Allen Tiller's Blog, page 13
May 3, 2022
The Wimbledon Kidnapping: Part Three: Closure
Muriel McKay
In early 2022, Nizamodeen Hosein, now 75 years old revealed to police where he had buried the remains of Muriel McKay, who he, and his brother Arthur, had murdered 52 years prior in the bungled Rupert Murdoch kidnapping and blackmail plot.
It had long been suspected that the brothers had fed Mrs McKay’s body to their pigs. No evidence of her remains had ever been found. Hosein claimed that while Mrs McKay was his hostage, she collapsed and died while watching the news of her kidnapping on TV.
The two brothers had been sentenced to life at the Old Bailey for the kidnap and murder. It was believed to be the first prosecution to go ahead without having a body to prove the murder. Nizamodeen was deported to Trinidad after serving his gaol time. Arthur died in prison in 2009.
Nizamodeen stated to the media, that his reason for revealing her burial location was that he was nearing death and wanted ‘closure’ before he ‘met his maker’. He also claimed that there was no violence toward her during the kidnapping.
© 2022 Allen Tiller
Tom Pettifor, Bungled Rupert Murdoch wife kidnapper FINALLY reveals where he buried murder victim, Mirror, (2022), https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news....
Sam Ramsden, Where Are Arthur & Nizamodeen Hosein Now?, Bustle, (2021), https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/....
May 1, 2022
Foundation of a City - Free Self Guided Walking Tour
Foundation of a City - Free Self Guided Walking Tour
'Foundation of a City' is available on the Discover Salisbury app (https://discoversalisbury.com.au/abou...)
This tour is history focussed, exploring the lives of the men and women that founded the City of Salisbury in South Australia. It took many months of research, writing, and planning that was aided by the founder of Salisbury, John Harvey's, descendants, and descendants of Joseph Broadstock; men who shaped the city into what we have today! Mary Ann Harvey and Charlotte Pretty, women who helped shape Salisbury also get recognition for their influence on Salisbury - take the tour to learn more!
April 26, 2022
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.
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 1st, 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 TillerThe McKay Kidnapping, Crime+Investigation, (2022), https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co....
April 19, 2022
The Wimbledon Kidnapping: Part One: Rupert and Anna Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch wife Anna Murdoch and their three children, (left to right) Elisabeth (9), Lachlan (6), and James (5), New York, 1977Rupert Murdoch is ingrained in Adelaide’s history, having started his empire in the City of Churches. He has never been far from controversy, and in the late 1960s was associated with a murder. Before I get to that, a brief background on one of Australia’s most successful men.
Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1931, Keith Rupert Murdoch became the head of one of the largest media empires in the world. Murdoch was the son of Sir Keith Murdoch an Australian war correspondent and publisher. In 1952, Sir Keith Murdoch died, leaving to his son Rupert an inheritance that included South Australian newspapers, The Sunday Mail and The News.
Under Rupert’s leadership, The Newsbecame a tabloid full of brash and salacious headlines. Murdoch sold The News in 1987 to Northern Star Holdings.It was on this inheritance that Murdoch founded News Corporation, later acquiring another South Australian newspaper, The Advertiser.
Murdoch grew his empire by purchasing newspapers in other Australian states and running the same headlines that featured sex and scandal.
In 1969, Murdoch expanded into the UK, acquiring News of the World, and like his Australian newspapers, this one also began to feature copious sex, crime and scandalous headlines, pushing sales through the roof. In 1970, Murdoch acquired The Sun, a London daily newspaper; and in 1973, Murdoch broke into the U.S. market by acquiring the San Antonio News. Later he acquired the New York Post, The Boston Herald, TV Guide, the Chicago Sun-Times, and New York Village Voice. He bought and sold newspapers over the decades before diversifying into radio, film, and television. He bought Twentieth Century – Fox Film Corporation, and later founded Fox Inc, after acquiring television stations in the USA.
