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"Oh no!" exclaims Gerry, "I forgot to wake her up!"Following three days of hearings in Lisbon, in which witnesses appeared on behalf of Dr Gonçalo Amaral, in his court action to have the temporary injunction on his book "A Verdade da Mentira," overturned, Kate McCann has published some interesting bla bla on the Official Find Madeleine web site. Long gone are the heady days of jogging up the hill, serving up puddings with 'child-friendly toppings,' and picking up friends and relies from the airport. Since Kate in her incarnation as Scraggy Aggy and Gerry as Thundering Bull didn't get many chances to stand on the court steps and address the crowds, they have obviously been doing some thinking since they got back home.
It's quite hard to believe that the person who produced this latest epistle from the halls of Rothley Manor, is one of the dedicated duo of child-marketers who wrote in the early days with such distortions of the English language and even their own daughter's name. However, unusually for a Find Madeleine blog entry, their is a name appended to the entry: Kate McCann. So, let's just push ahead and accept that Kate McCann has suddenly developed some skills in communicating in the English language.
"Court Case( Injunction) in Lisbon 14th January 2010"
"We are currently in Lisbon for the trial to determine whether the injunction against Mr Amaral's book and DVD should remain in place. This trial is about whether the book is a true reflection of the official judicial process in to Madeleine's disappearance and whether its contents damage the ongoing search for Madeleine, her siblings and our reputations."
"This trial is about whether the book is a true reflection of the official judicial process in to Madeleine's disappearance.."
I shall return to this later.
"...... whether its contents damage the ongoing search for Madeleine, her siblings and our reputations."
I thought the search was only for Madeleine, but no, Kate now tells us that the ongoing search is also for Madeleine's siblings and for her and Gerry's reputations. If Madeleine's siblings are now missing, shouldn't someone have informed the police? Or perhaps Kate and Gerry are just carrying out a private search of what must be a huge garden there at Rothley Towers if eating at the Tapas Bar was like dining in their own back garden. Has anyone seen the twins since they set off for school at the beginning of September? I thought not!
The ongoing search for their reputations? Well, since Madeleine disappeared, they may have made very good efforts to portray themselves as the Catholic saints of Leicestershire, but they seem to have lost that one now: lost, stolen or strayed somewhere in the vicinity of Lisbon, Portugal. Before Madeleine's disappearance, they don't appear to have had any reputations to speak of: the Portuguese police asked for background checks and got one side of A4 and we don't appear to have much detail apart from Hot Lips Healy and one patient of Gerry's who claimed to be very happy with his treatment. So, I'm assuming this search is for new reputations and so far it's not looking good on that front, following the testimonies of police officers and media people in the court in Lisbon this week.
"Mr Amaral's book and DVD contains some information from the PJ files but there is a lot in the files which is not in Mr Amaral's book. Hence it is highly selective and therefore biased."
Gonçalo Amaral's book is based on his work during the months in which he was in charge of the investigation. So, there will be more in the PJ's files. I would add that any autobiographical account is by definition biased, in terms of the writer's experience.
"Mr Amaral's book contains his opinions rather than fact."
Dr Amaral's book contains the opinions and deductions of the Portuguese and English teams who worked on the investigation.
"...there is no evidence that Madeleine is dead."
Nor is there any evidence that Madeleine is alive, apart from "sightings," all over the world, none of which has proved to have any validity, of course.
Kate McCann opened her bla bla by stating that, 'This trial is about whether the book is a true reflection of the official judicial process in to Madeleine's disappearance," and as such there is no need to produce evidence. If there were evidence to definitely prove that Madeleine was dead, Kate would not have been in court facing Dr Amaral and the chances are that someone or some people would be languishing in jail. According to the police witnesses, who gave testimony in court this week, Amaral's book is about the investigation. During the process of that investigation, the first person to suggest that Madeleine was probably dead was Mark Harrison, an English specialist brought in to assist with the investigation.
In Chapter 16 of The Truth of the Lie, Gonçalo Amaral writes about the progress of the investigation in July 2007.
".......we welcome Mark Harrison, a specialist in murder, and the search for missing persons and victims of natural disasters. National advisor to the British police, he is well known for his exceptional professional experience. He has already participated in dozens of international criminal investigations."
Mark Harrison conducted extensive research in Praia da Luz and the surrounding area: he walked the paths, looked at all the access roads, timed the routes from the Tapas bar, did reconnaissance on the ground and by helicopter, and reviewed all the documents relating to the investigation so far.
"After a week of intense work, Harrison presents the results of his study to my coordinating group. Even if we were expecting it, his conclusions confirm our worst fears. The most plausible scenario is the following: there is no doubt that Madeleine is dead, and her body is hidden somewhere in the area around Praia da Luz. He praises the quality of the work carried out by the Portuguese authorities in trying to find the little girl alive. According to him, the time has come to redirect the searches in order to find, this time, a body hidden in the surrounding area."
Kate McCann's bla bla again:
"If the general public (and the Portuguese people in particular) are bombarded day in and day out with such theories, this will eventually 'colour' their understanding and judgement -lies and inaccuracies become fact."
Was the general public 'bombarded.'? I don't think they actually were until this week when the details from Dr Amaral's book suddenly hit the international headlines.
