Farmer snubs £40,000 from family desperate to find body of murdered mum

12 January 2024 , 20:59

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Muriel McKay was kidnapped in 1969 but her body was never found (Image: PA)

A farmer has turned down the offer of £40,000 to let the family of a murdered woman dig up land to search for her body.

Muriel McKay, 55, was kidnapped in 1969 by brothers Nizamodeen and Arthur Hosein, who thought she was tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s then-wife Anna. The pair got life sentences for her murder. Nizamodeen, 75, offered to show Muriel’s daughter Dianne, 82, the spot where he buried her mother at the farm in Stocking Pelham, Herts.

But the owner Ian De Burgh Marsh has not accepted the offer of £40,000 for permission to dig up the plot. Police reportedly told the McKay family: “We have had contact from the De Burgh family and the indication is that they will not accept your offer and would prefer contact to be via us.” Muriel was married to Murdoch’s deputy Alick McKay

A statement for Mr De Burgh Marsh said he “very much sympathises with the family”. It added: “Mr Marsh is in regular conversation with the Metropolitan Police over this matter. He has at all times been fully co-operative with their investigation and every time the police have asked for access to his land, he has granted it to them”.

Tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s then-wife Anna (Getty Images)

Det Supt Katherine Goodwin, who is heading the probe, said: “This very much a live investigation for us.” Nizamodeen, now 75, allegedly told the McKays’ lawyer last year that he buried her on the farm.

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Now living in his native Trinidad, where he was deported in 1990 after serving his jail term, he offered to return to show Dianne the burial site. Speaking to her mother’s killer in a video call last November, Dianne said: “It’s hard for me to talk about this but if you can come and help us find my mother we’d be grateful.”

Muriel’s grandson Mark Dyer reportedly wrote in the letter to Ian De Burgh Marsh: “The perpetrator has admitted his part in this crime and genuinely wishes to help us find Muriel. Please assist us as we need to have closure on this tragedy.”

Tom Pettifor