The Metropolitan police are renewing their search for the remains of Muriel McKay, who was murdered in 1969.
Muriel McKay, who was 55, was the wife of Alick McKay, deputy to Rupert Murdoch.
Muriel McKay was kidnapped from her home in Wimbledon and taken to Stocking Farm (then Rooks Farm) in Hertfordshire, owned by brothers Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein, and was never seen again.
The brothers were convicted of her murder the following year.
Muriel McKay was mistaken for Anna Murdoch, then-wife of Rupert Murdoch by the Hosein brothers. They had followed his Rolls-Royce to Arthur Road in Wimbledon, believing it to be the home of the Murdochs. However, the McKay family had been using the car while Rupert Murdoch was visiting Australia.
1969 was a pivotal year for Rupert Murdoch as he moved from Australia to the UK, acquiring the News of the World and The Sun. This resulted in a plot to kidnap the media mogul’s wife to extort him for £1m.
What happened in 1969?
Muriel McKay was held at ransom for forty days, during which multiple calls were made to the family’s home asking for the money.
Undercover police attempted to deliver the ransom in multiple locations around London.
Surveillance of the area led them to identify a car registered to Stocking Farm. When the police raided the farm, Muriel McKay was nowhere to be seen, though multiple pieces of evidence tying the Hoseins to the kidnapping were found.
Based on this evidence, they were arrested and sent to trial on 14 September 1970 where they were sentenced to life imprisonment. Trial judge Justice Shaw said their conduct was “cold-blooded and abominable.”
The case is noted as one of the first murder trials and convictions without a body in the United Kingdom.
Aftermath
The nature of the case and its links to the media meant that it gained notoriety in the press. Likenesses of the Hosein brothers were displayed in the Chamber of Horrors in Madame Tussauds.
Rupert Murdoch’s notorious reputation, defamed by his involvement in the telephone hacking scandal of 2011 and subsequent Leveson inquiry, has led to continued coverage of the case in the 21st century.
The murder was included in a 2017 play about Rupert Murdoch called Ink. A Desperate Business: The Murder of Muriel McKay written by Simon Farquhar was published in October 2022.
The continued search
While Arthur died in prison in 2009, Nizamodeen was deported to Trinidad after his release.
In 2021, it was reported that he had told a QC that Muriel McKay died of a heart attack shortly after the kidnapping and provided details of the location of the body at Stocking Farm.
The site was searched again in 2022 but nothing was found.
In November 2023, Nizamodeen signed a £40,000.00 contract with the McKay family to reveal where Muriel McKay is buried but later turned down the money.
The same month, Hosein asked to be allowed back to the UK to show the McKay family where Muriel McKay was buried. In January 2024, the Home Office blocked his return to the UK. Muriel’s daughter and grandson subsequently travelled to Trinidad to meet with Hosein in an attempt to discern the location of the body.
The Times and Sky News also travelled with the family.
Nizamooden disclosed exactly where Muriel McKay is buried and asked to come to the UK to show Dianne.
Katherine Goodwin of Scotland Yard told the Times that this was compelling evidence and it was decided that they would visit Hosein in Trinidad in March of this year with a view to bringing him back to England.
Commander Steve Clayman said that while they have concerns about inconsistencies in his account, officers will search an area where a manure heap once stood.
“We sincerely hope the search is successful. However, we have informed the family that if Muriel’s remains are sadly not found, it would not be proportionate to carry out any further searches or investigations.”
A date for the search is yet to be confirmed.
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HeadlineWhat happened to Muriel McKay?
Short HeadlineWhat happened to Muriel McKay?
StandfirstThe body of the murdered media executive's wife has never been found.
The Metropolitan police are renewing their search for the remains of Muriel McKay, who was murdered in 1969.
Muriel McKay, who was 55, was the wife of Alick McKay, deputy to Rupert Murdoch.
Muriel McKay was kidnapped from her home in Wimbledon and taken to Stocking Farm (then Rooks Farm) in Hertfordshire, owned by brothers Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein, and was never seen again.
The brothers were convicted of her murder the following year.
Muriel McKay was mistaken for Anna Murdoch, then-wife of Rupert Murdoch by the Hosein brothers. They had followed his Rolls-Royce to Arthur Road in Wimbledon, believing it to be the home of the Murdochs. However, the McKay family had been using the car while Rupert Murdoch was visiting Australia.
1969 was a pivotal year for Rupert Murdoch as he moved from Australia to the UK, acquiring the News of the World and The Sun. This resulted in a plot to kidnap the media mogul’s wife to extort him for £1m.
What happened in 1969?
Muriel McKay was held at ransom for forty days, during which multiple calls were made to the family’s home asking for the money.
Undercover police attempted to deliver the ransom in multiple locations around London.
Surveillance of the area led them to identify a car registered to Stocking Farm. When the police raided the farm, Muriel McKay was nowhere to be seen, though multiple pieces of evidence tying the Hoseins to the kidnapping were found.
Based on this evidence, they were arrested and sent to trial on 14 September 1970 where they were sentenced to life imprisonment. Trial judge Justice Shaw said their conduct was “cold-blooded and abominable.”
The case is noted as one of the first murder trials and convictions without a body in the United Kingdom.
Aftermath
The nature of the case and its links to the media meant that it gained notoriety in the press. Likenesses of the Hosein brothers were displayed in the Chamber of Horrors in Madame Tussauds.
Rupert Murdoch’s notorious reputation, defamed by his involvement in the telephone hacking scandal of 2011 and subsequent Leveson inquiry, has led to continued coverage of the case in the 21st century.
The murder was included in a 2017 play about Rupert Murdoch called Ink. A Desperate Business: The Murder of Muriel McKay written by Simon Farquhar was published in October 2022.
The continued search
While Arthur died in prison in 2009, Nizamodeen was deported to Trinidad after his release.
In 2021, it was reported that he had told a QC that Muriel McKay died of a heart attack shortly after the kidnapping and provided details of the location of the body at Stocking Farm.
The site was searched again in 2022 but nothing was found.
In November 2023, Nizamodeen signed a £40,000.00 contract with the McKay family to reveal where Muriel McKay is buried but later turned down the money.
The same month, Hosein asked to be allowed back to the UK to show the McKay family where Muriel McKay was buried. In January 2024, the Home Office blocked his return to the UK. Muriel’s daughter and grandson subsequently travelled to Trinidad to meet with Hosein in an attempt to discern the location of the body.
The Times and Sky News also travelled with the family.
Nizamooden disclosed exactly where Muriel McKay is buried and asked to come to the UK to show Dianne.
Katherine Goodwin of Scotland Yard told the Times that this was compelling evidence and it was decided that they would visit Hosein in Trinidad in March of this year with a view to bringing him back to England.
Commander Steve Clayman said that while they have concerns about inconsistencies in his account, officers will search an area where a manure heap once stood.
“We sincerely hope the search is successful. However, we have informed the family that if Muriel’s remains are sadly not found, it would not be proportionate to carry out any further searches or investigations.”
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