«[...] This book has a higher purpose. That of contributing to the discovery of the
material truth and the achievement of justice in the investigation that is known as the "Maddie Case". These are
fundamental values that I have committed myself to, by duty of conscience, conviction and discipline towards the institution
that I was proud to be a part of. These same values were not extinguished with my retirement and they will always be present
in my life. Under no circumstance whatsoever does the book call the work of my colleagues at the Judiciary Police into question,
nor does it compromise the ongoing investigation. It is my deep understanding that revealing all of the facts in a work of
this kind might jeopardize future actions that are decisive for the discovery of the truth. Nonetheless, the reader will find
data that is previously unknown, interpretations of the facts – always under the light of law – and, of course,
relevant questions. A criminal investigation is only committed to searching for the material truth. It must not worry about
political correctness.»
Madeleine's Fund - Review &
Investigation of Accounts
Madeleine's Fund - Analysis of the
accounts year ended 31/03/2012
Enid O'Dowd takes an in depth
look into the setting up and subsequent running of Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited (up to the release
of the 2010/2011 Accounts)
Enid O'Dowd: An analysis of
the accounts of Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned for the year ended 31 March 2012, and of issues arising
from that analysis
At this point, it is worth recalling the decision of the Court of Appeal of Lisbon, which upheld
the appeal made in 2010, revoking the decision of the Court of 1st instance, considering unfounded, and not proven, the injunction
filed by the McCanns against the sale of my book "Maddie – The Truth of the Lie":
"The book "Maddie – The Truth of the Lie" which was
written by the defendant Dr. Gonçalo Amaral, has the main motivation of defending his personal and professional honour..."
"The contents of the book does not offend any of the fundamental rights of the applicants [the McCanns]
"The exercise of its writing and publication is included in the constitutional rights that are assured to everyone
by the European Convention for Human Rights and by the Portuguese Republic's Constitution..."
"Despite everything, until a certain moment
in the investigation, the [McCann] family sustained and fed the abduction thesis. Nevertheless, at an uncertain date, the
family suggested to consult a person that might, eventually, indicate the probable location of little Madeleine's cadaver.
This fact became inexplicable to the members of the investigation, given the fact that it was the family members themselves
who raised the possibility of little Maddie's death."
in Process 201/07.0GALGS, volume XVII,
page 2594
"A lie keeps growing and growing until it's as plain
as the nose on your face." - The Blue Fairy, Pinocchio
The sighting by the Smith family
Praia da Luz, 03 May 2007, just before 10:00pm
The Smith family, from Ireland
are returning to their apartment after a night out. As they walk, they pass a man carrying a child in his arms. The man
averts his eyes from them to signal that he does not wish to speak.
Four months later, back in Ireland, the Smith
family are watching TV. They see the McCanns return to the UK and observe Gerry McCann alight the aeroplane and walk across
the tarmac with a sleeping Sean in his arms.
The father, Martin Smith, is shocked. He recognises the walking style
and the way the child is being held against the shoulder.
It is exactly like the man he saw on the streets of Praia
da Luz, four months earlier.
UK Justice
Forum@Justice_Forum 8:42 AM - 5 Nov
13 Today in Lisbon, witnesses Paulo Sargento, Valentim de Carvalho, Luis Varela Marreiros, Mario Lopes,
Tania Raposo, Antonio Paulo dos Santos.
UK Justice Forum@Justice_Forum 1:00 PM - 5 Nov 13 Day 8 of the #McCann vs
Gonçalo #Amaral libel case and yet
more absent witnesses. Amaral book 'Truth of the Lie' editor on the stand earlier
UK Justice Forum@Justice_Forum 1:39 PM - 5 Nov 13 Psychologist
Paulo Sargento unable to take stand at #McCann
vs #Amaral libel trial
today as he is on his honeymoon. Will do so on 27th.
UK Justice Forum@Justice_Forum 1:50 PM - 5 Nov 13 #McCann vs Goncalo #Amaral libel trial gets going again in Lisbon with witnesses from Portuguese
TVI and other media.
UK Justice Forum@Justice_Forum 7:27 PM - 5 Nov 13 #McCann vs #Amaral libel
case 3 witnesses today. Mario Sena Lopes, the editor of G&P and this afternoon Antonio dos Santos and Luis Froes.
UK Justice Forum@Justice_Forum 7:31 PM - 5 Nov 13 #McCann vs #Amaral libel
trial. Luis Froes, manager of Valentim de Carvalhos Filmes, was told to return on the 27th to answer questions.
Our boy did not snatch Madeleine McCann:
Family of junkie suspect speak out, 05 November 2013
Our boy did not snatch Madeleine McCann: Family of junkie
suspect speak out Daily Star
THE family of a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case yesterday said they know that he is innocent.
By Jerry Lawton / Published 5th November 2013
Detectives in Portugal are convinced junkie Euclides Montiero
was involved.
Police say signals from his phone show he was near the McCanns' holiday flat when the three-year-old
vanished in 2007.
But his family said the waiter swapped and sold mobiles to escape detection as he mixed with
drug dealers.
His sister Paula said he must have passed the phone to someone else before Madeleine disappeared
as she "knows" he was nowhere near at the time.
Police are probing if the 6ft 2in dad of two, who died
in a tractor accident four years ago aged 40, snatched the youngster from the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz in a twisted
act of revenge.
He had been sacked as a waiter there after stealing €5 from a till, and was suspected of raiding
rooms to pay for drugs.
But the immigrant from west Africa does not resemble any police e-fits of suspects.
Paula said: "He was always swapping or selling his phones
around that time.
"The phone isn't proof he was near Madeleine McCann's apartment. I know he wasn't
there."
Monteiro's widow Luisa, who lives in Lagos with their 10-year-old son, was asked "question
after question" about her late partner's movements.
She said: "They are trying to make a dead man
a scapegoat."
Madeleine's doctor parents Kate and Gerry, both 45, from Rothley, Leics, have declined to
comment.
Daily Star, paper edition, page 24:
'OUR BOY DID NOT SNATCH MADDIE', 05 November 2013
Madeleine: New evidence puts suspect
at scene of crime, 05 November 2013
Madeleine: New evidence puts suspect at scene of crime
Daily Express (paper edition)
SEE
PAGE NINE
Phone records show suspect was nearby when Madeleine McCann
vanished Daily Express
A DRUG addict being investigated over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was "in the vicinity" of her holiday
complex on the night she vanished, mobile phone records reveal.
By: Mark Reynolds Published: Tue, November 5, 2013
Detectives in Portugal say the data shows that Euclides Monteiro,
a convicted thief and heroin user, was close to or at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine was snatched in
May 2007.
Officers are probing whether Monteiro may have taken her out of revenge after being sacked for stealing
by the Algarve holiday club.
The 6ft 2in father-of-two died aged 40 in a tractor accident in 2009. Relatives insist
he was innocent and say they will work with police to clear his name.
Records of mobile phone signals obtained
by Portuguese police are understood to show that he was in the vicinity of the Ocean Club on the night the three-year-old
went missing.
Officers are trying to determine why this might be, as it was a year since he had been sacked and
at that time he was living 15 minutes away.
But Monteiro's sister Paula last night claimed he may have sold
the phone before Madeleine disappeared. Speaking from her home in Argozelo, northern Portugal, she said: "He was always
swapping or selling his phones around that time.
"I consider myself lucky not to have been arrested because
at the time I lent him a mobile which was still in my name. The phone isn't proof that he was near Madeleine McCann's
apartment. I know he was not there."
She added: "I want this to be clarified so my brother's
name can be cleared. We might be poor but things have got to be cleared up because he is dead now and can’t defend himself."
Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann have been made aware of the claims surrounding Monteiro but refused
to comment on "the speculation".
They remain confident their daughter is still alive and are fully backing
a separate Scotland Yard investigation into her disappearance.
Meanwhile, Portuguese police continue to examine
Monteiro, who emigrated to Portugal as a child from Cape Verde, off west Africa. They are investigating whether he may have
been stealing from guests’ rooms at the Ocean Club to feed a heroin habit. Monteiro was convicted of theft in 1996 and
served a jail sentence.
Portuguese police announced last month they were reopening their inquiry into Madeleine's
disappearance.
Former police chief Goncalo Amaral is due back in court in Lisbon today for the restart of his libel
trial. He is being sued by the McCanns, both 45, of Rothley, Leicestershire.
McCann case: Anger over new suspect,
04 November 2013
Posted by Len Port Monday, November 4, 2013 at 9:17 PM
When
Scotland Yard launched its Madeleine McCann investigation, it called for 'restraint' from the British media. Also,
a Portuguese law forbids police here from divulging inside information about criminal investigations. So how come newspapers
in both Britain and Portugal have identified and published sensational stories about another implausible 'prime suspect'
in this case?
The stories are causing outrage, especially among relatives of the now deceased 'suspect,'
but also in the much wider community in Portugal.
Hard on the heels of reports in the UK that police were looking
variously for a paedophile gang, foreign perverts, gypsy robbers, English cleaners and some fair-haired individuals possibly
from Germany or Holland, the Portuguese tabloid Correio da Manhã last week began publishing a series of articles claiming
police were investigating an African man.
The 'new suspect' was a former employee of the resort where the
McCanns stayed in 2007. Phone records placed him near Praia da Luz at the time. As an immigrant from the former Portuguese
colony of Cape Verde, he was living with his partner and their son in the nearest town, Lagos. He was arrested in 1996 for
petty theft, but had no record of any serious offence.
The Correio da Manhã stories were copied and in some
cases embellished in many British and other foreign newspapers. The Daily Express, for example, claimed the suspect was "a
violent thug who was a threat to children." It gave a Portuguese 'police profile' as the source of this information.
In many of the regurgitated reports, Portuguese detectives were said to be examining the possibility that the 'suspect'
had kidnapped Madeleine in an act of revenge against his former employers for his dismissal a year earlier.
This
idea made no sense at all, said the brother of the Cape Verdean's Portuguese partner. "It wasn't as if what happened
there with him losing his job destroyed his life. He got work elsewhere soon afterwards."
A Portuguese TV
reporter calmly and sensibly described the recently discovered information about the man's cell phone use as "a loose
end that needs to be tied up."
But the British tabloids went overboard. More personal details about the man
emerged, including his name. The Daily Mirror published a close-up photograph - but of course he looked nothing like either
of the five-year-old e-fit images released by Scotland Yard three weeks ago.
The 'new suspect' died in
a tractor accident in the north of Portugal in 2009, two years after Madeleine disappeared. There is that old saying, "you
can't defame the dead," but what about the torment and humiliation these stories have inflicted upon those left behind?
This again raises serious questions about the workings and integrity of both the press and the police. How and why
did details of this individual and the Polícia Judiciária’s interest in him become available? Has this
man really become 'key' to the investigation, or is this just part of some cunning tactic?
The 'suspect's
widow told the Portuguese weekly newspaper, Sol: "It is disgusting that they are now trying to set up a dead man as a
scapegoat."
The Federation of the Organisations of Cape Verde based in Lisbon also believes the dead man is
being used as a scapegoat. It described the allegations against him as "shocking" and "not credible."
The truth about this matter needs to be told. Sadly, the truth about most aspects of this extraordinary six and a
half year old mystery is as cloudy as ever.
Madeleine McCann suspect's family
vow to work with Portuguese police to clear his name, 04 November 2013
Madeleine McCann suspect's family vow to work with
Portuguese police to clear his name Daily Mirror
By Gerard Couzens | 4 Nov 2013 15:04
Relatives
of Euclides Monteiro have hit back after it emerged police believe the 40-year-old, who died in a tractor accident in 2009,
may have abducted Madeleine
The family of a drug addict thief that Portuguese police believe
may have abducted Madeleine McCann have vowed to clear his name.
Euclides Monteiro's relatives insist they
will work with detectives to get to the truth after the ex-jailbird emerged as a key suspect in the girl's disappearance.
The 6ft 2in dad-of-two, who emigrated to Portugal as a child from Cape Verde off west Africa, died aged 40 in a tractor
accident in 2009.
Detectives in Portugal are probing the theory that Monteiro may have snatched Madeleine out
of revenge after being sacked for stealing by the Algarve holiday club where the McCanns were staying.
Police
traced his mobile phone to the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine vanished on May 3 2007, despite the fact
he had been sacked almost a year earlier and lived a 15-minute drive away from the complex.
Sister investigated in Maddie case speaks for 1st time
Sister investigated in Maddie case speaks for 1st time, holds
up a pic
Monteiro's sister Paula claims he may have sold the phone
to someone else before Madeleine disappeared.
Speaking from her home in Argozelo, northern Portugal, she said:
"Because of his mobile phone use, he was always swapping or selling his phones around that time.
"I
can consider myself lucky not to have been arrested because at the time I even lent him a mobile which was still in my name.
"The phone isn't proof he was near Madeleine McCann's apartment. I know he wasn't there."
She added: "I want this to be clarified so my brother's name can be cleared.
"We might be
poor but things have got to be cleared up once and for all because he's dead now and can't defend himself."
Monteiro left Argozelo, an eight hour drive north of Praia da Luz, for the Algarve after he left school.
His mum, sister and stepfather still live in the town on Portugal's north east border with Spain.
His close
friend Sergio Paulok 44, a builder from Lagos, has described how he became a slave to heroin.
Monteiro's was
convicted of theft in 1996 and did time in prison but escaped deportation after receiving a presidential pardon.
His widow Luisa, who still lives in Lagos with their ten-year-old son, has already spoken to police.
She told
at the weekend how she had been asked "question after question" but insisted: "It's disgusting. They are
trying to make a dead man their scapegoat."
Monteiro's sister added: "He made mistakes in the past.
Everyone makes mistakes.
"But they shouldn't look now for a person who has died to cover up something
they couldn't discover at the time."
Portuguese police have refused to make any official comment about
Monteiro.
A spokesman said: "Judicial secrecy and professional secrecy makes it impossible for us to comment."
Portuguese authorities announced last month they were reopening their inquiry into Madeleine McCann's disappearance,
shelved more than five years ago after a botched investigation by disgraced former police chief Goncalo Amaral.
Mr Amaral, 56, is due to return to a court in Lisbon today for the restart of his ongoing libel trial.