Rupert’s profile increased through his media acquisitions, putting him on the radar of some very shady people!
In 1969, Arthur Hosein was watching TV with his brother Nizamodeen one night, when Rupert Murdoch and his wife Anna were featured on a program. Arthur had a ‘get rich quick' idea and decided to put it into action.
Hosein was a tailor’s cutter who had emigrated to the UK from Trinidad in 1955. He had big dreams of becoming an English squire and purchased a property for him and his wife near Hertfordshire. He applied to become a member of the local fox hunting club, even though he couldn’t ride a horse, or afford the subscription!
To alleviate his money problems Arthur concocted a plan to abduct Rupert Murdoch’s wife and hold her for ransom. They staked out the Murdoch’s Roll Royce, and followed it to its destination at 20 Arthur Street, Wimbledon, believing it to be Murdoch’s house.
The two men later broke into the home and abducted 55-year-old Muriel McKay, mistaking her for Anna Murdoch. Muriel and her husband Alick were Adelaide born and raised and had moved to London when Alick took the job of Newspaper Executive for News Limited. Muriel had been using the company car, the Murdoch Rolls Royce, while the Murdochs were on holiday in Australia.
Continued next week: The Wimbledon Kidnapping: Part Two: Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein
© 2022 Allen Tiller
[1] SA Memory, ‘News’, State Library of South Australia, (2013), https://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/p....
[2] Rupert Murdoch: Australian-born American publisher, Britannica, (2022), https://www.britannica.com/biography/....
[3] Rachel Scout, Arthur & Nizamodeen HOSEIN, Murderpedia, (2022), (https://murderpedia.org/male.H/h/hose....
April 12, 2022
The Sundown Murders: Part II: Execution or Exoneration?
In December 1857, the bodies of Thyra Bowman, her daughter Wendy, and family friend, Thomas Whelan were found at the Sundown Station in South Australia’s outback.
Raymond Bailey had been arrested and charged for the murders, claiming he, “had gone mad”.
The case against Bailey was overseen by Justice Reed. It took a jury 96 minutes to decide that Bailey was guilty. Evidence was not overwhelming against Bailey, but a statement he alleged to have given to police was enough to convict.Police also found gunshot casings at the murder site that matched casings found in Bailey’s car.
Bailey was found guilty and sentenced to hang.
It was announced in newspapers that Raymond John Bailey would be hanged at the Adelaide Gaol on 17 June 1958.He received a reprieve from hanging for one week after claiming there was a fourth body, he had buried. Bailey claimed he had witnessed a man burying the body of Mrs Bowman, and that he killed the man in self-defence. He also claimed to have buried the knife near where Mrs Bowman's car was found. Police took Bailey back to the Station, but he could not produce evidence of the buried body.
Bailey was hanged at 8am, Tuesday, June 24, 1958, in Her Majesty’s Adelaide Gaol.
As an interesting footnote to this case. Stephen Bishop, an investigative journalist has pushed for an exoneration for Bailey. Bishop believes his confession was coerced under duress, and that Detective Glen Hallahan forced Bailey’s confession. Bishop also claims that evidence was overlooked, or ignored, such as footprints that were too large to be Bailey’s, being found at the murder location.
[1] 'Bailey Found Guilty Of Sundown Murder', The Canberra Times, (21 May 1958), p. 8., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article912....
[2] 'Bailey to Hang on Tuesday', The Canberra Times, (21 June 1958), p. 3., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136....
[3] 'Bailey Hanged For Murder Of Mrs. Bowman', The Canberra Times, (25 June 1958), p. 12., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136....
April 5, 2022
The Sundown Murders: Part One – Confession
Raymond Bailey (center)December 1957, the bodies of Thyra Bowman, aged 44, her daughter Wendy, aged 14 and their family friend, Thomas Whelan aged 22 were found at a deserted outback property known as Sundown Station.
