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Madeleine suspect accused of lying in confrontation with family friends

The Daily Mail
7/27/07

The chief suspect in the Madeleine McCann missing enquiry has been accused of lying by a friend of her parents.

The key witness, it is claimed, shouted at Robert Murat in a face-to-face confrontation set up by Portuguese police.

Pointing an accusing finger, the woman shouted: "I know you were there. I would recognise you anywhere."

The meeting was arranged after members of Kate and Gerry McCanns' holiday party expressed doubts over the ex-pat's alibi.

As part of the process in Portugal, witnesses can challenge a suspect when there is doubt in the statements.

The friends claim they saw Murat, 33, on the night of 3 May when the four-year-old was snatched from her bed in the family's holiday apartment in Praia de Luz, Portugal.

The three key witnesses in the case are certain they recognise the suspect because of his distinctive lazy right eye caused by a detached retina.

One claims to have spotted Murat peeking into the McCann's apartment that night - which could destroy his alibi for the 3 May.

Murat insists he was dining with his mother before going to bed early.

Earlier this month doctors Russell O'Brien and Fiona Payne, along with another friend, Rachael Oldfield, flew to Portugal to be questioned.

They were among a group of nine adults in the McCanns' party staying at the Ocean Club resort. They were having dinner at a restaurant 50 yards away from the family's apartment when Madeleine was snatched.


The tirade against Murat began after a friend of the McCann's was left alone with him in an interview room at Portimao police headquarters, according to reports.

Portuguese detectives watched the exchange through a two-way mirror.

One of the women pointed her finger at the suspect and made the accusation.

Murat, it is reported, was badly shaken following the incident.

His spokeperson, Tuck Price, says: "Robert found it traumatic. He could not understand how these people could sit there and accuse him of lying.

"It all seemed to revolve around them recognising his dodgy eye.

"It was dark. How could they have seen? Besides that, he was not there anyway."

On the night of 3 May, Madeleine's mother Kate, raised the alarm at 10pm after discovering her daughter was missing.

In a leaked police report, Dr Payne and Mrs Oldfield claim they saw Murat at the Ocean Club resort at around 11.45pm.

Murat was spotted again - this time at 1am by Dr O'Brien.

The sightings are said to have been confirmed by an employee at the resort.

Dr O'Brien's partner, Jane Tanner, is reported to be the witness who told police she saw a man rushing away from the resort carrying a small child wrapped in a blanket at around 9.30pm.

Murat insists he is innocent and says he had no idea a child had been taken until the following day.

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Murat 'altered tale' in quiz by Madeleine cops

Martin Fricker
The Mirror UK
07/27/2007

Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat dramatically changed his alibi during police questioning, it has been claimed.

The Brit expat, 33, had initially told friends he was with his girlfriend when Madeleine, four, was snatched.

But as detectives grilled him 11 days later, he claimed he had been with elderly mum Jennifer at her nearby home, a Portuguese newspaper has reported.

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Police sources also allege Murat asked a number of people for a fake alibi for the night the youngster was taken.

Detectives are believed to have quizzed Murat at length last week over the differing accounts of his whereabouts on May 3.

One source said: "When people started asking questions, he said he was with his girlfriend, Michaela Walczuch. He said the same thing to friends.

"But at the police station he told them he was with his mum Jennifer. He's stuck to this story since."

Michaela was interviewed by police last month but they would not reveal her answers. Jennifer, who lives 100 yards from the McCanns' Praia da Luz holiday apartment, backed her son's alibi when she met police.

She insisted he did not leave the villa between finishing his evening meal and going to bed.

A Portuguese newspaper reported that phone records between 8pm and midnight back her claim. But police say it does not prove he was there all night.

The McCanns' friends Fiona Payne and Rachael Oldfield say they saw him outside Madeleine's apartment at 11.45pm, soon after she went missing. Another pal, Russell O'Brien, says he saw Murat at 1am.

Portuguese villagers have also told police they saw him that night. He remains the only formal suspect.

Meanwhile, Madeleine's dad Gerry again urged the public to help him and wife Kate keep up the search.

He wrote on his internet blog: "This can be achieved by simple measures such as displaying posters in prominent public places."

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MY SON IS INNOCENT SAYS MOTHER OF MADDY SUSPECT

Matt Drake
The Daily Express
7/29/07

The mother of the only suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has hit back at claims that he lied to police.

Jenny Murat last night refuted the allegation that her son Robert had given misleading information about his alibi.

Murat swears he spent the night with his 71-year-old mother the night Madeleine was snatched, despite reports that he gave police two versions of events.

