Cooper's 'Creepyman'

	The artist impression's of 'Creepyman'
	The picture immediately above, which accompanied the News of the World story, combines the sketch of Jane Tanner's 'abductor' with Gail Cooper's 'creepy' prowler.   It is supposed to show their similarities but, in actual fact, there is very little to suggest that this is the same man. The only tangible connection is that they were both drawn by the same artist, Melissa Little. Bearing that in mind, it is not surprising that the 'feel' of both sketches is the same.   Portuguese police have dismissed the sketch as having "no credibility". Officers have accused the McCanns of diverting attention away from themselves. Carlos Anjos, president of the Judicial Police Inspectors Union, said: "All sense has been completely lost." Another police source said the picture was based on information "without any consistency", shows a man who could be one of "hundreds of people" and is "another diversionary manoeuvre".

	Clarence Mitchell's press conference in London

The Scotsman reports on Clarence Mitchell's press conference (link)

More like the police than the police - new tactics in hunt for Madeleine   Published Date: 21 January 2008 Source: The Scotsman Location: Scotland By MARTYN McLAUGHLIN   McCanns employ rhetoric and methodology of authorities as they unveil drawing of suspect, writes Martyn McLaughlin   It had all the features of an official police press conference: a solemn appeal for sightings, delivered with detective-speak phrases such as "eliminating suspects in the investigation". However, the man standing behind the lectern was not a senior policeman but a PR consultant hired by a family determined to find answers even if it means going it alone. Eight months on from the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the private-investigation team sanctioned by her parents is increasingly employing the rhetoric and methodology of the police. Yesterday, in what Kate and Gerry McCann hope will spark a breakthrough, the couple's official spokesman released, for the first time, an image of a suspect to the media and public. The distribution of the artist's impression, created by Melissa Little, an FBI-accredited police artist hired by the McCann team, spoke volumes not only about the family's resolve, but their frustration with the official investigation. The language of Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' public face, was unequivocal as he addressed the media from a lectern in a London hotel. "Who is he? Where is he? What, if any, is his connection to Madeleine's disappearance?" he said. "If he is innocent, we want him to come forward for his own sake so he can be ruled out. We believe this man could be linked to Madeleine's disappearance." One former senior officer with Strathclyde Police suggested the family's approach was designed to keep public interest in the case buoyant, but said they may still have to rely on the resources of the police. He said: "The language and the presentation that are being used imitate the police thanks to their PR people. They know that's a good way to catch the public's eye. It's an authoritative approach and it captures people's attention. I don't think there's any real policing expertise, though. "I'd say it's highly unlikely they have anywhere near the resources of an active policing force. The parents don't know how to conduct an investigation and they're dependent on people they are hiring, who, in some cases, may not be best suited for the job. I think, as time goes on, it's unlikely they will find any new information on their own, outside of the chance someone will respond to this kind of public appeal." In any case, it appears Mr Mitchell's tactics yesterday were borne largely out of dissatisfaction at the apparent impotency and silence of the Portuguese police, though he was careful not to cast aspersions: "We're not going to criticise the police in any form – they have got a difficult enough job. It seems drawings of this sort are not done as a matter of course in Portugal." Nonetheless, the private investigation now appears to be regarded by the McCanns as their best hope of tracing their daughter. Having secured the image of the suspect, their team has now drawn up an action plan for how they want the investigation to proceed. Firstly, they want a worldwide search, co-ordinated by a central phone number manned by their private-detective agency to identify and locate the man in the sketches. All information would be passed on to the Portuguese police. Secondly, they want a full review of all police records and witness statements, including one taken from a 12-year-old girl who reported sightings of a strange man in the Portuguese resort in May last year. Thirdly, Mr Mitchell called for complete cooperation between the Portuguese police, Interpol and the authorities in Spain, Morocco and Britain. With tension between the McCanns and the Portuguese police still evident, the latter demand may not be straightforward. Worse still, they appear to be getting little return on the £50,000 a month being paid out to Metodo 3, the Barcelona-based private-detective agency.   'Disturbing' man is new suspect   The new suspect in the case of Madeleine McCann's disappearance was spotted by a holidaymaker three times walking around the complex where the four-year-old was last seen. The sketch was based on an interview with Gail Cooper, a grandmother from Nottinghamshire, who originally gave a statement to police in May last year. Mrs Cooper described seeing an olive-skinned man with collar-length scraggly hair acting suspiciously on a number of occasions. On 20 April, Mrs Cooper said, she saw the man walking by himself in heavy rain on the deserted beach at Praia da Luz. Later the same afternoon, Mrs Cooper said she received a visit from the same man, whom she described as "disturbing". Two days later, Mrs Cooper saw the same man hanging around a children's outing to the beach organised by the Mark Warner resort.   The full article contains 805 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.   Last Updated: 21 January 2008 12:03 AM

