MURDOCH KIDNAP PLOT

THE BIZARRE CASE RESULTED IN THE MURDER OF THE MEDIA MOGUL'S FRIEND, MURIEL MCKAY

-  John Burfitt

Australian media baron Rupert Murdoch made his move into the UK in 1969 by buying the tabloid newspapers, News of the World and The Sun.

Watching Murdoch on TV being interviewed about the takeover, London tailor Arthur Hosein turned to his brother, Nizamodeen, and said: "He [Murdoch] would be worth a lot of money if he was held captive." The Indo-Trinidadian brothers hatched a plan to kidnap Murdoch's wife, Anna, and hold her hostage in return for a ransom. The brothers identified Murdoch's Rolls-Royce and followed it around London, waiting for their moment to kidnap Anna.

What eventuated, however, was a horrible case of mistaken identity in which Anna's close friend, Australian Muriel McKay, was instead abducted and believed murdered. No trace of Muriel's body has ever been found.

The documentary The Wimbledon Kidnapping offers new revelations from Muriel's family, as well as the Hosein family, about what they believe really happened. While Arthur and Nizamodeen were found guilty of murder, new information suggests there might have been another person who masterminded the entire operation.

When the Hosein brothers decided to strike just before Christmas in 1969, the Murdochs were in Australia and had loaned their distinctive car to Alick McKay, one of Murdoch's top executives originally from Adelaide. Alick was Muriel's husband.