A spokesman for the family said: “Jenny has told police her son was with her on the night Madeleine vanished and she is certainly not lying.

“She knows that just because she is his mother everyone will believe she is covering up for him and lying to save him.

“She has had to keep quiet about what happened and has not been allowed to speak because the police will not let her but she is furious her son has been branded a liar.”

Murat, a former estate agent, is adamant he was nowhere near the McCann family apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz at the time four-year-old Madeleine was taken on May 3.

But three friends who were on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry, have given statements to detectives in which they claim they saw Murat outside the Ocean Club holiday complex that night.

Reports said he realised he had fallen under suspicion in the days after Madeleine was kidnapped. He is said to have told friends and police, with whom he was working as a translator, that he spent the evening with his German lover Michaela Walczuch, 39, before later telling police he was with his mother the whole time.

Mrs Murat says her son never left her sight that night and that they ate together before having an early night.

The family spokesman said: “According to his mother, Robert never changed his story and was in their home, Casa Liliana, the whole night. He has told police this over and over again and Jenny says her son is telling the truth. Despite what the witnesses say, Jenny is determined to prove her son was nowhere near the apartment when they said he was.

“Robert and his mother have told police they joined the hunt for Madeleine the morning after she vanished and that was the first they knew of it.

“Jenny knows her son did not take Madeleine but without any evidence he has been hung, drawn and quartered by the public. These accusations have ruined his mum’s life and made every day living hell for her. How can she go on with this black cloud hanging over her son?”

Claims of inconsistencies in Murat’s alibi have emerged amid fresh speculation that detectives fear that clearing Murat will be seen as an admission they have no other lead.

The 87-day investigation has failed to produce any significant clues as to who took Madeleine or whether she is still alive and Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, spokesman for the inquiry, has now taken a month’s holiday.

Police have been told that Murat asked a number of people to give him an alibi for the night Madeleine was snatched.
A friend said: “Robert is just unlucky to be the wrong man in the wrong place.

“He knows full well that the police will never let him go until the heat has died down simply because they have nothing to go on and nobody else to blame.”

Murat’s lover, Michaela, has also been questioned by police. She has spent much of the past week with Murat in Lisbon taking legal advice to help prove his innocence.

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Madeleine McCann Suspect Robert Murat's Car Rental Again Questioned

By Lynda Johnson
The National Ledger
Jul 29, 2007

The lone suspect in the case of Madeleine McCann is again under question on why he rented a car two days before he was arrested in Portugal. In May the Mirror reported that Robert Murat made the rental despite already having two vehicles. The paper reported that the time that rental car worker Maria Rocio claimed that Murat rang her on Saturday and asked to rent a Hyundai Getz for three days, insisting he needed it immediately and could not wait.

"Robert said to me, 'I need to rent a car for myself because the English people who are looking for the little girl need to borrow my car. They need to put information posters on it.'" She added: "There was something about his voice, he was saying, 'I need to have it quickly.' His voice was impatient, I could tell from his voice that he needed it in a hurry."

Now a report from Anorak notes that he used his ex-wife address to rent the car. Police reportedly has Murat under surveillance at the time. The rental contract has now been placed online. It is hand written. One report says that the car was driven "quite a lot" but it is unknown exactly how many miles Murat put on the car or if he was the one driving it.

The report notes that the renting contract only has the number of miles the car had registered when it was taken by Robert Murat. The Auto Rent III agency at Praia da Luz doesn't have a computer system and documents are handwritten.

Meanwhile Murat's mother has proclaimed his innocence. Murat swears he spent the night with his 71-year-old mother the night Madeleine was snatched, despite reports that he gave police two versions of events, reports the Express.

A family spokesman said: "According to his mother, Robert never changed his story and was in their home, Casa Liliana, the whole night. He has told police this over and over again and Jenny says her son is telling the truth. Despite what the witnesses say, Jenny is determined to prove her son was nowhere near the apartment when they said he was."


"Robert and his mother have told police they joined the hunt for Madeleine the morning after she vanished and that was the first they knew of it. Jenny knows her son did not take Madeleine but without any evidence he has been hung, drawn and quartered by the public. These accusations have ruined his mum’s life and made every day living hell for her. How can she go on with this black cloud hanging over her son?"

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Madeleine McCann Parents Friends Relationship With Suspect Questioned

By Tim Morgan
The National Ledger
Jul 30, 2007

Friends of the parents of Madeleine McCann have been forced to deny any relationship with chief suspect Robert Murat after a report from Portuguese newspaper Sol that there was a possible link between two friends of the McCann family who are key witnesses in the case and Murat. The Sol report said Murat, 33, has been asked by detectives if he knew one member of the group – hospital consultant Russell O'Brien, 36.

