Family of murdered Muriel McKay urge police to launch new search for her remains on remote beach
The family of murdered Muriel McKay has urged police to begin a new search for her remains on a remote beach after the discovery of a long-lost “confession” by her killer.
According to a letter hidden among old court files, Arthur Hosein told his solicitor he buried her body at Jaywick Sands near Clacton, Essex.
It is believed the information was never followed up.
Arthur and his brother Nizamodeen Hosein kidnapped Mrs McKay, the wife of a newspaper executive, in 1969 and held her for ransom before they were arrested and charged with her murder.
Mrs McKay was married to Alec McKay, the deputy to Rupert Murdoch, who had just bought the Sun newspaper.
The Hosein brothers mistook her for Mr Murdoch’s first wife, Anna. The Murdochs were abroad and the McKays were using the boss’s limousine.
They were convicted in one of the first murder trials without the evidence of the victim’s body, denying their involvement and refusing to say what they did with her.
Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein
But in a letter to the Appeal Court in 1972, Arthur’s solicitor, George Brown, who was trying to get legal aid for his client, wrote: “I have received information that the body of Mrs McKay, who was the alleged victim in this case, was buried at Jaywick Sands, a fact which I have communicated to the local police.
“It may be that there is some merit in what this man says…”
Mrs McKay’s daughter Dianne McKay told Sky News: “In many ways I’d like to halt the whole thing and personally I find it’s an ongoing agony.
“I learned to live with it a long time ago, the loss of my mother and the way it happened.
“I don’t really want to go on and on forever. But if someone is willing to have a quick look or a proper look for us on this huge beach area maybe that’s a good idea.”
Simon Farquhar, an author who discovered the letter at the bottom of a box of official documents, said the plea for legal aid was rejected and there was no appeal hearing. The solicitor and the killer are now dead.
In three years of research for his new book about the case A Desperate Business, Mr Farquhar said he found no evidence that anyone had acted on the solicitor’s information.
“The solicitor says he informed the local police, but we don’t know whether that’s the police in Essex, or local to Arthur’s prison in Wakefield, or his own office in Birmingham or whatever,” he said.
“But as far as I can tell, no police officer was ever given this information. There was no visit to see Arthur in prison, either by the police or by that solicitor. There was no record of any police force having informed Wimbledon CID about this.
“In fact, right up until 25 years later, whenever someone anywhere in Britain went into a police station with some information about this, it was relayed to members of the CID and any officer who was connected with a story looked at it again.”
In April, Scotland Yard detectives reopened the case in the search for Mrs McKay’s remains after Nizamodeen Hosein, who is still alive but had always insisted he did not know what happened to her, told her family she had died of a heart attack at the brothers’ Hertfordshire farm and he had buried her there.
Digging was carried out at a farm but Muriel McKay’s remains were not found
Police found no trace of her and stopped the search after a few days.
The officer in charge said the latest revelation did not justify a new search because he could not verify the information or be sure where it came from.
He said in an email to the McKay family: “We are aware of this letter and have copies of the letter and other related documents.
“We have reviewed, considered, analysed and assessed the information and unfortunately this is one single strand of intelligence.
“In the letter the solicitor states that he has information which suggests that Muriel was buried at Jaywick Sands, which we can assume has come from Arthur. Nonetheless we have done some research on the solicitor and it seems he has since passed away.
“We have no way of knowing exactly where that information came from and therefore unable to attribute, verify or assess the validity of the information. It is with regret that I will not be able to progress this line of enquiry.”
Scotland Yard was asked for an official response.
Comedy writer Bill Dare, – who worked on shows including Spitting Image and Dead Ringers – has died after an accident overseas, his agent said.
Described as a “super producer” by his peers, Dare, 64, worked on eight series of hugely popular satire puppet show Spitting Image.
Airing on ITV during the 1980s and 1990s, the show delighted in lampooning public figures including politicians, celebrities and royalty, winning BAFTAs and Emmys. It was rebooted in 2020.
Dare also created Dead Ringers, a comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
He also produced The Now Show, a satirical take on the news which ran on Radio 4 from 1998 to 2024.
Dare worked on a wide range of comedy shows during his career, including the radio production of The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He had also written several novels.
In a statement released on Monday, his agent JFL Agency confirmed he died at the weekend.
A spokesperson said: “We are shocked and greatly saddened to have to announce the death of our brilliant client Bill Dare, who died at the weekend following an accident overseas.
“Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy, daughter Rebecca, and with all of Bill’s family and friends who will be devastated by his loss.
“Bill was a truly legendary producer and writer, and his comedy instincts were second to none.”
Oasis depicted on Spitting Image in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Colleagues were quick to pay tribute and reflect on his talent.
Impressionist Jon Culshaw wrote on X: “It’s impossible to express the unreal sense of loss at the passing of the incredible Bill Dare. The wisest comedy alchemist and the dearest, dearest friend. Much love to Lucy and all Bill’s family and friends. We shall all miss him more than we can say.”
David Baddiel posted on the social media platform: “Just heard that the original producer of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on radio, Bill Dare, has died. Bill was an amazing creative force. I owe him much. RIP.”
Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was “devastated” and that her “entire comedy career was down to Bill”.
She wrote: “When I was on the BBC Radio 4 rep company early on in career – I ran into Bill in the corridors – He asked if I was good at accents. I said yes.
“He cast me in a sketch show. I had to do about 15 different accents. We recorded in front of a live audience at Broadcasting House – afterwards Bill said ‘Why have I never met you – you’re going to have a big career’.
“He was incredibly loyal and supportive and really opened a path for me into the R4 comedy world and then TV having come out of the RSC and theatre it was all new. I will always be grateful. Fly high Bill.”
Comedian and writer Mark Steel wrote: “This is so grim. Bill was a compassionate hearty soul with the ability to be beautifully grumpy, a marvellously thoughtful comic mind.
“He’d argue but always listen and you’d always laugh, he made a million shows and wanted them all to matter and would have made a million more.”
Have I Got News for You writer Pete Sinclair said: “I am utterly devastated by Bill’s death. I still can’t believe it. He was a comedy genius. A hugely talented writer as well as a brilliant producer. A close friend and co-writer. I cannot begin to say how much I’ll miss him.”
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Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, said: “I am so terribly sorry to hear this tragic news and my thoughts are with Bill’s wife, family and friends.
“Bill has been a huge part of Radio 4 comedy for decades, as a writer and producer, and listeners will have heard his legendary name at the end of many of their favourite shows.
“Bill was a comedy obsessive, and very instinctive about making the funniest choices when it came to writing, directing and editing.
“He cared so much about his work that in the production booth during Dead Ringers you’d see him crouched over the script, utterly focused on the show.
“He was funny and very dry in person, amusingly cynical when he needed to be and always pushed to keep the comedy he made, and particularly satire, spiky.
“I’ve known and worked with him for 18 years and like many I can’t believe he has gone, he will leave a big hole in the comedy world and in our hearts.”
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