Relatives of a late East End tailor have told police they believe the body of Muriel McKay, kidnapped and murdered in 1969 in a case of mistaken identity, may be buried in the garden of his former Bethnal Green shop, reopening questions about one of Britain’s most notorious unsolved burial locations.
Muriel McKay, 55, disappeared on Dec. 29, 1969, after two brothers who intended to abduct the wife of media executive Rupert Murdoch instead took Mrs. McKay. The brothers, Nizamodeen and Arthur Hosein, demanded a £1 million ransom from Alick McKay, a deputy to Murdoch at News Limited. After two failed handovers, Mrs. McKay was never seen again. The Hosein brothers were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1970; Arthur died in prison and Nizamodeen was deported to Trinidad after serving his sentence.
For decades police have searched the Stocking Pelham farm in Hertfordshire that belonged to Arthur Hosein after Nizamodeen later said he buried Mrs. McKay there, but those searches yielded no remains. Now the family of Percy Chaplin, an East End tailor who died in 2022 at the age of 98 and who associated with Arthur Hosein, say notes and recollections held by the family indicate Arthur told Chaplin he intended to kidnap someone wealthy and ask for a million-pound ransom. The family say Chaplin believed Arthur buried Mrs. McKay at the Bethnal Green shop but kept quiet while he was alive for fear of repercussions.
Chaplin’s son, Richard, told reporters his father often spoke of Arthur and that the pair had known one another well. Richard said the family had stayed overnight at the Hertfordshire farmhouse that later became linked to the abduction and that a grey car was regularly parked outside the Bethnal Green shop. Mrs. McKay’s family recall that, during the period she was held, she telephoned relatives and repeated the words "grey Hillman" before the call ended. While Mrs. McKay was missing, Chaplin went to the farm seeking Arthur, Richard said; he thought he saw a face in a window but was told no one was home.
Mrs. McKay’s descendants have sought to put these new claims to Nizamodeen Hosein. He told them he was not involved in moving the body after it was buried at the farm, according to the family. The relatives also contacted the current leaseholder of the Bethnal Green property to request a ground-penetrating radar scan; they say the leaseholder declined, saying such a scan could not be carried out. Mrs. McKay’s grandson said the family is desperate for closure and urged access to the property so investigators can establish whether the claims are accurate.
Police previously mounted intensive searches at the Hertfordshire farm, including searches of barns and surrounding land, but investigators did not locate any remains. Authorities have not publicly confirmed whether they will carry out fresh excavations or a survey at the Bethnal Green address following the family’s claims.
The case has remained a source of distress for the victim’s family. Over the decades the mystery of Mrs. McKay’s final resting place has prompted repeated appeals and inquiries. The new family evidence focuses attention on an urban location overlooked in earlier searches and on the network of associations among the men involved in the abduction and those in their circle during the weeks after the kidnapping.
Investigators will weigh the family’s statements, any documentary notes left by Chaplin and the practical and legal considerations of surveying a private property in a populated area. Until a formal search is carried out or remains are found, the precise location of Muriel McKay’s burial will remain unconfirmed.