"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything"
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Gonçalo Amaral's TVI Documentary - 30 April 2009
Gonçalo Amaral - 'The Truth Of The Lie'
The Oprah Show/New Maddie Image - 04 May 2009
The Cancelled Reconstruction
'Madeleine Was Here' Documentary - 07 May 2009
findmadeleine.com - Latest official updates
Gonçalo Amaral interviews
Eddie and Keela: The Videos
Analysis of McCann Media Interviews - Dr Martin Roberts
The documentary the McCanns don't want you to see, 30 April 2009
'A Verdade da Mentira', 'Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie'
Clarence Mitchell: "...the station that broadcasts it will be sued by our lawyers."
The documentary - based on Gonçalo Amaral's book, 'The Truth Of The Lie' - was broadcast
on Portuguese channel TVI on Monday 13th April 2009.
Documentary also available in a
6-part English narration version: Click here
Latest news/Newly added old articles of interest
BBC response to complaint about the forthcoming appearance of Kate McCann on Good
Morning Sunday, 11 March 2010
BBC response
11 March 2010
'The guests on Good Morning Sunday reflect the impact of faith on their lives in many different ways. Over the last
few years the guests on Mothering Sunday have all told powerful personal stories in which their religious belief has played
an important part. Included among those stories have been the death of a child and coping with illness. The interview with
Kate McCann offers a similar opportunity for the listeners to hear someone talk about how their faith has sustained them through
the experience of trying to come to terms with a missing child and the effect that has had on their family.'
Madeleine's Mum In Missing People Run, 11 March 2010
The mother of Madeleine McCann is taking part in a charity run to raise money to help find missing people.
Kate McCann has vowed to keep hunting for her missing daughter
Kate McCann will join the 10km Miles for Missing People run, taking place in London's Hyde Park on
Saturday, with other families whose loved ones have vanished.
Rachel Elias, sister of former Manic Street Preachers
guitarist Richey Edwards, who went missing in 1995, will be attending the event.
Nicki Durbin, whose son Luke disappeared
in 2006, is also set to run.
Mrs McCann, 42, and her husband Gerry, 41, from Rothley, Leicestershire, were on holiday
with their three children in Praia da Luz in Portugal when Madeleine went missing in May 2007.
She said: "I'm
running the Miles for Missing People for all missing children.
"Gerry and I know the pain that having Madeleine
missing has caused us, but sadly we are not alone.
"There are thousands of families across the UK waiting
for news.
"That's why Missing People provides support for missing children, vulnerable adults and families
left behind, and we want to do all we can to help them."
Fundraiser: Kate McCann My page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/KateMcCann1 I'm running Miles for Missing People for all missing children. Gerry and I know
the pain that having Madeleine missing has caused us, but sadly we are not alone. There are thousands of families across the
UK waiting for news. That's why Missing People provides support for missing children, vulnerable adults and families left
behind, and we want to do all we can to help them. We will be raising money for the charity's vital work and we hope people
around the country will join us as we remember missing children everywhere.
On Saturday 13 March 2010 families of the missing will be joined by hundreds of supporters
to run 6.2 miles (10k) in Hyde Park, London in memory of missing loved ones.
McCanns' detective asserts that if Maddie was dead her body would have been
found by now, 10 March 2010
McCanns' detective asserts that if Maddie was dead her body would have been found by now RTP
Posted online: 2010-03-10
20:58:42 (Interview: 09 March 2010) Thanks to Joana Morais for this translated text
The private detective that was hired by
the McCann couple asserts that if Madeleine was dead, her body would have been found by now. Retired from the English police,
David Edgar has the discovery of one missing child on his curriculum. He accompanied Kate and Gerry on the trip that they
made to Portugal this week, whose primary purpose it was for them to gain access to the leads that arrived at the PJ since
the case was shelved, one and a half year ago.
Transcript
By Nigel Moore
Gerry McCann: The biggest
fear for us is that it puts Madeleine in danger, errr... I think there are many...
Kate McCann:
Or makes the chances of... of... of us finding her much more difficult.
Sandra Felgueiras: When
you think about dangers, what kind of things do you think about?
GM: It's very difficult,
isn't it? In terms of, errm... because until you know who's taken her, you've no idea, and there's been many
different scenarios, errr... by which children are taken and have been held for very long periods of time, including years,
and to the outward world they seem to be living a normal life. I think with a... a young child, in particular, the chances
of taking them to, errr... a new environment and they're... and adapting is greater.
SF: You
confess that you think that some of these leads should have been better investigated. But last week, errr... the Portuguese
Public General Attorney said that all the leads that were recently, errr... reported to the PJ after July 2008, errr... were
totally investigated and none... none was sufficiently reliable to reopen the case. Why do you think that the General Public
Attorney would say that if, errr... this wasn't true?
GM: The first thing we have to do is
to... to look at the information but, from what we have seen so far, is, the same thing has been written about each individual
piece of information and there is no evidence of the... in the information that has been disclosed but, you know, it's
not acceptable to parents of a missing child for everything to be discounted. You know, it doesn't matter what the information,
it's just discounted, and that is not acceptable and if it's better for us as a family for the file to be open then
that... that's what we'll press for.
(...)
Dave Edgar: Five or six occasions
we have followed really positive lines of inquiry
SF: Do you still believe that it is possible
to find Madeleine alive?
DE: Of course, it is. Of course, it is. Errm... No body has been found,
errr... and my experience in these cases, errm... if the child's been killed, they dump the body virtually straight away;
because obviously these people don't want to be associated with the body.
(...)
SF: From
all that have been talked, errr... through all this time there's any that touched you most, that you kept thinking about
it; could have been her?
GM: I mean the things that, errr... are the most obvious are the sightings
on the night of a... a child being carried; two separate things in Praia da Luz, errm... but since then I don't think
there's been anything, errm... that I've really... there's been one or two I've looked at twice.
SF: Can you tell me which were they?
GM: Can't remember the specific, errr...
KM: There was one, wasn't there? Errr... I don't know if that was Amsterdam or Brussels
GM: Errr... There was one like that.
KM: And that was what; we had to
look at it.
The McCanns are asked if they had ever felt a 'sighting' could
have been Madeleine
Gerry McCann finds it amusing, when describing the two
separate 'sightings' of Madeleine of the night of May 3rd
Is it possible to find Madeleine alive? "Of course,
it is," says Dave Edgar - but, as he speaks, his head shakes from side-to-side indicating a different answer
is being suppressed
By ANTONELLA LAZZERI Published: Today (10 March 2010)
KATE McCann has revealed she seeks strength by visiting missing daughter Madeleine's
bedroom twice a day.
The mum-of-three said the room at their home in Rothley, Leics, is still the
way it was when Maddie vanished from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz nearly three years ago.
During a visit
to Lisbon yesterday with husband Gerry to meet their Portuguese lawyer, she said: "We haven't changed anything.
"There's still a lot of pink. I continue to go to Madeleine's room twice a day. It's a comforting
feeling."
Insisting in an interview with Portuguese daily 24 horas they had not lost hope of finding Madeleine
alive, Gerry added: "There are several cases, some recent, of missing children that were found.
"That
makes us believe our daughter could be alive and that's why we continue to have hope."
Dossier
The McCanns' visit to Portugal came after an Algarve court released new files on their daughter's
disappearance.
The 2,000 page dossier covers dozens of possible sightings Portuguese detectives appear to have
failed to follow up.
The couple, both 41, criticised the disclosure, claiming it jeopardised the search for Maddie.
Appealing for media organisations with access to the files not to publish further information on possible sightings,
Gerry said: "If it was divulged it could be very bad for our private investigators."
Isabel Duarte, the
McCanns' Portuguese lawyer, insisted: "Innocent lives including Madeleine's life itself could be at risk."
McCann couple says information that was handed over to English journalists harms
the search for their daughter, 09 March 2010
McCann couple says information that was handed over to English journalists harms the search for
their daughterionline
Lusa Agency 09 March 2010 Thanks to Astro for translation Today, the McCann
couple considered that information concerning Madeleine's whereabouts, that was published by British newspapers last week,
seriously harms the search for the little girl that went missing in the Algarve, in 2007.
Gerry and Kate, who were
in Lisbon today for a meeting with the Portuguese lawyers, have requested for the data concerning Madeleine to be carefully
analysed and that access to that information is confidential and sensitive, so the witnesses can also be protected.
"There is lots of information and much of it has not been carefully analysed. If there was some potential and important
information, we could give people a path," said Kate, accusing the Attorney General's Office of having handed documents
over to British newspapers.
Kate, the mother, stressed that the publication of the data "is a serious damage
to the search" for her daughter, even because it can provoke "lack of trust in the witnesses".
"Names
and details have been published in the media and that has rendered the witnesses vulnerable," she said, while Gerry McCann
went further: "The process was once very closed and nothing was known due to the judicial secrecy. Now, information is
being released."
"It is imperative that authorities assume the responsibility over sensitive or confidential
information. We, the parents, and everyone need assurances that this situation will not be permitted in the future,"
he stated, appealing to sensibility and confidentiality in the publication of information.
Gerry even stated that
"one step back" was made in the search for Madeleine and he reiterated the desire for cooperation, considering it
is "important to look objectively" at the leads.
"As parents, we can be very close to the investigation
and demand things that were not done yet, to be done," he stressed, adding: "There is a strong reason for us to
have to work with the authorities and in an intense way. The process is closed, but it is not concluded."
The
parents of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from an apartment at a resort in Praia da Luz, further appealed to journalists
"not to spread information" and to avoid "commercial interests".
