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All the important events from May 2009
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Oprah Show/New Maddie image, 01 May 2009
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Raymond Hewlett - The UK media's "new" suspect |
 Raymond Hewlett, 21 May 2009
Previous reports, pictures and videos:
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'Welcome To the Madeleine Online Store', 01 May 2009 |
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01 May 2009
* Warning: Once you have entered the 'Madeleine Online Store' it is impossible to navigate out of
it to another page on the 'findmadeleine' site *
The new Campaign T-Shirts:
'High quality' 'polyester and cotton'
Clarence Mitchell speaking 01 May 2009, about the release of the new 'age progressed' image
of Maddie:
"Kate and Gerry believe that this is the most realistic image of Madeleine
as she may look today.
"They want the new image to be distributed as widely as possible as they believe this is the child that anyone who sees
Madeleine today will spot, rather than the child in the older pictures."
- Which begs the obvious question: Why have they printed t-shirts with a picture of a 3-year-old Madeleine on them?
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'Anonymous Information' that can't be sent, 02 May 2009 |
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By Nigel Moore
02 May 2009
Anyone wishing to provide the McCanns with "the key piece of the jigsaw that we - and Madeleine especially - so desperately
need" will find the official website something of a puzzle. Not so much a jigsaw, more like the box - but with no pieces in
it.
Navigating to the 'Contact Us' page of findmadeleine.com reveals a dedicated box in which anonymous information can be
supplied (as above).
The accompanying text states: 'If you have any information at all which may help us to find Madeleine or uncover the
truth of her disappearance but would prefer to stay anonymous, please let us know by entering your information in the box
opposite.'
It continues: 'This is a completely anonymous process and we will not capture any information regarding you details or
contact you.'
The only drawback is that it is impossible to send anonymous information by this method. Any attempt to complete and
send the relevant form results in the page refreshing with the error message: 'You must enter the correct code'.
But there is a problem with entering the correct 'Captcha' code - a code designed 'to stop automated spam submissions'
- because the code does not refresh, as one would expect.
And there's a very simple reason that.
The code supplied, 6MZOQ, is nothing more than a simple Gif image. It never changes, rendering it impossible to input
the 'correct code'.
A study of the source code <form method="post" action="?cmd=OK"> reveals that there is no form processing
script. In effect, this is a box that simply sits on the page and does nothing.
The proclamation of the new Madeleine posters - that people can come 'forward in confidence' with 'ANY' information -
suddenly sounds rather hollow.
Just like that empty jigsaw box.
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English intimidate PJ, 02 May 2009 |
Maddie Case: Tomorrow is two years since the English girl disappeared from the resort of
Praia da Luz
Rui Pando Gomes
02 May 2009 - 00h30
Thanks to Astro for translation
The Superintendant Stuart Prior, the English police inspector who liaised with the Portuguese authorities in the Maddie
case, has contacted the PJ to express his annoyance at the suspicions of paedophilia raised about a friend of the McCanns,
David Payne. The British doctor was part of the group staying in Praia da Luz, at the time of Maddie's disappearance from
the apartment where she slept in the tourist resort in the Algarve.
The informal phone calls of this senior officer - who was accused at the time of protecting Kate and Gerry McCann - are
interpreted by Judiciary Police sources as "an attempt of intimidation to stop future endeavours."
The CM established that Stuart Prior, the head of the Leicestershire Police Constabulary (area where the McCanns live),
called the PJ, giving an account of the couple's 'nuisance' regarding the suspicions over David Payne raised by Gonçalo Amaral.
The former coordinator of the PJ in Portimão questioned the lack of explanations regarding 'the bath given to the children
on the day Maddie disappeared'.
Amaral, who was removed from coordinating the case precisely because he accused the English police of taking sides with
Gerry and Kate, believes that 'promiscuity continues between the couple and the British authorities'. According to the former
police inspector 'only very influential people can send send messages through the police'.
The parents gave an interview to the famous TV presenter in the U.S. Oprah Winfrey, which will be broadcast Monday.
Details
To Reopen the Case
Gonçalo Amaral, together with other Portuguese and foreign former police inspectors, is examining evidences left behind
after his departure 'to discover the truth and to make possible the reopening of the case'.
Keeping the Mystery
The researcher Madalena Oliveira, from the University of Minho, has no doubts that 'a strong public relations machine
around the parents' was set in motion.
Fired this month
The 21 Ocean Club employees who were dismissed, cease to work this month. Indemnifications only in August.
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Press 'used' to keep disappearance at the top of the agenda, 02 May 2009 |
02 May 2009
Thanks to Astro for translation
An investigator from the Communication Sciences' Department at the University of Minho considers that the journalists
were used to keep the disappearance of Madeleine McCann at the top of news.
"I have no doubts that the media were strategically 'used' in order not to allow the story to 'die'," university professor
Madalena Oliveira told Lusa, in a written interview.
Apart from the "many initiatives" that were carried out to "keep the issue in the journalists' agenda", "we cannot ignore
that a very strong Public Relations machine was built around the parents", added the investigator, who has already presented
communications about the issue at conferences abroad.
Since the beginning, it was visible that this was "extended news" in the media, that "seduced public opinion", which
in turn led the journalists to stay "alert to every movement" around the story, revealing a "certain will, or maybe obligation,
to satiate the audiences' interest", Madalena Oliveira sustains.
This is where two opposed questions appear and the possibility of the "perversion of journalism itself" emerges, which
is excluded if the reporters' role is that of "delegates of the will - and right - of citizens to be informed", but which
has to be conceded if communication companies see "a strategy to give the public what the public wants" in this case.