The trio was travelling from Glen Helen Station, via Alice Springs to Adelaide.
Each of them had fractured skulls and bullet wounds. Newspaper reports described them as being ‘clubbed to death', and their bodies hidden under 'blankets and canvas'.
Raymond Bailey aged 24, was arrested by Mount Isa (Queensland) police on a provisional warrant for the murders. Police in Queensland wanted the RAAF to fly Bailey’s car to Adelaide for forensic testing.Bailey was a married man and worked as a carpenter. He had one son. The family lived in Dubbo, New South Wales.
Bailey told police he was driving north to Alice Springs towing a caravan. He saw a Vanguard motor car parked on the side of the road, with three people sitting around the campfire. Bailey stopped further up the road, where his wife went to bed.
Raymond Bailey had been arrested at Mount Isa in Queensland under suspicion of murder in outback South Australia. In court, Prosecutor, Mr E.B. Scarfe, read to the Judge and Jury a statement allegedly from Bailey, confessing to the crime.
It read,
"I saw the three people lying down. I heard a noise behind me when I was passing through the camp and was just about through it and I turned around and fired. I did not see if it was, but it sounded like a dog growling.
When I fired, a chap jumped up and made a noise and fell down again. I thought I had killed him and I just went mad after that. When I did this I thought I would have to kill the lot and cover up.
The young girl and the woman rushed towards, me. That was when I moved over to see if the chap was dead.
I loaded my rifle again and aimed it at the older woman who was rushing towards me and fired. She fell down straight away. "The young girl ran at me too, so I loaded again, aimed it and shot her. She fell down, too. "I don't know how many times I shot them. I just went mad.”
I put the three bodies in the Vanguard car together in the back and put all the canvas and blankets and other stuff that I could find around the camp with them. Then I drove the Vanguard car into the scrub on the other side of the road and went in a fair way and emptied the back of all the bodies and blankets and canvas. I laid the bodies out and put the canvas and blanket over them as well as everything else that was there.”
After walking back to his caravan, Bailey washed and went to bed. His wife asked where he had been, and he lied, telling her he had been sick. The next morning, he awoke early and headed back to where he had killed the trio. He found two dogs tied to a tree and shot them.
He then told police, as he neared Alice Springs, he threw the rifle away into the scrub. Somewhere between Tennant Creek and Mount Isa, he had thrown Whelan’s now empty wallet from the car.
Next Week: The Sundown Murders: Part Two: Execution
© 2022 Allen Tiller
[1] 'Science May Solve Sundown Murder', The Canberra Times, (9 Jan 1958), p. 15., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article912....
[2] 'Charge Follows Arrest Of Murder Suspect', The Canberra Times, (24 Jan 1958), p. 3., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article912....
[3] 'Man Shot Accidentally, Baily Told Detectives', The Canberra Times, (14 May 1958), p. 7., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article912....
March 29, 2022
A Haunting at The Crown Hotel – Victor Harbor
Crown Hotel - 1880Victor Harbor was originally known as Port Victor. In 1865, George Missen opened the Crown Inn there, at 2 Ocean Street.Missen had previously had the license to the Fountain Inn at Encounter Bay (another allegedly haunted location you can read about here: https://hauntedadelaide.blogspot.com/...)
Missen sold the hotel in 1866 to Mr James Greenfield of Mount Barker.Despite persistent rumours, Mr Missen did not commit suicide in the hotel. He moved to Melton, Victoria, where he died.
In 1876, Licensee, John Hart added a balcony. In 1927, under the ownership of Mr Jacobs, a vacant lot next to the hotel, facing Railway Terrace, was utilised for extensions to the hotel. A few years later, the original hotel was demolished, and a new one was built to match the 1927 extensions.In 1935, renovations saw the construction of balconies that spanned from Railway Terrace to Ocean Street.