On the 3rd of March, the British
newspapers published a video surveillance image from New Zealand, with a little girl that resembled Madeleine, which was part
of a set of leads that the Portuguese Polícia Judiciária (PJ) did not investigate.
Several newspapers,
including The Sun and the Daily Mail, mention that the Portuguese authorities possess an archive of over two thousand pages
with information that was collected since the investigation was archived, in July of 2008.
Among the alleged leads,
there are testimonies of sightings in Portugal, France and Spain which, according to the newspapers, were not considered as
reliable by the investigative authorities.
Madeleine McCann went missing on the 3rd of May, 2007, only a few days
before she would be four years old, from an apartment in Praia da Luz, in the vicinity of Lagos, in the Algarve, where she
was spending holidays with her family.
Since then, the parents keep a campaign to try to find their daughter, whose
investigation in Portugal was closed due to a lack of evidence.
SIC Reporter: You're
talking about, a lot of times, of that new information, new leads, new pictures. Can you tell us something about that? What
kind of information?
Gerry McCann: Kate and I haven't gone through all the information. Errr...
We know that it's predominantly sightings, errm... from many different places around the world, errr... but including
sightings from Spain and Portugal.
SIC: And that information still isn't enough for you to
ask for the re-opening of the case here in Portugal?
Kate McCann: I think we need to go through
it all first of all and organise it, really, and then we can get a file... a document together, errm... to present.
SIC: What are you doing to re-open the case?
GM: Well, the first thing that has
been done is that the... the information is only just been passed on to, errr... Dave Edgar, our investigation officer, and
he will look at all of the information, the leads, or this... potential sightings and other information and analyse it
and see what information he can, errr... take from it, applying the same principles he does to anyone who contacts us
directly with information.
SIC: Don't you fear that if the case is re-opened you might be
considered suspects again?
KM: It's never even crossed my mind and I think anybody who went
through that file and has a certain amount of logic will know that it's ridiculous. I don't have any fear of that.
SIC: This is not the first time, errr... where you say that some leads, that some pictures, that
some witnesses were not valued by the Portuguese police and you think they are relevant and important?
KM:
We can't comment too much on what's in this file of information we've just got because we haven't been through
it thoroughly. What we do know is that very credible information has been passed on and our investigators have got 30 years
plus experience and would only pass on credible information 'cause there's no point otherwise, and we haven't
had any feedback from that. So, based on that, I feel more could have been done for those leads, which is still waiting to
be acted on, errm... but our investigators obviously can't do that themselves, we need cooperation. Can't comment
on what's on... in the file that's just been released.
GM: I think, you know, I'll
go back to your question, we're not sitting here saying the PJ are doing a rubbish job; we're not saying that. Errr...
A lot of good work has been done. We know, particularly in the early days, that we got a much more substantial search than
many other people who've lost children, errm... and we appreciate that, and we appreciate the hard work. Obviously, we're
still in the stage where Madeleine is missing; whoever's taken her is still out there and we need to find Madeleine and
the perpetrators need to be caught and as parents it's not good enough for us that information is discounted. The specific
point is, really, that you have an officer who's testified in court that he believes that Madeleine is dead, errr... who
is primarily responsible for recording that information. I don't think he's objective in his work and that is one
of the things that has been very difficult for us.
SIC: Do you want him to be removed from the
case?
GM: Well, you know, obviously that's not for out judgement, errr... but what we need
to know is that there is someone objectively looking at the information.
SIC: Do you fear... you
won your first court case against Gonçalo Amaral, do you fear that with all the cases, the court cases you have against
him, some people might think that it became an obsession for you?
GM: It's an obsession for
us to find Madeleine, that's, errr... certainly true, errm... the court case is very important, I think, because we can
understand why a large proportion of the population here would be prepared to believe that Madeleine was dead and I think
challenging what has been said and making it be put up to scrutiny and the lack of objectivity of what has been proposed and
the lack of evidence.
SIC: Do you understand the people that think that rather strange that you
spend a lot of energy and emotional resources in this court cases, errm... against Gonçalo Amaral when your grief and
your loss is much bigger than anything else?
KM: The sad thing about all this court case is, it
was uneccessary. It's caused us extra pain and suffering and resources. You know, the last thing we wanted to do was have
to be in a court case but Gonçalo Amaral did what he did. We totally believe it's damaged the search for our little
girl and we have to do everything in our power to find her, so he has made us take this action because we love our little
girl and we want to find her. That's why we've done what we've done.
SIC: Do you consider
the posibility of, errm... Madeleine not being alive?
KM: Well, obviously there's a possibility
because we don't know, errm... you know, we're not gonna sit here and lie and be totally naive and say: "She's
100% alive" but we do know there's a very good chance she's alive and while that chance is there we have to keep
looking for her. We owe that... we all owe that to Madeleine; she's a little girl, you know, and we know from other cases,
you know, there's a chance she's alive, so you have to keep going.
"Do you consider
the posibility of, errm... Madeleine not being alive?"
09 March 2010 Thanks to Joana Morais for text The McCann couple have today given various interviews in
Lisbon. It appears the couple have returned to Portugal to collect the several files of the information sent to the PJ in
Portimão, they have also met with their Portuguese lawyers to request that the information is made confidential. And,
no they have not yet requested the Portuguese Public Ministry to re-open the process, instead they have accused the Public
Ministry of releasing some documentation to the English media.
The above is an excerpt of the interview made by
the Portuguese journalist Sandra Felgueiras, the full interview will be broadcast tomorrow on RTP.
Transcript
By Nigel Moore
Sandra Fegueiras: Hi Kate. Hi Gerry. Errr... Have you already had access to the new sightings that were
released last week?
Gerry McCann: We've now got them, errm... but, as I say, Kate and I haven't
actually, errr... gone through them ourselves.
SF: You have watched, for sure, the picture, errr...
that has been broadcast last week in... by British media, errr... of, errr... apparently, errr... a girl looking like Madeleine,
in New Zealand. As parents, did that girl look like Madeleine to you?
Kate McCann: You know, she's
not dissimilar to Madeleine. I actually thought she maybe looked a little bit young but, as you know, that little girl has
been identified now anyway, so we know it's not Madeleine.
SF: Kate, as a mum, have you ever
seen any picture, any video, that for you it could be Madeleine?
KM: No. (laughs) Errm... To be
honest we don't get shown a lot of the photographs anyway, errm... I think the police decided that there's... there's
so many photographs that get sent to them and, you know, clips of CCTV that it's...
SF: Do
you fear that the re-opening of the case, that you wish can re-open the leads, that turn you as formal suspects in the case?
Do you think about it?
GM: Definitely not. It is not the slightest piece of concern for us.
SF: I don't know if you are aware that... that, errr... that in Portugal we have a 12-years,
errr... old boy missing. What do you have to say to this parents?
KM: Don't give up hope,
keep going, don't let others try and grind you down, keep going for your child and you must keep going until they're
found. And good luck.
Madeleine McCann's parents may sue TV star, 24 August 2007
Madeleine McCann's parents may sue TV star Telegraph (online article now removed)
By Richard Edwards
in Praia da Luz Last Updated: 3:13am BST 24/08/2007
The parents of Madeleine McCann are considering
taking legal action over a tide of slurs in the Portuguese media.
Kate and Gerry McCann are said to be considering
suing one of Portugal's most famous TV reporters, Sandra Felgueiras, in a further sign of the couple's growing frustration
over some of the coverage of their daughter's disappearance.
The couple are understood to be upset by remarks
made by the 30-year-old presenter, who works for station RTP, about Kate McCann in one live broadcast.
The development
comes as Mr McCann prepares to talk for the first time about how becoming "household names" has taken its toll on
his family since the ordeal of losing his daughter.
Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival
tomorrow, he is expected to discuss how launching such a wide public appeal to find the four-year-old has been a "double-edged
sword".
The worldwide campaign, now in its 16th week, has failed to achieve a breakthrough, and the spotlight
has turned on the parents, who have been increasingly upset by the "aggressive and intrusive" Portuguese paparrazi.
A friend of the couple said they are considering taking libel action against Miss Felgueiras under Portuguese human
rights laws protecting the right to a "good name".
The friend said: "This is about trying to stop
lurid accusations being aired".
It is unclear how the McCanns first became aware of the live broadcast, in
Portuguese, but they are said to want transcripts of coverage a fortnight ago.
Miss Felgueiras last night denied
any wrongdoing.
She said: "I never said that and I never insinuated anything like that. I never in my life
put anyone under suspicion but just told viewers that police are investigating the possibility that Madeleine has died and
that it is murder or an accident.
"I'm absolutely sure that everything I said was only what the police
were telling us concerning this new lead of the investigation.
"If the McCanns presume that this is an accusation
against them, then that is their assumption, not mine. My conscience is completely clear."
A friend of the
reporter added: "It is the Portuguese newspapers that have been outrageous, If they are going to sue anybody it should
be them."
Mr McCann also hit back yesterday at police claims that their main theory is that his daughter was
killed inside her apartment, possibly in an accident.
He said that nothing has changed his belief that the four-year-old
was abducted on the night she disappeared.
"I am not even close, I am a million miles away, from changing
my mind about what happened that night," he said.
Brit police watch and listen next door, 09 September 2007
British
detectives secretly listened in as Portuguese police grilled Kate McCann over daughter Maddie's disappearance, The People
can today reveal.
They hid in a room next to the interview suite at the police station to watch the mother's
every response to her gruelling interrogation.
It is understood the Brit officers even fed the local cops with
questions through tiny earpieces - and used body-language experts to monitor Kate's reactions.
The People has
discovered that Kate and husband Gerry were made official suspects after:
Local cops set up surveillance teams
to monitor their movements 24 hours a day for three weeks.