The media process that surrounds the disappearance of the English child in the Algarve "illustrates a certain tendency
in contemporary journalism to privilege actuality's emotional charge", in what French investigator Mac Litz calls "compassionate
journalism", the university teacher considers.
An aspect that becomes relevant is the increasing media interest in child issues, in this case augmented by a suspicion
of crime, the involvement of foreigners and the inevitable implications between the diplomacies of Portugal and of the United
Kingdom, she stresses.
"This is a case that will become a marker in the history of Portuguese or even international journalism", as it illustrates
the story of how "a child can individually move the public opinion of an entire country", Madalena Oliveira concludes.
Madeleine McCann disappeared on the 3rd of May 2007 from a bedroom where she slept with her younger twin siblings, in
an apartment at the "Ocean Club" resort, in Praia da Luz, near Lagos, in the Algarve.
The Judiciary Police has initially pointed towards the abduction theory, but later admitted to the child's homicide.
Nevertheless, the authorities have never managed to clarify what really happened to Madeleine McCann, who would be nearly
six today.
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Community shows support to McCanns, 02 May 2009 |
2 May 2009 01:31am
Two years on from Madeleine McCann's disappearance, members
of her local community described their continuing support for her grief-stricken family.
As Gerry and Kate McCann released an image of how their daughter may look now, the youngster remains in the thoughts
of residents in the village of Rothley, Leicestershire.
Sunday marks the second anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.
Since then the community in Rothley has rallied around her family.
Kate McCann has previously spoken of her gratitude for the support they have received and the continued backing of their
neighbours.
The Rev Rob Gladstone, vicar at Rothley Parish Church, said the community in the village was extremely supportive.
He said they would not be holding a special service for Madeleine to mark the anniversary, but said she was always in
their thoughts and prayers.
He said: "Last year the anniversary was the Saturday so we did a particular thing, but this year because it is a Sunday
we're not going to do an additional service.
"In all our services we pray for missing children and particularly for the McCann family every week.
"We will give a bit more attention to this, but it has never gone away from here, it's still happening for us. Week by
week we pray for the McCann family."
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Too busy with Madeleine McCann to help you!, 03 May 2009 |
Jane Tyler
May 3 2009
A CHARITY set up to provide help and support to relatives of missing people has refused to publicise cases – in
favour of Madeleine McCann.
Today is the second anniversary of the Leicestershire youngster's disappearance.
In addition to the details of the six year-old's disappearance, Missing People features a further 24 Midland cases on
its website.
The Sunday Mercury contacted the charity, asking if they could help us to raise the profile of a local family suffering
similar turmoil to the McCanns.
But they told us: "Sorry, we won't help you."
And they added that it would be "too time consuming" for its staff to do, and said they would prefer to keep the focus
on Madeleine McCann this weekend.
Amazingly Missing People is still claiming that more needs to be done to help families whose loved ones disappear.
And the charity's director of policy and research, Geoff Newiss, has issued another satement saying: "Two years on and
Madeleine McCann's disappearance from Praia da Luz continues to highlight the need for better services and support for families
affected.
"Families like Madeleine McCann's need more help with the emotional, social and practical impacts that occur when someone
they love goes missing."
"Madeleine is a vulnerable missing child. Her family are in the same desperate situation as the 1,000 other UK families
the charity currently supports, all living in limbo."
A Birmingham councillor has hit out at the charity's snub and has vowed to raise the issue of missing city children.
Coun Reg Corns (Con, Northfield), said he will use his position as vice chairman of the children and education overview
and scrutiny committee to highlight the problem.
He said it was all too easy for high profile national cases, such as Madeleine, to dominate the headlines.
"This results in local cases being brushed under the carpet," he said.
"At one time there was a campaign to put the faces of missing children onto the side of milk cartons but that doesn’t
seem to be happening any more.
"I am going to ask the question: how we are currently organising searching for missing children and what arrangements
are in place?"
A spokeswoman for Missing People said: "While the charity continues to assist these families in their search for information,
and to raise awareness with the public, Missing People has taken the decision not to contact other families with media enquiries
in regards to Madeleine McCann's specific campaign.
"The charity feels that doing so would not only take the focus from the individual missing person's case, but we also
feel it would be inappropriate that, while these families have to live with the pain of a loved one's disappearance every
day, the media only recognises the plights of these families on the anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance."
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I feel for parents of Madeleine McCann says Birmingham mom, 03 May 2009 |
I feel for parents of Madeleine McCann says Birmingham mom Sunday Mercury
May 3 2009
BIRMINGHAM mother Maisie Dill knows exactly what Kate McCann is going through.
Like Kate she suffered the anguish of having a child go missing and every day hopes and prays she will receive the phone
call bringing good news.
But unlike Kate and Gerry McCann, Maisie and her husband Cecil haven't been able to throw thousands of pounds into the
hunt.
The couple, from Balsall Heath, have had to rely on West Midlands Police, the National Missing Persons Bureau and sporadic
appeals in local papers and TV.
Maisie's son Andrew Dill, a father-of-three, vanished on April 28 in 2003, aged 38.
He was last seen after being dropped off at Hednesford train station in Staffordshire at 11pm to get a train to Birmingham
to get back to his home in Edgbaston.
Maisie said since that day he has not made contact with his parents or his three daughters Kiayahana, aged 13, Laivine,
17, and 11 year-old China, who are cared for by their mother, from whom Andrew was estranged.
