Frank McKeever: Alleged murder victim said he deserved to be punished, court hears

Frank McKeever vanished after seeing his late wife's daughter in 2021, the Old Bailey was told

A widower was killed and dumped at a remote location after saying in a "video confession" he assaulted his step-daughter, a court has heard.

Frank McKeever, 63, "vanished off the face of the Earth" after visiting his late wife's daughter Surie Suksiri in August 2021, the Old Bailey was told.

Ms Suksiri, 31, and her boyfriend Juned Sheikh, 47, are accused of his murder and preventing his lawful burial.

Both, from Camberwell in south London, deny the charges.

Opening the case on Wednesday, Bill Emlyn Jones KC said Mr McKeever had arrived at his step-daughter's home in Highbury, north London, just before 19:00 on 28 August.

Just over an hour later, Ms Suksiri sent a 47-second video via WhatsApp to Mr Sheikh's sister, jurors heard.

In it, Ms Suksiri said "start" off-camera before Mr McKeever addressed the camera in a "flat tone" and admitted he had assaulted her when she was six years old, jurors were told.

Mr Elmyn Jones said the video concluded "ominously" with the words: "I deserve to be punished for it."

'Never been found'

The prosecutor told jurors that after that night, Mr McKeever "was never seen again".

"He did come out of the flat once together with Juned Sheikh - they left for a few minutes and then they both headed back to the flat. And that's it - after that Frank McKeever vanished off the face of the Earth," he said.

The court heard he did not use his bank card, Oyster card or mobile phone again, and there was "no evidence of his continuing to exist at all after that night".

Mr Emlyn Jones went on: "That is because he was dead. After he made that video confession, these two defendants killed him and a few days later they removed his dead body from the flat and disposed of it. His body has never been found."

The court was told Mr Sheikh's case was that the prosecution were wrong and Mr McKeever left the house alive.

According to Ms Suksiri, Mr McKeever died at her flat but she does not know how, jurors heard.

Mr Emlyn Jones said her case was that she was "in a panic" and, together with Mr Sheikh, drove the body to a remote location out of London and dumped it.

He said jurors would have to consider the issue of "whether she was so frightened of what Juned Sheikh would do if she didn't help him dump the body that she did it completely against her will".

The trial continues.

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