Kate was hauled back in for a tough second interview
after they claimed she had dramatically CHANGED her version of events.
The body-language experts compiled a secret
report which is thought to suggest her demeanour indicates she has something to HIDE.
Emails and computer data
are thought to have been closely examined.
The dramatic twists in the case of four-year-old Maddie come after Portuguese
investigators received guidance from Britain's FBI, the Serious and Organised Crime Agency.
A dossier of covert
electronic and physical evidence coupled with forensic reports led to the McCanns both being labelled suspects.
A
source close to the inquiry revealed: "Following the request by the Portuguese to the British police to get involved
the pace of the investigation has massively increased.
"Many of the failures made by local cops have been
highlighted by the Brits and they are now working hard to find out what exactly happened to Madeleine."
The
source explained: "It is common practice for those closest to a missing person to be watched closely and the McCanns
are now no different.
"They, like all suspects, are being closely monitored as no stone is left unturned."
But GP Kate and cardiologist Gerry, both 39, fear they are being FRAMED over the disappearance and possible death
of Madeleine - missing for 129 days. Police launched their round-the-clock surveillance operation last month.
The
couple were taken in for further questioning last week after it was claimed that forensic experts had found traces of Madeleine's
blood in the boot of a Renault Scenic car hired 25 days AFTER she went missing.
Detectives suspected Kate might
have accidentally killed her daughter in the family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz and hid the body - which was later
moved in the car.
Kate was grilled by Portuguese police for 11 HOURSon Thursday and for FIVE MORE HOURS on Friday.
It is understood she was forced to return for the second day of questioning at the police station in Portimao after
cops claimed she changed her story - making them suspect she was being untruthful.
The British cops are also thought
to have arranged for Kate's demeanour to be constantly monitored for any tell-tale signs during the long sessions of questioning.
The People can also reveal that body language experts from Bramshill Police College in Basingstoke, Hants, put together a
report on the McCanns' behaviour after studying hours of TV footage.
The specialists scrutinised every interview
- live and recorded - given by the couple since May 3.
A secret dossier of the findings has been handed to detectives
leading the investigation.
It is believed the report concludes that Kate's body language and facial expressions
in interviews show she has something to hide. Our source said: "Technology and policing methods have advanced so much
in the last few years that officers can now call on all sorts of techniques in their investigations.
"Reading
suspects' body language and their facial expressions is one such device. Both Kate and Gerry would have been looked at
and their actions analysed."
But the source stressed: "It must be made clear that their movements could
indicate they have not done anything untoward rather than helping to prove they have." Since Madeleine disappeared the
anguish of her parents - who also have two-year-old twins - has been laid bare for the world to see.
At the first
press conference, after the tot had been missing for only a few hours, the couple were visibly shook up and stressed.
Gerry did all the talking. Kate stood with her head bowed, clutching her husband's arm and saying nothing.
Since then, the confidence of the parents has grown. They put their careers on hold as they organised a massive and slick
publicity campaign and even met the Pope. The McCanns rarely faltered as they gave interviews to media from around the world.
But as the Maddie investigation enters a dramatic new phase, the couple have now dropped plans to return home to Rothley,
Leics.
Pals say they will stay in Portugal to clear their names.
A spokesman for the Portuguese police
refused to comment last night on British involvement in the case.
But a source said: "We will continue to
work with the British until we reach a satisfactory outcome."
Almost 100 missing Maddie tips in Austria, 09 March 2010
Police in Austria registered almost 100 tip offs by people in the case of Madeleine McCann who went missing at a Portuguese
holiday resort in 2007.
Alexander Marakovits, a spokesman for the Federal Crime Office (BK), said today (Tues)
almost 100 people got in touch with authorities claiming to have evidence. He stressed investigators checked all tips but
none of them led them anywhere.
Marakovits said one of the people who got in touch were a Norwegian couple who
claimed they saw the girl at a motorway rest stop in St. Valentin, Lower Austria, in summer 2008.
He explained
the couple told cops the girl screamed "Help me!" in English.
Marakovits said other witnesses were interviewed
over the couple's claim and guest lists at the rest stop's hotel where checked but with no result.
Gonçalo Amaral Interview in Fafe, 24 February 2010
At the time of the presentation of his new book "The English Gag" at Fafe's Library,
24 February 2010
24 February 2010 Thanks to Joana Morais for transcript/translation Reporter: Sir, you have been out from
the PJ almost for two years now; after a very complicated process, and from where many answers are still missing to which
you have tried to answer in the book that was censored. This 'English gag', is it not, somehow, a gag to the freedom
of speech in Portugal?
Gonçalo Amaral: There is no doubt about that, actually it was on
that notion that the book was written. It was in terms of defence, and of denouncing this limitation of the freedom of expression
of a citizen, my case, and as well the right of the reader, of the Portuguese citizen, of any person in this country in formulating
opinions, their own opinion in face of what they read. Therefore, it is not allowed... It is forbidden, it is limiting the
freedom of the Portuguese people, of the people who are interested in reading the book 'Maddie, The Truth of the Lie',
and of them being able to formulate their opinion. Which is the right of freedom to opinion, which in this country seems -
seems, no - is in fact, being temporarily limited, as established by the injunction, and could be so from here now into the
future.
Reporter: At this moment where freedom of expression and the lack of it is being so much
discussed, where political pressures are being discussed as a daily basis; in the moment where we can recall the historical
relation between Portugal and England, our eternal ally, was there really so much weight applied by England in this process,
capable of gagging the Portuguese politicians to the point of forcing a PJ Inspector to withdraw himself from the Judiciary
Police, to the point of forcing into silence the whole process?
Gonçalo Amaral: I have
no doubts regarding that; in reality, the facts speak for themselves. A public servant, like me, a coordinator of the Judiciary
Police, it is something that some politicians are able to discard, to avoid a diplomatic drama, a diplomatic incident, and
everything was done surrounding that. Like now, there is a direct attack to the Judiciary Police, again, on this process,
an attack targeting a Judiciary Police employee, and the Judiciary Police does not do anything in his defence nor does the
Justice Ministry. I did not say that there [on the book presentation] but I'll say it here, it is shameful. How is it
possible to leave those who work for the public interest, those who work for the discovery of the truth and for the making
of Justice, abandoned to these attacks?
Reporter: I know that you are under secrecy of justice,
but for you the truth...
Gonçalo Amaral: Not of secrecy of justice, I am a target of a
temporary injunction, which limits my freedom of expression.
Reporter: ...But for you the truth
is revealed and transcribed in that book, that today cannot be sold?
Gonçalo Amaral: I
can't answer to that question, because I am a target of an injunction which forbids me to speak about... to give you an
answer. It's under the scope of the injunction.
Reporter: How is it, looking at the situation
that happened and for the eventual future situations that might be somewhat similar, how do you see the role of Portugal in
this affair, that is, do we get fragilized, do we become dependent of foreign opinions, of foreign police opinions which may
place in question an institution like the Judiciary Police, which is seen with the utmost seriousness?
Gonçalo
Amaral: The Judiciary Police continues to be seen with seriousness, the opinions, or the forces contrary to the discovery
of the material truth had in this case, and will have in others, or maybe they already had in other cases, a strong influence
when placing in question the Justice system itself. What is happening is a result of the frailties, as a friend of mine said,
an appeal court judge, it is the frailty inherent to democracy. It is that that is in question; we don't live alone, the
country is not isolated, it is in the European Union, it has its allies and its international agreements, and its international
diplomacy and something has being left behind, which in this case was Justice.
Reporter: Do you
feel discarded?
Gonçalo Amaral: Discarded, no. It was my choice to leave the Judiciary
Police in order to regain the plenitude of my freedom of expression, something which is now again placed in question. It was
my choice, my decision, and I'm certain that if I had stayed in the PJ I would have ascended to superior positions, other
than being a mere coordinator of sections... Allow me to remember here at this moment a colleague, who has passed away last
night, Dr. Guilhermino da Encarnação, a person that climbed the Judiciary Police hierarchy by his own merit,
and with those two cases, the so-called Joana Case and the Maddie Case. Who, at that time, saw a disease appear, a disease
that lead to his death, after all of this time. He was an exceptional man, a person with whom I had the honour, the pleasure
and the privilege to work with, with whom I have learned immensely, and that with these cases saw his health disappear. It
is sad; people sometimes are not discarded but often are... There are things that happen to one's health which are unstoppable.
Reporter: A last question, in the said book of which you are forbidden to speak about, which was
censored, your convictions are obvious, are evident, are clear. If you had remained in the case, if you hadn't been removed
from it, and after retiring from the PJ; if you had stayed would you have felt comfortable to arrive at something which you
had already the absolute certainty of being like that, knowing that from the other side there were so many doubts being placed?
[the question is difficult to translate since the reporter is clearly trying to pose a question using subterfuges because
of the injunction]
Gonçalo Amaral: Look, in an investigation... I cannot speak about the
case, I'm forbidden. A criminal investigation has a beginning, a middle and an end. That book, and that I can tell you,
was the narrative of the 6 months of the criminal investigation, when I was coordinating it. What could have happened since
then, we don't know. I left the investigation, the investigation continued, remained open for more six months and its
result was a premature archival. If the investigation had continued, and there are many diligences to be made, hundreds to
be carried out - the process was not concluded with all the diligences - it could have even happened that which was said at
a medium term, at that time, would not be established or it could have been confirmed. Therefore a criminal investigation
always has to reach its end, so no ambiguities remain, speculations don't thrive like it is happening at this moment,
and also in order to not give material to certain conspiracy theories to flourish. I believe that that is the biggest problem
of the investigations that do not reach an ending.