But Maisie is not bitter that they have not been able to hire a press agent, private detectives or appear on TV chat
shows like the McCanns.
"If I had their money I'd do the same," she said. "I don't blame them – as a mother I'd do anything to try to find
my son."
She has nothing but praise for the help she has received from West Midlands Police, who have kept the same family liaison
officer throughout the case.
"They have been fantastic and in regular contact with us and have followed up every lead," she said.
Det Sgt Neil Tiller from Steelhouse Lane police, the officer in charge of the case, said as long as Maisie and Cecil
wanted them to keep looking, they would.
"Some families after a certain length of time move on and box it off, but Maisie and Cecil are not like that. That was
apparent the first time I spoke to them," he said.
"They are still as desperate for news today as they were six years ago."
And like the McCanns, Maisie will never give up.
"I will carry on looking until the day I die," she said.
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Rogério Alves: "There is no evidence that she is dead", 03 May 2009 |
The McCanns' lawyer considers the couple's hope to find their daughter "normal" and asserts
that there is no "friction" between the couple and Portuguese police
03-05-2009 - 11:07h
Thanks to Astro for translation
"There is no evidence that Madeleine has died", states Rogério Alves, Gerry and Kate McCann's lawyer, to tvi24.pt. Therefore,
he defends, "it's normal that they hope to find her alive". The attorney also recalls that the process was archived, but the
essential is lacking: "to find the little girl".
When questioned whether the indications that the English dogs detected meant nothing, Rogério Alves is assertive in his
reply: "That's nothing but fiction and I have to deal with reality. Those are interpretations, without nexus, of loose aspects,
that obviously do not have the virtuality that people want to attribute to them". Therefore, "it doesn't serve to lose much
time with it".
The dogs' empire
The media's insistence on that point of the investigation even leads the McCanns'
defendant to use some irony: "I think that canine fidelity to those indications is funny. It's the dogs' empire. A sort of
investigation in the hands of dogs. It makes no sense whatsoever".
But he asserts, so that no doubts are left: "There is no friction, no incompatibility between the Portuguese police and
the couple". "Everything relevant that the parents find out will always be communicated" to the authorities.
The fact that the case was archived "without answers" is not an exclusive of Portugal. "The police didn't find out what
happened, but that could have happened in England, in France or in the United States. Many times, the authorities don't find
out," he explains to tvi24.pt. And he adds: "I have no doubts that the police did what it could, but there are missing children's
cases, and other cases, that take years to be solved."
No special treatment
Rogério Alves also denies that his clients "had any special treatment," given
by authorities, and justifies: "They were made arguidos, wrongly from my point of view, and wrongly from the point of view
of the National Director of the Polícia Judiciária, but they were. Then, later on, the investigation progressed and it was
concluded that there were no indications to accuse them."
"To me," the lawyer proceeds, "Gerry and Kate are no longer the arguidos in the process. They are a father and a mother
who suffered, like any father or mother knows, one of the most painful things that can happen. That is how I see them. Everything
else is the phenomenon in the media."
Stopped process
For the couple's defendant, the possible reopening of the process has a "secondary
value for the parents". "What is important, for them, is that new leads appear to help them to find their daughter. They are
parents who have done everything, but really everything, to find her. If that happens to go through the reopening of the case,
later on, great," he defends.
Despite the process being "stopped in juridical terms", Rogério Alves has no doubt whatsoever "that the Portuguese authorities
investigate every apt lead that deserves to be investigated".
"Imagine that today someone calls the police and says he saw the child. If the police thinks that the information is
apt, they don't need to file a request to reopen the process and to investigate. A preliminary data analysis is already a
diligence," he adds.
There may still be lawsuits
The issue is old, but it hasn't been forgotten. Just like Maddie. The lawyer confirms
that "the possibility to sue some Portuguese media is still being studied". "I don't know whether that is going to happen
or not, but it's a scenario that has not been put aside yet".
Concerning the possibility of suing former Polícia Judiciária inspector Gonçalo Amaral, Rogério Alves prefers not to
reveal "anything about the dialogue" that he holds with his clients, and merely asserts that "what has to be done will be
done". "This case can only be understood under one light: there is a father and a mother who will fight until the end of their
strength to find out what happened to their daughter and who keep the hope to find her alive, intact," he concluded.
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McCanns pressure and harass Ocean Club employee, 03 May 2009 |
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McCanns pressure and harass Ocean Club employee SIC Noticias
03 May 2009
Ocean Club Employee was pressured by Kate McCann to tell what she knows
Voice Over: What she saw, what she knows, and what could have this employee of the
Ocean Club said, to raise such an interest by the McCanns? 'Francisca', a fictitious name, was persistently approached
at the end of last year by the 'spearhead' of the couple in Portugal. Susan Hubbard, the wife of the Anglican Father [Haynes],
in Praia da Luz, went various times to the tourist complex, to the house and even left notes in the mail box. She was determined
to put her [the employee] in contact with Kate.
'Francisca' – "She told me:
'Kate wants to make contact with you, because she wants to ask you questions, etc... ' And I said: 'What questions? Because
there's a detail; at the time I was on my break. I had three days off, do you understand it?; So, what I have seen, what I
have not seen, who was there, who was not, I don't know."
Voice Over: This witness might be key in the investigation, since she lives near to
the church – the place where the former coordinator of the investigation suspects that Madeleine's body passed through.