The Crown Inn at Victor Harbor is allegedly haunted by a ghost named George. He is believed to be the first manager of the hotel. People report hearing disembodied footsteps in this hotel, and seeing locked doors, unlock, and open of their own volition.
A staff member claims to have been working behind the bar and witnessed a beer glass levitate off the bar, and smash onto the floor.
It has also been claimed, (much like the North Kapunda Hotel), that staff would lay out a room for functions the night prior, lock the doors and leave. The next morning, they would return, and all the menus placed the night prior, would be upside down, or chairs, cutlery or tables would have been moved. This is despite no one being inside the building. The building is locked and has a security alarm that detects movement!
So, if it is not George Missen that haunts the hotel, then who could it be?
Have you experienced the haunting of the Crown Hotel, Victor Harbor?
I would love to hear your experiences, contact me in the comments below, or via Facebook!
Photos:
Crown Hotel, Victor Harbor 1880 - SLSA [B 8312].
Crown Hotel, Victor Harbor 1866 - SLSA [B 5688]
© 2022 Researched and written by Allen Tiller
J.L. Hoad, Hotels and Publicans in South Australia, (1986) p. 149.
Donovan and Associates, Victor Harbor Heritage Survey, City of Victor Harbor, (1997), p. 227.
George F Missen (1808 - 1883), WikiTree, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Missen-16.
'New Lessee for Hotel Crown.', Victor Harbour Times, (22 April 1949), p. 3., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164....
March 22, 2022
Victor Harbor – Granite Island Causeway
In 1862 work began on a 195-metre jetty at Victor Harbor, which was completed in 1864. Between 1872 and 1875, the jetty was extended to Granite Island making a causeway with a railway on it.
The Granite Island Causeway was officially closed on 31 January 2022. Demolition work began in February 2022, with portions of the causeway to be retained at each end of the new causeway as viewing platforms.
The Department for Infrastructure and Transport began construction of a new causeway in March 2021. It was officially opened on Wednesday, 22 December 2021 by the Mayor of Victor Harbor, Dr Moira Jenkins.
The new causeway features rest areas, viewpoints and artworks by Ngarrindjeri-Ramindjeri peoples.
We visited in January 2022; the photos below are from our visit.
https://www.victor.sa.gov.au/notice-b....
March 15, 2022
A Lady in Black - McCloud House at Port Noarlunga
McCloud House 1928McCloud House at Port Noarlunga was built by the McLeod sisters in 1929. The three sisters; Mary Ann (1864-1946), Rebecca (1869-1945) and Bertha McLeod (1871-1963) lived at ‘Strathfield’ in Katherine Street, Port Noarlunga at the time of construction.
The sisters were the three youngest daughters of John Douglas McCloud and Sarah Ann Darley McCloud (nee Moorhouse). Other children included: Elizabeth (1855-1930), James (1856-1934), Edward (1858-1964), Sarah (1863-1945), John (Jack) (1867-1953). The McCloud family had arrived in South Australia on board the vessel Marion in 1848.
According to the 2003 Onkaparinga Heritage Survey, undertaken by Bruce Harry and Associates, the property was built during the 1920s peak period when Port Noarlunga was touted as a new “Holiday Makers’ Paradise”.
The McCloud sisters rented the property out as a boarding house, with Mary-Ann listed as the ‘boardinghouse-proprietress’ in local electoral rolls.
McCloud House 1935Bertha sold the house in 1951.The property was auctioned a second time in 1953 by estate agents, Jackman and Treloar, who listed the property as,
'McCLOUD HOUSE. 'that widely known exclusive Guest Home together with which is a delicatessen, to be sold as a going concern with all the good furniture and equipment.’
In his book, ‘Ghosts and Hauntings of South Australia’, author, Gordon de L. Marshall alleges that the building is haunted. A former owner of the building, Mrs Lillian Jackson, claimed the house was haunted and delivered her version of events in Marshall’s book.
Mrs Jackson and her husband would often wake in the middle of the night, hearing footsteps walking through the empty hallways.