Find Madeleine campaign manager Justine McGuinness denied that either O'Brien or Tanner met with Murat prior to the disappearance of Madeleine. "It is absolutely not the case that anyone in the party with the McCanns had ever met Robert Murat before they went on holiday.

This is London reports that it has been claimed that police spoke to Dr O'Brien after it was discovered the pair were both in Exeter days before Madeleine was kidnapped. Murat spent 10 days in there, arriving back in the Algarve on May 1 - 48 hours before Madeleine was snatched.

Dr. O'Brien and his partner Jane Tanner, also 36, moved to a rented home in the city four weeks earlier, it was reported today. Miss Tanner was the key witness who saw a man rushing away from the Ocean Club resort carrying a child wrapped in a blanket, and many believe that the identity of that man is the key to the case. Dr O'Brien is also a key witness and told police he saw Murat near the McCann's holiday apartment that night.

For his part Murat insists he met Dr O'Brien only after Madeleine's abduction, when offering his services to family and police. And recall that was one of three friends of the couple who confronted Murat two weeks ago in a showdown set up by police.

Dr. O'Brien, Fiona Payne and Rachael Oldfield were allowed to challenge Murat's version of events and accused Murat of lying. They also claimed that they recognized him from his "lazy eye." It is difficult to understand exactly where police are going with this latest line of questioning and it smacks of desperation

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MADELEINE: SPECIALLY TRAINED POLICE FLY IN

By David Pilditch
The Daily Express
7/31/07

A team of British experts in crimes against children have flown to Portugal to help in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann.

The Cracker-style psychologists have been drafted in by senior Portuguese detectives as the inquiry into the four-year-old’s abduction yesterday reached a “critical” stage.

The team includes senior police officers and criminologists specially trained in tackling child sex abuse and abduction cases.

They will try to establish a likely psychological profile of Madeleine’s kidnapper and provide a vital breakthrough as police attempt to close the net on him.

All leave has been cancelled for Portuguese detectives. They hope that significant developments will emerge as they carry out a painstaking review of the case 89 days after Madeleine was snatched in Praia da Luz.

Ex-pat Robert Murat, 33, remains the only official suspect or “arguido”. Earlier this month Murat, who has always protested his innocence, was interrogated again by detectives over “inconsistencies” in his statements.

Now it has been revealed that British police forces have played a major role in the hunt for Madeleine’s abductor. All 53 constabularies have been involved in elements of the inquiry. British officers have interviewed 490 holidaymakers who were in the resort when the kidnap took place, and more than 2,500 telephone inquiries have been dealt with.

Last night Portuguese police refused to confirm the identities of the criminologists flown to the Algarve.

But it was revealed that they are experts in the predatory behaviour of paedophiles and child abusers who have helped police catch serious sex offenders.

They operate independently from the British-based Child Exploit­ation and Online Protection Centre, who sent two criminal behaviour experts to Portugal days after Madeleine vanished.

A Portuguese police source said: “We have reached a phase of the investigation where we are now trying to evaluate everything.

“We are going through all the interviews, details, facts and clues to see if we have left anything out, and the British profilers are helping us to do that.

“They have the ability to create a psychological picture of the abductor and reveal his typical behaviour and lifestyle. Their help could be invaluable.”

The source added: “At the moment there is only one arguido and there are no new suspects.”

Yesterday Find Madeleine campaign manager Justine McGuinness said: “It’s normal for fresh eyes and ears to review the case.

“The huge scale of the inquiry is such that every British police force has now been involved, conducting interviews and gathering information.

“Madeleine’s parents cannot thank British police enough. They have been fantastic and their support has been rock solid throughout this. They have been doing everything they can to find Madeleine.”

Yesterday Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry, put on a united front walking hand in hand through the holiday resort.

The couple were together as they took their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, to a creche at the Ocean Club resort where Madeleine was snatched from her bed on May 3.

Earlier, relatives had quashed speculation that their relationship had come under pressure since the kidnapping. One report claimed the couple’s focus was heading off in separate directions.

But Madeleine’s grandmother, Eileen McCann, 67, said: “I know a lot of people split up in situations like theirs, but no way.

“Gerry adores Kate, and she adores him. They were very much in love before, and they still are. I can see in their manner towards each other that it’s still there.

“They are saying that all that matters is the twins until they get Madeleine back.”

The McCanns have always insisted they cannot contemplate leaving Portugal and returning to their home in Rothley, Leics, without Madeleine. But their closest friends, who have remained at their side since Madeleine was taken, flew back to Britain at the weekend.