The worker for the position she occupied, controlled a great part of the conversations and faces that appeared in Praia da
Luz during the long months of the investigation. The insistency of Susan that 'Francisca' should provide her personal
email address aroused suspicions.
'Francisca' – "She wanted to get in my 'site', to see who I was talking
to or who I was in contact with."
Voice Over: The contact with Kate happened a month later, via SMS. In the text messages,
Madeleine's mother warned that family members would go to Praia da Luz in the following days, and that she would be contacted
personally. The approach was made, not by the mother, nor by Gerry's sister, but by Arthur Cowley, a detective hired by the
family, who was once an inspector of the Scotland Yard.
'Francisca' – "He asked me some questions, what were my impressions, lots of things... "
Journalist – "And do you believe that they were suspecting that you... "
'Francisca' – "That I knew more than what I was saying... That was my impression...
"
Journalist – "...That you were working as an informer to someone?"
'Francisca' – "Exactly."
Voice Over: From the talks that she had with her colleagues 'Francisca' believes that
she was the only Ocean Club employee target of the private detectives and of the couple. She doesn't have doubts that Madeleine
is dead and she hopes to explain why to Gonçalo Amaral, now that the former inspector is committed to reopening the process.
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Maddie Case: Archived - why?, 03 May 2009 |
Alexandra Serôdio, Marisa Rodrigues e Nuno Miguel Maia
03/05/2009 00h51m
Every week the process of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann increases in volume.
Since it was archived, on the 21st of July last year, there are already more than 700 pages with denouncements –
identified and anonymous – new alleged sightings and even clairvoyants' hunches. And every month there is a request
to reopen the investigation, made by a Spanish lawyer. After all, there are many who question the decision to archive
the process so soon, given other cases, without an explanation for the strange disappearance in Praia da Luz, Lagos, Algarve,
which completes two years today.
Does the persistence of the need to do diligences give reason to those who argued that the process should not have been
archived, or does it not? Should the investigation have been concluded as if there was nothing more there to investigate,
or should it not?
Sources close to the process explained to JN that the investigation, held by the Public Ministry of Portimão and by a
deputy attorney general placed at the District Attorney General of Évora, had no alternative but to opt for the archiving
since the moment when Pinto Monteiro, the Attorney General of the Republic, stated publicly that up to a certain day, the
"Maddie case" should have "a solution".
Thus, given the existing data in the process, on the date the decision took place, could only mean the archiving. This
outcome, as suggested by sources close to the case – like the former coordinator of the PJ, Gonçalo Amaral - may
be understood as a way to exonerate the couple Kate and Gerry McCann and also Robert Murat (the first to be made arguido
by the Judiciary Police), in a context of tensions in the diplomatic relations between Portugal and England.
For the various parts involved, the end of the maximum period in which the process could be kept under the secrecy of
Justice would not impede, by itself that the investigation, on its own initiative, continued to explore new avenues and possibilities
for the resolution of the case. Furthermore, other investigations to disappearances of children even now remain open for years
and years. An example of that is the case of Rui Pedro Teixeira Mendonça, of Paredes. It was initiated 11 years ago (March
4th, 1998) and only recently it was suggested the possibility of archival, by the Public Ministry, after years of efforts
abroad. Still, there is no final dispatch. "The investigations are still ongoing. The case is not closed," confirms, to JN,
Ricardo Sá Fernandes, the lawyer of Rui's family, who should now be 22 years old.
There are, however, those who consider totally irrelevant the shelving of criminal investigations in the cases of missing
persons. Therefore, stresses, to JN, a renowned expert in the phenomenon of children disappearances, an archival does not
have, before the current criminal law framework, the meaning of the "death" of the process. This means that any new fact which
invalidates the arguments of the archival is sufficient to cause a reopening of the inquest.
For the same expert, the most important is that there is a continuous search for the missing, while keeping the standard
procedures for divulgation. This because, for the search of missing people, is neither necessary nor required the opening
of a formal investigation; in view of the fact that, generally, the disappearance of a person is not always motivated by a
crime. Clearly demonstrating this reality is that, while some 700 disappearances of persons are registered annually by the
authorities in Portugal, the number of registered processes is not equal [lower] in number.
In these circumstances, it should not be surprising the archival of Maddie's case. "The investigation should continue
as long as there are steps to be taken. If there is nothing of use, then there's no need to keep the investigation open. If
new evidences comes up, then reopen it." However, what can be questioned is whether, after two years, an investigation is
able to sustain the same initial vigour. And then, explains the same source, the answer may be negative.
In a context for the maintenance of the continuation of the distribution of requests for information made by the police
authorities, it will be important, as the years advance, the "update of the image" of Madeleine McCann. This concern has been
raised in some cases of media relevance – not in all.
There is, however, a fact that at this time can be considered as certain. From moment the case was archived, the Public
Ministry and the Judiciary Police no longer had self-initiative to look into new evidences and avenues. On the contrary, they
began waiting for new evidences to appear, under external initiative and impulse.
From a proactive attitude, they went to a passive posture. From the search they moved to waiting. That is, the authorities
consider that is not justified to commit more resources or imagine other forms of investigation and of approaches to the case.
Like at the 'hottest' stage of the investigation, when someone – namely the British investigators - remembered
to summon the dogs "Eddie" and "Keela" to examine, in strategic locations, cadaver odours and traces of blood or other biological
fluids.
Or when the Public Ministry requested to the criminal investigating judge [Pedro Frias], that besides the traffic data
and billing details of the mobile phones used by the group of nine English persons in determined days, the telephone operators
were as well asked for the contents of short messages (SMS) sent and exchanged by those people during the 'hottest' days.
