Relatives of a deceased East London tailor have told police they believe the body of Muriel McKay — kidnapped in 1969 in a case of mistaken identity — may be buried in the garden of his former Bethnal Green shop, opening a new line of inquiry in one of Britain’s most enduring missing-person cases.
McKay, 55, vanished on Dec. 29, 1969, after two brothers who intended to seize the then-wife of media executive Rupert Murdoch abducted her by mistake. The pair, Nizamodeen and Arthur Hosein, demanded a £1 million ransom from Alick McKay, a deputy to Murdoch at News Limited. After two failed ransom handovers, Muriel McKay was never seen again. The brothers were convicted and sentenced to life in 1970 and consistently refused to disclose the location of the body.
In recent years Nizamodeen Hosein, deported to Trinidad after serving his sentence, told investigators he had buried McKay on a farm at Stocking Pelham, Hertfordshire, that belonged to his brother Arthur. Police carried out at least two intensive searches of the farm but did not recover remains. Arthur Hosein died in prison.
The new claim centers on Percy Chaplin, an East End tailor who died in 2022 at the age of 98. Chaplin’s family told The Times they believe Arthur Hosein buried McKay at Chaplin’s former Bethnal Green premises. Family notes recount that Chaplin and Arthur were close, that Chaplin met Nizamodeen while McKay was being held for ransom, and that the brothers used Chaplin’s shop to discuss “private business.”
Richard Chaplin, Percy’s son, told The Times his father frequently spoke about Arthur because the kidnapping had been a major news story and the two men had known each other well. “Dad loved to talk about his life and would often talk about Arthur because the kidnapping was such a huge news story and he had known Arthur well,” he said. He recalled staying overnight at the farm later linked to the crime and said the farmhouse had felt “scary.”
Family members say the Bethnal Green address overlooks a telephone box the Hosein brothers had instructed police to use during an attempted ransom handover, which they regard as significant. They also say Chaplin checked the farm for Arthur while McKay was missing and believed he saw someone’s face in a window. The family told reporters a grey car was regularly parked outside the tailor shop; McKay’s relatives have said that while she was being held she phoned them and repeated the words “grey Hillman” before the call ended.
McKay’s family has raised the Chaplin claims with Nizamodeen Hosein, who according to the family denied involvement in moving the body after it was buried at the Stocking Pelham farm. The family also contacted the current leaseholder of the Bethnal Green property to request a ground-penetrating radar survey; the leaseholder declined, saying a scan could not be carried out at the site.
A grandson of Muriel McKay told reporters the family was desperate for closure and criticised the refusal to allow a scan. “If someone believed that a body was buried in your garden, surely you would let them in to scan? This is our last hope. My mother is getting older and we might not have much time left,” he said.
Police searches in Hertfordshire in the decades since the disappearance have not produced McKay’s remains, and neither Hosein brother disclosed a location while in custody. The new claim has been brought to public attention by Chaplin’s descendants and reported in national media; it is not clear whether the Metropolitan Police or other investigating authorities have opened a fresh forensic inquiry at the Bethnal Green site.
The kidnapping and murder of Muriel McKay remains a closed criminal conviction, but the absence of recovered remains and continued family appeals have kept the case in the public eye. The family says any credible information, including access to the Bethnal Green property for forensic surveying, could finally provide long-sought answers about McKay’s fate.