Muriel McKay was kidnapped and murdered five decades ago after she was mistaken for media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s wife — now her loved ones think they have found her resting place
This may be the final resting place of a woman kidnapped and murdered 56 years ago after being mistaken for Rupert Murdoch’s wife. Now the woman’s loved ones are calling for further investigations of the area in the hopes of finding vital information, or even the body itself.
Muriel McKay’s family yesterday asked the High Court court to allow a survey of the site, saying “she would like to come home for Christmas”. Muriel, 55, wife of newspaper executive Alick McKay, was snatched in a £1million ransom plot in 1969.
Two men were convicted of her kidnap and murder in 1970 but her body has never been found. Barristers for two of her children, Ian McKay and Dianne Levinson, asked Mr Justice Richard Smith to order two homeowners in Bethnal Green east London to allow a “ground-penetrating radar survey” of their shared garden.
The court heard on Monday (November 24) that Muriel’s family had received a tip from Percy Chaplain’s daughter, Hayley Frais, who claimed she was buried in the yard of the tailor’s premises at the time. Benjamin Wood, representing the McKay family, explained Ms Frais had claimed that Percy revealed on his deathbed that he noticed a strong smell in the shop at the time of the disappearance.
In written submissions to the court, he said: “Ms Frais’s evidence, particularly when combined with what else the claimants know about the circumstances of Muriel’s disappearance, leads them to believe that their late mother was buried in the outside space.” Ms McKay’s grandson Mark Dyer said: “We’ve been told she’s there, most probably there, so we need to pick her up.
“She would like to come home for Christmas this year and what is left of her is purely some remains.” One resident opposes the injunction, which would also stop her from disturbing the garden; the judge said he would give his ruling at 2pm today.
Ms McKay’s grandson Mark Dyer said the fight to discover her remains was “important to the whole family”. He added: “We do not want to be felt sorry for, we just actually want to get on and… scan the place, check for my grandmother.
“We’ve been told she’s there, most probably there, so we need to pick her up. She would like to come home for Christmas this year and what is left of her is purely some remains, some bones.”
“They should find a place where the family can go and visit, where whoever’s interested in what happened to her should go and visit, and that’s the right thing to do,” he added. Ms McKay, 55, was snatched from her home in Wimbledon, south London, on December 29, 1969.
Brothers Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein were later arrested and found guilty of her murder, and sentenced to 25 years and 15 years in prison, in one of the first murder cases to be brought without a body. The trial heard how Muriel was bundled away after they had mistaken her for media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s then-wife Anna.
Arthur and Nizamodeen insisted they had buried Muriel’s body at the Hertfordshire farm where she was held captive, but despite their confessions a search of the area in 2022 threw up no viable clues.
Muriel McKay’s grandson made the statement after the High Court heard her relatives believes her remains are buried in an east London back garden. But despite this, one of the garden’s owners, Madeleine Higson, has formally objected to digging up the garden to excavate the area for the remains.
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