The Wimbledon Kidnapping: Part Two: Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein

Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein

  At 7:45 pm on Sunday 29 December 1969, News Limited Deputy Chairman, Alick McKay returned to his home at Wimbledon to find his front door wide open and his wife missing. The phone had been pulled from the wall, her handbag contents were strewn across the house and a meat clever lay on the floor.[1]
 Alick called the police from his neighbour's house at 8pm. Hours later, at 1 am, Alick received a phone call from an unknown male, who stated he was ‘M3’, part of ‘Mafia M3’. Over the coming weeks, there would be 18 phone calls from M3 and three letters, demanding 1 million pounds or the man would kill Mrs McKay. In one phone call, the man claimed, “We tried to get Rupert Murdoch’s wife. We couldn’t get her, so we took yours instead. You have a million by Wednesday night or we will kill her.”

 On February 1^st, 1970, the Mafia M3 three contacted McKay’s son Ian and demanded £500, 000 pounds be delivered to a drop off point. The police sent their own man in dressed as Ian, but perhaps suspecting an ambush, the kidnappers didn’t show.
 The next communication stated that Alick and his daughter, Diane would deliver two suitcases of money to a destination on 6 February. Police again played the role of the McKay’s. They delivered the suitcases, but an unsuspecting member of the public reported the out of place cases to local police, who knew nothing about the ambush and arrived on the scene.
 Police who had staked out the location noted a silver Volvo driving past repeatedly, registered to Arthur Hosein, so they ran a background check. Hosein’s fingerprints matched those found on ransom notes.
 Police raided the Hosein farm and scoured it for clues. They could find no trace of Muriel McKay but were positive she was dead. They charged the brothers for their kidnapping and ransom plot, and then charged them for murder, even without evidence that Muriel McKay was dead!

 

Arthur Hosein's house where Muriel McKay was held hostage.

The brothers faced trial at the Old Bailey on 14 September 1970. They were both found guilty on all charges on 6 October. They received life sentences, plus, on the charges of blackmail and kidnapping, Arthur recurved 25 years and Nizamodeen, 15 years.

 

…but the story doesn’t end there…

 

To be concluded next week: The Wimbledon Kidnapping: Part Three: Closure

© 2022 Allen Tiller

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[1] The McKay Kidnapping, Crime+Investigation, (2022), https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/mckay-kidnapping