heard in September.
Police brought in a lifting gantry in darkness to Carpenders Park Cemetery, near Bushey in Hertfordshire as the operation began to get under way.
The grave of Hanratty and his aunt Annie Cunningham was covered by a white marquee to conceal the exhumation from the media that gathered behind nearby fences.
As rain fell lightly a priest could be heard praying in the marquee before the exhumation.
Reporters were told it was unlikely the body would be taken away before lunchtime. It was expected Hanratty's family would be at the cemetery in the late afternoon for a private religious service.
The remains of Hanratty and his aunt will be re-interned later today.
PA