In the first case, the arrival of the animals brought new impetus to the case. It was discovered "marks" of cadaverine
odour in the couple's bedroom, behind a sofa near a window in a room of the apartment, in the clothes of Madeleine's mother
and – oddly enough - in the boot of a car rented by the couple more than 20 days after the disappearance. And as well
biological traces substantially at the same places, which in the final report of a categorized British forensic laboratory
[FSS], would be revealed as inconclusive, from the complete identity of Madeleine, to the doubts regarding what kind of fluids
were involved. In addition, still, the fact that the marks signalled by the dogs cannot, by itself alone, constitute
evidence.
In the second case, the judge Pedro Frias ultimately denied access to the text messages, considering that in practice
that would allow telephone interceptions with a retroactive effect to a date when there was no judicial authorisation. The
decision was upheld by the appellate judges of the Court of Appeal in Évora, thus the knowledge of the contents of such informations
was barred, which could have revealed important clues for the investigation.
Being the process archived, any initiative of this kind will only be possible if the case is reopened in the sequence
of an external impulse that justifies it. What, until now, was not the case.
At the time of the archival, the process consisted of 17 main volumes and several attachments. Today, almost a year since
the conclusion of the case - and two years after the last day that the English girl was last seen - the files have now two
more volumes and two attachments, which means more than 700 pages. In total, the main files (excluding the attachments) have
more than five thousand pages.
Each time that new information arrives to the Judiciary Police or to the Attorney General's Office, the docket ends up
at the hands of one of the main investigators of the case. Ricardo Paiva then proceeds with inquires considered to be
relevant, and sends e-mail messages to foreign police authorities and, invariably, has prepared information directed to the
district attorney of Portimão, Magalhães de Menezes, guaranteeing that they bring nothing new to the case. The JN knows that,
this magistrate keeps, even today, two volumes of the process in his office.
Several denunciations have already reported that Maddie was seen in Minas Gerais (Brazil), Corsica (Italy), Sweden, Poland
or in Mexico. There is even a clairvoyant of Amsterdam (Netherlands) which states that the English child inserted a pen in
an electric socket at the Ocean Club apartment in Praia da Luz, Lagos, and that she eventually died electrocuted. Then, she
was placed in a trash site, located at one kilometre of the site. For the investigators, after the summary proceedings, none
of this has any consistency.
Apparent antagonists regarding the investigation and the alleged "pressures", made by the Portuguese and English governments,
there is a common point that both the former national director of the PJ, Alípio Ribeiro, and the former coordinator of the
investigation, Gonçalo Amaral, are, curiously in agreement. Those two protagonists of the case have already stated that the
archival was premature, since everything is still left to be explained. But even with the process archived, will we ever know
what really happened?
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Police chief Goncalo Amaral admits errors in Madeleine McCann case, 08 May 2009 |
Police chief Goncalo Amaral admits errors in Madeleine McCann case Daily Mirror
By Rod Chaytor
8/05/2009
The police chief who led the botched investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann yesterday finally admitted
Portuguese police bungled the job.
Goncalo Amaral said: Its true. At the time there was no set procedure for a missing child. The crime scene was not well
looked after.
He also admitted a reconstruction should have quickly been organised. Madeleine was three when she vanished from
her parents holiday apartment in Praia de Luz two years ago last Sunday.
Retired Amaral, 49, moved off the inquiry after five months, is now plugging a new book in France and demanding cash
for interviews.
In an article published in Le Parisien newspaper yesterday, he accused Madeleines parents Kate and Gerry of covering
up the truth despite the fact they were officially cleared by Portuguese police last July.
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Kate pain is 'eased', 10 May 2009 |
Tracey Kandohla
10 May 2009
Kate McCann has publicly thanked her community for helping ease her pain over missing Madeleine.
She praised their "amazing support" during a fund-raising auction night for Maddie at the school that is still waiting
to enrol her daughter.
"What could have been a really sad time has been made positive because of you," she said on Friday just days after the
second anniversary of the disappearance.
"Thank you for your continued support and for joining us here tonight. It helps us so much."
Nearly £6,000 was raised by 200 people for the Find Maddie Fund at Bishop Ellis RC School in Thurmaston, Leics, near
the family's home village Rothley.
Local firms and groups donated items, including a signed shirt from Maddie's father Gerry's rugby team Leicester Tigers.
Kate, in a "Don't Give Up On Me" Maddie vest, said: "It's still her school and it'll be her brother and sister Sean and Amelie's
in September."
One local said: "It was a fantastic night. Madeleine is still very much in our thoughts and prayers and we want to ensure
the community doesn't forget her."
Gerry has told how the Maddie Fund, which once topped £2million, could empty by the end of the year. Madeleine will turn
six on Tuesday.
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Exclusive: Who was the woman outside Maddie's flat?, 10 May 2009 |
By James Murray
Sunday May 10, 2009
A WOMAN was seen acting suspiciously outside Kate and Gerry McCann's apartment just an hour
before their daughter Madeleine was abducted.
The slim, Portuguese-looking woman in a plum-coloured top and white skirt with long, dark, swept-back hair acted furtively
when she was spotted at 8pm on May 3 in 2007 near the Mark Warner Ocean Club complex.
She was standing under a streetlight at a crossroads only 40 feet from where Madeleine was sleeping with her brother
Sean and his twin sister Amelie.
