Muriel McKay: Deported killer offers to return to UK to show victim’s family where body is buried
A deported killer is offering to return to Britain to show his victim’s daughter where he buried her mother’s body 54 years ago.
Nizamodeen Hosein was 22 when he and his older brother Arthur kidnapped Muriel McKay, the wife of a newspaper executive, and held her ransom for £1 million.
The brothers were caught and jailed for life for murder, but Muriel, 55, vanished and her body was never found.
The kidnappers had mistaken Muriel for Anna Murdoch, the then wife of wealthy Australian newspaper magnate Rupert. Muriel’s husband Alick, also Australian, was Murdoch’s deputy.
Muriel McKay was kidnapped in December 1969. Pic: 2006 Getty Images/Sky UK
Now free and living in his native Trinidad, Hosein has formed an extraordinary bond with Muriel’s family in a final attempt to uncover her remains.
He has written to the Home Office asking it to lift a deportation order which still bars him from the UK. His brother Arthur died in prison in 2009.
He wrote: “I admit my involvement in the kidnap and death of Muriel McKay, and I have been attempting to assist her daughter Dianne in locating her body.
“I believe I am the only living person who knows where Muriel’s body is and would like her body to be found before I myself die.”
After years of refusing to explain Muriel’s fate, Hosein now claims Muriel collapsed and died of a heart attack at the remote, rented Hertfordshire farm where the brothers were holding her.
The Hertfordshire farm where Mrs McKay was kept prisoner by the Hosein brothers
Hosein, 75, says he panicked and buried her body under a dung heap behind the farmhouse near the village of Stocking Pelham.
Scotland Yard detectives searched a small section of a field near the house last year, without success, but the family insist they dug in the wrong place.
Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein. Pic: Sky UK
Hosein says he is certain he will remember exactly where he buried Muriel’s body, even though the buildings, the farmyard and the fields have changed a lot since the kidnap in 1969.
To help him, the McKay family have commissioned computer-generated images to show precisely the changes in the layout of the farm.
Nizamodeen Hosein speaks to Mrs McKay’s daughter, Dianne
I watched as Hosein and Dianne exchanged warm greetings during a recent video call between their homes 4,300 miles apart.
“Hello Nizam, it’s Dianne, how are you?” said Dianne.
“Hello Dianne, all the better for seeing you,” was Nizam’s reply.
Dianne: “It’s very hard for me to talk about this because it’s quite painful, but if you can come and help us find my mother, we’d be grateful.”
Nizam: “I’m quite willing … I’m quite prepared.”
Dianne: “You’re quite prepared to come over and explain and show us exactly where you put her?”
Nizam: “Yeah.”
After their conversation, Dianne told me: “He’s a man of few words.”
I asked her what it was like having to speak to – and rely on his help – the man convicted of her mother’s murder?
She said: “It’s been very hard having so many years of nobody to talk to, no leads and no hope of ever finding her body. It’s actually a relief to talk to him.”
Mrs McKay with her husband, Alick, who was a newspaper executive
Dianne, 82, believes this is probably the family’s last chance to find her mother’s final resting place, but there are still hurdles to overcome.
The Home Office said in a statement: “We express sympathies with Muriel McKay’s loved ones.
“Whilst we do not comment on individual cases, we work with the police on any requests pertaining to ongoing investigations.”
Scotland Yard is in contact with the McKay family and has spoken to Hosein.
Detectives are considering the possibility of applying for a search warrant to excavate at the farm again, but are not yet convinced it is worth it.
UK
Family of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe pay tribute to ‘beautiful soul’ as teen appears in court charged with murder
The family of a nine-year-old girl stabbed to death have said she was a “beautiful soul” who was brave, kind-hearted and “always put a smile on people’s faces”.
Police were called to Lime Close in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, just before 6.10pm on Monday, where Aria Thorpe had suffered a single stab wound.
The child was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a tribute released by Avon and Somerset Police on Friday, the girl’s family on her mother’s side said: “For those who didn’t have the privilege of knowing Aria, she was the most beautiful little soul – happy-go-lucky, full of light, and joy.
“She loved to sing and dance, and she took such pride in dressing up, always wanting to look just like her mummy.”
Tom Thorpe, the girl’s father, said: “It’s hard to put into words how devastating it is, our little Aria, that you’re up there with the angels looking over us.”
It comes as a 15-year-old boy charged with Aria’s murder appeared in court.
Pic: Avon and Somerset Police
Aria was a ‘precious girl’
In their statement, Aria’s family on her mother’s side said her death “has devastated us beyond words”.
“Our hearts are broken in a way we never imagined possible,” they added.
“As a family, we are holding one another close and doing everything we can to support each other through this unimaginable time.”
They said they were “truly touched by the lovely messages we have received”, before asking “that our privacy is respected, as we try to come to terms with the terrible loss of our precious girl”.
Flowers laid in memory of the young girl
‘Wacky ways and outright madness’
Mr Thorpe said: “How sad it’s going to be not hearing ‘Dad, how long left?’ on our long journeys back and forth at weekends.
He then said that Aria was “such a brave, kind-hearted and a beautiful innocent soul”, and “always put a smile on people’s faces with your wacky ways and just outright madness”.
Mr Thorpe added: “Your other little family down here in Portsmouth will forever miss you.
“We’ll miss you begging to go outside, even in the pouring rain just to have as much fun as possible in the little time we had at weekends.
“You will be greatly missed, you special little angel. A life gone far too early but I hope a life lived well. We all love you dearly. Goodnight darling.”
Teenager in court
Meanwhile, a 15-year-old boy charged with Aria’s murder appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Friday, where he was remanded.
The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, was arrested in the Somerset village of Worle at 6.19pm on Monday.
He is next due in court on 16 March 2026. Appearing via video link from youth detention accommodation, he spoke only to confirm his name.
Judge Peter Blair KC set a provisional trial date for 15 June during the hearing.
A teenager charged with the murder of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe will stand trial in June next year.
The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of his age, appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.
The defendant, who appeared via video link from youth detention accommodation, spoke only to confirm his name.
During a brief hearing, Judge Peter Blair KC, the Recorder of Bristol, set a provisional trial date for 15 June 2026.
The trial is expected to last two weeks.
Avon and Somerset Police were called to Lime Close in Weston-super-Mare just before 6.10pm on Monday, where nine-year-old Aria had suffered a single stab wound.
Flowers laid in memory of the young girl
The boy was arrested in nearby Worle a short time later.
His father was among those attending in the public gallery.
The teenager is next expected to appear in court on 16 March.
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