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.

Both brothers refused to tell police where they buried her body – a secret Arthur took to his grave.

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.

Now police have said a bone, measuring about nine inches long and a couple of inches wide, has been found around a metre down in the back yard of the shop.

In a statement to Sky News, they said: ‘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 during an independent search.

‘Officers are now on scene and work is being undertaken to establish the origin.’

Mr Dyer told the broadcaster: ‘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.

‘Four years of intense investigation have led us here and we’re waiting to hear if the bone is human. It’s been found in a place we were told to look last year.’

Metro has contacted the Met for further information.

This is a breaking news story and is being updated.

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