Saturday 15 August 2009

Madeleine McCann: L'Enquête Interdite - The Truth of The Lie- Chapter 8

A MAN WITH A CHILD IN HIS ARMS

May 3rd, around 9.27pm, Dolphin restaurant,
Vila da Luz

The Smiths, from Ireland, are spending their holiday in Praia da Luz. After having dinner at the restaurant, they go to Kelly's bar, 50 metres away. They leave there at around 9.55pm to go back to their apartment in Estrela da Luz, west of the Ocean Club, 300 metres further on. They don't stay late because the next morning one of them has to go back to Ireland. It's a big family, of four adults and five children: the father, aged 58, retired, and his wife; their 12 year-old daughter; their two grand-children aged 10 and 4 (their mother stayed in Ireland); their son accompanied by his wife - who is pregnant - and their two children aged 13 and 6.

(
For maps and diagrams of the route taken by the Smiths, see The McCann Files. Link is headed, "The Smith's Sighting," roughly the 18th link in the menu on the left of the page.)

They go in a northerly direction, the group spreading out; the children are never far away from the adults. There's nobody about. They climb a few steps to reach
25 de Abril street, cross it and turn left into 1 de Maio street, that runs along the west side of the Ocean Club. They haven't gone 30 metres when they come across a man walking up the middle of the road. He is carrying a child in his arms, head resting on his left shoulder. The Smiths don't see the face of the little girl, whose arms hang by her sides. She is dressed in pale-coloured, maybe pink, pyjamas; her feet are bare, she is white and she has blonde hair that covers her neck. The individual's appearance gives the impression that he is not a tourist. He is wearing cream-coloured or beige trousers, classic in style, perhaps linen or cotton. He is a white man, aged around 30 to 35, with no other distinguishing features: he is between 1.70m and 1.80m tall, is visibly in good physical condition; his brown hair is cut short, his face is tanned.

At this time, images of Robert Murat - considered to be the main suspect - begin to be circulated all over the world. After they return to Ireland, the Smiths continue to follow the case. They learn that, according to Jane Tanner's statements, Murat is definitely the man encountered on the night of the abduction. Mr Smith then gets in touch with the Irish police to relate what he saw on the night of May 3rd. He insists, categorically, that the man they came across with the little girl in his arms was not Robert Murat. He is sure of it because he knows him.

With hindsight, he is utterly convinced that the little girl was definitely Madeleine. We secretly organise for the Smiths to come to Portugal. On May 26th, in the offices of the Department of Criminal Investigation in Portimão, we interview the father and his son. What they say seems credible. However, because of the dim street lighting, they say they would have a hard time formally recognising the man who was carrying the child. On the other hand, they describe very clearly how the man was holding the little girl and how he was walking. That scene is indelibly printed in their memory. After their interview, they go back to the scene, accompanied by investigators. They indicate the precise place where they came across the man.


Their coming to Portugal as well as their statements are kept secret. Within a few days, they go back to Ireland, but contact is maintained: they undertake to let us have any further details they remember. We finally have credible witness statements about that stranger who, on the night of May 3rd, was walking in the streets of Vila da Luz with a child in his arms.



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Anna, thank you for your excellent work. This is the chapter that I find most interesting and the recation from mccann...

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He is carrying a child in his arms, head resting on his left shoulder. The Smiths don't see the face of the little girl, whose arms hang by her sides. She is dressed in pale-coloured, maybe pink, pyjamas; her feet are bare, she is white and she has blonde hair that covers her neck.


xxxxxxxx


Mccann knows of this sighting though has tried to ignore it he could not when it came to doing his fairy tale doc. in PDL....

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Mr Smith does not mention anything about a thick jacket the way Tanner described her bundleman.

Mr Smith is also very specific with regards to the position of the child in this mans arms with childs arms hanging down.

Mccann went out of his way to make sure the Smith sighting was identical to tanners sighting...child held over mans arms. Why?...Why would this be so important to Mccann what difference would it make...the man could have stopped and changed the position of the child he held for comfort reasons..ie..his arms were aching but no Mccann wishes the public to see this sighting the way mccann says and not the witness statement of Mr.Smith.

Therefore this must be important to Mccann again I ask myself why?
I have only one answer it was Mccann that Smith saw that night, otherwise why would Mccann go to so much trouble to change Mr.Smiths statement ?

I also remember Mccann and the way he held Sean leaving the aircraft , the child resting his head on mccanns left shoulder with arms hanging down. That child did not move during the statement Mccann made he was zonked out. Was Sean in such a deep sleep that he did not wake during the landing, bumping of the wheels the noise I have my doubts but shall leave it there' although I have to say that it would not surprise me the Mccanns thought of sedating one child to prove to the press as on the night of the 3rd their children or at least one of them sleep through any amount of noise.

So we have two witnesses who claim to have seen madeleine with a man and yet to date to my knowledge Edgar and his sidekick have not interviewed Tanner or Mr.Smith....I ask myself again why not?..Would Mr.Smith not be of interest to this case. Obviously not. It becomes more clear with this book the guilt of the mccanns and their key stone cops are only working for the money and not the truth.
,
IRONSIDE

AnnaEsse said...

IRONSIDE,

Thank you for those very pertinent comments. Add to this the formal identification of Robert Murat by Jane Tanner, and Martin Smith saying the man he saw was definitely not Robert Murat because he knows Robert. Then, the recovered memory by a few of the Tapas crew, who "recalled" that they had seen Robert Murat in the vicinity of apartmnet 5A on the night of the disappearance, and yet GNR officers who were there, and who know Robert Murat, said Robert wasn't there.

And yes, Sean, being carried off the plane, absolutely zonked. I have never known a two year-old sleep like that. If they slept during a journey, they'd usually wake on arrival and being carried off a plane, with all the noise of an airport and the press etc, that child slept through? Nah! Something fishy!

Anonymous said...

I have to say that seeing them zonked out at the airport didn't seem out of the ordinary to me...
whenever me & my kids fly - they decide to go to sleep 5 minutes before touchdown & then we have to carry them in the same way as Gerry did.

But the night of the 3rd May where they didn't wake up with all the shouting, Gerry & Kate's crying/praying, all the people in the flat is another matter entirely.

Anonymous said...

http://hubpages.com/hub/Madeleine-McCann---Lies-True---Book-review


At last...a good book review...

IRONSIDE

Anonymous said...

Fair point anon. Lets go back to your comment you carried your child the same way as Mccann did.
This is what Smith saw a child being carried this way, head on the mans left shoulder. Therefore why has Mccann changed Mr.Smiths witness statement to match Tanners lie.

Have just read Tripz thread on the 3As and with one sentence he makes an excellent point. This sighting is well known Sousa spoke of this on SKY NEWS . Every paedophile and spotty face has been accounted for except this one and only sighting and this man has not come forward to say it was him...therefore there is only one person it could have been.


IRONSIDE

Anonymous said...

http://insite2out.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/maddie-mccann-she-wont-want-to-be-found/#comment-116


Another good write up from Greens Insight.


I hope it is OK Anna i would like to give him a link to your blog.


IRONSIDE

AnnaEsse said...

Fine, of course, IRONSIDE.

Anonymous said...

http://onlyinamericablogging.blogspot.com/2009/06/madeleine-mccann-interview-with-goncalo.html


IRONSIDE