Gerry’s sister, Trisha Cameron, and her husband, Sandy, arrived in Portugal 48 hours after the abduction.

Nurse Trisha has left Kate’s side only once since then for a brief visit to Cambridge to see her son, Paul, a graduate in medicine. The couple, Madeleine’s godparents, looked after Sean and Amelie when the McCanns travelled as part of their campaign to keep Madeleine’s face in the public eye.

Kate and Gerry wanted the twins to have “a safe environment” and “normal routine” while they were away.

Mr McCann, 39, said: “They have offered us the most unbelievable support and I am not sure how we would have functioned without them here.” The consultant cardiologist added on his internet blog: “Dropped Trisha and Sandy off at the airport this morning for an emotional farewell.

“They have been the silent face of the campaign to find Madeleine, putting their lives on hold to help us get through each difficult day.”

Speaking of how the McCanns had coped since Madeleine was taken, Gerry’s mother said: “Kate is really down. Not one bit better than she was. I think she’s actually going backwards. All she keeps saying is ‘I need Madeleine back’.

“Gerry is a lot better. He’s thinking in terms of missing children. Madeleine is a missing child and so that’s what he’s focusing on. Everything he can do now is to help missing children, especially Madeleine.”

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Madeleine witness 'devastated' she did not prevent abduction

Daily Mail
August 1, 2007

The only witness to the abduction of Madeleine McCann is said to be "devastated" that she didn't do anything to prevent the tragedy.

Mother-of-two Jane Tanner was dining with Madeleine's parents when the little girl was grabbed from their holiday apartment just 40 yards away.

Miss Tanner is now said to be racked by anguish and "grief stricken" that she didn't raise the alarm.

Friends say that her life has collapsed after she saw a man carring a child under a blanket on the fateful night - but dismissed it as someone with his own child.

She only realised the significance of what she had seen half an hour later, when Madeleine's mother Kate discovered her little girl was missing.

Miss Tanner, 36, only saw the abductor from the back but she has given police a clear description.

The sighting is the only official one of Madeleine in the Praia da Luz resort on the night she vanished.

Adding further pain to Miss Tanner's plight, she and her partner Russell O'Brien, a hospital consultant, have been hit by slurs in Portugal that they met prime suspect Robert Murat before Madeleine was taken.

Reports in a Porguguese newspaper claimed Dr O'Brien and Murat were both in Exeter days before the kidnapping.

Miss Tanner and Dr O'Brien deny having any contact with Murat.

A family friend told the Express: "Jane is just devastated by everything that happened.

"Three months ago it all seemed to be going so well for them.

"Russell had got a new job in Exeter and they'd been so looking forward to going on holiday to Portugal with their friends.

"But that night changed everything. Jane is haunted by what she saw.

"She is utterly convinced she witnessed Madeleine's abduction and grief-stricken that she didn't raise the alarm.

"She just genuinely did not suspect a thing because when she saw the man with the child she believed Madeleine was fast asleep safe and sound just a few yards away.

"She has not talked publicly about what she saw becuase she is a very private person and is finding it hard to come to terms with.

"She is just hoping and praying - like everyone close to the family - that Madeleine is found safe and well."

Miss Tanner told the newspaper: "We are not allowed to say anything. I am sorry, I haven't got anything to add."

When Miss Tanner was asked: "You were the last person to see Madeleine? Why can't you talk?"

She replied: "Yes I know. I am sorry."

The description that Miss Tanner gave to police has been circulated across the world.

Detectives say she holds the key to identifying Madeleine's abductor.

Robert Murat, 33, the only suspect named by Portuguese police, admits he fits the description. But he insists he's innocent.

A team of Cracker-style police has been drafted in to help find Madeleine.

The group, including specialist criminal profilers from the UK, have flown to Portugal to review evidence gathered during the three month investigation into who could have taken the missing four-year-old.

The team, likened to the TV character Cracker, are now working to construct a psychological profile of the kidnapper to help the local police.

They are also experts in predicting the behaviour of paedophiles.

Madeleine's parents have this week met with senior detectives hunting for their daughter's kidnapper.

The couple said they were hopeful everything was being done to find her.

Strict secrecy laws in Portugal prevent the couple discussing details of the briefing.

But Gerry, 39, said: "Kate and I are very confident that every avenue is being explored."

He went on to say that he and Kate believed "the vital piece of information that leads to Madeleine is only a phone call away".

Detectives are picking over every shred of evidence in a painstaking review of the case.

All leave has been cancelled for the Portuguese detectives investigating the case, who refused to confirm the identities of the British criminologists.

A Portuguese police source said: "We have reached a phase of the investigation where we are now trying to evaluate everything."