On one occasion a guest asked Mrs Jackson why she had changed her clothing, as she had seen her only minutes ago wearing a long black dress. When prompted as to where and when she had seen her in different clothing, the guest explained, she had walked past the Jacksons bedroom and seen her standing at the foot of the bed wearing a long black gown. Other guests, at different times, had seen the woman in the long black dress as well, but no one could identify her.
Mrs Jackson tracked down Bertha McCloud, who was in a nursing home, to see if she could explain some of the ghostly goings-on in the building. The sister was vague with her answers but did state “My sisters would never leave the house, never!”. Marshall concludes that perhaps they never left at all!
Rebecca died on 14 August 1945 at ‘Strathfield’, Port Noarlunga, she was buried in Bains Cemetery, Morphett Vale.Mary Ann died one year later on the 25th of August 1946. Bertha died on 17 August 1963; all three sisters are buried in the same grave plot.
All three sisters died at their home Strathfield on Katherine Street, Port Noarlunga. Evidence would suggest none of them ever resided in McCloud House while alive. Bertha, no doubt, in her statement to Mrs Jackson, was referring to her sister never leaving Strathfield in their later years. So, this leaves the question, who allegedly haunts McCloud house?
Is it one of the three sisters? Is it someone else?
Have you experienced this haunting, or have something to add to the story, then please leave a comment below.
@2022 Allen Tiller.
Photos:
1928: McCloud Guest House - SLSA [PRG 1316/12/110]
1935: McCloud Guest House – SLSA [PRG 1316/12/97]
Bruce Harry & Associates, ‘Noarlunga Local Heritage Register’, City of Onkaparinga, (Nov 2003), P. 241.
Barker, Morphett Vale, Australian Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, South Australia, (1939).
'Advertising', The Mail, (27 Jan 1951), p. 41., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article558....
'Advertising', The Advertiser, (8 Aug 1953), p. 23., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article482....
Ghosts and Hauntings in South Australia’, Gordon de L. Marshall, (2010), p. 108.
'Advertising', The Advertiser, (15 Aug 1945), p. 12., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article435....
March 8, 2022
ANDREW MORDOWICZ – Cold Case 1996
At 3:47am on Sunday the 29th of September 1996, Yellow Taxis received a request call for a 4:30am pickup from Klemzig to Adelaide. It was unusual for someone to want to be travelling into the city at this time of the morning as most of the clubs were starting to close.
43-year-old taxi driver, Andrew Mordowicz hit the little red button that accepts the fare on the taxi CB radio and headed to Klemzig.
Mordowicz arrived at Fife Street, Klemzig, a quiet cul-de-sac, only to discover number 79 didn’t exist. He spoke briefly to the dispatch officer over the radio, then decided to go knock on the door of number 78.
Moments later neighbours were woken by the sounds of gunshots. The neighbours investigated and found Mordowicz lying in the driveway with two gunshot wounds. An ambulance was called, and Mordowicz taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where he died a short time later.
Police investigators never found the suspect, the gun or a motive. Mordowicz’s coin dispenser was still in his taxi, untouched. He also had cash in his wallet, so robbery does not seem like the motive. In a 2019 interview with the ABC, Detective Sergeant Ann Schaefer stated, “It appears to be a robbery gone wrong, but we keep an open mind and we can't rule out the possibility that Andrew was deliberately targeted."
If you know something about this case, police are still investigating. There is a reward of up to $200,000 for anyone who provides information that leads to a conviction for this crime. You can contact Crime Stoppers on 1 800 333 000 or email at Sapol.Coldcase@police.sa.gov.au
Can You Help Solve the Murder of Taxi Driver Andrew Mordowicz?, Crime Stoppers,(2019), https://crimestopperssa.com.au/media-...
Taxi driver shot dead in Adelaide driveway was lured, police say, but motive remains unclear, ABC News, (2019). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-2...