Kate
and Gerry McCann, both 45, from Rothley, Leics, are suing him over his claims in his July 2008 book 'The Truth of the
Lie' that they faked their daughter's abduction to cover up her death in their holiday apartment.
Maddie suspect 'was not at the resort
that night', 04 November 2013
Maddie suspect 'was not at the resort that night'
Daily Star
THE family of a drug addict thief police are investigating over Madeleine Mccann's disappearance say they want to
help detectives get to the truth.
By Gerard Couzens
/ Published 4th November 2013
Euclides Monteiro's relatives insist they are ready to work
with police so they can clear his name.
The 6ft 2in dad-of-two, who emigrated to Portugal as a child from Cape
Verde off west Africa, died aged 40 in a tractor accident in 2009.
Detectives in Portugal are probing if Euclides
snatched Madeleine out of revenge after being sacked for stealing by the Algarve holiday club where she was staying.
He was pinpointed to the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz the night of Madeleine's May 3 2007 disappearance through his mobile
phone signal, despite the fact he had been sacked almost a year earlier and lived 15 minutes away.
Monteiro's
sister Paula claimed last night he may have sold the phone to someone else before Madeleine disappeared.
Speaking from her home in Argozelo, northern Portugal, she said:
"Because of his mobile phone use, he was always swapping or selling his phones around that time.
"I can
consider myself lucky not to have been arrested because at the time I even lent him a mobile which was still in my name.
"The phone isn't proof he was near Madeleine Mccann's apartment. I know he wasn't there."
She added: "I want this to be clarified so my brother's name can be cleared. "We might be poor but things
have got to be cleared up once and for all because he's dead now and can't defend himself."
Monteiro
left Argozelo, an eight hour drive north of Praia da Luz, for the Algarve after he left school.
His mum, sister
and stepdad still live in the town on Portugal's north east border with Spain.
It is believed he may have been
raiding guests' rooms at the Ocean Club to feed his heroin habit.
His close friend Sergio Paulok 44, a builder
from Lagos, has described how he became a slave to heroin.
Monteiro's was convicted of theft in 1996 and did time in
prison but escaped deportation after receiving a presidential pardon. His widow Luisa, who still lives in Lagos with their
ten-year-old son, has already been quizzed by police.
She told at the weekend how she had been asked "question
after question" but insisted: "It's disgusting. They are trying to make a dead man their scapegoat."
Monteiro's sister added: "He made mistakes in the past. Everyone makes mistakes. "But they shouldn't
look now for a person who has died to cover up something they couldn't discover at the time."
Portuguese
police have refused to make any official comment about Monteiro.
A spokesman said: "Judicial secrecy and professional
secrecy makes it impossible for us to comment."
Portuguese authorities announced last month they were reopening
their inquiry into Madeleine McCann's disappearance, shelved more than five years ago after a botched investigation by
disgraced former police chief Goncalo Amaral.
Mr Amaral, 56, is due to return to a court in Lisbon tomorrow/later
today (TUE) for the restart of his ongoing libel trial.
Kate and Gerry McCann, both 45, from Rothley, Leics, are
suing him for £1million over his claims in his July 2008 book 'The Truth of the Lie' that they faked their daughter's
abduction to cover up her death in their holiday apartment.
It was also revealed at the weekend Scotland Yard,
leading a separate criminal probe into Madeleine's disappearance, have quizzed a British drifter who lived near the spot
where she vanished.
Paul Robinson, 53, who lived in Portugal until last December, was questioned after phone records
put him near where Madeleine, then three, went missing.
Detectives made him go through every call he made shortly
after Madeleine vanished when they visited him at his UK home in June. Mr Robinson insisted he had "nothing to do with
her disappearance" and has "nothing to hide."
New McCann revelations: Face of Maddie
suspect, 04 November 2013
New
McCann revelations: Face of Maddie suspect Daily Mirror
(paper edition)
» Junkie worked at family's holiday club » Police told staff: 'You can't trust him'
EXCLUSIVE
BY DAVID COLLINS Monday,
November 4, 2013
THIS is the first picture of the heroin addict detectives believe may
have abducted Madeleine McCann.
Ex-jailbird Euclides Monteiro was sacked from the Portuguese holiday complex
where Madeleine was snatched after police warned staff about him.
FULL STORY: PAGE 5
Madeleine McCann prime suspect pictured: Heroin addict who worked at hotel club Daily Mirror
By David Collins | 4 Nov 2013 06:03
Police
are investigating the possibility that he kidnapped Maddie after being disturbed as he broke into her family's apartment
A key suspect in the abduction of Madeleine McCann was fired
from the holiday complex where she vanished after police warned staff: "You can't trust this man."
Junkie and ex-jailbird Euclides Monteiro was sacked by the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, Portugal, the year before the blonde
three-year-old disappeared on May 3, 2007.
Yesterday, as the first picture of the 6ft 2in ex-waiter emerged,
detectives were investigating the possibility that he kidnapped Madeleine after being disturbed as he broke into her family's
apartment.
Menteiro, known as Toni, died aged 40 in a tractor accident four years ago.
But phone
records have placed him near the flats at the time she vanished. It is believed he may have been raiding guests' rooms
to feed his heroin habit.
His picture looks nothing like two e-fit images issued by Scotland Yard – but
police stress they are still exploring every line of inquiry.
Nelson Rodrigues, 32, a barman and waiter at the
Ocean Club for two years, worked alongside Monteiro in 2006.
He said yesterday: "On the surface he was a
nice guy but there was something not right with him.
"He would turn up to work with bleary eyes, sometimes
he didn't seem like he was all there.
"And things were going missing about that time – laptops,
jewellery, mobile phones, anything that was lying around."
Mr Rodrigues said police were called after Monteiro
was accused of stealing tips. He was searched, but nothing was found and he protested his innocence.
Later an
officer for Portugal's national guard took the staff to one side and warned them about Monteiro.
Mr Rodrigues
recalled: "The officer told us, 'We know him, you can't trust that man'. They said he'd been in trouble
in the past for drug offences.
"That's the last time he worked at the Ocean Club. I never saw him again."
Monteiro's close friend Sergio Paulo, 44, a builder from Lagos, said: "Toni was a good guy but he became
a slave to heroin. I know he would sometimes break into apartments and rob them."
Monteiro, originally from
Cape Verde islands off West Africa, was convicted of theft in 1996 but escaped deportation after a presidential pardon.
He was living in Lagos, a 15-minute drive from Praia da Luz, when Madeleine disappeared.
British
expat, George Burke, from Liverpool, reported a possible sighting in Lagos.
He said he saw a girl "remarkably
like Madeleine" being dragged along a road to Lagos marina at 6am the day after she went missing.
But Monteiro's
relatives claim police are just looking for a "scapegoat".
His sister Paula said: "It's ridiculous
– the e-fit they released is a white man and my brother was black. He loved kids. He had a son and daughter and would
never have harmed a young girl."
Last week it was revealed Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry, are to
apply under Portuguese law to become private "prosecutors".
It may help them influence the course of
the investigation and any future prosecution.
Daily Mirror, paper edition, front
page and page 5: 'MADDIE PICTURE SENSATION - THE SNATCHER?', 04 November 2013
Sister investigated in Maddie case speaks for
1st time, 03 November 2013
Sister investigated in Maddie case speaks for 1st time SIC Notícias
03.11.2013 20:49
A week after the rumours started about the existence of a new suspect
in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the sister of the former employee of the Ocean Club, who is now being investigated,
speaks for the first time. Paula Batista wants to defend the honour of her brother who died four years ago and asks for the
investigation to clarify everything.
Did panicking kidnapper plan to leave 'injured'
Madeleine McCann with medics?, 03 November 2013
Did panicking kidnapper plan to leave 'injured' Madeleine
McCann with medics? Sunday Express
WHOEVER kidnapped Madeleine McCann may have intended to leave her outside a doctor’s surgery after she was
injured in a burglary gone wrong, it was claimed last night.
By: James Murray Published: Sun, November 3, 2013
The key sighting of the potential prime suspect carrying a sleeping
child happened in a small road just yards away from Luzdoc, the medical centre in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.
British residents Julie and Colin Kimber have been trying to work out why an abductor would risk taking a three-year-old
into a fairly busy area of bars and restaurants just before 10pm on May 3, 2007.
Looking at the exact point of
the sighting, Mr Kimber said: "You have to ask yourself why he was heading down the hill in this direction when he must
have known there were more people about.
"Maybe a burglary went wrong and the child was injured and then he
thought he should take her to the medical centre, panicked and then took her away.
"If he was taking her to
someone in a car he would not have arranged the rendezvous in this area because too many people would be around. Why risk
being seen by somebody?"
Another possibility being considered is that an abductor lived locally and took Madeleine
to his property after kidnapping her from the family's holiday apartment at the Ocean Club.
Mr Kimber added: "Ever since the Crimewatch programme, which
placed great emphasis on this key sighting, we have been trying to work it out, but the route is baffling.
"There
is a real village community in Luz and everybody has been thinking hard about if they saw anyone who looked like the man in
the e-fit."
Another theory is that an abductor may have taken Madeleine to one of several derelict buildings
and gardens, all just yards from where Irish holidaymaker Martin Smith and other members of his family saw the e-fit man carrying
a child.
Directly opposite the sighting is a junction with two derelict houses.
A small doorway leads
into the garden.
Today, by looking over the wall, it seems someone has been living in the garden. There is an open
toilet and a hose pipe shower with a curtain rail, table and chairs and signs of an open fire.
One of the buildings
is owned by a German woman who uses it to house bikes for rent to holidaymakers. The other property is up for sale.
Neither owner wished to comment last week. It is understood the gardens were thoroughly searched when Madeleine vanished
but locals could not recall seeing police enter any derelict buildings.
In recent months police have been active
in this key area of the resort. One resident, who declined to be named, said: "They have been up and down the road, day
and night.
"Some people reckon the man was on his way to the rocky coastline
a few hundred yards away to take her away in a boat, but that would be very tricky at night.
"This renewed
police activity is good because people want this solved once and for all."
Luz residents have been sceptical
of reports that a sacked Ocean Club worker may be the abductor. He died in a tractor accident four years ago.
The
40-year-old was a petty criminal with a drug problem but last week his widow said he was "incapable of touching a child"
and there was nothing in his criminal file about being a paedophile.
Madeleine McCann key suspect was heroin
addict who burgled holiday flats to get fix, 02 November 2013
Madeleine McCann key suspect was heroin addict who burgled
holiday flats to get fix Daily Mirror
By David Collins | 2 Nov 2013 00:00
Euclides
Monteiro, who died aged 40 in a tractor accident four years ago, was a restaurant worker at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz
A key suspect in the Madeleine McCann investigation was a heroin
addict who used to rob holiday apartments to fund his habit, it was claimed last night.
Euclides Monteiro, who
died aged 40 in a tractor accident four years ago, was a restaurant worker at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz where Madeleine
was snatched just before her fourth birthday in May 2007.
It is believed he may have been raiding rooms on the
complex for drug money before he was finally sacked in 2006 for stealing from the tills.
Police are investigating
the possibility that 6ft 2ins Monterio, known as Toni, may have been responsible in an act of revenge for losing his job.
Another theory is that Madeleine was kidnapped and killed after disturbing a burglar.
Monteiro's widow Luisa confirmed she had been quizzed by police
but insisted her husband was innocent.
She said: "It is disgusting they are now looking for a dead man as
a scapegoat.
"It's very easy to blame someone who can't defend themselves any more. My husband would
never be capable of committing such a crime." Monteiro's close friend Sergio Paulo, 44, a builder from Lagos, told
how his pal's drug habit made him to turn to crime – although he too doubted if he had taken Madeleine.
He said: "Toni was a good guy but had some serious drug problems. He would smoke heroin and became a slave to it.
"I know he would sometimes break into apartments and rob them. He was taking valuables from rooms at Ocean Club
and selling them for drugs."
Sergio said he remembered Monterio – an immigrant from the ex Portuguese
colony of Cape Verde, off West Africa – mentioning Madeleine's case when he saw a report in a local newspaper.
Sergio said: "He held up the paper and said, 'I wonder who took her?' He never said much else about
it."
In the three months up to Madeleine's disappearance police said there was a four-fold increase in
low-level burglaries around the holiday complex.
Monteiro's home in Lagos was a just a 15 minute drive from the
resort.
Mobile phone records placed him near the McCanns' apartment around the time Madeleine vanished.
Monteiro had several convictions for theft but was saved from being deported in 1996 after a presidential pardon.
Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, both 45, from Rothley, Leics, declined to comment yesterday on what they
described as "speculation".
Madeleine McCann suspect 'a violent
thug who was a threat to children', 02 November 2013
Madeleine McCann suspect 'a violent thug who was
a threat to children' Daily Express
THE new suspect in the disappearance of Madeliene McCann suspect 'a violent thug who was a threat to children'
had a violent past and a track record of "suspicious behaviour with children", according to a Portuguese police
profile revealed yesterday.
By: Mark Reynolds Published: Sat, November 2, 2013
Further revelations have heightened police fears about the man,
an immigrant thief killed in a tractor accident two years after Madeleine vanished.
Leading Portuguese daily paper
Correio da Manha said the police profile identified the suspect as a worker who had been sacked by the Ocean Club, the Algarve
holiday complex in Praia da Luz where Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007.
Portuguese officers are examining the
possibility that the man, who has not been named by the authorities, may have kidnapped the three-year-old in an act of revenge
against his former employers.
The suspect was a father-of-one who emigrated to Portugal from his native Cape Verde
off west Africa and was convicted of theft in 1996.
The newspaper Correio da Manha claimed yesterday: "Portuguese
police inspectors who studied the case and asked for its recent re-opening put together a profile of the suspect, who died
aged 40 in 2009, and concluded the character traits they identified strengthened the possibility he could have been the author
of the crime."
The paper claimed the man had a past "marked by some episodes
of violence" and had "suspicious behaviour with children" – but offered no more details.
It
also claimed the man's family had refused to help police.
Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, from
Rothley, Leics, are aware of the reports but continue to believe their daughter is alive and a separate exhaustive investigation
by Scotland Yard detectives, codenamed Operation Grange, continues.