What Gail Cooper said to the News of the World, 20 January 2008 (link)

Mrs Cooper first spotted the man on the beach at Praia da Luz on April 20 at about 1pm when she went for lunch with friends at the Paraiso Restaurant.   She said: "He was wandering about on the beach alone even though it was pouring down with rain.   There wasn't another soul about. I watched him for a few minutes before I went back to chatting to my friends." Later that day, at around 4pm, Mrs Cooper was startled to find the stranger knocking on the front door of her holiday villa. She said: "He must have seen my husband leaving because the bell rang only seconds later. "He flashed what he said was an identity card but it could have been anything. "He seemed really strange. It was a warm afternoon but he was wearing khaki trousers or joggers, a T-shirt and a bomber jacket. He said he was collecting for an orphanage in nearby Espiche that was caring for three children whose parents had recently been killed in an accident on the main coast road. "It just didn't add up. Everyone would have known if there had been a tragedy like that. "The man was rambling and becoming agitated. He really unnerved me even though my two grown-up daughters and two grandchildren were with me. "I thought he was a conman trying to pull a fast one." Mrs Cooper also said her eight-year-old grand-daughter had been playing on her own in the pool near the villa and was clearly visible from the road. She added: "This man was very unpleasant and creepy. I'd put his age at 38 to 45. He was very scruffy and had a 70s-style black Mexican moustache. "He wasn't Portuguese—I think he was North African, either Tunisian or Moroccan." Mrs Cooper, a community healthcare co-ordinator from Newark, Notts, added: "In my job I have to assess people and make a judgement. "My judgement is that this man was very suspicious and could have been the kidnapper everyone is searching for. "I'd recognise him immediately if I saw him. His appearance has really stuck in my mind." We can confirm the orphanage does NOT exist and that there is no evidence of the fatal car crash. Mrs Cooper saw the man a third time, two days later on April 22, as she lunched with her husband Jonathan at Bar Habana on the beach. There was a children's outing there from the Mark Warner Ocean Club at the same time. The man was again alone and standing near the group of youngsters. Mrs Cooper said: "He looked odd and out of place." When Madeleine arrived at the resort just a week later, the youngster went to the beach three days in a row with the children's club, including May 3, the day of her disappearance. Although Mrs Cooper rang police on May 7 and gave a statement at her home on May 21 she heard no more. But it is now clear how important her account—and the facial likeness built from it—may be. On the night Madeleine vanished from the apartment while parents Kate and Gerry—both Leicestershire doctors—were dining at a nearby tapas restaurant, family friend Jane Tanner saw a man carrying a child away from the apartment on foot at 9.10pm. Jane has now told the McCanns: "The man in the new suspect picture strongly resembles the person I saw on May 3rd." The sketch by qualified police artist Melissa Little, bears an uncanny resemblance to an earlier picture, based on Jane Tanner's story. Last night the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the new image had been passed to officers from the Leicestershire Constabulary, Portuguese police and Interpol. They hope the hunt will also be joined by forces in Spain and Morocco.