Investigators are being urged to find her to see if she was in any way connected to a pockmarked prowler seen several
times outside the apartment in the day leading up to the kidnap.
Details of the mystery woman have only just become known after a Sunday Express investigation into the baffling case
was alerted by an elderly British woman who has lived in Praia da Luz on Portugal's Algarve for more than 30 years.
Speaking from her villa near the Ocean Club, the woman, who has asked not to be named, recalled: "On that night I went
to the supermarket at the bottom of the road just before it closed at 8pm.
"As I drove past the entrance to the Ocean Club I saw a woman standing opposite Apartment 5A the McCanns were staying
in.
"Even at that time of night the streets were deserted, so I was surprised to see someone there. I remember thinking it
was unusual because it is just not the sort of place you would hang around.
"As I drove up to the junction she stepped around to the other side of the street lamp as though she didn't want me to
look at her. She was not carrying a bag or a mobile phone. I thought she might have been waiting for a lift but no car came
along while I was there.
"I turned right and could see quite clearly she was looking at Apartment 5A.
"As I approached another junction a small, brown car, with just one English-looking man in it swung round and nearly
hit mine."
When she heard that Madeleine had vanished she asked a relative to inform the police about her sightings.
More than 30 people have so far phoned in about the artist's impression shown on a Channel 4 documentary last Thursday
of a scar-faced man seen loitering outside the McCanns' apartment.
*
From Jeremy Wilkins statement:
Q. Relative to whether I know Jane Tanner;
Jeremy Wilkins: 'Now I know her name, description of the clothes and photos
which I have seen in the press. At that time I knew of her as a member of the group but did not know her name. I do not remember
having seen her when I spoke with Gerry, but I believe I saw her when I first ventured out. She was stopped on the street
in front of one of the group's apartments when I passed her down towards the exit to my apartment. I do not know if it was
her apartment or not. I remember that she was wearing the colour purple.'
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| Jane Tanner in her purple/plum coloured top |
*
Note: Wilkins states that he set out with his child between 8.15pm and 8.30pm.
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Sergey Malinka, 12 May 2009 |
Last updated at 10:00 PM on 12th May 2009
On 2 May in an article about Madeleine McCann's disappearance we mentioned that Robert Murat phoned an unnamed computer
specialist, who some readers may recognise as Mr Sergey Malinka, and that the telephone call wrongly caused suspicion to fall
on Mr Murat.
We have been asked to make clear that Mr Malinka, whose only connection with Mr Murat was a professional one, did not
speak to Mr Murat that night and neither had any connection with Madeleine's disappearance. We apologise for any misunderstanding.
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"It took some courage to defend the McCanns", 17 May 2009 |
17 May 2009
This is an excerpt of an extensive interview with Dr Rogério Alves, published in Diário
de Notícias today.
Do you still work for the
McCann couple, in the famous Maddie case?
As you know, the process was archived. Taking into account the specifics of this
case, and because it's about a father and a mother who lost their daughter, which is one of the greatest tragedies that can
happen to human beings, I ended up with come connection to them. Naturally, at the moment, there is no work in terms of the
process, the process is closed. Just like with my other clients, I keep a good relationship of cordiality, in some cases there
is more friendship, in others less. This process, also due to its intense media exposure, the very peculiar aspects that it
had, made me keep contact with a father and a mother, who just happen to be called Gerry and Kate, who remain under the tension
and the despair that you can imagine, and keeping a cool head as much as possible, they continue to do everything that they
can to find their daughter, and with the hope – that nobody can deny them and that nobody can try to take away from
them – to find her alive and in good health, while naturally, in other moments they will think about how much she suffers.
Which is effectively an atrocious thought and which all of us will consider as such, if we think about it for five or ten
seconds beyond the noise that was made over this case, and the enormous amount of silly things that have been said about it.
What did this case mean, in your professional life?
It meant a challenge. Because it was necessary to incorporate some courage, here.
And it was the living demonstration that everyone has a right to be defended, please note: we had a father and a mother here,
with whom all of us felt solidarity, because they suffered something horrible, they lost a daughter, and worse, they didn't
even know what happened to her. Suddenly, they became arguidos, in a gesture that the Polícia Judiciária itself, through its
official voice, considered as hasty. They obviously became defendants, martyrs, public enemies, crooks, and then they needed
to be defended. Obviously I didn't need that defence for my career, for my professional life.
But you started to have more clients after the Maddie case?
No, my life has gone on in a continuum, and all of that is legends, fables that
are told. I was, and I am, a lawyer to many famous people, but I'm very discreet. Now what I pondered was the need to defend
against an unfair accusation, unfounded, as the Public Ministry and the Polícia Judiciária ended up considering, to defend
a couple that had already suffered an unmatched disgrace in their life and was about to be added another, that was to be accused
– thankfully they were not – of nobody knows what exactly, but the covering up of the death or something similar.
Lawyers don't always exist to make things easier and more linear.
Not always, but almost always! Note, we make a living out of solving problems,
not delaying decisions. I'm very sorry that this legend remains above the evidence of history. Once more, there are cases
where procedural manoeuvring may pay off, there are cases! But why does nobody ever think about a lawyer who takes up the
case, for example, of 50 creditors who desperately wait...
But there's a lawyer on the other side, as well.