Portuguese detectives re-opened their investigation
into Madeleine's disappearance following a decision last month by the country's Attorney General, more than five years
after it was shelved. The suspect's family yesterday threatened to sue the Portuguese state over leaks to the media,
insisting he was innocent.
His brother-in-law, speaking outside his country home at the end of a dirt track
a short drive from Praia da Luz, said: "It was a shock to us all when we read the police suspected my late brother-in-law
of kidnapping and killing Madeleine.
"He wasn't named in the newspaper reports but we knew immediately
who they were talking about.
"My brother-in-law was sacked from the Ocean Club and I can understand why the
police would want to have a look at him, especially if they then discover he has a criminal conviction. But I strongly believe
that if the police do consider he is a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, they are looking at the wrong man.
"The
idea he did it to get revenge on the Ocean Club makes no sense at all. It wasn't as if what happened there with him losing
his job destroyed his life. He got work elsewhere soon afterwards. He was working at the time he died.
"He
is not around to defend his reputation so others have to do it for him."
Maddie stolen for 5 euros, 02 November
2013
Maddie stolen for 5 euros Daily
Star (paper edition)
EXCLUSIVE
LITTLE Madeleine McCann may have been snatched by an angry waiter
in revenge. He had been fired for nicking just €5, it was claimed last night.
Full story: Page 11
Beast snatched Maddie in revenge for five euro theft Daily Star
MADELEINE McCann may have been kid-napped in a grudge attack over just five euros
By Jerry Lawton / Published 2nd November 2013
That is how much the new suspect in the case stole from a till
which led to his firing and subsequent actions.
Waiter Euclides Monteiro was said to have taken money from the
till in the restaurant at the Portuguese holiday resort from where Maddie vanished in 2007.
Police are probing
if he returned to the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz.
He may then have snatched then three-year-old Madeleine from
her parents' apartment in a twisted revenge bid to embarrass bosses over security.
An unnamed ex-colleague
told Portuguese newspaper Sol: "He was caught taking €5 and we invited him to leave.
"We were very
surprised with that because he was always a straight guy, looked good and was a good speaker. And as it was such a small amount
we didn't even lodge a complaint to the police.
"Stealing €5 is one thing, killing a child is another.
"Moreover, he was always talking about his son who he loved.
"It is funny police coming now saying that he may have kidnapped the girl as a revenge for being sacked because
he humbly accepted the fact."
Monteiro, then 40, died four years ago in a works accident involving a tractor.
His widow insisted he was being made a "scapegoat" by police, who she plans to sue.
It's
claimed the new line of inquiry prompted the country's Attorney General to reopen the case last week.
A Portugal
police spokesman said: "A secrecy order placed on the reopened case, and our professional secrecy, prevents us from making
any comment."
Police profile revealed Maddie suspect's
'suspicious behaviour with kids' - report, 01 November 2013
Police profile revealed Maddie suspect's 'suspicious
behaviour with kids' - report Daily Star
A POLICE profile drawn up of a new Madeleine McCann suspect has exposed his violent past and "suspicious behaviour
with children", it was claimed today.
By Greg
Heffer / Published 1st November 2013
Leading Portuguese daily Correio da Manha said the profile had
heightened police suspicions about a dead immigrant thief said to have been put in the frame over the youngster's disappearance.
The Portuguese paper has identified an ex worker at the Ocean Club, the Algarve holiday club where Madeleine disappeared
from, as the man police believe may have kidnapped her in an act of revenge against his former employees.
Detectives
are investigating the possibility he killed her after seeing the huge backlash the crime generated, reports say.
The dad-of-one, who emigrated to Portugal from his native Cape Verde off west Africa, was convicted of theft in 1996 and
told he was being sent home as punishment.
Portugal's then President Jorge Sampaio let him stay after granting
him a pardon but he died aged 40 in a tractor accident in 2009.
He is reported to have been sacked from the Ocean
Club before Madeleine disappeared on May 3 2007.
Portuguese detectives are investigating Madeleine McCann's
disappearance again following a decision last month by the country's Attorney General to reopen the case, more than five
years after it was shelved.
Correio da Manha claimed today: "Portuguese police inspectors, who studied the
case and asked for its recent reopening, put together a profile of the suspect who died aged 40 in 2009, and concluded the
character traits they identified strengthened the possibility he could have been the author of the crime."
The
paper said the man, who it has not named, had a past "marked by some episodes of violence" and had "suspicious
behaviour with children" but offered no more details of their claims.
The family of the latest suspect are
threatening to sue the Portuguese state over the leaks and are insisting he is innocent.
His brother-in-law spoke
out to defend him and insisted Portuguese police had not been in contact.
Speaking outside his country home at the end of a dirt track
a short drive from Praia da Luz where Madeleine disappeared, he said: "We do not know what the police think because they
haven't been in touch.
"He has a mother and father and a brother and detectives may have contacted them
but I do not know if that is the case.
"It was a shock to us all when we read the police suspected my late
brother-in-law of kidnapping and killing Madeleine.
"He wasn't named in the newspaper reports but we knew
immediately who they were talking about.
"My sister does not want to speak about it. She has a young child
she is trying to protect and she is obviously worried about the effect on him if it gets talked about at school.
"My brother-in-law was sacked from the Ocean Club and I can understand why the police would want to have a look at
him, especially if they then discover he has a criminal conviction.
"But I strongly believe that if the police
do consider he is a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, they are looking at the wrong man.
"The idea he
did it to get revenge on the Ocean Club makes no sense at all.
"It wasn't as if what happened there with
him losing his job destroyed his life.
"He got work elsewhere soon after. He was working at the time he died.
"He is not around to defend his reputation so others have to do it for him.
"Our concern is making
sure this doesn't get any bigger.
"The police will do what they have to do but we don't want to say
any more about it."
A police source told weekly Portuguese newspaper 'O Crime' today the theory of
the ex Ocean-Club worker's involvement in Madeleine's disappearance was "worthy of note."
But
insisting nothing had been discounted, he added: "All leads, including those the British least like, are being considered."
The McCanns' Portuguese lawyer Rogerio Alves insisted last month Gerry and Kate McCann had been told the new lines
of inquiry being probed by Portuguese police discounted them as suspects.
Portuguese police have made no official
comment.
The couple, from Rothley, Leics, were made suspects after Madeleine disappeared but had their status as
arguidos removed before the case was shelved.
They are now expected to apply to become assistantes - or private
prosecutors - in the case so they can assist state prosecutors coordinating the reopened investigation.
The vulnerabilities of Mr Mitchell –
continued, 01 November 2013
We now know, nearly seven years
on, that the harm done to the original investigation by the McCanns is much greater than we supposed.
In May 2007
the one and only physical "search for Madeleine" that has ever taken place, the scouring of PDL and other areas
for traces of the child by the PJ, was placed under critical strain by the unauthorised ("no media!") and illegal
("please observe judicial secrecy") interference of Kate and Gerry McCann. Helped by some of their friends. Culpability
Their media activities led directly to a mass of irrelevant,
and in many cases half-crazed, "sightings" of the child worldwide. The resources of the PJ were stretched to the
limit by these reports, each of which had to be investigated.
Whether the child was murdered by a panicking abductor
as a direct result of the parents actions, as the PJ feared would happen unless the parents saw sense, we may never know.
That alone is a crushing burden of potential culpability, one which the parents have never acknowledged. But it gets
worse. The activities of the couple and their friends over the weekend of May 5/6 when they constructed a narrative of events
built around an "abductor" seen by Jane Tanner led to yet further diversion of effort and resources. Every man-hour
spent on tracking the JT suspect foisted on them by the group was time stolen from the real PJ search. Without the loss, again,
we cannot know if it might have been successful and the child traced.
But with the recent revelation that Tanner
never saw any "abductor" the culpability of the parents and their friends grows even greater, if that is humanly
possible. The search, the one real search, was hamstrung and corrupted by a complete fantasy, the sole responsibility of the
parents and their friends. In search of a sense of shame
It is a quite shocking episode, one which, you might think, would have led to shamed silence for the rest of their lives
by the people responsible. But no. Instead of well-merited silence and shame at their culpability, unwitting or otherwise,
they have led an insane, megaphone attack on the very people who tried to warn, to plead and to prevent their fatal interference,
the PJ.
You'd think it can't get any more rotten or shameful, wouldn't you? It can.
Not
content with their 2007 wrecking ball the parents engaged an accomplice, a paid liar, to help breathe life and credibility
into the abductor who never was. This project of invention and untruth was largely entrusted, in a truly Faustian way, to
hungry Clarence Mitchell.
PJ from Porto has 'new suspect'
in the Maddie case, 01 November 2013
PJ from Porto has 'new suspect' in the Maddie
case TVI 24
Man died four years ago and worked in the Ocean Club complex
01.11.2013
14:02
The Judiciary Police [the PJ team from Porto lead by Helena
Monteiro], appear to have a 'new suspect' in the case of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The man, in his forties,
died in 2009, in an accident with a tractor.
On the day of Maddie's disappearance, there is a record
of his cell phone being used close to the tourist resort, but the motives for him being there are unknown. The man had worked
at the Ocean Club [a year before Madeleine's disappearance] and was dismissed due to suspicions of stealing five euros.
The PJ was at the widow's house asking questions as to the motives of the Cape-Verdean man's presence in
Praia da Luz, on the night the girl disappeared. The woman is outraged with this situation. She has already made it clear
that she will not speak with journalists and wishes to protect her son, who is a minor.
The PJ is now attempting
to reconstitute the man's steps on that fateful night. Even though the man has a criminal record, the 'new suspect'
was never connected to serious crimes, such as paedophilia.
Video
Transcript
With thanks to Joana Morais for transcript/translation
Marisa Rodrigues (report/Voice over) -
It's a loose end that needs to be tied up - a man that has used his cell phone at the time of the disappearance on May
3, 2007. The Judiciary Police had the cell phone number but only now, after the reanalysis of all the investigation, were
they able to look more attentively to the owner and outlined the profile of what could be another "suspect". A Cape-Verdean
immigrant, former employee of the Ocean Club tourist resort, who died in 2009 when he was 40 years old, in an accident at
work with a tractor. The PJ now went knocking on the widow's door in Lagos. The inspectors wanted to know what this man
was doing in Praia da Luz when Madeleine disappeared, they asked questions related to his work in the Ocean Club and they
would also have implied that the man is a "suspect" of the child's abduction without giving further explanations
regarding his motives. A procedural step made in the framework of the Portuguese investigation and headed by an inspector
of the PJ from Porto, where the process was examined in close detail over two years. The reconstitution of the deceased man
steps could be the motive that led to the reopening [the reopening of the case is the only way the PJ has to formally question
witnesses] last week; about this the PJ only state what they said at the time: "There are new elements that justify the
reopening of the investigation". This man would have been betrayed by his criminal record, he had been arrested for petty
theft associated to drug abuse. 17 years ago a pardon by Jorge Sampaio has prevented his deportation for a crime of theft,
but in his criminal record nothing exists that connects him to serious or violent crimes, such as paedophilia. It also didn't
help that he was fired from the Ocean Club for suspicions of stealing five euros.
The widow is outraged at the
Judiciary Police as they knocked on her door four years after her husband had died. She has already made it clear that she
will not to speak with journalists as a measure to safeguard her son who is a minor. Image by Frederico Gomes da Costa, Marisa
Rodrigues, TVI.
Cape-Verdeans in Portugal "repudiate
accusations" against a member of their community and demand a "serious investigation", 01 November 2013
Cape-Verdeans in Portugal "repudiate accusations"
against a member of their community and demand a "serious investigation" A Semana- Cape-Verdean newspaper
01
November 2013 With thanks to Joana Morais for translation
The Cape-Verdean community in Portugal is "shocked" and
"repudiates" the news divulged today in the Portuguese press, containing a Judiciary Police source, stating that
a Cape-Verdean man was the author of Maddie McCann's abduction. More: They demand "serious and evidenced" investigations.
"This news sullies all the Cape-Verdeans" and "is
not credible", even because of the sophistication of the crime whose authorship was blamed on a Cape-Verdean immigrant.
This, in a process that took place "under the investigations of two police forces of sovereign states and with an active
media component".
In a statement in name of the Federation of the Organizations of Cape Verde, of the Congress
of the Cape-Verdeans in the Diaspora and of the Cape-Verdean Association of Lisbon, the community deplores "that a citizen
who has died is being set up as a scapegoat".
They appeal to the whole community to "be vigilant",
because this "serious accusation", in a process that is being investigated also by the English police "maybe
be an alibi to excuse the incompetence of the investigations or to cover up lobbies whose purposes are unclear".
The press statement undersigned by the associations that represent the Cape-Verdeans in Portugal also states that they were
all taken by surprise by the news published in Correio da Manhã, quoting a source of the Portuguese Judiciary Police,
that stated that the suspect of the high profile disappearance case, of Madeleine (Maddie) McCann from Aldeia da Luz, in the
Algarve, was a Cape-Verdean immigrant, who died in an accident in 2009.
The name of a community sullied
The Cape-Verdean "in and outside the country" are being "sullied" with this affirmation for which
there is no consistent evidence, they are of an "atrocious opportunism" of someone who can "no longer
defend himself", protest the associations that represent the Cape-Verdeans in Portugal.
The statement also
recalls that the whole community also suffered an identical "denigration" two decades ago, when it was also published
in Portugal a story "stating that a Cape-Verdean had assassinated a child in Odivelas so he could eat the child's
liver", a story that was dismissed in "a small note in an interior page of the same newspaper that had given it
the first cover exposure".
The representatives of the associations that represent the Cape-Verdeans in Portugal
added that they "have always defended the natural course of Justice" and that they strive that illegal behaviours
always have an adequate and corresponding legal punishment. However, they do not conform with an "accusation, that is
not proven", involving an immigrant that "cannot defend himself of the accusations, which in the Maddie case,
may, opportunely, excuse and rest some consciences". They verify, that, "once again history repeats itself: there
is a Cape-Verdean suspect (until when?) and a community that feels sullied, again".