A 2,000 page file has emerged providing evidence that suggests shocking Portuguese police failings in the hunt for Madeleine
McCann. Child Protection Expert, Mark Williams-Thomas
picks through the document that contains CCTV photos of Maddie and more than 50 sightings.
Transcript
By Nigel Moore
(00:04:50)
Jon Gaunt: Next question I've got for you is this; it's the, errr... Maddie
McCann case. I don't know if you've seen this: 'Unchecked'; 'Unsolved'; 'Portugal cops ignored
clues'. Several sightings of a young girl, especially this one in Mu... errr... this one in New Zealand, looks very much
like her; they ignored it! They ignored it! We'll be talking to a top paedophile expert about this later
in the show, as well. The Portuguese police don't come very... come out very well in this latest report about the
Maddie investigation and no matter what you think about the McCanns, and whether or not they should have left Maddie and the
kids alone in that house that night, you've got to feel for them, haven't you? Two years on, when evidence like this
is coming out. It looks like it was never investigated. I want your views on that, as well. 020 3364 7000.
(00:54:00)
Jon Gaunt: ...you may want to talk about our next story, as well, which is about
the Madeleine McCann files. If you've seen the paper this morning and, of course, it's all over the news, as well...
the TV news; there's been secret sightings of the lost girl. A 2,000-page file has been buried away, at a police headquarters,
and it's providing real stark evidence of shocking Portuguese failings in the hunt for Madeleine McCann. It includes
CCTV photos of little girls who look like Maddie and hundreds of leads including more than 50 possible sightings. It would
appear the Portuguese didn't actually investigate any of these. Errr... Are we, errr... having a go at a Portuguese
police unnecessary or, you know, is this something they should have done? Let's have a chat with an expert about this,
errr... Mark Williams-Thomas, a ex-paedophile detective, of course, and now a expert in child protection; he joins us now
on the line. Hiya Mark.
Mark Williams-Thomas: Good morning, Jon.
JG:
Now, to me, somebody who's not a policeman with no police experience, I look at this story this morning and I go crazy.
I think: 'Hang on, they didn't follow up these leads?'. What do you do as an ex-copper, an ex-investigator, when
you read a story like this?
MWT: Well, Gerry and Kate haven't spoken today but they must be
pulling their hair out, you know, now finding out about this information and we were aware of a certain amount of information
hasn't been followed up but the stark reality of what was being printed in... obviously, in the paper today, just goes
to show the incompetence and, you know, I've used that word before when I've talked about, errr... the Portuguese
and I was obviously out there from the very, very early days and I showed, you know, the fact that they failed to preserve
the crime scene. But the reality is that each and every one of these lines of inquiry is potentially a lead that may enable
you to find what happened to Madeleine, and where she is now. It is... and I refer to this as being the jigsaw puzzle; different
people have different parts of this jigsaw puzzle and what we need to do is pull it together and I'm absolutely shocked,
errm... that the Portuguese police, and the criminal justice system, have discarded some of this information, which might
be quite crucial to the investigation but, if nothing else, certainly should have been followed up on.
JG:
Should have been followed up on? Even if they thought she was dead?
MWT: Absolutely. And what
what we've got here is; we've got a centred approach by the investigator and we know that, errr... Goncalo Amaral
has got his focus and line of the inquiry and, errr... the criminal justice system... lets not just focus on him because,
in fact, he's got senior officers, and through the criminal justice system, to say: 'What are the lines of inquiries
we should have been following?'. They've had their line of inquiry and any other information which has come in, outside
of that, they have ignored. Now if... should this... if this inquiry was to take place in the UK, through the senior investigators,
you know, policy book, there would have been a clear policy as to the line of inquiry they were going to be following and
why they were ignoring other lines of inquiry. It is a long time ago...
JG: But that would be
written down, would it, Mark?
MWT: It would be in a policy book in the UK; the senior investigating
officers make a very clear decision process as to the lines of inquiry they're following and why they're following
those lines of inquiries, and the other lines of inquiries that they've chosen not to follow, because at any stage they
could revisit that and certainly, if it comes to a criminal case, when you're in court, the defence might turn round and
say: 'Why didn't you follow this line of inquiry?' and very often the policy book is used to show why they didn't.
JG: So, explain to me then, so you've got a policy book, and they might have had a policy book,
and then if something new comes up, you say: 'Ahh, we'd better have a look at it anyway, even though it goes against
where we're going with the investigation at this point'.
MWT: Well, I think you... one
would put them into different categories, obviously sightings is a slightly different element; what's the likelihood of
her being found in New Zealand, in the open, errm... that period of time afterwards. And I, certainly... walking through the
High Street, errr... you know, in Guildford in the period of time afterwards and I've seen... certainly saw one girl,
who I thought looked like Madeleine, you know; she's fairly common in sight.
JG: Yeah, probably
lots of us felt like that, didn't we? Because we were all looking at one point.
MWT: Absolutely.
So you put them into one category. But the other category, and the significant ones for me, is certainly in and around that
area in the days or certainly on the... of the day itself, those are significant lines of inquiry. You know, the person with
the gun and as far as the half-shirt top...
JG: Yeah, on the road, yeah...
MWT:
...you know, because, if nothing else... and what ends up happening in major investigations - and it's always the case
- is you end up detecting other criminal offences that occurred along the way because there are other offences that occurred
that you start to investigate, simply because it might connect with the investigation you've got and you end up then dealing
with those matters or passing them on to somebody else to deal with. But let's get back to the crux of this...
JG: Yeah.
MWT: ...for many, many months now we've been talking about Gerry
and Kate and the focus and line of inquiry has been drifted away. I want to see the line of inquiry focus back on Madeleine.
Madeleine is what is important here. We've got to strike a relationship with the Portuguese. Now sadly, some of the investigators,
errr... that Gerry and Kate have hired haven't formed that relationship and I know that, certainly at one stage, when
I spoke them and said: 'Why are you not dialoguing with the Portuguese police?' and they said: 'Well, they won't
talk to us, you know, we're not bothered to do that'. I think that's very sad and I think what we need to go back
to is through the criminal justice system, through the Ministry in Portugal, and say to them, you know: 'Let's work
together to try and find out where Madeleine is' because somebody out there - even though it's years on - somebody
out there has a piece of that jigsaw and we need to pull it together because Madeleine is... Madeleine was abducted by somebody
and somebody out there has that clue. We've got to find it and the inquiries, such as The Sun, you know, good on them
to... to, errm... uncover this and find this information out. Let's keep the pressure on and say: 'Come on, somebody
take responsibility'.
JG: So, do we assume from this then, the Portuguese had just made their
minds up very early on that they weren't going to find her?
MWT: Yeah, I mean... I think...
I don't think it was quite that early on because I think in the early stages I do think they thought she ran off. Then
I think they got a point where they thought there could possibly be an abduction and then obviously the line of inquiry focused
towards Gerry and Kate and that was after, you know, a couple of weeks. But... but, as soon as they focused that line of inquiry,
it's very clear - and we know that from the court case recently - is that that is where they focused their line
of inquiry. Any other investigation, any other element, which distract... detracts away from that has been ignored, and that
is not keeping an open mind to an investigation.
JG: Okay, good talking to you, thank you very
much indeed...
MWT: Thanks, Jon.
JG: ...Mark Williams-Thomas, child
protection expert and ex-Scotland Yard detective. What do you make of this? Just how incompetent have the Portuguese police
been? Pick up the phone and give us a call. And you've got to feel, haven't you, this morning, for Kate and Gerry.
Maddie cops failed to act on sighting, 08 March 2010
Maddie cops failed to act on sighting Daily Mirror
By John Kelly 8/03/2010
SEARCH
Portuguese detectives ignored
a reported sighting of Madeleine McCann at a French campsite 14 months after she vanished.
New case files reveal
they took no action after the details were forwarded by British police.
The alarm was raised by holidaymaker Jane
Blakie after she saw a youngster bearing a close resemblance to Madeleine near Rougemont in July 2008.
Ms Blakie
and her son Alexander both gave statements to Tayside police on their return to the UK.
She said: "The girl
just stood staring at me, I would say for about 10 seconds. The look in the girl's eyes conveyed a feeling of 'help
me'."
The child, who was wearing red tartan pyjamas, was with a short, chubby man and a scruffy woman,
both in their 40s.
Tayside police described Ms Blakie in their report as a "credible witness."
Cases of Missing Women and Young Girls Get Varying Media Attention, 07 March 2010
Cases of Missing Women and Young Girls Get Varying Media Attention ABC News
Some Missing Persons Cases Captivate the Country While Others Get Little Notice
By RON CLAIBORNE and DAN PRZYGODA March 7, 2010
Chelsea King was the focus of
intense media attention and law enforcement effort, with hundreds of officers and thousands of volunteers joining the search
for her.
Almost exactly a year earlier and about 10 miles from where King was last seen jogging, 14-year-old Amber
Dubois left home to walk to school, never to be seen again. Yet, Dubois' case got far less media attention and seemingly
fewer law enforcement resources.
Hundreds of thousands of children are reported missing every
year. A hundred or so turn out to be the result of foul play, and only a handful of those get the kind of media scrutiny that
King's case got.
Ernie Allen, president of the Center
for Missing and Exploited Children, says the cases that get the most attention tend to involve pre-teen
children where it's immediately apparent that foul play by a stranger, not a family member, is suspected.
"Chelsea's
case received enormous media attention because it was dramatic and sensational. The child goes jogging in a park area and
doesn't come home. With Amber Dubois, nobody saw her disappear, and there's no tangible physical evidence," Allen
said. "She just disappeared."