Madeleine was snatched from her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3.

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Police Probe New Madeleine Sighting

Sky News
August 03, 2007

Police in Belgium are investigating a possible sighting of Madeleine McCann and have released an identikit drawing of a man she may have been seen with.

A woman told detectives she saw an English-speaking woman with a Dutch man and young girl at a restaurant in the Belgian town of Tongeren, near Maastricht.

The witness, a children's therapist, telephoned police but when she returned to her table the three had disappeared.

A Tongeren police spokesman said they were treating the sighting "very seriously".

They have taken a soft drink bottle the girl had been drinking from for analysis.

Results of the tests are expected next week, when scientists will see if there is enough DNA to create a "profile" before going on to see if there is a match to Madeleine.

A spokesman said: "The woman told us the little girl bore a striking resemblance to Madeleine McCann and was behaving nervously.

"She said she got up to call us as soon as she saw the girl, but when she returned to her table all three of them got into a car and left.

"She was 100% sure it was Madeleine and is a trusted witness. She works with children and noticed something unusual, that is why we are taking it seriously."

It is the second reported sighting of Madeleine in Belgium since the four-year-old was snatched from her hotel room in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz three months ago.

A Belgian couple told police they saw the youngster outside the Cathedral in Liege on June 1.

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Madeleine Cops End Search Of House

Sky News
August 05, 2007

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal have ended a two-day search at the home of the only official suspect in the case.

Around a dozen police officers, including two from Britain, have been searching land surrounding the villa of Robert Murat since Saturday.

A Portuguese police spokesman said: "Searches have ended."

He declined to comment on whether police were closer to finding Madeleine, who disappeared from her bed in the holiday resort while her parents dined nearby.

Murat remained in the house during the searches with his lawyer, which is just yards from where Madeleine was snatched more than three months ago.

The development came as Madeleine's mother, Kate McCann, spoke for the first time about the night her daughter disappeared.

"We are just so desperately sorry," she said. "Every hour now, I still question, 'Why did I think that was safe?'

"If I had had to think for one second, 'Should we have dinner and leave them?', I wouldn't have done it.

"It didn't happen like that. I didn't have to think for a second, that's how safe I felt."

She revealed that as she tucked Madeleine into bed that night, the little girl told her she had had "the best day ever".

Asked what message she would send to her daughter, Mrs McCann said: "I would tell her that we love her.

"She knows we are looking for her, that we are doing absolutely everything and we will never give up."

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Madeleine McCann Mom Apologizes: Reveals Maddie's Words on Last Night

By Lynda Johnson
The National Ledger
Aug 5, 2007

The mom of Madeleine McCann, the four-year old missing British girl has revealed in an interview some of the little girl's last words to her and has told her daughter Maddie she is sorry for leaving her alone. "I feel desperately sorry that we weren't there for her," said Kate. "Every hour now I still question, 'Why did I think that was safe?'"

In her first interview without husband Gerry at her side, Kate McCann said the four-year-old had spent an activity-packed day at the Kids' Club run at the family-friendly Mark Warner complex in Praia da Luz, Portugal. She recalled how happy Madeleine had been during the holiday, particularly at the children's club where she played. "Madeleine had a ball. They did swimming, went on a little boat, went to a beach, did lots of colouring in and face painting," said Kate.

"On the evening before she went missing, before she went to bed, she said, 'Mummy, I've had the best day ever. I'm having lots of fun.' As she continues her vigil in Portugal waiting for news of her daughter, Mrs. McCann also tearfully told how she was stricken with "panic, fear and guilt" after discovering Madeleine missing when she and Gerry returned from having dinner with friends.

Kate said: "There was about 20 seconds of disbelief where I thought 'That can't be right'. I was checking for her. Then there was panic and fear. I was screaming her name. I ran to the group. Everyone was the same. It was just total fear. I never for one second thought that she'd walked out. I knew someone had been in the apartment because of the way it had been left."

The Times reports, that on that evening, Thursday, May 3, Kate and Gerry left their three children in the apartment while they went for dinner at a nearby tapas bar in the beach-side complex at the resort of Praia de Luz. They were 20 yards from the villa and checked on the children every half hour, she said. It was at about 9:00pm when she discovered the child had been taken.

"I never thought for one second that she'd walked out. I knew someone had been in the apartment because of the way it had been left. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in my mind she'd been taken.

"Then you do go through the guilt phase because we didn't know what had happenedWe were so desperately sorry we'd left them alone while we had dinner There is no way on this planet I would take a risk - no matter how small - with my children. I do say to myself, 'Why did I think it was safe?'