Maddie: Widow of suspect accuses PJ of searching
for a scapegoat, 01 November 2013
Maddie: Widow of suspect accuses PJ of searching for a scapegoat
SOL
By Felícia Cabrita/with Sónia Graça 1
November, 2013 With thanks to Joana Morais for translation
The former partner of the man that the PJ suspects of having
abducted Maddie accuses the Police of searching for a "scapegoat". And guarantees that the Cape-Verdean, who died
in 2009, was "incapable of touching in a child".
"They have spoken about so many people already,
it is disgusting that they are now trying to set up a dead man as a scapegoat", deplores the woman, who does not wish
for her name to be divulged. The former partner of the suspect, in his forties, was surprised last week when she was notified
to be heard by the PJ, in Lagos, in the scope of the inquest that has meanwhile been reopened. A female officer told her that
they were investigating the man with whom she had lived with until 2009, the year in which the suspect died in a work accident,
with a tractor in Bragança [North of Portugal].
"After four years have gone by since he died in a tragic
way, they appear and they imply that he is being investigated for being referenced in the process relative to the girl's
disappearance. He didn't even work at the Ocean Club when that happened. They asked me questions upon questions: when
did he work there, when did he stopped working there... But so much time has passed that I had to make an effort to be precise."
Read more in the print edition of SOL, on newsstands now
Widow Contradicts
the PJ SOL (paper edition, pages 18 and 19)
The former partner of the man that the PJ suspects of
having abducted Maddie accuses the Police of searching for a "scapegoat". And guarantees that the Cape-Verdean,
who died in 2009, was "incapable of touching in a child".
by
Felícia Cabrita/with Sónia Graça 01 November 2013 With thanks to Joana Morais and Montclair for translation
The widow of the suspect of Madeleine McCann's death that led the Judiciary
Police (PJ) to reopen the process has guaranteed to SOL that she is going to "hire a good lawyer to defend the
honour and memory of the father of her son".
"They have spoken about so many people already, it is disgusting
that they are now trying to set up a dead man as a scapegoat", deplores the woman, who does not wish for her name to
be divulged. The former partner of the suspect, in his forties, was surprised last week when she was notified to be heard
by the PJ, in Lagos, in the scope of the inquest that has meanwhile been reopened. A female officer told her that they were
investigating the man with whom she had lived with until 2009, the year in which the suspect died in a work accident, with
a tractor in Bragança [North of Portugal].
"After four years have gone by since he died in a tragic
way, they appear and they imply that he is being investigated for being referenced in the process relative to the girl's
disappearance. He didn't even work at the Ocean Club when that happened. They asked me questions upon questions: when
did he work there, when did he stopped working there... But so much time has passed that I had to make an effort to be precise."
To the woman it is a mystery - seven years after Maddie's disappearance and four years after the death of
her son's father - the reasons behind the PJ's sudden U-turn: "It is very easy to make someone responsible
who can no longer defend himself. They can't, in the absence of anything better, turn to the weakest link. He
would never harm a child."
Criminal record only for thefts
The past of the man,
who died when he was forty years old, is similar to many others, with the chaos that ensued in the former Portuguese colonies
after the April Revolution, who left their country. A Cape-Verdean, he came to Portugal with his family, he settled in
the north of the country. He moved from job to job, from building work to the catering trade until he took up residence
in the Algarve, where he would meet a young high school student with whom he went to live.
His dependency
on drugs led him to commit some thefts and he was even arrested, but always for petty crimes linked to drug abuse. In 1996,
he was pardoned by the then president Jorge Sampaio of a crime of theft committed in the area of Portimão, that pardon
prevented him from being expelled from the country. It was his criminal record, where there is nothing about paedophilia,
that would make him the ideal suspect for the PJ team from Oporto who reanalysed the Madeleine McCann process.
He
was never seen in the area of the apartments
His criminal record didn't help in terms of jobs: he
lived from odd jobs hand to mouth. In 2006, the couple and their son, a minor, survived with the help of his partner's
father, a small local builder. In the summer of that year, the tourism in Luz was promising and he landed a job at the "Millennium"
restaurant, one of the restaurants owned by the Ocean Club group, located about one kilometre from the apartments where Maddie's
parents would be lodged.
However, according to several sources from the tourist resort, Monteiro was never seen
in that area, not while he worked there nor when, a little while after, and still in peak season, they invited him to leave.
"He was caught taking five euros from the till and we invited him to leave. We were surprised because he was always a
proper man, of good appearance who spoke very well. And since it was such a small amount we never made a complaint", a
source from the tourist resort told SOL.
A female colleague that worked with him at the "Millennium"
stated: "It is one thing to steal five euros, it is another to murder a child. Specially when he spent all the time
speaking about his son, whom he loved. And I very much doubt that he has ever gone to the apartment areas. Firstly, he worked
in here for a very short period of time, then he started working at four in the afternoon and left at midnight". And
she recalls: "It's farcical that the PJ now say that he could have abducted the girl in revenge for being fired,
when he accepted that fact with humbleness."
In his life path, Monteiro never knew any luck. In the Algarve,
for those who work in the catering business, employment is seasonal and the man never had a stable job. Nevertheless, no outburst
of resentment is known that could have led him to retaliate - namely, in the other tourist resorts where he worked after
leaving the "Millennium", such as Quinta da Boavista in 2008 and Quinta da Atalaia in 2009.
Triangulation would
allow a reconstruction of the route
In 2007, when Maddie disappeared, Monteiro worked for Sisaqua,
a water and waste water treatment plant, headquartered in Lisbon.
According to what has been reported, the Oporto
PJ were led to this former employee through the triangulation of cell phone signals which were activated on the
night of May 3, 2007 in the area of the tourist resort, and they would have realised that the suspect was in the area
on the night that Maddie disappeared.
However, according to police sources heard by SOL, in this
manner the case would have been easily solved, since the triangulation of communications - which is done through the
reading of three points (the transmitter, the receiver of the signal and the cell phone operator mast) in order to identify
the precise location of the suspect's cell phone - would allow them to discover its direction and the route taken before,
during and after the crime.
Initially, in 2007, that cell phone, like many others, wasn't associated with
any one person. However, analysts from the PJ in Oporto would have now identified its owner and, possibly due to his criminal
records, they have researched and found that number in the mobile traffic listings from the tourist resort area.
The former employee became a suspect, apparently only because he had a criminal record and because he had no reason to be
in that area. On the other hand, Monteiro lived in Lagos, just five kilometres (in a straight line) to Praia da Luz,
and has always worked in that area. The PJ, nevertheless, believe that he has abducted the child, who was at the time
three years old, but they have not yet determined for which motive: if for committing a sex crime or to take revenge on the
Ocean Club, to place in question the security of the tourist resort.
Police sources contacted by SOL
warned, however, that it is important to find other elements to enable the substantiation of his presence in that area, namely,
the period of time in which the cell phone was identified in that area and by comparison of the police records with the
evidence already gathered.
Meanwhile, the former partner of the suspect is going to take legal action, an
injunction, to keep journalists away from her house. "If the police told me that the case is in secrecy of Justice, how
come journalists are at my door, bothering my family?" questions the woman, who until now has remained silent. "When
so many children are abducted in Portugal, how come the police is only care about the English child?"
CASE REOPENED 5 YEARS LATER
"New evidence" leads
the MP to reopen the investigation. The McCanns' spokeman will not comment on "speculation"
about the new PJ suspect.
In July 2008, one year
and two months after Madeleine's disappearance, the Public Prosecutor [Ministério
Público] shelved the case for lack of evidence that the 3 arguidos - Robert Murat, a British man
who lived in the Algarve and the parents of the child, suspected of hiding
her body after an accident - had committed "any crime".
Five years later, the investigation has been
reopened after a request by the PJ, who presented to the Public Prosecutor
"new indicative elements which justify pursuing the investigation" - announced the Attorney General [Procuradoria-geral
da República] on 24 October.
The PJ did not reveal their
leads, but made it known that the McCanns were not suspects. The investigation
is being carried out in Portimão and is led by a team of inspectors from Porto - who,
on order from national headquarters, re-evaluated the investigation made at the time by their colleagues
in Faro and the coordinator Gonçalo Amaral.
The reopening
came about after, in the middle of October, Scotland Yard - which has been
investigating for at least a year with an exclusive team - put out, on the BBC Crimewatch programme, two e-fits of a man (described
as white, short brown hair, no beard, medium height, between 20 and 40) based
on the description of two witnesses who said they saw him on the night of 3
May 2007, going down a street near the resort towards the beach at Praia da Luz, carrying a
blond child in pyjamas in his arms.
"Although the man may or may not be the key to unblocking
this investigation, it is vital for us to find and talk to him", stated
Andy Redwood, admitting at the time that it was not the only line of inquiry:
"There are more e-fits of other people seen in the area on the day of Madeleine's disappearance as well
as the days prior to it":
At this time, it has been made known that
a team of 6 PJ inspectors from Faro have been named about a month ago to carry
out diligences which are part of a rogatory letter sent to the Public Prosecutor by
the English.
Despite their collaboration, the PJ and SY are carrying out autonomous investigations. "We
are not saying anything about the speculation made in the Portuguese press"
answered Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, when asked by SOL about
the new suspect of the PJ.
Profile led PJ to the abductor
of Maddie, 01 November 2013
Investigation: Judiciary Police looking for the English girl's body
Former employee of
the Ocean Club has always showed aggressive traits. CM reveals all about the investigation.
By Eduardo Dâmaso/Tânia Laranjo/Ana Isabel Fonseca 01 November 2013 01h00
Profile
led PJ to the abductor of Maddie Correio da Manhã (paper
edition)
The immigrant also showed agressive traits and suspicious behaviour towards children.
The suspect's family refuses to collaborate.
By Eduardo Dâmaso/Tânia
Laranjo/Ana Isabel Fonseca 01 November 2013 With thanks to Montclair for translation
An aggressive and conflicting personality, and suspicious behaviour
towards children, led the PJ investigation to the Cape Verde immigrant, suspected of the abduction and murder of Maddie.
The PJ inspectors, who studied the case and led to it's recent reopening, elaborated a profile of the suspect
- who died in 2009 at 40 - and concluded that the traits presented give more strength to the possibility that he was the author
of the crime. The PJ, also, had done the same in 2007, when Robert Murat had been made "arguido". The profile had
been made with the help of two British criminologists and indicated that the Portuguese-British man could be responsible for
the disappearance.
As for the Cape Verde immigrant now being investigated, he had a past marked by some violent
episodes. He was also involved in an employment conflict, having left after a dispute. This is what happened in the Ocean
Club resort, in Praia da Luz, in Lagos, where the suspect worked. He lost his job a short time before the girl disappeared,
on 3 May 2007.
The PJ has, during the last few days, attempted to reconstruct the last steps of the suspect and
to try to find the places where he could have hidden Madeleine's body, who was 4 at the time of the disappearance. The
suspect's family has not collaborated with the PJ, which has hindered the investigation. The wife has not offered any
leads as to the last years of the life of her partner. The suspect had a record for theft. In 1996, he received a pardon from
the President Jorge Sampaio and was not thrown out of the country.
The Family admits suing for defamation
The family of the man who is suspected of abducting Maddie, has already admitted suing the state, for offense against
a deceased person. The wife, who refused to speak to CM, is supposed to have already contacted a lawyer in order to go ahead
with a complaint for offenses to the memory of a deceased person. This complaint could come up against the fact that the PJ
is only studying one line of investigation, which had already happened in the past. Robert Murat, for example, who had been
made arguido, was never compensated for the damages suffered because of the investigation. It would be difficult in the Portuguese
judicial system for the widow to prove this, although the closest relatives speak of an enormous "shame" felt by
the widow and son.
Murat was considered a suspect
The name of Robert Murat was put
on the table, days after the disappearance of Maddie. At the time, the PJ counted on the help of Joe Sullivan and the superintendent
Graham Hill, two renowned British criminologists, to analyse Murat's personality. The evaluation made of the Portuguese-British
man led the authorities to conclude that he had 70 to 85% possibility of fitting in the profile of Maddie's abductor.
The criminologist also said, at the time, that Robert Murat "never gave credible explanations".
DETAILS
LIVED IN LAGOS
The suspect of Madeleine McCann's abduction lived the
last few years in Portelas, in the county of Lagos.
"UNABLE TO DEFEND HIMSELF"
The family
of the suspect told CM that they are indignant that the PJ are investigating someone who has already died and is unable to
defend themselves.
HE WAS IN THE AREA
The mobile pings reveal that the suspect was in the area of the
resort the day of the crime
Maddie's snatcher revealed, 01 November
2013
Maddie's snatcher revealed Daily
Star (paper edition)
THE sacked holiday resort worker suspected of kidnapping Madeleine
McCann was named last night, and it was revealed he had a criminal record.
Full story: Page 9
Madeleine McCann suspect was a known criminal Daily Star
THE sacked holiday complex worker suspected of kidnapping Madeleine McCann had a criminal record.
By Jerry Lawton / Published 1st
November 2013
He was named last night as immigrant Euclides Monteiro. But
his family denied that he abducted Madeleine in a revenge against holiday resort bosses who sacked him.
Monteiro,
who was killed in a tractor accident four years ago aged 40, is said to be the new prime suspect for local police.
He was fired from his job in a restaurant at the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz, Portugal, a year before Madeleine vanished.
Mobile phone checks place him near the McCanns' apartment
when she disappeared on May 3, 2007, aged three.
Yesterday it emerged Monteiro, from Cape Verde off the west African
coast, was convicted of theft in 1996.
He was told he was being deported but received a presidential pardon. His
shocked relatives said the claims had left them "devastated".
Monteiro's Portuguese-born widow remained
in hiding yesterday and was too upset to speak.
But his brother-in-law defended him and insisted Portuguese police
had not been in contact.
Speaking outside his country home near Praia da Luz, he said:
"I strongly believe that if the police do consider he is a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, they are looking at
the wrong man.
"The idea he did it to get revenge on the Ocean Club makes no sense at all.
"It
wasn't as if what happened there with him losing his job destroyed his life.
"He got work elsewhere soon
after. He was working at the time he died. He is not around to defend his reputation so others have to do it for him.
"My sister does not want to speak about it. She has a young child she is trying to protect. The police will do what
they have to do but we don’t want to say any more about it."’