Four witnesses are claimed to support Mrs Cooper's sighting

The Daily Mail runs an online report (link) with the headline:   Four witnesses say they saw suspect pictured in new poster campaign   However, when you read the text of the article there is a subtle difference:   'Four key witnesses in the Madeleine McCann investigation could have seen the man shown in a new sketch of a potential suspect, it emerged yesterday.' and,   '...four witnesses may have seen the unidentified man - first on the night the three-year-old went missing, then later with named suspect Robert Murat, and finally in Morocco.'   So, what do these four witnesses say?   1) Jane Tanner - Is quoted as saying that she was "80 per cent sure" that the man depicted in this new artist's impression was the same man she saw carrying a child away from the McCanns' apartment .   "80 per cent sure" does not sound very convincing. But that is probably not surprising when we look back at the artist's impression of Tanner's 'abductor' who doesn't even have a face.   In November 2007, she admitted: "I simply don't know if I could identify again the man I saw that night." and "He had his face turned away from me, sort of sideways and it was very dark. I just didn't see it properly, I wish to God I had." (link to quotes)   2) Isabel Gonzalez - Who said she saw Madeleine with a Berber woman in Morocco, said the sketch looked "very similar" to a man she saw immediately after the sighting.   Again, not particularly convincing. Ms Gonzalez has never previously mentioned anyone resembling this description. She has detailed "an older woman in a Muslim headscarf" and a "European-looking" couple, who looked "completely out of place" in a small Portuguese town (later attempts were made to imply this was Murat and his girlfriend). But absolutely no description anywhere of a long haired, swarthy looking man with a very distinctive moustache.   3) Amanda Mills - 34, from Basildon, Essex, claimed to have spotted a man trying to break into a bedroom window at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz a week before Madeleine disappeared from the complex. She is reported to have said there are "strong similarities" between the man she saw and the new sketch.   Again, this is the week before the McCanns arrived and could be connected to Gail Cooper's sighting. But nothing at all connects it with the man Jane Tanner allegedly saw or the week that the McCanns were there.   At the time, Ms Mills described seeing a ''scruffy, unshaven'' man. If she could remember with such clarity that he was unshaven then she would surely have remembered and remarked upon such a distinctive moustache, if this was the same man that Mrs Cooper saw. (link)   4) Charlotte Pennington - The report says 'Her description of a person she saw with Mr Murat also matches the man shown in the artist's impression.'   No quote from Ms Pennington so we must asume the newspaper is making the connection for her. It should also be remembered that Pennington did not describe a scruffy or unkempt man, nor did she describe a distinctive moustache and she placed his age at 27-35 years, whereas Mrs Cooper ages her man at 38-45 years.   In conclusion, it would appear that this is yet another report trying to make witness connections on tenuous or simply non-existent grounds.

What are the doubts that surround Gail Cooper's story?

1) The report claims that Gail Cooper spotted the man 3 times, which she apparently did, but 2 of those times were on the same day.   2) The sightings took place on 20 and 22 April 2007 - six days before the McCanns arrived.   3) Would a 'predator' announce himself in such a public way, by walking on the beach in the rain, knocking on doors and hanging around children on the beach?   4) Would such a 'predator' book himself in at a small holiday resort for two weeks, knowing he would almost certainly be seen on a fairly regular ocurrence?   5) If this man was the 'predator', then why did he wait two weeks to abduct a child?   6) In contrast to the News of the World headline - which indicated that Mrs Cooper's blood ran cold when she saw him: "He made my blood run cold and gave me the creeps."  - the Nottingham Evening Post (link) quotes Mrs Cooper as saying that her "blood ran cold" when she realised the mystery man could have been involved in Maddie's disappearance. "It was quite a bit later. Even when I heard the news about a little girl going missing I still didn't draw the connection until I got talking to friends who had been with us," she told the Evening Post. "When the penny finally dropped my blood ran cold."   So, are we to assume that the News of the World used the phrase to sensationalise and dramatise their story, when the man didn't actually make her blood run cold at the time - only when she thought he might be connected to Madeleine's disappearance?   7) In a live, local news interview at the Rothley War Memorial, on 21 January 2008, the reporter asked Mrs Cooper what this man had done to make her so suspicious.   She responded: 'Well, nothing really'.

Police say Cooper's 'Creepyman' is a local pig farmer

Joaquim Jose Marques/'Creepyman' Daily Mail 24 January 2008 (link)   Original text of article:   The man in the new image released by Kate and Gerry McCann as a possible suspect in Madeleine's disappearance has been found and is a local pig farmer who has now been ruled out of the case. The man, who has been named as Joaquim Jose Marques, was discovered living five miles from the holiday resort in the Algarve but police say he is not connected to the case. The discovery rules out reports that there was also an accomplice involved. The farmer was originally contacted by Portugal's criminal investigation department 20 days after Madeleine vanished aged three. After the image was released this week, they got in touch with him again. He was interviewed yesterday by Portuguese police and was ruled out of the hunt for Madeleine McCann's abductor. The dishevelled looking worker lives close to a village called Pedragosa, which is about five miles from the resort of Praia da Luz.   Revised text following contact with Clarence Mitchell:   Officers hunting for missing Madeleine McCann believe they have tracked down a straggly-haired man depicted in an artist's drawing as a possible suspect - and ruled him out of the inquiry. However the McCanns today claimed the pig farmer is NOT the man detectives are looking for and vowed the hunt would go on. The man, who was today named as Joaquim Jose Marques, was discovered living five miles from the holiday resort in the Algarve but police say he is not connected to the case. The discovery rules out reports that there was also an accomplice involved. The farmer was originally contacted by Portugal's criminal investigation department 20 days after Madeleine vanished. After the image was released this week, they got in touch with him again and he was interviewed by police and ruled out of the inquiry. The dishevelled looking worker lives close to a village called Pedragosa, which is about five miles from the resort of Praia da Luz. The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: "Our investigators have not been informed that the man we are seeking has been ruled out. "We have no reason to believe he has been ruled out and our search for the man in our image is very much continuing. "Our understanding is that the man reported to be linked to our image bears no resemblance. For instance, he has dreadlocks and Gail Cooper most definitely would have spotted those." Note: The article was later re-written a third time to reveal that Marques had raped a British girl in Praia da Luz, in 1995 (see below). * It would appear to have escaped Clarence Mitchell's notice that hair can be grown, cut, put into dreadlocks, taken out again, straightened, dyed... etc It must be remembered, that this is an artist's impression based on the testimony of Gail Cooper who only saw this man for a very brief period of time, over 9 months ago. As such, there is a strong physical and facial likeness. The hair style has obviously been changed, as one might expect, and the moustache has gone. But the shape and structure of the face, the nose, the cheekbones, the chin - the things which cannot be changed - are all remarkably similar.  Joaquim Jose Marques/'Creepyman'

