The family of Muriel McKay, who was murdered 55 years ago after being mistaken for Rupert Murdoch's wife, have described feeling like 'she has been kidnapped all over again' after losing their appeal to scan a back garden where they believe she is buried.
The Search for Closure
On Monday, barristers representing two of Ms McKay's children, Ian McKay and Dianne Levinson, asked a judge to order that homeowners of two neighbouring properties on Bethnal Green Road in east London allow them to conduct a ground-penetrating radar survey of a shared back garden.
The hearing in London was told that the family now believe Ms McKay's remains are buried at the site, following new information coming to light. However, Mr Justice Richard Smith ruled that he would not allow the survey to proceed.
Muriel McKay was kidnapped in 1969 in the mistaken belief she was the then-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. She was held prisoner for 24 hours before being killed. Two men, Nizamodeen Hosein and his brother Arthur, were convicted of her murder, but her body has never been found.
Deathbed Confession Breakthrough
The family's hopes had been raised by what they describe as a miraculous new lead. After issuing a £1 million reward to help find Muriel's body, they received three new leads.
The first two hints suggested she was buried behind a shop or in woodlands behind the family home, but searches turned up nothing.
The third lead proved much more promising. A man in his 90s made a deathbed confession to his children that he knew where the body was all along. He had owned the shop and employed one of the kidnappers, Arthur Hussain.
His daughter Hayley went to the police with the confession but was dismissed. Mark Dyer, Muriel's grandson, revealed: 'He gave his children a letter revealing my grandmother's body was brought into the shop, kept in the basement for a day before being buried outside.'
Mark added: 'In the letter he goes into detail about the stench of my grandmother's body in the basement, and how he has lived with the guilt for years.'
Legal Obstacles and Family Distress
Despite the new evidence, police say it still does not reach their threshold to launch a search. One of the homeowners, Madeleine Higson, opposed the injunction bid, which would have stopped her and the owner of the other property, Janis Cross, from disturbing the garden.
Barristers for Ms Higson claimed that she had been subjected to 'borderline harassment' and caused 'significant distress' by the McKay family, who allegedly attempted to gain access to the property through false representations.
In his ruling on Tuesday, Mr Justice Richard Smith said that while Ms McKay's kidnap and murder was an 'abhorrent crime', his role was to consider the case 'objectively and dispassionately'.
He stated: 'The claimants have not established that such relief is needed now, or why the usual pre-trial procedures should not be observed.'
The judge added that he wasn't persuaded that even if a survey was carried out, it would produce conclusive data, describing the evidence of Muriel McKay's remains at the premises as 'thin'.
Muriel's grandson Mark Dyer expressed the family's frustration to Metro: 'It is a completely ridiculous situation. Why would you want someone's body in your back garden?'
The family's search for closure continues, 55 years after one of London's most enduring murder mysteries began.