Madeleine's doctor parents Kate
and Gerry, both 45, from Rothley, Leics, have been made aware of the theory but their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said they
"will not comment on speculation".
What exactly is the status of Clarence "Maggot" Mitchell?
That question begins to loom as the bright new investigation gathers momentum. Should it "vindicate" the
McCanns, then their position as proven and practised pathological liars and intriguers will be left unchanged. But what if
something more serious occurs? Where exactly does he stand then?
Mr Mitchell is most commonly described, of course,
as a "spokesman" but that's clearly an inadequate description of his role. But even as a mere spokesman his
role is significant: a spokesman has to know a great deal about the activities and behaviour of his employers to be able to
field questions and voice opinions on their behalf: he has to be familiar with the way they think. As he says, he's a Very Important Person
But he isn't just a spokesman, is he? Ever since
the autumn of 2007 Mr Mitchell has been something much more, a self-taught reputation manager for the parents, a trusted strategist
and, particularly in 2007/8, a vital member of the defence team which so successfully turned the tables on the Portuguese
prosecution authorities. It was Mr Mitchell, remember, who toured the offices of all the UK national newspaper editors with
defence lawyers and gave a confidential and categorical assurance to each of them that the McCanns were completely innocent
and that continuing to print accusatory stories would result in legal action.
Unlike his fellow travellers, however,
Mr Mitchell is not a lawyer. As someone who left school early without any qualifications, indeed, he isn’t a member
of any profession. Does that matter or are we being snobbish?
Oh, it matters all right; it matters a great deal
and with every day that goes by it matters a great deal more. Thinking the Unthinkable,
Mr Mitchell
Professional advisers such as chartered accountants or lawyers have immunity regarding
their clients' actions. However repulsive their behaviour – and the McCanns have collected just about the most repulsive
crew of lawyers to be seen since the OJ Simpson trial – they don’t go down with their clients if things go wrong.
The Maggot has no such protection if the unthinkable occurs. As a spokesman he is a paid and trusted servant of Gerry
and Kate McCann with intimate knowledge of their affairs. As a spin doctor, that is a paid liar by definition, he is self-taught
and, importantly, he did not have a PR agency of his own to give him even a fig-leaf of quasi-professional protection or distance
from the pair: he did it, as he himself has stated, for personal reasons. And as a member of the 2007/8 defence effort he
had a crucial role in protecting them from the possible legal consequences of their actions.
In law, therefore,
rather than in his own very high estimation, Mr Mitchell is both an employee and, more important, a voluntary "member
of a joint enterprise".
The question of exactly what that joint enterprise set out to achieve, and how, is
being closely investigated by the police of two countries right now*, who are very anxious indeed to repeat that the McCanns
are not suspects, definitely not, absolutely not, no question, Christ no, not, as Kate McCann used to love saying,
not in a million years.
* For those interested, the "tractor driver" farce has unravelled
quicker than one of Mr Mitchell's sightings: the widow has freaked out and is already suing the people who made the claim
and the doors in the AG department are banging loudly as people rush to distance themselves from it.
Madeleine McCann police sift 4,000 calls
following TV appeal, 30 October 2013
Madeleine McCann police sift 4,000 calls following TV
appeal Leicester Mercury
Posted: October 30, 2013
Madeleine McCann
Detectives are continuing to examine information after receiving
4,000 calls about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Metropolitan Police officers are poring over possible
leads and sightings following appeals on Crimewatch and German and Dutch TV programmes two weeks ago.
A Met Police
spokesman said they had received 3,000 calls and e-mails after the British show, 500 calls following the German TV broadcast
and 350 after it was shown in the Netherlands.
Portuguese police have since reopened their investigation after
the Portugal Policia Judiciaria asked the government for permission to have another look into the case, as witnesses who
were not questioned in the initial investigation had been identified.
Portuguese police had shelved their initial
investigation in 2008, the year after Madeleine vanished.
Crimewatch aired a reconstruction of the night Madeleine
went missing. New e-fits of men seen nearby on the night were released.
The BBC show also revealed a former prime
suspect – a man who seen carrying a girl in pyjamas at 9.15pm on the night Madeleine disappeared – was an innocent
British tourist.
Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate, said: "We urge anyone who may have information relating
to Madeleine's abduction to contact police."
Madeleine, of Rothley, was three when she went missing from
her family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007.
Anyone with any information should contact
Met Police by calling 0207 321 9251 or by e-mailing:
Operation.Grange@met.pnn.police.uk
McCanns could face court over report, 29
October 2013
McCanns could face court over report Irish Daily Mail (paper edition, page 8)
By Gerard Couzens 29 October 2013
THE parents of Madeleine McCann faced further pressure
yesterday after ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral hinted he may fight them in court over a key report they allegedly held back.
Gerry and Kate McCann were accused at the weekend of sidelining the 2008 report by former MI5 investigators they hired
after it pinpointed 'anomalies' in statements they and their friends made.
The result was that e-fits of
the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's abduction – hidden for five years in the unpublished report – were
only made public this month during a new Met Police appeal.
The report said Irish holidaymaker Martin Smith's
sighting of a man carrying a girl in pyjamas near the McCann's Algarve holiday apartment was 'credible evidence'
which had been 'neglected for too long.'
Mr Amaral's lawyer said last night he was considering raising
the issue in the couple's ongoing libel trial against the former police chief.
The McCanns are seeking one
million pounds in damages over the ex-detective's claims in his July 2008 book The Truth of the Lie that they faked their
daughter's abduction to cover up her death in their holiday flat.
Vitor Santos de Oliveira, who is representing
Mr Amaral, said: 'We are aware of the revelations concerning this report by the McCanns' former investigators and
believe they are very important.
'It is possible I may try to submit it as evidence to defend my client but
I haven't decided yet.
'Nothing's been ruled out. We are analysing the relevance of the report and
considering our position. We have no intention of introducing irrelevant material into this case because we respect the McCanns
as people and have no intention of harming them for sake of it,' he said.
'But I can tell you that if we
feel something is relevant in disproving the McCanns' claims about my client then we will have no hesitation in using
it.
'I think the revelations about the suppression of this report are very important with regards to the ongoing
criminal case.
'It's a report written by McCann-hired investigators who make strong criticisms of the couple.
'As far as the civil libel case is going we are very calm,' Mr de Oliveira continued.
'My client's
arguments in his book have been backed up in court by his former police colleagues who say it was the police position in 2008
when the book was published.'
The ongoing libel case launched by the McCanns against Mr Amaral is due to restart
next Tuesday.
Gonçalo Amaral speaks about
how the 'Maddie' case has affected his family life, 29 October 2013
Gonçalo Amaral speaks about how the 'Maddie'
case has affected his family life Nova Gente (paper edition)
"I've been worried about my youngest daughter"
The former inspector says that he is tranquil with the ongoing trial and that there is too much "publicity
and misinformation" to keep a case in the media limelight that has caused severe moral damages to his life.
Article by Alexandra Ferreira Week from 21 to 27 of October 2013, edition 1936,
pages 42 to 46 Translation base/Scans by Rolanda Miguens Reid | Corrections/extras by Joana Morais
How did you react to the news that the English Police are investigating new leads?
With calm and tranquillity. I know what this is about, what the authors intend with such news, but anyone
who has been following the case throughout the years, will be able to discern among the trashy publicity what is really at
stake, and that is an intolerable pressure over a Portuguese court.
Are there changes in the case?
There is no change, there is nothing really new, we continue as it was in 2008 when the process was archived. The
authors of the civil action seem to be very creative, so we need to wait for a bolt of their creativity and imagination.
In the ongoing trial which opposes you against the McCanns, they are asking you for 1.2 million euro for defamation.
What is a stake is a trial for the crime of having an opinion, something which is unthinkable in the free and democratic
Portugal post-25th of April [Carnation Revolution that freed Portugal from 48 years of dictatorship]. Actually, there are
no facts to sustain that demand for indemnification. (...) The authors of the action want others to believe that my
opinion as well as of those who worked with me, Portuguese and English police, which was expressed in the book and in the
documentary, has harmed their efforts to find the child and has caused them moral damages. However this premise lacks precise
facts.
Are you satisfied with the way the trial is going?
Common sense tells me not
to jump to conclusions, and to await with calm and serenity for the final decision. However, the publicity and the campaign
of misinformation and intoxication that is taking place, by the authors of the civil action, seems to indicate that they are
not very happy with the progress of the trial and feel the need to influence the outcome.
It was conspicuous
that the friends who dined with the McCanns on the night that Maddie disappeared were absent in court...
Perhaps it is just a strategy of the prosecution, but their absence was noted. The bottom line is, who better than those
who usually accompanied the authors on their holidays, a few years ago, and who visited their houses previous to the events
of May 3, 2007, to go to court and speak about the "before and after" of the couple's lives. The prosecution
preferred to call witnesses that only became friends and visitors of the couple after that event.
Was there
any testimony important for your defence?
It was important to unmask in a court hearing the psychologist
who had only a degree in Social Sciences, in the scope of which he did one psychology subject, that is, he wasn't a psychologist,
and he wasn't certified to make psychological assessments. Equally important were the testimonies of colleagues who worked
with me during the investigation into the disappearance, as well as the recalling an interview the authors gave to a weekly
newspaper [Expresso] in September 2008, a month after my book was published, where they devalued its contents and actually
said that they would not sue me... Well, such is life.
Was there a request for the case to be heard behind
close doors?
It is true, we wanted to prevent what is taking place now: judgements in the public arena
and campaigns of misinformation and intoxication which contribute nothing for a good judicial decision, which needs to be
free, objective and founded in Law.
While you were leading the investigation did you feel any pressures?
During that time our work was called into question and we were the target of insults, professionally
and personally, the campaign against us was despicable and shameful. The book Maddie - The Truth of the Lie
reports on the first six months of the criminal investigation. Then the process was archived in 2008. It is normal for an
investigation to go forward and backward, having a beginning, middle and an end. Therefore, it cannot be said that the case
was concluded or that the evidence that existed by the end of September [2007] was set aside or that it led to a different
result.
What was your impression of the McCann couple after you met them?
Apart from
the expectation of the child's mother that tea should be served to her and the father acting totally disinterested at
the time of an extortion attempt, I recall the fact of - and this is stated in the process - the father's first phone
calls to the UK where he referred to the disappearance as a kidnap by a paedophile ring. At the time, it could be understood
as a mere idea, but now it sounds more like an obsession.
Any reason as to why Kate didn't answer to more
than 40 questions?
With the status of arguida she had that right and used it. However, answering them
would be understood as the duty of a mother, as the obligation of a mother who was concerned about the disappearance of her
daughter, that wasn't afraid of answering questions no matter how sensitive those questions were.
What
type of feelings do the McCanns hold against you?
In my opinion, they hold a grudge and have a desire
for revenge, not only about me but also about all others who have their own opinion which differs to theirs, towards those
who won't allow themselves be influenced by their toxic media campaign.
Would you have liked to have
found their daughter?
We did everything to solve the case, however the authors of the civil action cooperated
very little or nothing, they have always appeared more worried about themselves, with their own image, something that still
happens today. I recall the words of the mother of the child when she was notified of her hearing as an arguida: "What
will the press say? What will my parents think?" We never heard a word of appreciation, from the mouth of the authors
of the civil action, for all the police officers working on the investigation, men and women who neglected their own families,
their own children and where far from their homes, while searching for their daughter. We only heard them saying, as soon
as the process was archived, that they were pondering suing the police. From all the investigators, they only sued one, the
one who has publicly, in the exercise of his right to defence and of freedom of expression, made known what had happened during
the first months of the criminal investigation.
"Surviving for six
years"
[Text to photo: VERY THIN With family issues, plus
the problems that he still has over the Maddie case and his worries about his daughter Inês, Gonçalo Amaral has
lost a considerable amount of weight.]
Since the Madeleine McCann case began, you saw your life turned
upside down. You were forced to retire early from the police, you got divorced, you moved to Lisbon away from your daughter
Inês, you lost your father with whom you were sharing a house, you fell ill and lost weight... those were very harsh
times.
The question already describes everything that has happened, except for my mother's death
in 2009, after a prolonged illness. At the time, on the sites that support the authors of the civil action, I was cowardly
and abusively accused of having murdered my mother, they even described how I would have done it. There are people who cannot
maintain objectivity, who cannot analyse the case without thinking of the names of those involved, if they could make that
kind of analysis, just considering the child who disappeared and the circumstances that surround that disappearance perhaps
they wouldn't feel the necessity of reviling and of breaching the privacy of someone who was merely trying to do their
job. As to my private life, the last six years were years of struggle, for the physical, mental and emotional survival, trying
to establish a new life, with projects and ideas as to the future, separating the situations.
You never
felt defeated or depressed?
Luckily, I don't know what it is like to feel depressed, the feeling of
defeat or of relinquishment are not part of my nature.
You won in the Appeals Court against the injunction
that forbade the publication of The Truth of the Lie, in which you made the investigation known. Have they returned
the books?
The books have been returned to the editor [Guerra & Paz], but I haven't been reimbursed
yet. There are still precautionary seizure of assets lodged by the authors of the civil action.
Any work
or books in the offing?
I have a book written entitled Madeleine: Unfinished Investigation [Madeleine:
Investigação Inacabada], for which I have not yet sought a publisher. I am writing another book related to my
experience as an investigator of organized and violent crimes, sort of a reflection about the way and methods used to investigate.
And after the trial?
My expectations for after the trial are to carry on with my life,
accompanying and helping those who are close to me, and if circumstances offer that possibility, to intervene with solidarity
in the Portuguese society. As my daughter Inês says, there are plenty of other children and young people who are in
need of healthy life projects, of being the actors and authors of their own lives, of being happy.
Amaral considers suing the McCanns for damages to his daughter
Have you considered suing the McCanns for damages concerning your family?
I have pondered
about that possibility, however it is still far to early to account for all the damages and make a decision. I have to think
about my daughter Inês and on the effects that such a situation would encompass.
How have you been
able to keep in touch with her?
