A new BBC Radio 4 podcast series will tell the story of the 1969 kidnapping of Muriel MacKay, after fresh searches by the Metropolitan police at a farm in Hertfordshire.
In the winter of 1969, Muriel MacKay, wife of Rupert Murdoch, vice-chairman of News Limited, was kidnapped from her home in Wimbledon, south-west London.
The kidnappers claimed they had tried to kidnap Rupert Murdoch's wife Anna but were unable to do so so instead they kidnapped Muriel, who was never seen again.
Conspiracy: Worse Than Murder tells the story of what happened the night Muriel was taken, and in the days, months and years that followed.
The case baffled the police and led to the biggest manhunt of its time, with the Metropolitan police racing against time to find Muriel, but the kidnapping also had another significance: it helped turn the British tabloid press into the monsters we know it as today.
Using testimony from members of the MacKay family and previously unaired recordings of phone conversations with the kidnapper, the podcast explores the impact the kidnapping has had on Muriel's family for 54 years, and what it says about a key moment in tabloid history.
The report, published by investigative journalist Jane McSorley with Simon Farquhar, author of A Desperate Business: The Murder of the Desperate Business, also reports on the latest developments, with the Metropolitan police confirming they will reopen the search for Muriel MacKay's body at a Hertfordshire farm, more than half a century after her death.
Editor-in-chief Daniel Clarke said: “This series sheds new light on one of the most tragic kidnapping cases in 20th century British history and the impact it had on Muriel MacKay's family.”
“This case also shows a lot about how the police and the press operated in the late 60s and early 70s, which makes it extremely eye-opening. As the Metropolitan police resume their search for Mrs MacKay's body, we are hopeful that after 54 long years we can bring some closure.”
Investigative journalist Jane McSorley says: “The series takes its name from a senior detective deeply involved in the case, who witnessed the unimaginable suffering endured by the MacKay family over the days, weeks and months, and described Muriel's abduction as 'worse than murder'.”
“Over the past few months Simon and I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know Muriel's three children, who are now in their 80s. Even after all these decades the horror of what they went through, and what they still go through, is clear. Their living hell continues to this day and their agonising wait to find their mother may soon be over.
“In my long career as an investigative journalist, this story stands out more than any I've ever worked on.”
Episode one will be released on BBC Sounds on Monday 15th July and the series will air weekly from 9.30am on Wednesday 24th July on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
