Muriel McKay's family offer landowner £40,000 to excavate farm to find body, as MPs urge police to get search warrant
11 January 2024, 06:53 | Updated: 11 January 2024, 07:02
The family of murder victim Muriel McKay have offered a landowner £40,000 to allow them to excavate a piece of land in a bid to find her body.
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Ms McKay's family hope the large sum would compensate the banker who lives at Stocking Farm in Stocking Pelham, Hertfordshire.
Ian de Burgh has previously refused to give up access to his land, though did agree to allow the Metropolitan Police to dig up a small part of the farm last year.
Nothing was found in the search, but the family believe the police searched in the wrong place.
The family previously offered the same amount of money to Ms McKay's killer, Nizamodeen Hosein, to reveal the details of the 1969 kidnap and murder.
Hosein, who has since been released from prison, revealed the location of her body without taking the sum.
In the letter written to the landowner, Muriel's grandson Mark Dyer said: "The perpetrator has admitted his part in this crime after so many years and he genuinely wishes to help us find Muriel.
"He has provided a written and sworn affidavit detailing the location of the burial site.
"We now wish to search a small, targeted and specific area with minimal police attendance. That way there will be no unnecessary searching.
"We agreed to a limited search previously and now the circumstances have changed as we have specific information as to the burial location from the person who actually dug the grave."
"As a family, we now offer you this sum for any inconvenience caused and any legal fees incurred. Please assist us as we need to have closure on this family tragedy," he added.
Hosein and his brother, Arthur, were given life sentences for the kidnap and murder of Ms McKay, who was 55 years old when she died.
She was the wife of Australian newspaper executive, Alick, who himself was Rupert Murdoch's deputy.
Hosein and Arthur had meant to kidnap Murdoch's former wife, Anna, though got the wrong person.
Hosein, now living in poverty in Trinidad, has offered to come back to the UK to reveal the exact spot where she was buried, though this would require Home Office approval following his deportation in 1990.
Some MPs have put pressure on the Metropolitan Police to get a search warrant to find the body, including former Cabinet minsiter Sir Robert Buckland and former solicitor general Sir Oliver Heald.
“It would give the family peace of mind. It was a horrendous case, yes it was 50 years ago but giving the family as much information as possible seems to be humane and just," Sir Robert told The Times.
