Killer signed £40,000 contract with victim's family to reveal location of her body

Muriel McKay was kidnapped and held ransom for £1 million by a pair who had mistaken her for Anna Murdoch, then-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Credit: PA

The convicted murderer of Muriel McKay signed a lucrative contract with her family to reveal the location of her body in the UK 50 years on, it has been revealed.

In December 1969, Ms McKay was kidnapped and held ransom for £1million by two Indo-Trinidadian brothers, Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein, who had mistaken her for Anna Murdoch, then-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

For more than 50 years, her body was never found - until now.

The 75-year-old Hosein, who was deported to Trinidad after serving his prison sentence, is reported to have struck a deal with Ms McKay's family to reveal where he and his brother buried her body.

The family agreed to pay him $50,000 (£40,000), but after signing the contract Hosein refused to accept the money.

He also offered to return to the UK to show the family where exactly he and his brother buried Ms McKay at a farm in Hertfordshire.

Speaking from his home in Trinidad, Hosein told the family's lawyer: "I don't want the money. Money wasn't my objective, it was peace of mind", according to Sky News.

"Talking about it now breaks my heart. I was young, 22, I didn't feel the pain like I'm feeling now," he added.

Hosein claimed a few days after they kidnapped Ms McKay, she had died from a heart attack at the farm, which was owned by his brother.

Mark Dyer, the grandson of Ms McKay who drew up the contract with lawyers, said that while it may seem odd to some that they offered Hosein a contract, it "unlocked everything after many years of his silence and our sadness and frustration."

"Nizam could certainly have made good use of the cash because he is living in a hut with rotting floorboards, no proper sanitation and poisonous snails climbing the walls," he said.

Dyer added that he believes Hosein rejected the money because he is "getting old" and "wants closure."

"Our lawyer gave him the first $500 and he just pushed it away. For me, that gave him legitimacy," he added.

The family has since launched a petition calling on the Home Office to lift Hosein deportation order temporarily so he can revisit the farm.

"If I go back to the farm, I will remember where I put the body. I am sure I can go to the spot directly," he said.

ITV News contacted the Home Office for comment.

David Dyer, son-in-law of missing Muriel McKay, at a press conference at Wimbledon Police Station in 1969. Credit: PA

During their trial at the Old Bailey in September 1970, the Hosein brothers blamed each other for the crime, but neither confessed.

Arthur was sentenced to life imprisonment and 25 years for kidnapping, while Hosein received the same sentencing, except for ten years less on the kidnap charge.

The case was one of the first examples in the UK of conviction in a murder without a body.

Upon his release, Hosein was extradited to Trinidad where he now lives. His brother died in prison in 2009.

Ms McKay was an Australian citizen who was married to Alick McKay, the deputy to Rupert Murdcoh at News Limited. They lived in Wimbledon, London, and had three children.

Ms McKay was mistaken for Murdoch's then-wife, Anna,

The brothers decided to kidnap Ms Murdoch after watching a television interview with her husband about his recent purchase of the News of the World and The Sun newspapers.

They followed Murdoch's car to a house that was actually the residence of the McKays, believing that the passenger was Anna.

But Mr Murdoch had, in fact, loaned the car to the McKays for a few weeks while he and his wife were in Australia.


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