It has been hard, distance doesn't help, but I try to be part of
Inês' life. Amidst all this, I have been seriously worried about my child, who, not so long ago asked what could
happen with this trial, if I could be arrested, etc. Inês is the same age that the child who disappeared would have
been if she was alive and reacts negatively to all the news that refers to this case, when the name of the child is spoken
she says she has had enough of hearing about the name. To her there are other children in the world who need the attention,
love and care and Inês is one of them. Her world was rocked when she saw her father being attacked and insulted, even
before the book was published, and that world of hers collapsed due to the subsequent circumstances, she had to abandon the
house where she was born, the school where she went and live far away from her father. Inês is a victim of the arrogance
and lack of common sense of the authors of the civil action, who claim to be Catholics, but as Christians appear to have little
or nothing.
Katie Hopkins favourite for Celebrity Big
Brother 2014 as she blasts parents of Madeleine McCann, 28 October 2013
Katie Hopkins favourite for Celebrity Big Brother 2014
as she blasts parents of Madeleine McCann UnReality TV
October 28th, 2013 by Lisa McGarry
Katie Hopkins is apparently a favourite with Channel 5 bosses, planning
their lineup for next year's series of Celebrity Big Brother.
Since finishing on the BBC business show, the
former Apprentice star has made a name for herself as a controversial and outspoken figure, who never seems to hold back with
her personal opinions, no matter how offensive.
What better show for her to appear on than Celebrity Big Brother
then, when she can spout her views and lecture her fellow housemates for up to three long weeks.
Bosses apparently
believe the blonde star would be a big ratings draw and a massive hit for the Channel 5 show and she is reportedly in talks
with producers about joining the lineup in January.
"It would be a great coup for Channel 5. It looks like
it could happen this time," a source told The Mirror.
Katie has hit the headlines during her recent appearances
on This Morning, when, among other things, she admitted that she judges children on their names (with chav 'lower class'
monikers being a particular bug bear) and also that 'fat children' need to be told their overweight and forced to
address the issue.
The insider added: "Katie's a colourful character,
opinionated and still one of the most recognisable faces in the land. She'd be a massive hit."
Katie
continued her controversial tweeting yesterday, as she lashed out at Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of missing child Madeleine.
She posted:
"Crimewatch centred on a report the McCanns kept hidden away for 5 years. People phoned
in in their thousands desperate to help these people."
"Pay team of investigators to find your daughter.
Don't like report. Block it. Forced to hand over. Find 'Revelations' Act pleased #McCanns"
"To
the 2400 that called in post Crimewatch. The McCanns could have provided this info in Nov 2008 but preferred to bury it as
'distracting'"
"The public part funded the report that the McCanns hid away for 5yrs. I will
not be silenced by their dubious editorial policy #McCanns"
"I would take a lie detector test tomorrow
– I have nothing to hide and no filter. Repulsive to some. But honest either way."
Would you like to
see Katie on Celebrity Big Brother? Leave your comments below….
We are very pleased that the investigation to find
our missing daughter Madeleine has officially been reopened in Portugal. We hope that this will finally lead to her being
found and the discovery of who is responsible for this crime.
We once again urge any member of the public who may
have information relating to Madeleine's abduction to contact the police in Portugal or the UK.
Please be patient
and respect the work of the police as they endeavour to find the answers we so desperately need. In particular, we request
that the media consider carefully Madeleine's safety and the integrity of the investigation in their reporting.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Gerry and Kate
Gerry and Kate will not be
giving any comments regarding the progress of the investigation unless there is a significant breakthrough.
Maddie: Vital clues hidden for 5
years, 28 October 2013
Maddie: Vital clues hidden for 5 years Daily Star (paper edition)
by JERRY LAWTON
CRUCIAL evidence that could hold the key to finding Madeleine McCann was kept secret for five years, it was
revealed last night.
The bombshell file includes two e-fits of a man seen carrying a sleeping blonde-haired girl
to the beach in Praia da Luz, Portugal, the resort in which Maddie vanished.
Full story: Page 7
Maddie Crimewatch pictures kept secret for five years Daily Star
VITAL evidence about the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's abduction was kept secret for five years,
it was reported yesterday.
By Jerry Lawton/ Published 28th October 2013
The file was suppressed after being handed to her parents by ex-MI5
investigators, it is claimed.
It included two e-fits of a man seen carrying a sleeping blonde girl to the beach
in Praia da Luz, Portugal, at the same time the then-three-year-old's mum Kate, 45, found her missing.
That
man is now the focus of a worldwide police hunt.
Scotland Yard detectives released the e-fits a fortnight ago in
a Crimewatch special about Madeleine's May 2007 disappearance.
The show prompted 2,400 calls from the public
after being broadcast across Europe.
But yesterday it was reported the pictures were available five years ago.
Kate, husband Gerry, 45, and their advisers sidelined the private
detectives' file and instructed them not to divulge its contents.
The report, delivered to the McCanns in November
2008, said the sighting by Irishman Martin Smith was "credible evidence", had been "neglected for too long"
and called on the e-fits to be immediately released.
Oakley International investigators were hired by the Find
Madeleine fund set up to bankroll the McCanns' search.
A source close to the McCanns said the report "would
have been completely distracting" if made public.
They instead wanted to focus on a man seen by one of their
friends and it would have been too expensive to conduct full investigations into both sightings, the source added.
Scotland Yard has since discovered that suspect was a dad carrying his own child.
Former MI5 undercover operations chief Henri Exton, 62, who led the
Oakley probe, said the fund took legal action to stop his team divulging its findings.
He said: "A letter
came from their lawyers binding us to confidentiality."
It stopped him handing the report to Scotland Yard's
Operation Grange team until detectives had written permission from the fund, he added.
One Oakley investigator
said he was "absolutely stunned" when he saw their theories and e-fits being unveiled on Crimewatch as a "new
revelation".
A Metropolitan Police official said yesterday any withholding of
the report was "not an issue" because they were not investigating the case at the time.
Portugal's
national police force last week reopened its own investigation.
A source close to the McCann fund said they had
been wary of Oakley after allegations of financial irregularities.
A spokesman for Find Madeleine said "all
information privately gathered" had been "fully acted upon where necessary" and passed on to Scotland Yard.
The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell was unavailable for comment.
Madeleine clues hidden for 5 years, 27 October
2013
Madeleine clues hidden for 5 years The
Sunday Times (paper edition)
THE critical new evidence at the centre of Scotland Yard's
search for Madeleine McCann was kept secret for five years after it was presented to her parents by ex-MI5 investigators.
The evidence was in fact taken from an intelligence report produced for Gerry and Kate McCann by a firm of former
spies in 2008.
It contained crucial E-Fits of a man seen carrying a child on the night of Madeleine's disappearance,
which have only this month become public after he was identified as the prime suspect by Scotland Yard.
But the
trail was left to go cold for five years because the McCanns and their advisers sidelined the report and threatened to sue
its authors if they divulged the contents.
The report, seen by the Sunday Times, called for the E-Fits to be released
immediately and said "anomalies" in statements by the McCanns and their friends must be resolved.
A
source close to the McCanns said the report was considered "hypercritical of the people involved" and "would
have been completely distracting" if made public.
The new prime suspect was first singled out by detectives in 2008. Their findings were suppressed. Insight reports
The Sunday Times Insight team Published: 27 October 2013
Madeleine disappeared from the Praia da Luz resort in May 2007 (Adrian Sheratt)
THE critical new evidence at the centre of Scotland Yard's search
for Madeleine McCann was kept secret for five years after it was presented to her parents by ex-MI5 investigators.
The evidence was in fact taken from an intelligence report produced for Gerry and Kate McCann by a firm of former spies
in 2008.
It contained crucial E-Fits of a man seen carrying a child on the night of Madeleine's disappearance,
which have only this month become public after he was identified as the prime suspect by Scotland Yard.
A team
of hand-picked former MI5 agents had been hired by the McCanns to chase a much-needed breakthrough in the search for their
missing daughter Madeleine.
But within months the relationship had soured. A report produced by the investigators
was deemed "hypercritical" of the McCanns and their friends, and the authors were threatened with legal action if
it was made public. Its contents remained secret until Scotland Yard detectives conducting a fresh review of the case contacted
the authors and asked for a copy.
They found that it contained new evidence about a key suspect seen carrying a
child away from the McCanns' holiday apartment on the night Madeleine disappeared.
This sighting is now considered
the main lead in the investigation and E-Fits of the suspect, taken from the report, were the centrepiece of a Crimewatch
appeal that attracted more than 2,400 calls from the public this month.
One of the investigators whose work was
sidelined said last week he was "utterly stunned" when he watched the programme and saw the evidence his team had
passed to the McCanns five years ago presented as a breakthrough.
The team of investigators from the security firm
Oakley International were hired by the McCanns' Find Madeleine fund, which bankrolled private investigations into the
girl's disappearance. They were led by Henri Exton, MI5's former undercover operations chief.
Their report,
seen by The Sunday Times, focused on a sighting by an Irish family of a man carrying a child at about 10pm on May 3, 2007,
when Madeleine went missing.
An earlier sighting by one of the McCanns' friends was dismissed as less credible
after "serious inconsistencies" were found in her evidence. The report also raised questions about "anomalies"
in the statements given by the McCanns and their friends.
Exton confirmed last week that the fund had silenced
his investigators for years after they handed over their controversial findings. He said: "A letter came from their lawyers
binding us to the confidentiality of the report."
He claimed the legal threat had prevented him from handing
over the report to Scotland Yard's fresh investigation, until detectives had obtained written permission from the fund.
A source close to the fund said the report was considered "hypercritical of the people involved" and "would
have been completely distracting" if it became public.
Oakley's six-month investigation included placing
undercover agents inside the Ocean Club where the family stayed, lie detector tests, covert surveillance and a forensic re-examination
of all existing evidence.
It was immediately clear that two sightings of vital importance had been reported to
the police. Two men were seen carrying children near the apartments between 9pm, when Madeleine was last seen by Gerry, and
10pm, when Kate discovered her missing.
The first man was seen at 9.15pm by Jane Tanner, a friend of the McCanns,
who had been dining with them at the tapas bar in the resort. She saw a man carrying a girl just yards from the apartment
as she went to check on her children.
The second sighting was by Martin Smith and his family from Ireland, who
saw a man carrying a child near the apartment just before 10pm.
The earlier Tanner sighting had always been treated
as the most significant, but the Oakley team controversially poured cold water on her account.
Instead, they focused
on the Smith sighting, travelling to Ireland to interview the family and produce E-Fits of the man they saw. Their report
said the Smiths were "helpful and sincere" and concluded: "The Smith sighting is credible evidence of a sighting
of Maddie and more credible than Jane Tanner's sighting". The evidence had been "neglected for too long"
and an "overemphasis placed on Tanner".
The new focus shifted the believed timeline of the abduction
back by 45 minutes.
The report, delivered to the McCanns in November 2008, recommended that the revised timeline
should be the basis for future investigations and that the Smith E-Fits should be released without delay.
The potential
abductor seen by the Smiths is now the prime suspect in Scotland Yard's investigation, after detectives established that
the man seen earlier by Tanner was almost certainly a father carrying his child home from a nearby night creche. The Smith
E-Fits were the centrepiece of the Crimewatch appeal.
One of the Oakley investigators said last week: "I was
absolutely stunned when I watched the programme . . . It most certainly wasn't a new timeline and it certainly isn't
a new revelation. It is absolute nonsense to suggest either of those things . . . And those E-Fits you saw on Crimewatch are
ours," he said.
The detailed images of the face of the man seen by the Smith family were never released by
the McCanns. But an artist's impression of the man seen earlier by Tanner was widely promoted, even though the face had
to be left blank because she had only seen him fleetingly and from a distance.
Various others images of lone men
spotted hanging around the resort at other times were also released.
Nor were the Smith E-Fits included in Kate
McCann's 2011 book, Madeleine, which contained a whole section on eight "key sightings" and identified those
of the Smiths and Tanner as most "crucial". Descriptions of all seven other sightings were accompanied by an E-Fit
or artist's impression. The Smiths' were the only exception. So why was such a "crucial" piece of evidence
kept under lock and key?
The relationship between the fund and Oakley was already souring by the time the report
was submitted — and its findings could only have made matters worse.
As well as questioning parts of the
McCanns' evidence, it contained sensitive information about Madeleine's sleeping patterns and raised the highly sensitive
possibility that she could have died in an accident after leaving the apartment herself from one of two unsecured doors.
There was also an uncomfortable complication with Smith's account. He had originally told the police that he had
"recognised something" about the way Gerry McCann carried one of his children which reminded him of the man he had
seen in Praia da Luz.
Smith has since stressed that he does not believe the man he saw was Gerry, and Scotland
Yard do not consider this a possibility. Last week the McCanns were told officially by the Portuguese authorities that they
are not suspects.
The McCanns were also understandably wary of Oakley after allegations that the chairman, Kevin
Halligen, failed to pass on money paid by the fund to Exton's team. Halligen denies this. He was later convicted of fraud
in an unrelated case in the US.
The McCann fund source said the Oakley report was passed on to new private investigators
after the contract ended, but that the firm's work was considered "contaminated" by the financial dispute.
He said the fund wanted to continue to pursue information about the man seen by Tanner, and it would have been too
expensive to investigate both sightings in full — so the Smith E-Fits were not publicised. It was also considered necessary
to threaten legal action against the authors.
"[The report] was hypercritical of the people involved . . .
It just wouldn't be conducive to the investigation to have that report publicly declared because . . . the newspapers
would have been all over it. And it would have been completely distracting," said the source.
A statement
released by the Find Madeleine fund said that "all information privately gathered during the search for Madeleine has
been fully acted upon where necessary" and had been passed to Scotland Yard.
It continued: "Throughout
the investigation, the Find Madeleine fund's sole priority has been, and remains, to find Madeleine and bring her home
as swiftly as possible."
Insight: Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert
Porn star link to Maddie, 27 October
2013
Porn star link to Maddie Daily
Star Sunday (paper edition)
ONE of the key actors in the Madeleine McCann Crimewatch reconstruction
can today be revealed as a porn star.
Crimewatch actor in Madeleine McCann case
is a porn star Daily Star Sunday
ONE of the key actors in the Madeleine McCann Crimewatch reconstruction can today be revealed as a porn
star.
By Jonathan Corke & Tracey Kandohla
/ Published 27th October 2013
Mark Sloan, 45, played Dr Matt Oldfield, the friend of Kate
and Gerry McCann who checked on Madeleine before she disappeared.