There have been countless high-profile cases involving
young girls, including the disappearances of Caylee Anthony, Jessica Lunsford,
Somer Thompson and Madeleine McCann, whose story went global because of her telegenic
look and her media-savvy parents.
Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular
culture at Syracuse University, explains that the reason the media tends to go in a frenzy around these types of cases is
really because of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"Once one of these stories is decided
to be covered, there's no turning back," Thompson said. "You've sent your reporters and your trucks to it,
and you become invested in it. You start building interest in the story, and your audience wants to hear more about it, so
you keep everyone there to continue reporting on it."
Critics Site Racial Inequality in Press Coverage
Many African-Americans and
Latinos also perceive a racial bias to the coverage. Some believe more attention is paid to missing white children than to
black or Hispanic children. Critics point to several examples.
The 2003 kidnap and murder of African-American college
student Romona Moore from Brooklyn, N.Y., was eclipsed by the disappearance of Svetlana Aranov, a white woman from Manhattan's
Upper East Side.
LaToyia Figueroa, a young African-American and Hispanic woman, who disappeared while pregnant
in Philadelphia in 2005, only got a fraction of the news coverage as Natalie Holloway, a white teen who vanished in Aruba
around the same time.
Kathy Times, a member of the National Association of Black Journalists explained, "If
you're white, wealthy, cute and under 12, then you're more likely to get the eye of the national media."
Quoting from a Scripps Howard study, Times continues, "One study showed that about 35,000 kids went missing one year,
and a little more than half of those were white, but about 67 percent of stories covered by The Associated Press were about
white children."
And then there was the case of 13-year-old Laura Ayala, a Latina teen, who vanished near
her Houston home in 2002 as she went down the block to buy a newspaper for a class assignment.
"The Hispanic
media was wonderful," Allen said. "The mainstream media wasn't as interested. Is that because her mom couldn't
tell her story in English? I don't know."
Maddie cops hit out at criticism, 07 March 2010
Maddie cops hit out at criticism Daily Star Sunday (appears in paper edition)
March 7, 2010
ANGRY Portuguese police have hit back at claims they did not fully investigate alleged sightings of Madeleine
McCann.
Last week a 2,000-page file on the youngster's disappearance, collected after the investigation was
shelved in 2008, was released by Portuguese authorities.
It revealed reported sightings of the youngster in both
France and Holland had been ignored.
Last night critics blasted the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) for refusing to act
despite members of the public offering new leads.
But a PJ spokesman said: "All information that comes to
the police is analysed."
Home Secretary Alan Johnson is said to be pushing for the case to be re-opened while
Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry McCann, both 41, said releasing the file was "incomprehensible" and "upsetting".
The couple added: "Disclosing such information publicly greatly jeopardises the search for Madeleine and puts
witnesses and innocent members of the public at risk."
On Mothering Sunday, Aled Jones says Good Morning Sunday
to Kate McCann, mother of missing child Madeleine McCann, who has found comfort from her Roman Catholic faith since her daughter's
disappearance.
Becky Silver also discusses the news of the week from a faith perspective, and gives the Moment
Of Reflection.
Presenter/Aled Jones, Producer/Hilary Robinson
Archive:
Susan Healy: "...as soon as Kate realised what had happened, it was as if, errm.. she started
to ask God right away to give her Madeleine. Errm… because Kate and Gerry were not the most devout family. We do have
Catholic faith, errm… it's… it's the religion that we were brought up in, but I would never describe
myself as a devout person. We're just ordinary people..."
- Speaking to Spanish
TV channel, Antena3, on the 'SA Confidential Talk Show' - 22 October 2007
Madeleine McCann parents blast cops' dossier, 07 March 2010
Madeleine McCann parents blast cops' dossier The People
By Fiona
May 7 March 2010
The
parents of Madeleine McCann last night slammed cops in Portugal for releasing files on their daughter's disappearance,
branding the move "upsetting and incomprehensible".
The 2,000-page dossier covers dozens of possible
sightings after she vanished from a holiday flat in Praia da Luz just before her fourth birthday.
One was from
New Zealand - but Portuguese detectives failed to ask for it to be followed up. Another claimed a blonde girl was dragged
along the road to Faro airport - an hour's drive from Praia da Luz - on the night Maddie disappeared.
A third
told how a lookalike child was held at gunpoint on a French motorway by a half-naked man in 2008.
Maddie's
41- year old parents Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, said in a statement: "Disclosing such information greatly jeopardises
the search and puts witnesses and innocent members of the general public at risk, as well as causing them great anxiety.
"Release and publication of information in this manner also potentially compromises future investigations. It
is difficult to see how anyone benefits from these actions."
But they added: "We are incredibly grateful
to all who continue to support us in our search for Madeleine."
Portuguese police ignored a British tourist when she reported sighting Madeleine McCann in France, the Sunday Mirror can
reveal.
Jane Blakie claimed a child who was the "spitting image" of the missing youngster (right) had
stared straight at her, adding the youngster had seemed to be saying: "Help me" with her eyes. The girl was said
to be with a couple "strikingly similar" to an artist's impression of a man and woman seen with a Madeleine
lookalike in Amsterdam.
British police sent Mrs Blakie's report to their Portuguese counterparts, but no action
was taken. Mrs Blakie saw the child in July 2008 - 14 months after Madeleine vanished - at a campsite in Alsace, eastern France.
She told police: "The girl just stood staring at me. The look in her eyes conveyed a feeling of 'Help me'."
Gerry and Kate McCann said the "upsetting" release by Portuguese police this week of files listing dozens
of possible sightings of their missing daughter "jeopardises the search".
Home Office launches secret review into Madeleine McCann's disappearance,
06 March 2010
Home Office launches secret review into Madeleine McCann's disappearance Telegraph
The Home Office has secretly begun a review that could lead to a fresh police inquiry into the
disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
By Robert Mendick Published: 9:00PM GMT 06
Mar 2010
The move follows the release of 2,000 pages of evidence last week which Portuguese
detectives are accused of having failed to fully investigate.
According to sources close to the McCanns, Alan Johnson,
the Home Secretary, has ordered officials to examine the 'feasibility' of British or Portuguese detectives looking
afresh at all the evidence.
Kate and Gerry McCann met with Mr Johnson last year to plead for help in their search
for Madeleine, who vanished without trace in May 2007 from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.
The couple
have also met with John Yates, the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, who has headed up a number of high profile
inquiries in recent years.
He is said to be "sympathetic" and to have made "general offers of assistance".
The source said: "The latest we have heard from the Home Office is officials are undertaking a 'scoping exercise'
to look into the possibility of a review of the case.
"They are looking at all the options. It is basically
a feasibility study.
"Kate and Gerry met with Alan Johnson to request a review is done. Hopefully any political
intervention can unlock obstructions that might be in the way."
Pressure is now being put on Portuguese authorities
to agree in the first instance to a three-day review of the case that could be held at Interpol's headquarters in Lyon
in France.
The McCanns will hope the Home Office can persuade their Portuguese counterparts to co-operate in a
case review.
The review – were it to go ahead – would involve British police working with Portuguese
counterparts as well as experts in child abduction across other European forces.
The Portuguese police have been
heavily criticised for their handling of the case which led to detectives naming the McCanns, both doctors from Leicestershire,
as arguidos – or suspects – in the case and accusing them of involvement in her disappearance.
Their
arguido status was subsequently lifted and the police investigation shelved.
But with the senior officer in charge
Goncalo Amaral now widely discredited and facing financial ruin after being sued for libel by the McCanns over a book he wrote,
it may become harder for the Portuguese to refuse the request for a thorough review.
The revelation that possible
leads – many passed to Portuguese police by the McCanns' own private detectives – had apparently been ignored
will add to the clamour.
Last week, details emerged of a series of possible sightings of Madeleine, who was just
three when she vanished.
A further obstacle was removed with the death from stomach cancer two weeks ago of Guilhermino
Encarnacao, who was in charge of the Policia Judiciaria in the Algarve.
Mr Encarnacao was convinced Madeleine had
died in her parents' apartment and was a major source of a series of off the record briefings to journalists against the
McCanns.
A Home Office spokesman said: "We can confirm that the Home Secretary had a private meeting with
Kate and Gerry McCann.
"Leicestershire Police stand ready to co-ordinate and complete enquiries if further
information comes to light in the UK; or if requested to do so by the Portuguese authorities, who continue to lead on the
overall investigation."
The spokesman refused to discuss what talks took place at the meeting or whether there
was the chance of a review of the evidence at Interpol.
The spokesman added: "We are not going to comment
on the outcome of any private meeting with the McCanns."
Mr Yates was unavailable for comment. He led the
cash for honours investigation and was also involved in a new inquiry into the murder of Julie Ward, who was murdered in Kenya
in 1988.
The lawyer tells how the PJ's attitude changed, 05 March 2010
The lawyer tells how the PJ's attitude changed Público
"Nobody
lies without a reason"
by Idálio Revez 05 March 2010 Thanks to Astro for translation
The first time that Robert Murat
was questioned at the PJ in Portimão, his lawyer Francisco Pagarete tells, the questions were of the kind: "You
did it! Tell us what you did with the child!". At that time, the investigators were looking for a thread that would lead
them to a possible abductor. One and a half months later, the situation changes: "How did you help the parents get rid
of the child's body?". In August, already accompanied by his lawyer, the police environment changes radically: "We
know you have nothing to do with this, we apologise for making you come back here once more".
