A widower was killed after filming a “video confession” saying he had assaulted his stepdaughter and deserved to be punished, a court has heard.
Frank McKeever “vanished off the face of the Earth” after visiting his late wife’s daughter Surie Suksiri on the evening of 28 August 2021, the Old Bailey was told.
Shortly after arriving at Suksiri’s home in Highbury, north London, he was filmed in a 47-second video, sent via WhatsApp, saying in a “flat tone” that he had assaulted her when she was six years old, jurors heard.
The video concluded “ominously” with the words: “I deserve to be punished for it”, prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC said.
Suksiri, 31, and her boyfriend Juned Sheikh, 47, are on trial accused of the murder of 63-year-old Mr McKeever and preventing his lawful burial.
The video was sent over the messaging app to Sheikh’s sister, jurors were told.
Mr Emlyn Jones said the trial is about what happened to Mr McKeever after he had made the confession.
“After that night, Frank McKeever was never seen again,” the prosecutor told the court.
“He did come out of the flat once, together with Juned Sheikh – they left for a few minutes and then they both headed back to the flat.
“And that’s it – after that Frank McKeever vanished off the face of the Earth.”
The prosecutor said the reason for this was because the two defendants had killed him, and removed Mr McKeever’s dead body from the flat, disposing of it in a remote location outside of London a few days later.
“His body has never been found,” Mr Emlyn Jones said.
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The court was told Sheikh’s case was that the prosecution are wrong and Mr McKeever left the house alive.
According to Suksiri, Mr McKeever died at her flat but she does not know how, jurors heard.
Mr Emlyn Jones said that her case was that she was “in a panic” and, together with Sheikh, drove the body to a remote location out of London and dumped it.
The prosecutor said jurors would have to consider the issue of “whether she was so frightened of what Juned Sheikh would do if she didn’t help him dump the body that she did it completely against her will”.
Both defendants deny the charges against them.
The trial continues.