"But it DID feel safe. You don't expect a predator to break in and take your daughter out of her bed. And I do feel regret. It could have happened under other circumstances and there would still be the regret."

[Admin]

Madeleine McCann: Blood found in bedroom

By Richard Edwards
The Telegraph.co.uk
8/7/2007

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are carrying out tests on blood traces found inside her apartment bedroom, it has emerged.

The dramatic discovery was made by British detectives brought in to launch a review of evidence, and led to renewed criticism of an "inept" Portuguese investigation.

The British team used specially-trained sniffer dogs and ultra-violet technology to scan for specks of blood inside the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz where Madeleine disappeared 96 days ago.

Tests will now establish whether the traces are those of the four-year-old.
vThe review, led by Leicestershire police, also focused this weekend on the home of Robert Murat, and is expected to be the final stage in clearing him of his status as the only formal suspect in the case.

Samples have been sent away for urgent DNA testing and detectives believe the discovery could "change the direction" of the investigation.

A Portuguese police source said: "If the results are positive, this will open up a completely new line of inquiry".

The tiny traces of blood - invisible to the naked eye - were found at a low height on the wall in the bedroom of the McCann holiday apartment at the Ocean Club.

Specially trained cocker spaniel sniffer dogs, which are able to detect blood up to seven years old, located an area of the bedroom in which to search. The windows were blacked out using a tarpaulin and a specialist ultraviolet torch pinpointed the specks of blood.

Police sources played down reports in a Portuguese newspaper that the blood had been identified as Madeleine's.

Previous forensic tests have taken a month to return from the national laboratory.

The potential breakthrough led to immediate criticism of Portuguese police for missing key forensic evidence, and failing to bring in outside expertise earlier in the investigation.

The apartment was searched this weekend even through it had been "released" as a crime scene by Portuguese authorities on June 11, cleaned and rented out to other families.

Former detectives are mystified as to why it has taken more than three months to make the discovery. Mark Williams-Thomas, a former Surrey detective and now a leading child protection expert, said: "I am staggered that it has taken so long.

"The police should have sealed the apartment immediately, on day one and then conducted a thorough forensic examination- this would have taken days and would have involved analysis for fluids and fibres and involved stripping the apartment bare.

"Even if this proves not to be significant, it should have been discovered in the first few days and eliminated. This shows just how inept the Portuguese police were at carrying out the initial forensics tests.

"Just imagine the impact it will have on Gerry and Kate so many months on - to find that something so vital was missed right at the beginning. "It is great that British police have finally carried out a review but you have to ask why has it taken three months for it to happen?

"I called for a review within the first month, especially because of the relative lack of experience of the Portuguese team working on this.

"It’s astounding that it has taken this long to bring in specialist help. It makes a mockery of the Portuguese investigation."

British police dog handlers had offered expertise to Portuguese authorities in May. They were only invited to join a "review of evidence" - which is now commonplace in high profile investigations in Britain - last week.

A two-day "final" search of Mr Murat’s villa - 150 yards away from where Madeleine disappeared - uncovered no new evidence. As many as 10 officers had spent Saturday clearing thick vegetation.

They began digging today and two British police technicians used specialist "Pulsar" scanning equipment to detect whether any earth had been "disturbed" in the past few months.

Mr Murat, 33, has been the only official "arguido", or suspect, since May 10, when he was detained by police. He was questioned for a second time last month but detectives have never found any evidence to arrest him formally.

Members of the Murat family today drove four cars shared by Mr Murat with the family to a police headquarters for them to be searched again by the sniffer dogs.

Mr Murat has welcomed the searches, which he believes will be the last step in proving his innocence.

His mother, Jennifer Murat, 71, insisted: "He is going to be cleared. He is innocent."

It has also emerged that police are also investigating possible links between Madeleine’s case and a suspected child abductor in Switzerland who committed suicide last week

[Admin]

Parents insist Madeleine is alive, despite ‘blood’ in flat

Carolyn Churchill
The Herald
8/8/07

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann yesterday reaffirmed they believe their daughter is still alive despite reports of blood specks being found in the apartment where she vanished.

Portuguese newspapers have reported that detectives now suspect Madeleine was not abducted but died in the holiday flat in the Algarve village of Praia da Luz on the night she disappeared.

Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have found some of these articles "very hurtful", a family spokeswoman said.

The couple, who met while working in Glasgow, said they continued to "hope and pray" for the key breakthrough in the police investigation into four-year-old Madeleine's disappearance "every single day".

Mrs McCann said: "Last week when we met with the police they said, we are looking for a living child'. And they've said that a lot."

