The Wimbledon Kidnapping

-Nine, four, six, two, six, five, six.

It was a unique case.

The end of 1969.

We'd never had a kidnapping in Britain.

They just didn't know what was happening.

We didn't have the scientific progress we've had today.

I mean, it's horrifying.

-Since she disappeared early yesterday evening,

there have been a number of telephone calls

demanding ransom money.

I opened the door only to find

things scattered on the floor,

which had come from her handbag.

Telephone was lying on the floor.

The, uh, chair was... some disarray.

And then I noticed this machete.

-Mr. McKay came home last night expecting to meet his wife,

who should have been indoors.

The doors were open, wife wasn't there.

We're treating this as an abduction.

-The police did not know what to do.

No police force had ever dealt with a kidnapping case.

Not only was that, but there was no Mrs. McKay.

There was no evidence that she was dead or alive.

-This woman is this is Mrs. McKay.

She was wearing a medium green knitted suit,

just below the knee.

Probably wearing low-heeled shoes.

-To us, a million pounds ransom is just incredible anyway.

My mother hasn't any enemies.

-And I would say this to whoever has got my mother-in-law:

he's not going to crack this family.

We've got plenty of... reserves yet.

My heart went out to them.

How can you suddenly lose

a mother and a wife just like that?

-We're looking back to a different time.

My mother, she met my father

when she was still probably a schoolgirl.

They were engaged at 18 and married at 21,

which is what you did in those days, I think.

Then I was born when she was 23.

And my mother won an art scholarship

and somebody must have dissuaded her from that.

You know, "Oh, you don't want to do that.

You're not going to be an artist.

You're going to be a mother, you know,

and have lots of babies."

The Murdochs were from Adelaide,

my father -- first job in newspapers,

was working for Rupert Murdoch's father

with South Australian people,

which tend to think of themselves

as a bit sort of special.

Not the same as the other ones.

Nice memories. We had some lovely times.

-"The Daily Mirror" from London offered my father a big job,

a directorship, and it really uprooted us.

I mean, to take away 16 year old

from all their friends.

But my father just took us all away, that was it.

We were scooped up and dumped in London.

I would have had a very different life

had we stayed there.

My father then moved on to be with Rupert.

-We moved into that house in 1958.

It was a happy place to be.

It was absolute heaven in the summer when the tennis was on.

-The first day of Wimbledon fortnight.

The favorite spot for the fashion parade

is just outside the center court.

-Everybody came and parked, you know, tried.

-...celebrities too -- there's Mrs. Chris Madden,

the wife of the number-four seed.

-They were very Victorian parents.

And they all got married too young

because it was one acceptable way of leaving home.

And that's what happened to me.

We had a nice life, but somebody came along and jumped on that.

It's 1969.

My parents have been staying with us

for two nights over Christmas.

-Then they'd gone back to London.

My father had work to do.

-...with the market report for farmers.

So until then,

ladies and gentlemen, goodnight to you all.

Good night.

The phone rang.

That was my father, and he said, "Your mother's gone."

And we froze, and he said, "I don't know,

maybe there's been another burglary."

There had been a burglary a few months earlier

and she was pretty freaked out by that.

-I was the night duty CO of the area.

And when I got there, I saw damage to the inside porch door.

There were also senior members of the Fleet Street press

who were friendly with Mr McKay,

influential men --

fortunately, some of them who had access to

Number 10 Downing Street.

-The drama of the entrance hall with the phone on the floor...

You know, the desk in the hall with the knife,

the big bell hook,

the string, the twine -- all that was all there.

-The uniform chief superintendent

was a little bit skeptical.

He thought that this was a Fleet Street stunt.

Either that or Mrs. McKay had gone of her own free will.

-It was horror! It was a horror scene.

I mean, it was so obvious that something terrible had happened,

it was just obvious.

And then when the police came and they started saying,

"Oh, no, your mother, she's run away with her lover,

she's gone to Aus--" You don't know my mother!

I'm telling you my mother is not --

this is -- something violent has happened!

And the door was broken -- come on, you know?

They were -- I'm sorry, I don't have a lot of respect

for the police.

We expected some sort of telephone call

because telephone disk, with the number on it,

had been removed and was gone.

I sat by that phone all night.

'Course, we didn't have anything to record with.

-We were somewhat unprofessional in those days.

I managed to get the extension

and overheard the initial contact.

This is a transcript of the notes I made.

"This is Mafia Group 3.

We are from America. Mafia M3."

"We tried to get Rupert Murdoch's wife.

We couldn't get her so we took yours instead."

"You will need a million pounds by Wednesday."

And it was pretty horrific.

And I said, "That man has the accent of a foreigner.

He has an accent of the Caribbean, I think."

-It was really a very extraordinary case.

Which became a major issue publicly.

And it was a case which had an impact

on the relationship of West Indians in London

to other people as well.

Some people saw it as a deliberate attempt

to frame West Indians

for the kidnapping of an Australian white woman.

-Already their coming has caused a national controversy.

But one point must always be borne in mind:

Whatever our feelings, we cannot deny them entry,

for all our British citizens

are entitled to the identical rights

of any member of the Empire.

-We will fight you back with every bone, every nerve,

every feeling, every ounce of blood we've got!

We will have our country back!

-I don't think any Black person

who was prepared for what they found in Britain.

Many of us had been invited,

actively recruited, to come to work here.

They're nothing but a scourge,

I would deport them tomorrow if I had my way.

-I didn't expect us to be seen as an alien force

that was unwanted in Britain.

-I was amazed they were brothers,

they were so different.

Arthur did what Arthur wanted to do,

and he felt that things revolved round him.

And I had that instinct

that there was something peculiar going on here.

Was a most unusual man -- black mustache, glaring eyes.

Arthur, to my mind, was like a panther ready to pounce.

Nizamodeen was a very retiring young man --

pale, not very strong.

He'd only been in Britain for a few months.

He was totally dependent on his brother, Arthur.

-It was -- it was lovely on the farm.

We had cows, things like that; chickens.

It was nice.

It was big.

It's really nice.

Nizam -- he's my Uncle Nizam -- I love him.

I just love him, and brings back so good memories again,

just hearing his name.

He was lovely.

He played with us, made me laugh.

Nizam, he was lovely.

He's a normal 21 year old guy.

How can he do anything like that?

There are questions all over this case.

-By 1968, his newspaper empire was flourishing

and Rupert Murdoch had emerged as a powerful press baron

now keen to seek new titles in the old world.

After a ferocious takeover battle,

the News of the World was his,

and before long, London began to notice Rupert Murdoch.

-Rupert Murdoch on his way to his office by Rolls-Royce.

He's chubby cheeked and open face,

but underneath, say those who know him,

he's a man of steel.

If he succeeds in gathering the News of the Worldreins

into his hands, it's likely they'll be in