About Maddie's
disappearance, the lawyer says: "I don't know what happened to the child – I just say one thing: if nobody
did anything wrong, why did they point a finger at Murat?". And concerning the question that disquiets Murat –
"Why did the McCanns' three friends lie, saying that they had seen him there [Ocean Club] on that night" - he
adds his own opinion: "Nobody lies without a reason". Concerning what was said and written about this subject, he
considers that the media left his client "lying on the floor" and that his life was never the same again. "Children
threw stones at the house, saying: "A bad man lives here". During the summer of 2007, people would roam towards
Casa Liliana, in Praia da Luz, where Murat lived. "Psychologically, he was shattered," he stresses, recalling that
little by little, he tries to emerge from the depression that he fell into, but it is very hard. "Before I am his lawyer,
I am his friend," he states, recalling that they went to kindergarten together. "There is a difference between freedom
of expression and rummaging through people's private life." "The right to give news ends where another person's
right to an intimate life starts".
Concerning the British media, his position is very critical: "The
press was biased. The news was broken in the following way: "This man is guilty, we have already caught him and it was
even us who turned him over to the police"," he says, alluding to the journalist who said she had noted "strange"
signs in Murat during his contact with the media. But there is a difference in the way that these cases are handled in Portugal
and in England. The lawsuits that were filed against the British press were swiftly settled with a "deal" concerning
the amount of the compensation. In our country, "there is no evolution" concerning the five lawsuits that have been
filed almost one year ago.
"The sensationalist newspapers are sensationalist by nature. The others just did
their job," he says.
Robert Murat continues to receive death threats and has lost the sense of life,
05 March 2010
Robert Murat continues to receive death threats and has lost the sense of life Público
His
life has been "shattered". He wanted to help, he alleges, but ended up as an arguido. Now he tries to find a direction.
But that night in 2007 continues to persecute him.
by Idálio Revez 05 March 2010 Thanks to Astro for translation
Robert Murat, three years after
Maddie's disappearance, in Praia da Luz, still has his life "shattered" because he was "at the wrong place,
at the wrong time".
The first suspect of being involved in the child's disappearance was this English
man, aged 36, for whom being made arguido earned him a condemnation from public opinion that he never freed himself from.
In an interview to Público, the first one that he gives to a member of the media since the English child's disappearance,
leaves a question in the air that robs him of his sleep until this day: "Three of the McCanns' friends were at the
PJ, saying that they had seen me there, that night [May 3, 2007]. What I ask is why did they lie?".
"I
have a daughter, too", says Robert Murat, remembering Sofia, aged seven, who lives in England with her mother. "My
family was a victim, too – the journalists invaded the area where they live, and the British police had to take my daughter
to a safe place." His ex-wife, he says, "even received an offer of 220 thousand euros to give an interview saying
that I was a paedophile". She did not give in. Robert Murat, in defence of his honour and his reputation, had 13 members
of the British media sued. He received a significant compensation, but he does not reveal the amount.
Despite the
pressures and the money offers for him to speak – he was offered over 300 thousand euros to allow himself being filmed
and to speak about the Maddie case -, he shut up. Now, after the book 'The Truth of The Lie', by Gonçalo Amaral,
the coordinator of this case investigation, saw its sale being forbidden under orders from the Lisbon Civil Court, and after
the British newspapers returned to the issue by publishing images that the Portuguese police allegedly neglected, he decided
to speak to Público.
Since he saw himself involved in this process, Robert Murat has been searching for
a direction to give to his life. "I have been through horrible situations. Just recently, I have received a letter with
a death threat, written in English, sent from France." When this case broke out, he was about to start a real estate
business on the internet, "but everything was deactivated".
Meanwhile, he married an Anglo-Portuguese
woman, went to the USA, on a honeymoon, late last year, but did not go unnoticed: "Here, I feel the discomfort of seeing
people pointing at me, but over there I was recognised, as well."
Which is not strange. The appeals to find
Madeleine McCann continue and the parents are still convinced that their daughter is alive. Therefore, they have criticised
the investigation that was carried out by the Portuguese authorities, because they dropped the abduction theory. From Morocco
to the United States, passing through Spain and Holland, hundreds of pieces of information passed on to the PJ, reporting
children that allegedly resembled Maddie. News about several appearances of Maddie went around the world and a reward of 2.5
million euros was offered to anyone who could supply information.
From witness to arguido
Robert Murat accuses the media of having "fabricated" news,
pursuing audiences. "They didn't care about the truth." "I have people I know at the BBC who told me: "Shut
up, because they are going to turn this all around"". His lawyer, Francisco Pagarete, gave him the same advice.
"That is the main reason why I haven't talked until now, but it was very hard."
His life and that
of his relatives – a brother and a sister, who live in England - "has been rummaged and filled with lies".
In the summer three years ago, Praia da Luz became a battlefield between the world's main television networks, fighting
for ratings. "There was great pressure from the English media, forcing the Portuguese police to present a face,"
says Robert Murat, lamenting his luck: "I wanted to help, I ended up being pointed out as a suspect".
This
Englishman, who went to school in Portugal, says: "I have always enjoyed helping people, it's who I am". In
England, where he lived for 15 years and worked as a car salesman, he also cooperated with the British authorities. "I
worked as a translator, for the police and at the court."
When the child disappeared in Praia da Luz, on the
3rd of May, 2007, he had returned to Portugal two days earlier, to launch the Romigen business. He took part in the searches
and, together with his mother, was one of the persons who mobilised the local community to find the little girl.
11 days later, he entered the Polícia Judiciária building in Portimão as a witness, and left as an
arguido. Concerning the questioning session that he was subject to, he recalls: "It reminded me of a KGB movie, I felt
they were trying to set me up". Nevertheless, he recognises that the PJ "suffered a lot of pressure to find a guilty
person". He, an English citizen who first played the role of a translator for the GNR, then for the PJ itself, "at
their request", was the one who best fit the news that were being published: "I was the scapegoat," he emphasizes.
The English media, he evokes, "were already saying that there would be developments before I was made an arguido".
A British journalist said that Robert Murat had a "strange" behaviour and denounced him to the Judiciária.
He and his mother, a nurse, aged 73, were two of the persons who were at the front line of the solidarity campaign
that developed around the McCann couple. At the GNR's side, or independently, many people took part in the successive
searches, in the surroundings of Lagos, looking for Maddie. But that effort was not recognised, he accuses. "There is
one thing which, in a way, displeases me – to those people who were involved in the searches, nobody said thank you".
Who does he think should have said thank you? "That has nothing to do with me, but I think someone should have said thank
you."
We helped the McCann family deal with the media storm which surrounded them on their return from Portugal
in September 2007. From scratch, we created a comprehensive media handling package within six hours which enabled us to handle
850 media calls in the first week. By giving journalists positive stories to report, coverage turned from hostility to the
McCanns to sympathy about their ordeal. This campaign won the crisis communication category at the 2008 CIPR awards.
Archive:
McCanns hire Hanover for PR in face of media onslaught
Brand Republic
by David Quainton, PR Week Worldwire 14-Sep-07, 16:05 LONDON - PRWeek can exclusively reveal that Hanover, the agency owned by John
Major's former press secretary Charles Lewington, has been hired by Kate and Gerry McCann.
The
couple, in a surprise move, have turned to the agency that also works with Nationwide Building Society, NHS Cancer Screening
and mobile company 3.
Lewington, managing director of Hanover, said: "At the moment we're providing temporary
press office facilities for the McCanns. Justine (McGuinness) has been overwhelmed by the press interest.
The case
is very fast moving and our position could change by Monday or Tuesday, depending on what lawyers tell us over the weekend.
"The McCanns have been treated extremely badly by the press, it's only right to help them out."
The McCanns are fighting to clear their name as allegations and suspicion rises concerning the disappearance of their missing
four-year-old daughter.
The McCanns previously used Bell Pottinger crisis management consultant Alex Woolfall (who
represented holiday firm Mark Warner), Sheree Dodd, a former spokeswoman for the Government, and former treasury special advisor
Justine McGuinness.
Hanover PR, run by John Major's former press secretary Charles Lewington, was taking calls over
the weekend, but stressed it was not working for the McCanns permanently.
Hanover Communications
has stopped working with the McCann family.
The agency said the move 'reflects a decrease in international
press interest' following the six-month anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance.
Hanover, headed
by MD Charles Lewington, was hired to run a UK press office two months ago (20 September 2007).
All media enquiries
are now going through the family's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, a former BBC journalist.
Mitchell was temporarily
appointed spokesman to the McCanns by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in May (PRWeek, 24 May 2007). Sheree Dodd and Justine
McGuiness have also worked temporarily in the position.
Mitchell later quit his government position to lead the
McCanns' comms on a permanent basis.
Mitchell said: 'Without the support of Hanover we simply would not
have been able to cope with the level of international press interest.'
Come back now Daily Star (no longer available online)
By Jerry Lawton 06 December 2007
- Extract -
The McCanns have axed
the London-based public relations firm that has been representing them since they jetted back to Britain after being named
suspects.
Media specialists Hanover had been handling more than 100 calls a day at the start, but now interview
requests had dwindled to two.
They charged the Find Madeleine fund £30,000 for their two months of service
- around a third their normal rate.
The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell will now handle all the couple's
PR single-handed.
A spokesman for Hanover said: "We have passed the management of the press office to Clarence
Mitchell.
"This reflects a decrease in international press interest."
Mr Mitchell said: "We
are hugely grateful to Hanover. Without the support of their team we would not have been able to cope with the level of international
press interest."
Madeleine McCann fund running short of cash Telegraph
By Nick Britten Published: 6:38PM GMT 09 Jan 2008
-
Extract -
They recently spent £80,000 on a poster campaign in Spain and still owe Hanover International,
a public relations company, money for work they did until November, when their involvement ended.
