Muriel McKay: Home Office blocks murderer's UK return, says victim's family

Muriel McKay was mistaken for the wife of Rupert Murdoch and held for a £1m ransom in 1969

The family of a woman murdered decades ago said her killer could not show them where she was buried because the Home Office had blocked his UK return.

Muriel McKay was kidnapped in 1969 after being mistaken for the then-wife of Rupert Murdoch and held to ransom for £1m at a farm in Hertfordshire.

Her grandson said murderer Nizamodeen Hosein was banned from travelling, so he would meet him in Trinidad instead.

The Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases.

Mark Randolph Dyer told the BBC: "I'm on a mission to establish what happened to her and we've never been able to for 50 years."

Muriel McKay's grandson Mark Randolph Dyer said he was "on a mission" to discover what happened to his grandmother

Ms McKay was the wife of Mr Murdoch's deputy Alick McKay when she was abducted from her home in London on 29 December 1969.

Brothers Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein were convicted of her kidnap and murder, but while Arthur died in prison in 2009, Nizamodeen is still alive in Trinidad and Tobago, where he was deported to after serving his sentence.

Hosein recently admitted to hiding her body on the farm near Bishop's Stortford, although he has claimed she died of a heart attack.

Following his revelations, the Metropolitan Police carried out what they called an "extensive search" at Stocking Farm in March 2022, but found nothing.

Ms McKay's family believe the police dug in the wrong area and were too limited in their search.

They have been fighting to bring Hosein over to the UK so he can show them exactly where she was buried, even buying him a passport.

Ms McKay's family have marked out where her killer said she was buried

In January they offered £40,000 to persuade Ian Marsh, who now owns the farm, to allow them to carry out a new search, but they said he turned them down.

Now the family said they were facing a new hurdle after discovering the Home Office wrote to Nizamodeen Hosein, telling him there were "no grounds" for revoking his deportation order.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Our sympathies are with Muriel McKay's loved ones.

"Whilst it is our longstanding position that we do not routinely comment on individual cases, we work with the police on any requests pertaining to ongoing investigations."

Mr Dyer said since Hosein could not come to the UK, he would fly abroad this month to meet him face-to-face for the first time.

"I was going to go and see him before we did the first dig and I pulled out at the last minute. I regret that," he said.

Nizamodeen Hosein, previously pictured pointing to the supposed location of Ms McKay's body on a map of the farm

"I know exactly what I want to achieve in this meeting. I'm going to be showing him all kind of plans and locations - we have 3D Google Pro now. It will be filmed and logged," he added.

He said discovering the truth about his grandmother would bring "a whole new lease of life" to his mother Dianne and "end that awful mystery".

"I don't think there's a word in the English language to describe kidnap - but it is worse than murder."

A statement on behalf of farm owner Mr Marsh said he "very much sympathises with the family and hopes they can find closure over this tragedy", adding he was "in regular conversation with the Metropolitan Police over this matter".

"He has at all times been fully cooperative with their investigation and every time the police have asked for access to his land, he has granted it to them," it added.

The Metropolitan Police said: "We understand how frustrating and difficult this matter has been for Muriel's family and remain in contact with them."