British sniffer dogs trained to find human remains discovered traces of blood, believed to be Madeleine's, on the wall of the McCann apartment, the Portuguese paper Jornal de Noticias reported.

Detectives now believe it is most likely Madeleine was killed accidentally inside the flat, the newspaper claimed.

Portuguese police have refused to confirm the report, citing the country's strict secrecy of justice laws, but said any evidence found would be sent away for testing.

Asked about the reports that blood was found in the flat, Mr McCann, who is originally from Glasgow, said he could not comment on any specific details of the police inquiry. He told Sky News: "We would never, ever jeopardise the investigation, and I think it's critical for people to realise that.

"We do know some information that, one, we're not allowed to tell, and, two, we would never ever put anything into the public domain that might put the investigation of Madeleine at risk."

Mr McCann, a cardiologist, said he and his wife "strongly believed" Madeleine was alive when she was taken from the apartment. "We're not naive, but on numerous occasions the Portuguese police have assured us that they were looking for Madeleine alive and not Madeleine having been murdered," he added.

"And I don't know of any information that's changed that."

Mr McCann said the fact he and his wife had come under scrutiny from detectives was "difficult" but insisted they were "more than happy" to co-operate.

He said: "We expect the same thoroughness and to be treated the same way as anyone else who has been in and around this."

He added: "We alerted them almost immediately, and we will work with them and continue to work with them to try and get the breakthrough which we hope and pray for every single day, that today will be the day that Madeleine will be found."

Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, of the investigative Policia Judiciara (PJ), would not comment on the reports blood had been found at the McCann apartment.

He said: "I am not confirming the notices. I don't have information if anything has been collected in the apartment or in any other place."

The McCanns, who have remained in Portugal with their two-year-old twins, are gearing up for a bleak landmark this weekend - on Saturday it will be 100 days since Madeleine went missing on May 3.

So far there has been no major breakthrough in the case, and a second search of the home of Robert Murat, the only official suspect or "arguido" in the case, apparently uncovered no new evidence.

Meanwhile, results of DNA tests on a drinks bottle used by a young girl resembling Madeleine who was seen in Belgium could be returned today.

A customer at a restaurant in the Flemish town of Tongeren, not far from the Dutch border, said she was "100% sure" she had seen the missing youngster.

[Admin]

Madeleine’s parents face Portuguese backlash

Martin Williams
The Herald
8/9/07

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann showed signs of strain yesterday as they faced a growing backlash in Portugal.

The lawyer of the only suspect in the case criticised their behaviour in leaving their children alone on the night the girl vanished.

Portuguese newspapers repeated "hurtful" claims that detectives now believe Madeleine was killed in the McCann holiday flat rather than abducted.

Kate and Gerry McCann have moved to a new apartment in the Algarve village Praia da Luz, where their four-year-old daughter disappeared on May 3.

However, this week they have been besieged by a "huge gaggle" of Portuguese media outside their new accommodation, a family spokesman said.

The couple yesterday stopped their daily routine of taking two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to the creche at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz.

This followed concerns about photographers and film crews taking pictures of their children and disturbing holidaymakers using the child-minding facility.

The Ocean Club took the step of issuing a statement pleading for journalists to leave the McCanns alone. It read: "(The McCanns) do not want to cause undue disruption to holidaymakers, or to locals living in the village, as a result of filming and photography by the media.

"They have therefore decided not to use the creche facilities at the Ocean Club while there is such a significant media presence. This means they will not be coming to the club with their children for the foreseeable future and would like to ask the media to respect their privacy and that of those on holiday in the village."

Francisco Pagarete, lawyer of Robert Murat, the only suspect in Madeleine's disappearance, said yesterday he thought it "strange" that parents would leave their children alone in a foreign country.

Mr and Mrs McCann left their three children asleep in their apartment on May 3 while they ate with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.

The couple have strongly defended their judgment that it was safe to leave their children alone, with Mrs McCann saying they were "at worst" naive.

Mr Pagarete said: "I think it's not normal for someone to leave their kids alone. When I was small and always running around, my parents had me on a leash so I could not run away. It's not attacking the McCanns in any way, but it's not the normal thing to do.

"People in Praia da Luz say, These bloody McCanns should just go away and leave this town. They are giving it a bad name'. The main issue should be trying to find the little girl - not trying to make stories around this unfortunate situation."

The McCanns were understood to have been considering a tour of the country to mark, on Saturday, 100 days since Madeleine vanished. However, the tour is believed to have been cancelled and Glasgow-born Mr McCann has made it clear the couple want to "stay low-key" until the current storm blows over.