Gonçalo Amaral: "The McCanns did not oppose the archiving of the process",
25 February 2010
Gonçalo Amaral: "The McCanns did not oppose the archiving of the process" O Crime (appears in paper edition only)
25 February 2010 Thanks to Mercedes for scan/article
Interview: Carlos Saraiva / Oscar Queiroz
The former head of the investigation into the disappearance of Maddie considers it advantageous to reopen the process
and admits that this approach may shed light on the fate of the English child.
"O Crime" - During
the trial of the temporary injunction of your book, the existence of a confidential report from the National Policy Investigation
Agency was cited. Is it the same as mentioned in the "Maddie process"? Gonçalo
Amaral: It is. It is one of several British police agencies, but with a particularity: the NPIA, is the one which
has behavioural analysts. This is a private agency?
No, it is not a private detective
agency. It's as official as Scotland Yard. Moreover, they had already said that this report existed; realized on the advice
of the police. Under what circumstances and what emerges? Who commissioned the report?
No one ordered it, I think. It was their own initiative (the British), initiated as soon as they arrived, shortly after
the disappearance of the girl. And what does that report say?
It speaks of several
hypotheses but, as you know, I cannot speak, I have been banned. It was annexed to the investigation based
on the assumption that some of the information was relevant? Which?
I do not know if I can respond to
that. I think this report is important, it concludes by saying that you cannot set aside the hypothesis of... And it is true
that whilst there is no evidence of the involvement of certain people, the fact remains that there is no evidence of an abduction.
And indeed, no one has ever presented proof of the abduction. I recall that the facts in the book relate to the first 6 months
of the investigation, while I participated. It was a situation where we had the support of the MP [Public Ministry].
In other words, until that time, the status of the investigation was in accordance with the Public Ministry. Later there was
a change of mind, so it seems from the archiving despatch. The despatch is just an opinion of the Public Ministry, not a declaration
of innocence. Why do you think that the ruling banning the sale of your book was somehow unfavourable to
the McCanns?
Because, basically, what the lady Judge said in her statement is that the book "The
Truth of the Lie" tells facts, though, she says, out of context; they do not coincide with the final opinion of the Public
Ministry. Apparently, the opinion of the Public Ministry is sacred. Though only in my case. In the "Hidden Face"
case, the public prosecutor's opinion of Aveiro did not even serve to open the investigation. This country is a disgrace! Generically, what could be argued in the appeal?
I am not going to answer that, obviously.
What I can advance is that my lawyers say there is sufficient material for recourse. There is news of a
criminal complaint by Robert Murat against Jane Tanner, one of the friends of the McCanns. She was questioned at the time
of the investigation?
That process exists, yes, I was even heard as a witness. Tanner was questioned in
the Maddie process yes, as a witness. First she said she saw Murat at the scene, recognized him by the way he walked. And
then she said other things, later on. Besides there was a diligence in which she said that yes, it was him, and there were
later recognitions and a witness confrontation carried out between them, with Murat, in which they said it was him. Who are they?
Those who I remember, besides Jane Tanner, were her husband and the wife of Oldfield.
They faced a confrontation with Mr Murat. And how would you evaluate her testimony [Jane Tanner]?
As I said, she, at first, said she saw him at the scene. Then she began to retract it, saying that, after all, she had recognized
him through an Indentikit picture. For several months, she came to recognize a number of people, through Identikit pictures.
This speaks for itself about the credibility of her statements. Yet in the investigation there is a moment, a confrontation
between the people previously mentioned, who say that Murat was there at the time the alarm was raised. That, and other things,
is what has motivated the libel suit that Murat has brought against Ms. Tanner. Do you agree with the possible
reopening of the "Maddie process"?
That is what I have advocated since it was archived. Now,
they do not advocate that. If they wanted, they have ways of opposing the archiving, specifically calling for the reopening
of the investigation. What they want is that the police (here) follow the leads, sightings that are sent from England. They
act as if the girl was a Portuguese citizen and not a British subject. Do you fear for your heritage, given
the possibility of a civil conviction for 1.2 million that the English couple demand?
I do not think compensation
will be paid. Anyway, what little I have is embargoed. Do you think this case will, over the years, become
a mystery without being solved?
I think it can be solved. When they reopen the process and the trails
which are there are investigated, I think it will be solved.
Madeleine McCann: Forsaken By Gerry And Kate---Again!, 24 February 2010
Written by Christopher Freind Wednesday, 24 February 2010 12:17
Being in the media is pretty cool, especially when you run your own news bureau, as I now do (www.FreindlyFireZone.com)
I recently flew in an F-16 fighter jet, accelerating vertically from zero to 12,000 feet in under ten seconds. Shortly
after that, I also flew with the U.S. Air Force Hurricane Hunters, flying directly into the eye of the beast for 12 hours.
I have interviewed world leaders, presidential candidates, and the owner of a World Series winning baseball team.
And I've had a ball exposing hypocrites and bad guys in politics, business, sports, and yes, the media.
Yet the more I think about it, I'm still in the wrong business.
I should have been a British cardiologist
or general practitioner.
Either way, I'd be in a great position to become an international celebrity, one that
could mingle with presidents, popes, paparazzi and the press. I could globetrot to my heart’s content, write sweet-nothings
on my blog, threaten people's right to free speech, and bully anyone into silence who dare oppose me.
Now THAT'S
a really cool gig.
And to think, all I'd have to do is abandon my three children, with a combined age of seven,
night after night in a Portuguese resort while I went carousing on the town with friends. And if my three-year old daughter
--- who, for sake of this story, we'll just call....Madeleine --- happens to disappear (with, or without my knowledge
and complicity), then so be it.
While it wouldn't be easy, it's a sacrifice I'd be willing to make.
Come on --- it's a private audience with the Pope we're talking about here!
**********
Now don't
get me wrong. I'm not referring to anyone in particular.
Ok, ok. You got me. That one was a lie. I
am.
But in good faith, while I won't mention these people's names, their initials are Gerry and Kate McCann.
**********
Life is still rockin' for the killers....of the spirit of goodwill.
Despite millions
around the world who've come to realize the awful truth that the McCann's gross negligence destroyed an innocent little
girl's life, both figuratively and, in all likelihood, literally, the McCanns continue their quest to stay in the headlines,
soak in the limelight, and impugn the integrity of good people courageous enough to ask the tough questions.
Quite
simply, the McCann's are desperately trying to stay...relevant.
The latest chapter in this nearly three-year
saga is their championing of a woefully bad ruling by a Portuguese court upholding a ban on the book written by former lead
police investigator in Maddie’s disappearance, Goncalo Amaral. Mr. Amaral is also prohibited from discussing his theories
in the book, and cannot give interviews about the same.
Additionally, Gerry and Kate are suing Amaral for defamation,
seeking 1.2 million Euros in compensation. And who can blame them? The millions they have raked in as globetrotting celebrities
just doesn't go as far as it once did.
Why the ban on Amaral? Because he makes the extremely small leap
of suggesting that Maddie might be dead. And, according to Team McCann, the book defames them.
Three points:
1) The McCanns don't need a book to defame them. They have done that perfectly themselves.
2)
I know it's the European Union, where personal rights and national sovereignty go out the window, but a book ban? I thought
we emerged from the Dark Ages.
3) While by no means should hope be abandoned, the overwhelming odds are that Maddie
is dead. With the incredible worldwide attention given to the case, the fact that no substantial leads have emerged since
Maddie disappeared from the Algarve resort in May, 2007 speaks volumes.
3A) A point of clarification: Actually,
there were substantial leads, all leading to Gerry and Kate.
Cadaver dogs, trained to detect the scent of death,
reacted positively to many items, from Kate's clothes to Maddie's favorite stuffed animal. Blood was detected
in their rental car. And there were many conflicts in Gerry and Kate's stories. Quite simply, the McCanns have done
more to cast doubt on themselves than anyone else.
And by the way, you will NEVER see Maddie's disappearance
referred to as a "kidnapping" here, since there is absolutely NO evidence to that theory.
But the best
part of all is the statement of Gerry and Kate, who said, "The court case has demonstrated, once again, that there is
no evidence that Madeleine has come to any harm."
Wrong again.
By definition, when a three-year
old is deliberately left alone by her parents in a foreign land with the door unlocked --- in effect, charged to care for
her two-year old twin siblings --- THAT is bringing harm to a child.
And yes, when that child disappears (at whose
hand we don't "officially" know yet) because of that abandonment, that is "harmful."
Always
making it about them, the McCanns continued, "It has also clearly shown that no police force is actively looking for
Madeleine, even, shockingly, when they are presented with new information and leads."
Yes, the entire world
of law enforcement should drop everything every time a "lead" arises. Too bad the leads making the McCanns
"arguidos" --- official suspects --- were never followed through.
Lastly, the McCanns forcefully criticized
those who dare ask the logical questions.
"The motives of those who have tried to convince the world that
Madeleine is dead, and who've disgracefully and falsely tried to implicate us in her disappearance, need to be seriously
questioned."
A) Bad use of the King's English. The evil-doers either implicated you, or they didn't.
But by definition, they couldn't, "falsely implicate" you. It's kind of like being a parent. Either
you are...or you aren't.
B) The only serious questioning that needs to occur is that of Gerry and Kate.
The Portuguese police tried, but were pressured to stand down. The Brits fell way short of their due diligence, and at
the least, should have charged the McCanns with negligence.
C) The McCanns ARE guilty, and they always will be.
Of murder or accidental death as so many think, I cannot say. That may, or may not, ever be proven.