Last night the BBC was blasted for seemingly
missing his past as a blue movie star when casting him in the reconstruction of Maddie's 2007 disappearance.
Just last year Mark played the lead in the X-rated film Sherlock Bones. And in Tight Rider, an erotic spoof of 80s TV series
Knight Rider, shot at historic Fort Amherst in Kent, ex-Army sniper Mark played Michael Tight.
Other flicks
in his back catalogue include Dr Screw and From Dusk Till Porn. He has also played a serial killer in a horror film. In an
on-screen interview last year he boasted of taking Viagra and playing sordid sex games.
He has his own website which reveals his X-rated antics.
But in the Crimewatch film, watched by 7.3million viewers, he played the respectable "Tapas Seven" friend
of the McCanns and had three speaking parts.
In one scene he was seen telling "Kate" that "everything's
fine, all quiet" after checking on three-year-old Madeleine while Kate and Gerry dined at a tapas restaurant in Praia
da Luz, Portugal.
Last night his former agent, who did not wish to be named, said she was stunned the BBC had chosen
her ex-client for such a sensitive role.
She said: "How could the casting director not know of his background
when they picked him? It's all over Google.
Did no one check? It is unbelievably stupid.
"It's
an awful thing to have happened in a case so highly sensitive as Madeleine McCann's.
"Mark is such a nice guy and had been trying to get into
serious acting but there is a stigma attached to actors who work in pornography."
Mark, thought to live in
Bristol, makes no attempts to hide his work in the adult film industry.
In a YouTube trailer for Sherlock Bones
he is heard swearing and asking one scantily-clad girl: "What size are your tits?"
A simple internet
search also reveals he has presented live sex show "Never Mind the Buzzing C**ks".
His appearance on
Crimewatch, during a special show on October 14 helped prompt more than 1,000 calls and emails after photofits of suspects
in Madeleine's case were revealed. Filming was done at a secret location in Spain.
In the Company of Strangers, 26 October
2013
In the Company of Strangers
EXCLUSIVE to mccannfiles.com
By
Dr Martin Roberts
26 October 2013
IN THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS
The McCanns may appear to be leading a charmed life when it comes to abduction cases emerging,
as if to order, in support of their long held contention that ‘there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to any harm.'
The most recent incident, featuring a similarly young blonde haired girl, four years of age supposedly but assessed as being
nearer five or six, must be arguably the best illustration yet that misplaced children in alien domestic circumstances can
indeed come to no harm. Little Maria's adoptive parents, Mr/Ms Silas and Dinopoulou (I use the word adoptive loosely since
other accusations against them are as yet unproven) have been quite specific on this very point: 'We did her no harm.'
Let us then suppose that the McCann brand of optimism sees their own missing daughter Madeleine safely in the clutches
of an unrelated family somewhere, perhaps exploited in a fashion similar to young 'Maria' who, we are told, was expected
to dance at the roadside for 'tips' from passers-by (well they can't all sell basketfuls of lilies, can they?).
A grim life, but not a physically injurious one at least. And, quite possibly after six years (the child is thought to have
been displaced as early as two weeks after birth) the little girl was discovered healthy. Dishevelled and unkempt, yes. Ailing
and malnourished, no.
There's a saying in Spanish: 'You can call me a dog so long as you feed me.'
Now what would someone in Madeleine's assumed position think if they were to weigh up their past and present circumstances,
I wonder? Never mind being 'happy and you know it' in the comfort of an executive home in Rothley, Leicestershire,
how might her more recent experiences of that last family holiday to Portugal measure up against, say, living among strangers,
arguably exploited but physically un-abused, for the last six years? Viewed objectively she would be well within the bounds
of normal parenting assessment to conclude that she is actually better off for being in safer hands.
No, really.
When questioned on the subject, Madeleine's natural parents could only advance the opinion that they 'believed Madeleine
was alive when she was taken'. For all we know therefore she might already have been less than 100% alive at that moment
(following Kate McCann, who has ever since considered life to be a game of percentages). In that case I'm pretty sure
I'd know which side my bread was best buttered. And that's without taking into account the unmistakable fact
that my parents were prepared to abandon me to my fate in the event of a fire!
'That's why we ended up
coming through the back', said Gerry McCann, once upon a time, while in the company of co-star Matthew Oldfield, 'so
as not to wake the children', who will perforce have been asleep and blissfully unaware of any danger in the event of
a fire suddenly taking hold of the apartment in which they were lodged that Thursday night, May 3, 2007. Picture the scene:
Two-year old twins completely somnolent, virtually trapped in their respective cots, sleeping alongside their three-year old
sister, who, at barely 90 cm. tall, could not have reached the only window in the bedroom to have opened it successfully,
much less climb through it; a locked front door at one end of the apartment, a large sliding patio door shielded by heavy
drapes at the other.
Maybe, just maybe, Madeleine might have been able to negotiate her way out – after previously
lifting her brother and sister from their cots?
Unfortunately, twins Sean and Amelie McCann would not have been
the only sacrifices in the face of a flammable catastrophe. Their parents, both of them, have been forthright in proclaiming
that there is 'no way' Madeleine could have exited the apartment unaided that Thursday night, for any reason.
If the Ocean Club crèche registers are to be believed, Madeleine McCann and her twin siblings were left in the company
of strangers on every day of their holiday. The only difference then, as far as Madeleine was concerned, is that any new adult
acquaintances with whom she might have been placed after May 3 possibly spoke a language other than English. On the benefit
side however they will have fed her, whereas the crèche nannies did not.
Taking everything into consideration,
is it not reasonable to suppose, from a notional health and safety perspective at least, that Madeleine McCann, wherever she
may be, is somewhere where the grass is greener?
Key witness identified Maddie's
father, 21 October 2013
Former PJ coordinator says Irish family saw man with child
Gonçalo Amaral reveals that
key deposition was devalued at the time of disappearance
By Sara G. Carrilho 21 October 2013 01h00 With thanks to Astro for translation
"The testimony of one of the members of the Smith family that
identified Gerry McCann as being the man he saw on the night that Maddie disappeared, carrying a child in his arms as he walked
towards the beach was devalued after I left the case. It is a lie that the e-fit that the British police now made public is
based on the Smith family's witness statement."
The statements are from Gonçalo Amaral, the former
PJ coordinator who investigated the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, to Correio da Manhã. They appear following the
publication of e-fits by the Scotland Yard that point one of the drawings out as being that of the main suspect over the presumed
abduction of the English child, on the 3rd of May of 2007 - which they say was based on the testimony of an Irish family that
was on holiday in Praia da Luz when Maddie disappeared.
"The Smith family told us what they saw that night.
A man, a foreigner, of athletic build, a sunburned face, like those of tourists, who was hiding his face in order not to be
seen, carrying a blonde child in his arms," Gonçalo Amaral said. "A short time later, when the McCann family
'fled' to the United Kingdom, and were welcomed by the television at the airport, a member of the Smith family called
us, very upset. Gerry [Maddie's father], who was leaving the plane, was the man that Mr Smith had seen carrying a child
that night," the former coordinator explained.
For Gonçalo Amaral, "there was a positive identification,
which was set aside". "The McCann's hired detectives who made a portrait, a man that resembled Gerry, in order
to devalue the deposition," he concluded.
Madeleine McCann, Crimewatch Appeal
- UK, Germany, The Netherlands
BBC Crimewatch - Broadcast 14 October 2013 BBC Crimewatch (update)
- Broadcast 14 October 2013 Opsporing Verzocht (Netherlands version) - Broadcast 15 October 2013 Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst (German version) - Broadcast 16 October 2013
Maddie parents: 'Stolen girl who
gives us hope', 19 October 2013
Maddie
parents: 'Stolen girl who gives us hope' Daily Mirror
(paper edition)
Kate and Gerry's "great hope":
Mystery blonde girl found living with gypsies gives boost to Madeleine McCann's Daily Mirror
By Tom Pettifor | 18 Oct 2013 19:50
Greek
authorities requested international help to identify an 'abducted' four-year-old girl found living in a camp with
a couple and 13 other children
The parents of Madeleine McCann were given 'great hope'
tonight after a mystery blonde girl allegedly snatched from her family was found living with gypsies.
Greek authorities
requested international help to identify a four-year-old girl found living in a camp with a couple and 13 other children.
Police believe up to 10 more of the youngsters may be the victims of an international trafficking ring.
The girl, known only as 'Maria', was found on Wednesday near Farsala in central Greece during a nationwide crackdown
on illegal activities by Roma, also known as Gypsies.
The case bears similarities to theories about the disappearance
of Madeleine who vanished aged three on a family holiday in Portugal on May 3, 2007.
It raises the possibility
that Madeleine could still be alive six years after she disappeared.
Speaking to The Mirror, a spokesman for the
McCanns said: "This gives Kate and Gerry great hope that Madeleine could be found alive."
Dad Gerry
said this week that statistics showed the younger a child is when abducted, the more likely they are to be found.
He said after Monday's BBC Crimewatch: "There are cases over the last few years of children who have been found
after they've been taken for a long time. I think that's what the public needs to think about tonight."
Scotland Yard said new evidence adds further weight to claims the three-year-old was snatched in a pre-planned abduction
from her holiday apartment.
DNA tests confirmed yesterday that the mystery blue eyed girl is not related to the
Greek couple who have been remanded in custody.
A 39-year-old man and 40-year-old woman have been charged with
abducting a minor and remanded in custody.
A source said the youngster is believed to have been with the couple
for at least two years and speaks only Roma. She is currently being assessed by child psychologists.
He said:
"Police are examining a wider network of child traffickers across Europe. This girl couple have been snatched to order
or sold by east european criminal gangs. We know these networks exist."
Police are trying to establish why
the girl was living with the couple, who are also accused of falsifying identity and birth certificates.
The mother
claimed to have given birth to six children within a total of less than 10 months. She is accused of illegally claiming benefits
for the children.
Police say they also found drugs and unregistered firearms in other parts of the settlement,
which is about 170 miles north of Athens.
One police officer questioned the couple after spotting that the blonde,
pale-skinned and blue-eyed girl stood out from the rest of her family.
She bore no resemblance to the Greek couple
and DNA testing confirmed that they weren't related.
Her features suggest she might be from an eastern or
northern European country.
Police have notified Interpol for assistance.
Larissa police chief Vasilis
Halatsis said: "We have taken the gypsy parents into custody, and the child is being taken care of in hospital.
"We are getting information from all over Europe which shows that this problem, of children going missing and falling
into gypsy hands, is a problem throughout the continent."
The suspects allegedly offered conflicting accounts
- that the girl was found in a blanket, was handed to them by strangers or had a foreign father.
The police statement said the couple claimed to have a total 14 children,
and had registered different numbers with authorities in three different parts of Greece.
Officers found three
children living with them who appear to be their children - although that hasn't yet been verified by DNA testing.
The girl is in the care of the charity The Smile Of A Child, which said it has sought the help of European and global
groups for lost or abused children in tracking her parents.
Charity director Costas Giannopoulos said the child
was undergoing medical examinations.
"We are shocked by how easy it is for people to register children as
their own," he told private Skai TV. "There is much more to investigate, there are other registered children that
were not found in the settlement, and I believe police will unravel a thread that doesn't just have to do with the girl."
The name of the gypsy parents has not yet been disclosed, but they are due to appear before the public prosecutor
on Monday.
Lawyers for the arrested gypsy couple appealed to the media "not to present this couple as monsters,
as abusers of children".
Marietta Palavra said: "There is nothing but love and care between the Roma
parents and the 4-year old girl."
News of the girl's alleged abduction comes just a few days after the
Metropolitan Police revealed results of a major review of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Among many claims made over the years, convicted paedophile Raymond Hewlett allegedly said he saw the Madeleine twice
before she vanished and claimed she was stolen to order by a gypsy gang, but denied he was involved.
During a
special Crimewatch show earlier this week, detectives issued two e-fits of a man seen carrying Madeleine towards the beach
on the night she vanished.
Is The Sun right to use Madeleine McCann
to promote its website?, 18 October 2013
Is The Sun right to use Madeleine McCann to promote its website?
The Guardian
By Roy Greenslade Friday 18 October 2013 11.15 BST
Maybe I'm being unusually sensitive, but I find The Sun's latest
promotion for its website unbearably tasteless:
"It's the terrible mystery that has gripped us all –
what really happened to Madeleine McCann? In tomorrow's 12-page special pullout, The Maddie Files, we reveal:
The bungled investigation into her abduction... how Maddie's twin siblings are getting on… how Kate and Gerry
manage to keep strong. PLUS the full Maddie story in an exclusive ebook ONLY
for Sun+ members. If you're not already a member, join now."
Am I alone in thinking that this lure to
attract subscribers amounts to an intrusion into grief for commercial ends?
Special report ... what happened to Madeleine McCann?
Published: 18 October 2013
IT'S the terrible mystery that has gripped us all – what really happened to Madeleine McCann?
In tomorrow's 12-page special pullout, The Maddie Files, we reveal:
- The bungled investigation
into her abduction
- How Maddie's twin siblings are getting on
- How Kate and Gerry manage to keep
strong
PLUS – the full Maddie story in an exclusive ebook ONLY for Sun+
members.
If you're not already a member, join now.
Aktenzeichen XY ... ungelöst:
"It really was a... ideal holiday"
16 October 2013
Speaking over reconstruction footage of the group's
arrival in Praia da Luz on 28 April 2007
Reporter: Praia da Luz on the Portuguese Algarve.
It is Saturday the 28th April 2007 when Kate, Gerry and their 3 kids arrive at the holiday resort.
Gerry:
It was very relaxing and it's a quiet little town in the pre-season. We were certainly very relaxed, the kids
were really enjoying it and, you know, it really was a... ideal holiday.
28
April 2007
Mobile phone footage from the actual trip on 28 April 2007
David Payne: Cheer up, Gerry. We're on holiday!
Gerry McCann: F*ck
off. Do you really think I'm here to enjoy myself?
