A couple who killed a widower and left his body at the side of the motorway after making him film a “video confession” have been convicted of his murder.
Frank McKeever has not been seen since visiting his stepdaughter Surie Suksiri in Highbury, north London, on 28 August 2021. His body has also never been found.
On Tuesday, Suksiri, 32, and her partner, Juned Sheikh, 47, were found guilty at the Old Bailey of his murder and of preventing his lawful burial.
The court heard Suksiri sent a 47-second WhatsApp video to Sheikh’s sister around an hour after Mr McKeever arrived at her home on the night he was killed.
In it, Suksiri said “start” off-camera, before the 63-year-old victim spoke in a “flat tone” and admitted he assaulted her when she was six-years-old.
He ended the clip saying: “I deserve to be punished for it.”
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC had told jurors: “After he made that video confession, these two defendants killed him, and a few days later they removed his dead body from the flat and disposed of it.”
In evidence, Suksiri denied hurting Mr McKeever, instead saying her partner injured him with repeated elbow blows.
She told the jury the victim complained he needed an ambulance.
Realising he had died, Suksiri admitted she disposed of Mr McKeever’s body, but cold only recall it was beside a motorway, as Sheikh had driven them there.
She recalled they had taken the body from the car before Sheikh covered it in branches.
Sheikh did not answer questions following his arrest, and chose not to give evidence during the trial.
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During proceedings, it was suggested Mr McKeever had left the house alive and was not killed by Sheikh.
Mr McKeever’s disappearance was noticed because he was due to complete a house-swap with a couple who reported him missing once contact stopped.
Suksiri claimed at the time she had not spoken to Mr McKeever for more than 20 years, however jurors heard that on 2 September, she pawned three of his rings for £200.
Her sister-in-law raised concerns with social services, who went on to contact police after Suksiri told her about the confession on WhatsApp.
There were also recordings played in court of conversations Suksiri had with an undercover police officer last year, while she was released under police investigation.
The prosecution claimed it detailed a clear confession to the murder with Sheikh. The pair, from south London, denied the charges.
‘Rot in hell’
After the verdicts, Sheikh told jurors it was “not down to reasonable doubt” and they were “racist”. He also said should “rot in hell” before he was taken from the dock.
Emma Currie, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said the defendants killed Mr McKeever in a “calculated and cold-hearted way”.
She said: “What makes this case even more shocking is that Suksiri and Sheikh both know where they disposed of Mr McKeever’s body but have so far declined to help police.
“It must be agonising for Mr McKeever’s family to have been prevented from paying their final respects to him and are left dealing with his loss without really knowing what happened to him.
“I hope that today’s verdict will at least provide Frank McKeever’s family and friends with a feeling that justice has been delivered.”
The pair will be sentenced on 20 November.