But one
thing is certain. Gerry and Kate McCann are unequivocally guilty of destroying three lives --- Madeleine's, of course,
but also that of her siblings, who will carry severe scars for the rest of their lives. The McCann's actions of child
endangerment and gross negligence, so easily avoidable if they just acted like....parents, could have spared a little girl
the pain and anguish which she surely experienced --- a girl who would still be with us today, living out a life she richly
deserved.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but NOT to their own set of facts.
Just remember,
Gerry and Kate. The authorities may be looking the other way, but some of us are not. Sunshine is the best antiseptic,
and you need some more light in your lives.
Chris Freind is an independent columnist and investigative
reporter whose news site, The Artorius News Bureau, is slated to launch in this month. Readers of “Freindly Fire”
hail from six continents, thirty countries and all fifty states. Freind also serves as a weekly guest commentator on a Philadelphia-area
talk radio show, WCHE, and makes numerous other television and radio appearances. He can be reached at CF@FreindlyFireZone.com
Reports/videos/live tweets from final session of injunction hearing:
The McCanns on their arrival at the court in Lisbon
What
does any business, any family even, do in the face of an economic recession and dwindling income? They cut their costs.
Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd. is a registered company; a business suffering a dramatic fall
in income year-on-year. Its schedule of expenditure is so limited however, even a novice accountant would have no difficulty
in identifying target areas for cut-backs: Directors' honoraria ? (Please, no!). Legal fees? (Not open to negotiation,
I'm afraid). Costs associated with 'the search'? (Now you're talking!).
Recent events have provided
further insight into the litigants' scheming, wrapped up, as always, in clouds of specious nonsense. Blow away the smoke
however, and the long-term cunning becomes suddenly clearer.
First, some of the not-so-nonsensical nonsense.
Coming hot-on-the-heels of Carter Ruck's suggestion that Madeleine could have been abducted, Gerry McCann is quoted
by the Daily Express (11.2.10) thus: 'In a thinly veiled criticism of the Portuguese police investigation,
Mr McCann added:
"All possibilities have to be considered but one theory was pursued much more aggressively
than any other possibility."' (possibility = theory).
Mrs McCann added: "I think this will truly
help the search for Madeleine and that is why we have gone through with it. It hasn't been easy but if it helps we will
go through anything." (Anything except a reconstruction requested by the investigating authority. Fire and brimstone,
maybe. Certainly the discomfort of a few 'home truths' being made public on account of the injunction hearing).
So, Gerry gently steers into the wind together with Carter Ruck, and Kate explains how any indignity is a price worth
paying if it helps 'the search.'
Cue Clarence Mitchell.
Their spokesman said they were "determined
to stop Amaral repeating his rubbish." (Daily Star 11.2.10).
Speaking on air to Jon Gaunt (9.1.2008) the Grand
Panjandrum said this:
"Even if you send a cheque or anything in an envelope to 'Kate and Gerry in Rothley
it'll get there. People from around the world are doing that and we're very, very grateful for every penny and we
will maintain the use of that money, fully, for the finding of Madeleine, to bring her back home where she belongs."
How's that for rubbish? Matched, if not surpassed, by his remarks quoted in the Daily Mail (12.2.10):
'The tragedy of this case, which once again has been highlighted by this, is what little was done to find Madeleine.
'Kate and Gerry will have to do it themselves as they have been doing. They are the only ones looking for her.'
Instinctively one is tempted to rail against these remarks. Anyone who walks upright and eats with a knife and fork
will have realised by now that the only persons the McCanns are looking out for are themselves (Kate McCann, for example,
speaks of 'a missing child' not 'her missing daughter'). But take a step back from the broth, and include
among the ingredients the considerations of the McCanns' Portuguese Lawyer, Isabel Duarte who, according to Vanessa Allen
of the Daily Mail, said that they (the PJ) had not investigated any tip-offs since the case was officially shelved, in July
2008, when the McCanns were cleared as official suspects in the investigation (12.2.10).
Well, the McCanns, as
we know, were not 'cleared', and if a case is rendered dormant by a judicial authority, then it can only be re-awakened
by that same authority. It's not for the Police in Portugal, now otherwise engaged, suddenly to take it upon themselves
to embark on 'awaydays' all over Europe in relation to a 'pending' issue. Ms Duarte's indignation, it
should be noted, stems from a period in time commencing one year and more after Madeleine's disappearance. This issue
itself has the capacity to divert us, as do so many that crop up, but rather than dwell on it just yet, we might do to better
link it together with the seemingly unexpected concession on the part of Gerry McCann that the case could be re-opened.
Reactions to this posture have bordered on astonishment. Hardly surprising, given the interval of time during which
the McCanns themselves could have re-invigorated the process but were singularly disinclined so to do, preferring instead
to fund a stream of 'con artists' and incompetents. So why now, all of a sudden, might they countenance the very idea,
not only mooted publicly by Goncalo Amaral, but by their very own lawyer during the closing stages of the recent appeal court
hearing? No, it wasn't the McCanns bowing to the inevitable, or trying not to appear out of phase with their legal representation.
Look again at Ms. Duarte's position, as cited by the Algarve Resident (11.2.10):
Isabel Duarte, representing
the McCanns, who were in Lisbon at the hearing, said that there was "evidence that could compromise the Polícia
Judiciária investigation" in Portimão and pave the way for "the reopening of the Madeleine Case".
What evidence is that exactly? We know, because we have been told: The PJ had not investigated any tip-offs since
the case was officially shelved, in July 2008.
So, should the case be re-opened, Inspector Ricardo Paiva's
portfolio of unexplored leads can come off the back burner immediately. And when does this backlog of 'leads' date
from again? July 2008. After the original investigation had been shelved and the McCanns' arguido status lifted.
What every right-thinking individual would welcome is the re-opening of the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance.
What the McCanns are angling for is the opening of an investigation into her whereabouts. All we have to do now is
join the dots.
Remember Gerry's statement: "All possibilities have to be considered but one theory was
pursued much more aggressively than any other possibility."
The implication here is that, one theory having
been pursued unsuccessfully (so far), this theory should be put aside to allow pursuance of one or more alternatives.
And the comment of Clarence (for whom a vat of Malmsey could be supplied tomorrow):
'Kate and Gerry will
have to do it themselves as they have been doing. They are the only ones looking for her.'
What could be more
perfect for the 'cleared' McCanns than to retire from the public arena, continue to accrue 'information',
as well as cash (passing just the first of these to the Portuguese as and when, if at all) while the Portuguese, for their
part, spend the rest of their days (and their money), 'searching for Madeleine.' It's as good as operating
a bank. Keep all of the profit - bear none of the loss. And for an indefinite period into the bargain.
Not for
nothing are Brits abroad captivated by the aromatic novelty of a 'continental breakfast.' Being better accustomed
to real coffee in the mornings, the PJ and their erstwhile colleague will, I trust, have smelt this chicory (or should that
be chicanery?) coming. And now that the result of the injunction hearing is known, one feels
obliged to question, once again, whether the presiding Judge was actually listening to the evidence; whether, in fact, she
had bothered to read the book at the centre of this legal jousting, or took any time to review the DVD that was admitted into
evidence early in the proceedings. As Anna Andress makes absolutely clear, the putative libel is right there, in the police
files, verbatim. If Goncalo Amaral has trespassed against the McCanns, he can only have done so by repeating the libellous
summary of the joint Portuguese-British investigation. So what's next? Carter Ruck to sue the PJ and Leicestershire Police
on behalf of the McCanns?
In absolute terms the McCanns themselves were not on trial in Lisbon; only a book which
cast 'serious doubt on the suggestion that Madeleine McCann could have been abducted' (with thanks to Carter Ruck
for the correct choice of words here), and defamed her parents by referring, as the original Police report had previously
done, to Madeleine's death. Well the ambitious avian can lay claim to being a swan as much as it likes. If it waddles
like a duck, quacks like a duck and defecates like a duck then a swan it ain't. So, although the process of law is prepared
to navigate around the obvious, the obvious is, to most of us at any rate, inescapable.
The National Police Improvement
Agency, through their expert associate, criminal profiler Lee Rainbow, gave it as their view that, "The family is a lead
that should be followed. The contradictions in Gerald McCann's statements might lead us to suspect a homicide."
Coarsely graded, the sequence which then unfolds is:
The PJ are put on notice that they should be prepared
to encounter a body. On the advice of their able British colleague Mark Harrison they introduce specialist dogs into the investigation.
Lo and behold, the dogs indicate: First, the transient presence of a corpse. Second, the historical presence of a corpse in
transit. Well, well.
So much of what the McCanns and their spokespersons present to the media is deliberately and
scandalously misleading. However, in the light of recent reports concerning the efficacy of the Cadaver dog briefly seconded
to the McCann investigation, they will all have a very difficult time indeed in convincing anyone that an animal with a 100%
success record, before and since, could have been wrong on several occasions while in Portugal.
The appearance
of a sudden 'notch' in the behavioural graph draws attention immediately to its being due to something other than
performance factors; experimenter error maybe, or mistaken interpretation. Well, the dog was tasked with screening several
vehicles and several apartments. For each and every experimenter error to bias the outcome in a single direction would be
remarkable indeed (only McCann related items were 'marked'). Hence the performance 'downturn' must rather
be due to mistaken interpretation. And by whom? By the personage with a penchant for opinion on matters he is least qualified
to address. Perhaps, with the case re-opened (not 'reviewed', since our Donal's already done that), we might yet
learn something more of matters in Portugal on 3 May, 2007, with respect to which our protagonist is only too qualified to
speak.