Not always! If you look at executive action in Portugal, which is the coercive
payment of debts through State mechanisms, in the majority of cases there is no lawyer on the opposite side, there's a totally
inoperative machine that executes the forceful payment! How do we allow, for example, the commerce courts to hold processes
that are impossible to manage, bankruptcies that involve hundreds of entities – now they are insolvencies -, workers,
firms, creditors, whenever someone files a request, four boxes have to be rummaged through, it renders the whole thing impracticable!
Our procedural laws are the great deadly sin of our judiciary system. I've been saying this for years, but we collide with
a major obstacle: it has nothing to do with the lawyers' or the magistrates' profile, but with one of its core condiments,
which is our sinister conservativeness. We're very routinely, very conservative and very much afraid of change.
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Legal battle looms over Madeleine claims, 22 May 2009 |
23/5/2009 (appeared online 22/5/09)
The family of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann and the former lead detective appointed to investigate her disappearance
have this week drawn the battle lines and are set to have their day in court in what will most certainly be the most watched
courtroom battle this decade. While Kate and Gerry McCann will seek to clear their name, Gonçalo Amaral says he is raring
to have the opportunity to further substantiate his claims that Madeleine died in the apartment where she and her parents
were holidaying more than two years ago.
According to sources close to Kate and Gerry McCann, their anger has been simmering for some time, and while the family
has been reluctant to seek legal recourse, recent visits by Gonçalo Amaral, most notably to France, where he explained his
theory, have spurred the McCann family into taking legal action.
In a statement sent to the press, Kate and Gerry McCann said: "We - together with our three children Madeleine, Sean
and Amelie - are taking this legal action against Gonçalo Amaral over his entirely unfounded and grossly defamatory claims
- made in all types of media, both within Portugal and beyond - that Madeleine is not only dead, but that we, her parents,
were somehow involved in concealing her body."
The former detective, who was taken off the case in 2007 by his superiors before retiring from the force a few months
later, has insisted that Madeleine died in apartment 5A and has alleged that her parents were involved in concealing, then
disposing, of their three-year old daughter’s body.
"This decision has been taken to prevent any further publication of Gonçalo Amaral’s deeply offensive book 'The
Truth Of The Lie', his so-called television 'documentary' and any repetition of his disgraceful thesis that we are somehow
involved in the disappearance of our much loved daughter, Madeleine", the statement continued.
The Portugal News understands that Mrs McCann was also extremely angered at a news report last month claiming that one
of the so-called Tapas 7, who had reportedly been accused of child abuse in the past, was most eager to assist her in bathing
her children.
The family was also particularly angered at a TVI documentary, which was also distributed by a Portuguese national newspaper
as a DVD at the beginning of the month, which showed Amaral talking to viewers through the broadcast, repeating opinions stated
in his book.
The Truth of the Lie, which was published in 2007, has not yet been printed in English.
Meanwhile, in their statement circulated this week, Kate and Gerry explained: "The primary reason for our legal action
is simple: to stop any negative effect that these absurd and deeply hurtful claims may be having on the ongoing search for
Madeleine. We can no longer stand back and watch as Mr Amaral tries to convince the entire world that Madeleine is dead. Nor
can we allow this blatant injustice to Madeleine, with its obvious risk of hindering our attempts to find her, to continue.
"Mr. Amaral's entirely unjustified claims have not only brought indescribable devastation and suffering to our lives,
they have hugely compounded the already immense pain and anxiety we have endured since Madeleine's abduction.
"Our three children are joint complainants in this action because of the detrimental effect Mr Amaral's continued assertions
will undoubtedly have on their future lives. Sean and Amelie require protection as they prepare to start school this autumn.
Madeleine requires protection from those who are obstructing the possibility of her being found."
In the first ever interview granted in English, Gonçalo Amaral told The Portugal News following the publication of his
book that he would welcome any attempts for his views and opinions to be challenged in a courtroom.
"My book is based on facts. It could be a good occasion to take all the case files to court and compare what I wrote
with that which is contained in the files."
He backed up these claims earlier this week when he was quoted as saying: "My lawyers are working on the case and we
will take the McCann couple to court and perhaps other people for defamation, slanderous denunciations and false statements,"
he said, adding: "We will see who has spoken the truth in this case."
Earlier this month it emerged that an agent acting on behalf of Gonçalo Amaral demanded "80,000 euros plus VAT", after
an e-mail request by Channel Five to appear on British television, a proposition which was refused.
The channel had apparently also asked that no derogatory comments be made against Kate or Gerry McCann in their request.
In the meantime, the McCann family can expect further litigation as sacked staff at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da
Luz from where Madeleine disappeared, have announced they intend suing the couple for the "lies they told" and which have
destroyed the resort and as a direct consequence, resulted in their jobs being lost.
This news comes as Thomas Cook, Europe's second largest travel company, revealed yesterday that package holiday bookings
to Portugal are down by 30 per cent for this summer, admitting that this drop is partly due to Madeleine's disappearance.
"It is such a strong family destination," said Thomas Cook group chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa.
He added that the Portuguese tourist board had done what it could to boost visitor numbers, but that "Anything more would
be insensitive," he said.
Questioned further by reporters whether the drop in Portugal numbers was down to the 'Maddie effect' he agreed that it
was, adding that bookings to Portugal had been "decimated".
Should the staff at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz be successful in their claim against the McCanns, it could set a precedent
for other tourist-orientated business in Portugal to seek damages from the family, perhaps using Thomas Cook, among others,
as witnesses to substantiate their argument for compensation.