And what about, 'lies and inaccuracies.'? Who was it who phoned the friends and relies and told them that the shutters to Madeleine's bedroom had been 'jemmied,' and the window forced open? Then, unfortunately, the police found no evidence of a break-in. No evidence! And the reason the Portuguese police were eager to carry out a reconstruction of the events of May 3rd 2007 was not so that Kate and her friends could be on the telly, soliciting donations to the fund, but because there were so many inaccuracies and contradictions in their statements.
"Abduction theory:For us, there is only the abduction theory possible because we were not involved in Madeleine's disappearance and we know Madeleine did not wander off by herself."
So, if Kate and Gerry were not involved, that rules out the involvement of everyone else in their entourage and thus upholds that abduction theory? Hardly. And since the apartment was not clearly visible from the Tapas Bar, where the McCanns were eating, how could they know, with absolute certainty that Madeleine did not wander off from the unlocked apartment? Was she tied to her bed? Was she sedated? Unless the McCanns had had an uninterrupted view of the apartment and had been watching it constantly, I cannot understand why they could be so sure that she did not wander off. No evidence!
"The window: I described to the police officers exactly what I found that night, as it was and is highly relevant and I knew that every little detail could be helpful in finding my daughter which is our only aim. The window which is a ground floor window was completely open and is large enough for a person to easily climb through it."Not what others involved in the investigation seem to think:
"Moita Flores: The only thing that was proven was there was no abduction."
"Moita Flores: For someone to escape by that window with a child he would have to have either 4 arms or 4 legs."
(Court tweets from fduartecarvalho.)
"Whether it had been opened for this purpose remains unknown. It could of course have been opened by the perpetrator when inside the apartment as a potential escape route or left open as a 'red herring'"
We have to consider timing here. If Jane Tanner had seen the abductor, walking across the top of the road, as Gerry and Jez Wilkins were chatting outside the apartment, then the window could have been open when Gerry was in the apartment. But he didn't notice it? Or perhaps, in the few minutes between Gerry's exiting the apartment and Jane Tanner coming along, the abductor had gained access, run around seeking potential escape routes, opened the window for some unknown reason and exited somehow, but not by the window, carrying a sleeping child?
We also have to consider what the abductor left behind. Nothing! No evidence of his presence. The only fingerprints on the window were those of Kate McCann.
"The dogs: We realise that the behaviour of the dogs was the turning point in the investigation for the PJ. The use of dogs has proved to be problematic and unreliable in previous cases."
What cases? Would Kate McCann care to mention a few?
"(please refer to the Jersey ‘Haut de La Garenne' case and other research published about their use and reliability)"
Haut de la Garenne then: cadaver dogs are trained to detect the odour that emanates from a decomposing body and they can detect this odour a few years after a body has been in situ. The fact that no body was found at Haut de la Garenne does not mean that there wasn't a body there at one time.
See chapter 16 of The Truth of the Lie for details of previous cases Eddie, the EVRD has worked on, where there was no body in situ: Attracta Harron, Amanda Edwards, Charlotte Pinkley.
Other research? Would Madame Kate care to quote this, 'other research.'? The only other previous case to which the McCanns have referred in the past was that of an American man, who ultimately confessed that the dogs were right and he had killed his wife!
The reconstruction the McCanns did not attend:
"In particular, as the reconstruction was not to be shown to the media (and hence the general public), they did not feel it would help to find Madeleine. Had the intention been to show it to the general public, it may have 'jogged' memories and encouraged people to come forward with information. It should be added that other key witnesses were not invited to attend."
The reconstruction proposed by the Portuguese police was for the purpose of showing up where the inconsistencies were in the statements from the McCanns and their friends. Thus, there would have been no reason for it to be shown to the general public. Also, if the McCanns had participated, other key people could have been played by actors. Perhaps the reason for 'other key witnesses,' not being invited was that their statements did not conflict with those of others.
"Our team is confident that the injunction will remain in place because none of thewitnesses thus far have been able to prove in court that Mr. Amaral's right to express his opinion is superior to the rights of our family.."
The witnesses didn't have to prove that. As Kate McCann has stated, the purpose of the hearing was 'about whether the book is a true reflection of the official judicial process in to Madeleine's disappearance and whether its contents damage the ongoing search for Madeleine, her siblings and our reputations.' Dr Amaral's right to express himself is granted by the constitution of his country.
"....to peace, respect and protection of reputation, and above all, the right to continue the searchfor our daughter Madeleine effectively and without hindrance."
Peace? How can Dr Amaral's book affect the quality of peace in the McCanns' lives? Everything he has described is in the police files and in the public domain and the McCanns could have ignored that book, especially as sales had peaked before they started their action to ban it.
Respect? Do parents who leave three very small children alone in an unlocked apartment in a foreign country deserve respect or have a right to demand it?
Madame Kate, you have every right to continue the search for your daughter and I don't see how Dr Amaral's book could hinder the search that you have so far undertaken with Metodo 3, Oakley International and now Edgar and Cowley, who failed to make even the most basic of inquiries before launching the international search for the Victoria Beckham looky-likey.
And here's that reputation again, the thing that the McCanns are searching for, although I do believe they may have gained one in Portugal, thus motivating Kate to come out with her bla bla, even if she does state that the search is ongoing.
