Police call off hunt for woman’s body 55 years after her murder

Police have searched the Hertfordshire farm for the remains of Muriel McKay (Picture: PA)
Police have searched the Hertfordshire farm for the remains of Muriel McKay (Picture: PA)

The search for the remains of Muriel McKay who was murdered 55 years ago has been called off.

Nizamodeen Hosein, with his brother Arthur, abducted and killed Ms McKay after he mistook her as the wife of Rupert Murdoch.

They took her to a Stocking Farm, then known as Rooks Farm, in Hertfordshire to ransom for £1,000,000, but both refused to tell police where they buried her body.

Last month Hosein told Ms McKay’s daughter Dianne where he hid her body after she flew out to see him native Trinidad.

He was deported after serving 20 years in prison, while his brother Arthur died in 2009.

Hosein told them: ‘Go through the kitchen door, come through the open land, turn left and it’s two feet from the hedge, that’s where the body is.’

But police have revealed they have been unable to find the remains, despite Hosein’s claim.

In a letter to her family, Katherine Godwin, Detective Superintendent in the Met Police, said: ‘We have now completed the search of the area set out in the agreed parameters, along with an additional strip which we identified was not covered by the 2022 search or the 2024 parameters.

‘I am so sorry to say that the search has not been successful in finding Muriel’s remains or any evidence relating to her kidnap and murder.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Bryan Jobson/ANL/Shutterstock (1951312a) Police Search At Rock Farm Stocking Pelham Hertfordshire Muriel Mckay Murder Case At The Old Bailey Where West Indian Brothers Arthur And Nizamodeen Hosein Are Charged With Kidnapping And Murdering Mrs Muriel Mckay Wife Of News Of The World Senior Director Mr Alex Mckay. Police Search At Rock Farm Stocking Pelham Hertfordshire Muriel Mckay Murder Case At The Old Bailey Where West Indian Brothers Arthur And Nizamodeen Hosein Are Charged With Kidnapping And Murdering Mrs Muriel Mckay Wife Of News Of The World Senior Di
Police search at the farm after the murder
(Picture: Bryan Jobson/ANL/Shutterstock)

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Peter MacDiarmid/Shutterstock (12884966c) A police search team dig in an area of Stocking Farm, formerly known as Rooks Farm, in Stocking Pelham, Hertfordshire. Officers are conducting a search of farmland in the hunt for the remains of Muriel McKay who disappeared after being kidnapped in 1969. Mrs McKay was the wife of Alick McKay, a deputy to newspaper proprietor Rupert Murdoch. She was kidnapped, in a case of mistaken identity, by brothers Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein who believed they were kidnapping the wife of Rupert Murdoch. The pair were convicted of the crimes of murder and kidnapping in September 1970. Her body was never found, but in 2021 it was reported that Nizamodeen had told a lawyer that Mrs McKay died of a heart attack shortly after the kidnap and provided details of the location of the body at Rooks Farm - now known as Stocking Farm. Search for remains of Muriel McKay, Stocking Pelham, Hertfordshire, UK - 02 Apr 2022
A police search team dig in an area of Stocking Farm (Picture: Peter MacDiarmid/Shutterstock)

‘I appreciate that this will be devastating for you, especially after all the work you have put in to trying to find her.

‘As you can imagine there is a lot of detail in terms of the search which I can’t set out here, so I will be happy to arrange a meeting later in the week to discuss in more detail.’

Her family have insisted Hosein should be brought to the excavation site to show where he buried the body.

The family have also claimed police admitted to them they forgot to dig part of an excavation site at the farm in 2022.

Nizamodeen Hosein, 22. *Provs and Foreigns Only.
Nizamodeen Hosein (Picture: PA)

Undated Metropolitan Police handout photo of police officers searching a barn at a Hertfordshire farm for the remains of Muriel McKay. Issue date: Monday July 15, 2024. PA Photo. A fresh search for the remains of Muriel McKay, who was murdered in 1969, is due to begin at a farm on Monday. Ms McKay, the wealthy wife of newspaper executive Alick McKay, was kidnapped and held ransom for ??1 million more than 54 years ago. See PA story POLICE McKay . Photo credit should read: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Officers searching a barn (Picture: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire)

The Housein brothers broke into Muriel and Alick’s home in Wimbledon, south London, on December 29, 1969.

They had mistaken Muriel for Anna Mudroch as they had loaned the McKays his Rolls Royce.

Alick returned from work to find the front door unlocked, the house phone ripped from the wall and the house empty.

Only hours later after the phone line was reconnected, the brothers called the house identifying themselves as ‘M3’ and over the next 40 days reportedly phoned and sent letters to Alick demanding the ransom money.

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