Crimewatch aired in UK, Ireland, Netherlands,
Germany, but why not Portugal?, 17 October 2013
Crimewatch aired in UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, but
why not Portugal? The Portugal News
BY BRENDAN DE BEER · 17-10-2013 14:13:00
More
than a few eyebrows were raised this week when it became apparent that unlike BBC, RTE, ZDF or AVRO, no Portuguese television
station was to air a repeat of the Crimewatch programme which was first shown to millions of viewers on Monday evening.
Conflicting reports were emerging this week as to why Portuguese
television had not followed the example of the UK, Ireland, Germany and Netherlands by showing the appeal for information
in the search for missing British toddler Madeleine McCann.
One BBC reporter reporting from Praia da Luz on Monday
evening told viewers the fact that the programme was not being shown in Portugal was "controversial", while BBC
Radio 4 quoted experts saying they regretted that new leads could be hampered by the fact that there are no plans to show
the fresh appeal for information in Portugal.
"We need to get [the Portuguese police] to show the appeal,
set aside their political differences, set aside their pride and get to the position where [the forces] are both focused,
working together", criminologist, ex-police officer and child protection expert Mark Williams-Thomas was quoted as telling
BBC Radio 4's Today programme this week.
His comments were then widely re-printed in a number of publications,
including the Guardian.
When questioned as to the reasons for Crimewatch not being shown in Portugal, the Metropolitan
Police Service responded that there is no such show in Portugal, while the UK, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands have regular
television programmes appealing for viewers' assistance in solving crime.
Portuguese police would therefore
be unable to force any of the country's networks to alter scheduling unless they unilaterally decided to do so.
Clips of the programme are available from the Metropolitan Police Service's Press Bureau and have been shown on Portuguese
television this week.
The BBC, in response to questions from The Portugal News over Crimewatch failing to make
it on to the television screens of viewers in the country where Madeleine McCann disappeared, explained: "We have provided
clips of the Crimewatch programme to international broadcasters to assist them in their coverage of the appeal, and the Crimewatch
film is available on the BBC Crimewatch website to international audiences.
"The decision on broadcasting
an appeal on an equivalent programme in Portugal is a matter for the Portuguese broadcasters, Portuguese police and The Metropolitan
Police", the statement read.
The Deputy Director of News at Sic Television was meanwhile reported to have
exchanged e-mails with the BBC in the days running up to the Crimewatch programme in order to secure the rights to the full
programme, but to no avail.
"The BBC said they are not selling the rights", Martim Cabral told The Portugal
News, "therefore we cannot show it."
Another Portuguese news channel, TVI, told The Portugal News that
it had contacted the British national broadcaster prior to the airing of the show, as it sought to "acquire the programme
for Portugal, which was denied."
"Should the BBC change its position and should TVI continue to show
an interest, it is certain that we will look at transmitting the programme in question.
"TVI has also requested
the BBC clarify this situation with British media to avoid more erroneous interpretations, such as those claiming Portuguese
television channels are not interested in transmitting the programme."
Scotland Yard reveal they are trawling through a vast log of mobile phone traffic identified
in Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance. click here
Scotland Yard New E-fit Announcement
Sky News announce that detectives are to issue
an e-fit image of a man seen near the holiday apartment from which Madeleine vanished in 2007. click here
Scotland Yard Release E-fit Image
Two e-fit pictures of the same man with are released in
what is seen as a major development in the case. click here
Would this be changes to the Sticker
Book timeline?
Or changes to the Tapas statement timelines?
Is it someone else's timeline? Maybe
Erik, the ice cream man? Or Henry, the mild mannered janitor?
The accepted version of events have been out there
for over 6 years, mulled over and analysed by all. Who noticed that they were wrong? Didn't the McCanns ever notice? Kate
has, after all, been working very hard and spent countless hours analysing the files. Their private dicks must be kicking
themselves for not spotting such an anomaly.
Maybe their watches were all out (just like the camera) and we really
should have been following that alternative timeline which did indeed seem to start an hour earlier?
If this is
such a revelation!!! then surely it's enough to reopen the case in Portugal. No?...
How many versions of events
are there? Can we add this to the versions of the truth? Maybe we could have one big Spot the Difference competition, where
all entrants have to circle and underline in green ink. The winner gets to add their own timeline into the mix.
This
is all so very intriguing but pointless speculating... Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
I can't help
but thinking that everyone involved are callously playing with a child's life. Dribbling news to the press... waiting
to release e-fit pictures... showing snippets of a programme yet to be broadcast... parading the parents as if they're
celebrities. This is Crimewatch, not some 'coming soon to a screen near you'.
Or maybe they know
something we don't. Whatever, it's all been done in the worst possible taste.
SY Mobile Phone Traffic Announcement
04
October 2013
Scotland Yard reveal they are trawling through a vast log of
mobile phone traffic identified in Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.
At
the same time, it is announced that Kate and Gerry McCann are to make a significant television
appeal in light of the "fresh, substantive" material unearthed as part of the
British police investigation into their daughter's disappearance.
Parents of missing Maddie join school's
charity runs, 24 September 2013
Parents of missing Maddie join school's charity
runs Nottingham Post
By Emily Winsor Tuesday, September 24, 2013
TWO charity
runs in Keyworth were attended by around 1,000 people at the weekend in a bid to raise funds for an impoverished Kenyan community.
The Crossdale Drive Primary School 10km Trial and 2km Fun Run was held in and around the village on Sunday with around
500 children and adults taking part in each race.
This was the 14th event of its kind. For the last few years it
has raised money for the Friends of Kadzinuni, a Keyworth-based charity which supports a Kenyan community and helps improve
education and healthcare there.
The races set off from the primary school and followed an off-road course, finishing
at Plumtree Cricket Club.
This year it attracted people from all over the Midlands, including keen runners Kate
and Gerry McCann, parents of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared on a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.
The couple
had travelled from their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, to take part in the race.
Crossdale head teacher Peter
Cresswell said: "It is always a really nice community-orientated event and we always get a good turnout.
"People
come from all over to take part and one man, who is 90-years-old now, always takes part.
"The run goes across
farmers' land, who kindly let us have access, and it's a nice route.
"I've run the race myself
before but didn't do it this year. We had lovely weather on Sunday and there was a really nice atmosphere as usual."
Money raised from the races this year has tipped the £500 mark and will be used to buy solar-powered reading
lamps for the Kadzinuni community.
Nic Seller of the Friends of Kadzinuni said: "A few weeks ago, I did an
assembly at the school about the lamps and how they will benefit youngsters in the Kenyan community. It rang a lot of bells
with the children because the school has recently had solar panels installed on its roof.
"The school played
a key role in the beginning, when we first set up the charity, as it donated over 800 reading books to the cause which were
shipped out to Kenya.
"That was in 1999 and the school has helped to support the charity ever since."
Media justice: Madeleine McCann, intermediatization
and "trial by media" in the British press, 2012
Media justice: Madeleine McCann, intermediatization
and "trial by media" in the British press City University London
Greer, C. & McLaughlin, E. (2012). Media justice: Madeleine McCann, intermediatization
and "trial by media" in the British press. Theoretical Criminology, 16(4), 395 - 416. doi: 10.1177/1362480612454559
Abstract
Three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared on 3 May 2007 from a holiday
apartment in Portugal. Over five years and multiple investigations that failed to solve this abducted child case, Madeleine
and her parents were subject to a process of relentless 'intermediatization'. Across 24–7 news coverage, websites,
documentaries, films, YouTube videos, books, magazines, music and artworks, Madeleine was a mediagenic image of innocence
and a lucrative story. In contrast to Madeleine's media sacralization, the representation of her parents, Kate and Gerry
McCann, fluctuated between periods of vociferous support and prolonged and libellous 'trial by media'. This article
analyses how the global intermediatization of the 'Maddie Mystery' fed into and fuelled the 'trial by media'
of Kate and Gerry McCann in the UK press. Our theorization of 'trial by media' is developed and refined through considering
its legal limitations in an era of 'attack journalism' and unprecedented official UK inquiries into press misconduct
and criminality.
PDF Download:
Media justice: Madeleine McCann, intermediatization
and "trial by media" in the British press. (pdf, 932K)
Jenny Murat: Kate McCann printed such
awful things about my Robert in her Madeleine book, 02 December 2012
Jenny Murat: Kate McCann printed such awful things about
my Robert in her Madeleine book Sunday Express
By James Murray Sunday December
2,2012
A MOTHER whose son was wrongly linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has hit out
at the way he is portrayed in a best-selling book about the mystery.
Briton Robert Murat was cleared of
any involvement in the case four years ago but Kate McCann's book Madelaine, about her missing daughter, has brought back
painful memories for Jenny Murat, 76.
Having seen the McCanns' suffering at the hands of the British press
highlighted in last week's Leveson report, she is anxious to stress her son's total innocence.
She and
Robert had hoped their nightmare would end in 2008 when he won £600,000 damages from British newspapers, but last night
at her home on the Algarve, Mrs Murat spoke of how still the "tragedy consumes us, day in, day out".
The
widow and former nurse said: "Kate of all people should know what it is like to be wrongly accused, so how can she be
comfortable repeating wrong allegations about my son in her book?"
In the book published last summer, Kate
wrote: "Two officers talked openly about Robert Murat, who remained an arguido [suspect] and drip-fed us snippets of
'evidence' linking him to Madeleine."
However, later in the book she writes: "Nothing we were
told by the police indicated Murat took Madeleine or was in any way involved in her abduction." Mrs Murat argues: "Surely
it would have been wiser not to mention the allegations from the outset if there was 'nothing relevant'."
The police spotlight fell on Robert 11 days after Madeleine vanished from the McCanns' holiday apartment in Praia
de Luz, Portugal in May 2007.
Mrs Murat said: "Robert was at my home throughout that night and thankfully
that is now fully accepted as fact. He did not leave once."
She feels Robert, too, should have been called
to give evidence to the Leveson inquiry.
She explained: "Again we were denied an opportunity to put our side
of the story. Robert was the subject of a most disgraceful character assassination, yet was not even invited to contribute
to the debate. His life has been hugely damaged. This tragedy consumes us, day in, day out."
She added: "Kate's
book and the resulting publicity did not help. I do feel sympathetic towards the McCanns and obviously wish they could find
their daughter. We can't fathom the hell they must go through but they seem oblivious to the impact all this has had on
our lives and the lives of others.
"We tried our best to help, but have ended being pilloried and abused and
still it goes on."
Mrs Murat, now working on her own book about the case, added: "I am sick of all the
half-truths and innuendos, so I do want a full and accurate record of the truth. It is important that our story is told."
Posted by John Blacksmith at 20:25 Sunday, 15 May 2011
On July 7 2008 Mrs Justice Hogg gave judgement in the Family Division of the High Court regarding the attempt
by Kate & Gerry McCann to gain access to all the Leicester Police documents regarding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
The judgement was by agreement between the parties and was made in open court.
M/S Kate McCann in her book
Madeleine has now provided an excerpt from the official submission of Leicester Police to the court regarding the
matter and outlining the reasons why they could not agree to provide the documents. Signed by the assistant chief constable
of Leicestershire it runs: "While one or both of them may be innocent, there is no clear evidence
that eliminates them from involvement in Madeleine's disappearance."
![DEAD: Suspect Euclides Montiero is the prime suspect of Portuguese police [MIRRORPIX]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dailystar051113a.jpg)
![MISSING: Police are convinced it was Montiero who took Maddie from her bed [AP]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dailystar051113b.jpg)
![PAIN: The McCanns are currently staying quiet about the latest theory concerning Maddie's disappearance [GETTY]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dailystar051113c.jpg)
![DEAD: Suspect Euclides Montiero is the prime suspect of Portuguese police [MIRRORPIX]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dailystar051113p24s.jpg)
![The McCann family remain confident that Madeleine is still alive [PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/express051113a.jpg)
![Euclides Monteiro was a convicted thief and heroin user [MIRRORPIX]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/express051113b.jpg)
![The Ocean Club apartment in Praia de Luz where Maddie disappeared in 2007 [JONATHAN BUCKMASTER]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/express051113c2.jpg)
![ADDICT: Euclides's sister said he was not at the Portuguese resort when she went missing [Phil Harris/PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dailystar041113a.jpg)
![MISSING: Maddie disappeared in the same resort that Euclides worked [PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dailystar041113b.jpg)
![SUSPECTS: Two e-fits were released earlier this month of possible Maddie suspects [PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dailystar041113c.jpg)
![Kate and Gerry remain hopeful that Maddie is still alive [GETTY]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/sundayexpress031113a.jpg)
![Could Maddie have been hurt? [PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/sundayexpress031113b.jpg)
![MYSTERY: Clinic that expats think man could have been heading for [MARK KEHOE]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/sundayexpress031113c.jpg)
![Kate and Gerry remain convinced she is still alive [GETTY]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/express021113a.jpg)
![Missing Madeleine McCann pictured on holiday in Portugal shortly before she vanished [PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/express021113b2.jpg)
![Kate leaving the court house in Lisbon [GETTY]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/express021113c2.jpg)
![GRUDGE KIDNAP: Portuguese police explore the latest theory that Maddie was taken as revenge [PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/star021113a.jpg)
![PAIN: Kate and Gerry are not giving up the hope that Maddie will be found [GETTY]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/star021113b.jpg)
![MISSING: The McCanns hold a photo of what Maddie would look like at present [PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/star021113c.jpg)
![CASE: Portuguese detectives are investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance again [PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dailystar011113a.jpg)
![PARENTS: Kate and Gerry McCann [EPA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dailystar011113b.jpg)
![PAIN: The McCanns have never given up hope of finding their daughter Madeleine [PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/star011113a.jpg)
![MISSING: Maddie vanished from the Portuguese apartment in 2007 [PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/star011113b.jpg)
![NEW CLUE: A worker from the apartment where Maddie vanished is the new prime suspect [JONATHAN BUCKMASTER]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/star011113c.jpg)
![MYSTERY: Police have released an e-fit of a man they wish to speak to [PA]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/star011113d.jpg)
![Crucial evidence that could hold the key to finding Madeleine McCann was kept secret for five years [KATE MCCANN/PA WIRE]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/star281013a.jpg)
![RESPECTABLE: Mark, right, as Dr Matt on Crimewatch [BBC]](/web/20131105222210im_/http://www.mccannfiles.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/star271013b.jpg)