Edition: 1011
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Madeleine: The missed clues at £1m villa, 24 May 2009 |
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EXCLUSIVE by James Murray and Ted Jeory
Sunday May 24, 2009
Madeleine McCann may have been taken to a luxury villa just half a mile from where she was abducted, Portuguese detectives
were told.
Suspicions were raised because of the behaviour of the people who rented the £1million villa and because video cameras
were reportedly seen there along with pictures of children on a wall, the Sunday Express has learned.
Our revelations come as West Yorkshire police prepare to fly to Germany to question 64-year-old convicted paedophile
Raymond Hewlett over a sex attack on a girl 25 years ago.
Retired detectives working for Kate and Gerry McCann are also hoping to interview Hewlett to ask him directly whether
he knows anything about three-year-old Madeleine's abduction.
Hewlett is in intensive care at a German hospital recovering from an operation for throat cancer. In the last 24 hours
his condition has worsened and there are concerns he may have only days to live.
If well enough, it is expected he will be asked if he ever met paedophiles in the Algarve town of Praia da Luz around
the time Madeleine vanished.
One theory the McCanns' investigators are examining is whether there was a paedophile ring operating in the area two
years ago.
The Sunday Express has been conducting intensive inquiries in the resort town and asked scores of people if they saw
anyone acting suspiciously.
One elderly British resident told us both she and a friend, a retired British woman detective, went to Portuguese police
about a couple who rented the villa, which has its own swimming pool.
The resident told us: "I used to meet up with the retired detective to walk our dogs down by the seafront. Both of us
became concerned about a couple aged about 30 who rented the villa.
"What struck us was that they drove a very tatty, British-registered small red saloon car. It was one those vehicles
you would normally see on a gypsy camp, not going in and out of a very expensive villa.
"We only saw them coming and going in the car and not walking about, which is odd given the location of the villa. We
both got the impression they were trying to keep a low profile."
Another source said that after Maddie disappeared, search teams combed the seafront, where luxury villas stand next to
large areas of barren land.
Anglican priest Paul Luckman, owner and publisher of Portugal News, said: "The location and description of that villa
mentioned by your source fits the one that a searcher told me about.
"The searcher told me the villa was empty and somehow they got inside some weeks after Madeleine disappeared.
"The search dog handler said the villa had a room with a kind of amateur studio with video equipment and cameras with
children's toys and pictures of children on the wall.
"He felt it was something to do with paedophiles. He told the police and they seemed to know something about it, but
we don't think they took it any further."
The Sunday Express took him to the villa and he confirmed that it fits the description and location of the one he was
told about.
Although we know where it is, we are not naming the villa for legal reasons as we have been unable to locate the owner.
The British woman resident said: "I know the owner was contacted after we raised our concerns with the police.
"The person was angry because she said she did not know the people who rented it and was annoyed about being contacted
by detectives.
"We heard nothing more about it. The day after Maddie disappeared the couple moved out and we didn't see them again.
"There was an older woman in a very expensive car who visited them during their stay."
The McCanns' private investigators have been conducting surveillance on several properties for some time. Retired detective
inspector Dave Edgar returned from Portugal on Friday night and is pursuing a number of leads he is not prepared to discuss.
Meanwhile, paedophile Hewlett is said to be suffering internal bleeding.
A doctor at the Aachen hospital where he is being treated said: "He is very poorly. Fluid has been seeping into his lungs.
He cannot speak. The next few days will be critical."
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Maddie cops close in on second paedo Brit, 27 May 2009 |
Maddie cops close in on second paedo Brit Daily Star
By Jerry Lawton
27th May 2009
(first appeared online 23:00 PM, 26th May 2009)
Detectives hunting Madeleine McCann want to quiz
a second Brit paedophile living near the apartment where she was snatched.
The cops believe the convicted
sex offender could be the "spotty" mystery man seen casing the family's holiday flat in the days leading up
to the abduction.
The man was investigated by Portuguese police shortly after Maddie disappeared from the Algarve
resort of Praia da Luz on May 3 2007, days before her fourth birthday.
They cleared him after a 12-year-girl who
had seen the prowler was shown the suspect's picture and said it was not the same man.
But 100 pages of notes
relating to this part of the investigation were withdrawn from 17 volumes of police case files released to the public after
a request from British police.
Now private eyes hired by Maddie's parents want to question him themselves.
The drama came after another Brit paedophile, Raymond Hewlett, agreed to be interviewed in a bid to prove he did not snatch
Maddie.
The ex-soldier emerged from a German hospital following throat cancer surgery saying: "I have nothing
to hide. I'm willing to talk."
Hewlett, who was staying on a campsite an hour from the apartment when
Madeleine vanished, served six years in jail for abducting and sexually assaulting a girl of 14 at knifepoint.
West
Yorkshire Police also want to quiz him about an indecent assault on an eight-year-old in 1975.
Last night McCann
family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We are pleased Mr Hewlett has agreed to speak to the investigators. If an interview
eliminates him from their inquiry he has done the right thing."
The private eyes think Maddie was taken by
two men – a "spotter" who cased the apartment and "snatcher" who struck while her doctor parents
Kate, 41, and Gerry, 40, were dining with pals in a nearby tapas bar.
Mr Mitchell said the detectives would quiz
Hewlett before flying to Portugal to question the other man.
Police sources said he had been eliminated because
his bank card was used in Lisbon – three hours from Praia da Luz – at the time Madeleine was abducted.
He was proved not to have made any mobile phone calls from the Algarve and his wife also gave him an alibi. But Mr Mitchell
said: "This man is on our radar."
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With thanks
to Nigel at
McCann Files
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