A family spokesman said: "Some of the statements which have been made that the police now regard it as definitely a murder case rather than abduction, we regard as speculation because that is not what the police are saying to the McCanns."

Family friends said they were disgusted at what they said was a smear campaign against them. Rachael Oldfield, who ate with the McCanns on the night Madeleine disappeared, said that some newspaper reports were completely inaccurate.

She said: "I think there are some leaks coming from the police because a lot of what I have read recently has been completely untrue."

[Admin]

Focus on Madeleine

The Herald
8/10/2007

This is the 100th day Kate and Gerry McCann must face without their beloved daughter Madeleine. As they mark her disappearance from their holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz with a prayer service in the church where they have found spiritual balm over the past three months, they face a new challenge of hostility.

The publicity campaign they instigated had such support from a wide network of friends that it brought about meetings with the Prime Minister, the Pope and Cherie Blair, a plethora of experts in child abduction, support from celebrities and offers of a reward for information. They knew it was a gamble: that someone who had seen the posters would spot the child against the risk it would force her abductor to keep her hidden. They went ahead because "it felt right". They did not foresee that it might turn opinion against them.

Their determination to remain in Praia da Luz stems from the same instinct. That is entirely understandable, but it may also be contributing to the new, but perhaps inevitable, backlash of negative publicity that has engulfed them in the past week. The lawyer for Robert Murat, the only official suspect, who expects to be officially cleared, has claimed residents in the resort want the family to go home; those with no agenda may simply wonder that they can take such a long absence from their medical jobs.
The fact that Kate McCann is blonde, fit, tanned and tormented, never seen in public without her missing daughter's favourite soft toy and always hand in hand with a strong and caring husband, means that every photograph underlines the tragedy: the perfect family, whose lives have been devastated by the most despicable crime.

The public reacted with enormous sympathy combined with a desperate hope that Madeleine would be found alive and well. After three months, such hope is assailed by doubts which we don't want to contemplate. The McCanns admit they have dark moments, but in public they have remained resolute. That is their survival mechanism as parents. But their strength and sense of purpose, while widely admired, are beginning to seem almost superhuman. It may be that these positive qualities are actually eroding sympathy among people who feel the normal reaction would be to break down in grief.

Their effective, articulate campaigning has kept their plight in the public eye to an unprecedented extent, and that now contrasts with other families - such as that of Ben Needham, the Sheffield toddler who went missing in Greece in 1991. His mother was a single parent and he disappeared when being looked after by his grandparents. There have been several long interviews with the family in the British press over the years, but nothing like the saturation coverage of Madeleine's disappearance.

Both her parents have spoken of their regret and their guilt, but that came after their insistence that they believed it was safe to leave their three children alone in the apartment while they had dinner nearby. Recent reports in the Portuguese press have been critical. Suggestions that the police believe that Madeleine has been murdered and that she died in the flat and that the parents themselves are under suspicion, prompted an angry rebuttal by Gerry McCann. It was the first hint of a loss of control from the couple and was followed yesterday by another demonstration of their determination as they helped to launch a new section on the YouTube video-sharing website to highlight the search for missing children. Their focus should remind an easily distracted media that these cases are all about missing children.

[Admin]

Toy a clue to missing Maddie

Fiona Hudson
The Austrailia Herald Sun
8/12/2007

The pink toy distraught mum Kate McCann has carried since her child Madeleine went missing more than 100 days ago could be a vital clue in the case.

Investigators have revealed the stuffed cat was found on a ledge above where Maddie was last seen sleeping with the toy - raising the possibility an abductor put it there.

The revelation surfaced as Portuguese police yesterday admitted publicly for the first time Madeleine, 4, could be dead.

The admission added fuel to increasingly lurid reports in the Portuguese press about the circumstances of the British child's disappearance.

Papers there yesterday claimed Kate and Gerry McCann may have moved their daughter's body in a hire car five weeks after she was reported missing on May 3.

Other papers speculated Maddie was murdered or died in an accident hours before her parents went to dinner with friends.

The man in charge of the case, Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, stressed they were not suspects.

"They are victims of the crime because they have lost their little child," he said.

But clues had emerged in recent days that pointed to the death of the little girl, not an abduction, he said.

"At the moment we are waiting for the lab results and all lines of inquiry are open. But this line we are checking with a little more intensity."

Maddie went missing from her bed as her parents dined at a restaurant in their holiday complex.

Specks of blood were this week discovered on the wall of the apartment in which the McCanns stayed in Praia da Luz.

At a prayer service to mark 100 days since Maddie disappeared, the McCanns urged the public to keep the girl in their thoughts and prayers.

"Please stay with us as we continue our journey of hope," Mrs McCann said.