Bone found near betting shop after decades-long search of murdered woman

A bone has been found near a betting shop where a woman is believed to have been buried 57 years ago.

Muriel McKay, the wealthy wife of newspaper executive Alick McKay, was kidnapped for a £1 million ransom in 1969 after being mistaken for Anna Murdoch, the then-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Two men, Nizamodeen Hosein, with his brother Arthur, were convicted of her murder in 1970.

Now a bone, measuring about nine inches long and a couple of inches wide, has been found near a betting shop in east London where her family believe she was buried.

The Metropolitan Police told Metro: ‘Police are aware of reports surrounding the discovery of a single bone in the garden of a property in Bethnal Green Road, Hackney. The bone was uncovered on Friday, 20 March, during an independent search.

‘Officers attended the scene assisted by forensic colleagues who have determined the bone does not belong to a human.’

Following their conviction 56 years ago, the Hosein brothers refused to tell police where they buried her body – a secret Arthur took to his grave.

But in 2024, Nizamodeen told Muriel’s daughter, Dianne, and her grandson, Mark Dyer, where he hid her body, which was at a farm near Stocking Pelham, in Hertfordshire, where she was held hostage.

After a dig was carried out, no remains were found. But over a year later, new information came to light suggesting that her body was buried near a betting shop in Bethnal Green Road, east London, prompting her family to urge for a dig to be carried out.

In a statement to Sky News, Mr Dyer said: ‘It would be a great outcome to end this ghastly mystery for our whole family and all of those who’ve been interested enough to follow our story.’

This is a breaking news story and is being updated.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@usnewsrank.com.

For more stories like this, check our news page.