Daily Star report of 'Creepyman', 25 January 2008 (link)

Marques brandishes an air rifle to keep reporters off his land The "creepy" prowler fingered in the hunt for Madeleine McCann was last night revealed as a penniless pig farmer ... with a gun. Police are certain Joaquim Jose Marques is the suspicious stranger spotted lurking in Praia da Luz a fortnight before Madeleine vanished. But when the Daily Star tracked him down yesterday at his crumbling farmhouse three miles  from the Portuguese resort, he unleashed a pack of ferocious dogs. Then he emerged with a rifle, screaming threats that he would open fire. Marques became the centre of a global manhunt after Brit holidaymaker Gail Cooper  described the character that made her "blood run cold" to an ex-FBI sketch artist who produced a vivid drawing of the man. Maddie’s parents Gerry and Kate, both 39, distributed a million posters of the image in a bid to trace him, so he could be quizzed over their daughter’s disappearance while they were on holiday at the resort.   But yesterday it was revealed that detectives had tracked him down just 20 days after the four-year-old vanished last May and found he had an alibi. Police officers went back to see Marques this week after the McCanns issued their poster.  They also quizzed his British hairdresser girlfriend – with whom he has a three-year-old daughter – to check out his story. When the Daily Star went to his tumbledown hillside farm, it was apparent why police were quick to include him in their first round-up of suspects. Marques flew into a rage at being linked to the Madeleine disappearance and set loose his dogs. Then, brandishing a garden hoe menacingly, he screamed abuse when asked to explain the police visit. "Leave me alone, leave me alone," he yelled. "You are destroying my life. I have had the police here and they know it is not me. I want you off my land right now." The swarthy farmer disappeared into an abandoned outbuilding and emerged toting a rifle above his head, screaming threats that he was about to shoot. While his long hair, facial colouring and age – in his 30s – match the man in the drawing, he does not share his moustache or prominent teeth. Holidaymaker Gail, 50, had told how she saw the mysterious man three times in Praia da Luz the week before the McCanns arrived, and he gave her the "creeps". Last night the McCanns’ private detectives from the Barcelona-based Metodo 3 agency were still trying to track down Marques to question him about the poster. The couple’s family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "As far as we are concerned the hunt for the man in the sketch continues. "We are very grateful to anyone who comes forward with information and, even if it is not the man we are looking for, it enables us to rule individuals out." But Portuguese police said Marques was not a suspect in the case, had not been arrested and has been eliminated from their inquiries. A police source said: "At the time of the disappearance an individual who had been fingered as a suspect by a tourist in Luz was contacted. "Immediately he was acquitted of any suspicions. "This week another English citizen pointed to the individual.  "But after the man was once again contacted, it was quite clear he had no connection to the case."

'Creepyman' revealed to be rapist

Daily Mail report 25 January 2008 (link)   The man in the sketch of Madeleine McCann's alleged abductor has been identified as a pig farmer who raped a British tourist in the town where the three-year-old disappeared.   Joaquim Jose Marques raped his teenage victim while an accomplice targeted her friend, the Portuguese daily newspaper Diario de Noticias reported today.   Marques, who has a daughter of Madeleine's age, was sentenced to five years in jail in 1996 after being found guilty of the 1995 attack in Praia da Luz.   His unnamed accomplice was also convicted of rape, the paper added.   The girls, both British and aged 17 and 18, were said to have been staying with a relative at the time.   Dreadlocked Marques, nicknamed Quim Ze, was also a known gun-runner and drug trafficker, the paper claimed.