TWO people have been convicted of the murder of missing man Frank McKeever, whose body has never been recovered following his 2021 disappearance.
At the Old Bailey on Tuesday, Mr McKeever's stepdaughter Surie Suksiri, 31, and her boyfriend Juned Sheikh, 48, were convicted of murder and preventing a lawful burial.
According to police, Suksiri told a witness how she and Sheikh had 'battered the f***' out of the 63-year-old before disposing of his body.
"Today's result was the culmination of over two years of painstaking detective work in which we did everything we possibly could to piece together Frank McKeever's last movements and establish the motive for his murder," said Detective Inspector Laura Nelson of the Met Police.
Disappearance
Mr McKeever was last seen on August 28, 2021 when he visited Suksiri and her boyfriend at their flat in Highbury. He was reported missing 12 days later.
CCTV captured him close to the flat on the night he was last seen, while there was no activity on his phone or bank account after that date.
The lack of contact with family or friends led detectives to the conclusion that Mr McKeever was no longer alive.
Mr McKeever's body has never been found (Image: Met Police)As the last people to see Mr McKeever before his disappearance, Suksiri and Sheikh were interviewed by police during the missing person's investigation.
Suksiri was first arrested on September 28, 2021, with Sheikh being detained three days later, before the pair were released under investigation.
The breakthrough came when Suksiri told a witness that she and Sheikh had murdered Mr McKeever and disposed of his body.
On October 17, 2022, she told the witness that Mr McKeever had abused her when she was a child.
However, there were no formal allegations against Mr McKeever and there was no evidence found during the course of the investigation to suggest this was true.
Suksiri went on to describe how she and Sheikh had 'battered the f***' out of Mr McKeever before buying a car and disposing of his body '80 miles' outside of London.
Surie Suksiri and Juned Sheikh have been convicted of murder and preventing a lawful burial (Images: Met Police)Other information Suksiri shared with the witness led detectives to believe Mr McKeever had suffered a prolonged and cruel attack that had happened when he visited the flat.
Investigators were able to corroborate the information that Suksuri had provided to the witness.
They found that in the days after Mr McKeever was last seen, the couple had searched online for a cheap car to buy.
Further enquiries revealed Suksiri had taken £200 worth of Mr McKeever's jewellery to a pawnbrokers on September 2, 2021.
It is believed they used the money they got in exchange for the jewellery to buy the car used to dispose of the body.
The pair were re-arrested on October 20, 2022 and were charged with Mr McKeever's murder.
Searches
Over the past two years, officers have made extensive efforts to find Mr McKeever's body.
After his disappearance, searches were carried out at the West Reservoir near to Finsbury Park and the New River Path.
Further searches took place in June 2023 near to the Welford Truck Stop in Northampton and Lutterworth in Leicestershire, both around 80 miles from London.
However, no trace of Mr McKeever's body has ever been found and detectives have been unable to recover any evidence to indicate where the pair took him after his death.
"Working with colleagues from across the Met we were able to build a compelling case against Surie Suksuri and Juned Sheikh," said DI Nelson.
"Whilst today’s verdict has delivered justice for Frank McKeever, the result is bittersweet for his family.
"They have not been able to bury their much-missed brother and the main question of where he is remains unanswered.
"My team will continue to act on any information which may lead to the location of Frank and the charity Crimestoppers continues to offer a reward for information leading to his whereabouts."
Suksiri, formerly of The Chestnuts, Highbury and Sheikh, of Haywood Street, Southwark will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Monday, November 20.
