Cipriano case - Joana is dead

17/01/09

Joana is dead (*)

"There is only one truth in that statement, Joana is dead, the rest is no more than a tissue of lies."

Four years ago, a child was killed at the hands of her mother and her uncle. her crime was to surprise them having sex. She was called Joana and, in addition to the fact of being negelcted by her mother, she was the victim of sexual abuse.

Yesterday, from the Odemira prison, her mother, legally declared responsible for her death, signed a statement in which she confirmed such death, attributing sole responsibility to her brother.

There is only one truth in that statement: Joana is dead. The rest is no more than a tissue of lies from someone who was declared a psychopath and who, from the first moment, lied to the police.

Unlike other murdered children, those responsible have been brought to justice and sentenced for the heinous crime.

For Joana's mother, it is not enough to ask for forgiveness, she must stop lying and tell the truth. That will be the moment of true redemption and Joana's soul will rest in peace.

Joana suffered in life and at the moment of her violent death. It has not been possible to avoid such sacrifices, but we have contributed to justice being done.

It is because of this case and others that we are proud to have been police officers, to be able to look at the sky and say: by the grace of God...I was a police officer.

Gonçalo Amaral

(*) Opinion piece by Gonçalo Amaral, published in the Portuguese daily, Correio da Manha

Note: Léonor Cipriano has had several versions about the disappearance and death of her daughter since September 2004. More recently, she said she did not know what had happened to her daughter Joana. Further, she has even stated that she believed that Joana was still alive.

These statements were made in the Faro courtroom, before judges, the jury and the public at the trial of the five PJ inspectors.

This is only an umpteenth version...Now, a few versions later, Joana's mother reveals that Joana was killed by her uncle, João Cipriano.

SOS Madeleine McCann

The Cipriano case: Joana was battered to death by her uncle.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

17/01/09

The new witness statement has been written by Marcos Aragão.

Yesterday, the lawyer, Marcos Aragão Correia revealed to the press, outside the trial of the five PJ inspectors, a document signed by Léonor Cipriano, in which Joana's mother accuses her brother, João Cipriano, of being the sole perpetrator of the little girl's murder.

In this eight page document, written by hand by the lawyer, Léonor Cipriano explains that her brother convinced her to sell Joana, but that "the people didn't have the money promised (an amount Léonor has not revealed) and João did not hand over the girl.

(To read the complete document click here for the photos or the PDF).

This umpteenth version is, according to Marcos Aragão, "the true story," Léonor's witness statement recounting exactly what allegedly happened to her daughter Joana, who disappeared in September 2004.

"When Joana left the house, the intention was to hand her over to the people and simulate a kidnapping," the lawyer states, explaining that her uncle, João Cipriano, had taken along the little girl's clothes in a large bag.

According to Marcos Aragão, Joana allegedly heard the whole discussion between João and the buyers, threatening her uncle, "that she was going to tell everything," after which, "he allegedly started battering her, finishing up killing her."

According to this new witness statement, written by Marcos Aragão, Léonor was not present at the time of Joana's death but João Cipriano allegedly confessed his crime to her: when he came home, he tried to hide the murder, but, at Léonor's insistence, who allegedly detected traces of blood on her brother's trousers, João ended up admitting having killed Joana and having hidden the body in a place close to the house before burying it the next day.

Umpteenth version targets Gonçalo Amaral, the former coordinator.

It was outside the trial of the five PJ inspectors that Marcos Aragão Correia - the same lawyer who stated that he had a vision that Maddie's body was in the deep waters of the Arade Dam - chose to present the document to the press, stressing that Léonor, "decided to leave this out and say that she knew nothing," because of, "her brother's threats," but that the confession of her participation in Joana's murder was allegedly made, "under torture," when she was interviewed by the PJ inspectors.

The new version of the events surrounding Joana's death will, meanwhile, be used by Léonor's lawyer to point the finger at former inspector, Gonçalo Amaral, officer for the disappearance and death of Joana in 2004 and of Madeleine McCann in 2007.

In the document which the lawyer wrote and Léonor signed, the former inspector is accused of knowing the truth: "If Mr Amaral knows it, then why did he ask people to beat me up? Why?"

In statements to the Portuguese press, the former coordinator of the PJ's DIC in Portimao, contented himself with saying that Léonor Cipriano was already considered to be a psychopath (see the video by the psychologist Paulo Sargento) and that she was lying, stressing that Joana's mother, as well as her brother João were tried and convicted for Joana's murder, all "the rest was lies being put about."

Gonçalo Amaral's lawyer, António Cabrita, goes further and after having considered that the document presented by Marcos Aragão had no relevance to the ongoing trial against the five inspectors, stated that he did not believe it was Léonor's work, but rather the work of someone else: "an obvious manipulation of the prisoner for other purposes," notably the sullying of Gonçalo Amaral's image.

Review of Léonor's conviction must await the end of Amaral's trial.

The request for review of Léonor and João Cipriano's convictions will await the final result of the trial of the five PJ inspectors, accused of having committed acts of torture during an interrogation, the day after Léonor's confession in the presence of her lawyer at the time.

In November 2005, the two siblings were sentenced, respectively, to 20 years and four months in prison and 19 years and two months. In May 2008, the Supreme Court of Justice reduced the sentences to 16 years and eight months in prison.

SOS Madeleine McCann - The Cipriano case: Léonor changes her story once again and accuses the uncle of having killed Joana.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

16/01/09

Léonor Cipriano, mother of Joana, the little girl aged seven, who disappeared in the south of Portugal in December 2004, has once again changed her version of the facts, this time about the death of her daughter.

Tried and sentenced for Joana's murder, Léonor Cipriano is involved now in the trial of five Portuguese PJ inspectors accused by the Public Minister of having committed acts of torture against her.

Yesterday, as her lawyer, Marcos Aragão Correia, had elsewhere "predicted", on the occasion of his book launch, Léonor Cipriano accused Joana's uncle of having killed the child after having tried to sell her.

According to Léonor, in a document signed yesterday in prison, João Manuel Domingos Cipriano allegedly killed Joana after having failed to deliver the child to her purchasers.

Today, at around 4pm (3pm in Portugal) Marcos Aragão Correia, Léonor's lawyer, accompanied by Joana's step-father, António Leandro David Da Silva, will read a press release, at the entrance to the Faro court where the trial of the PJ inspectors is taking place. After the press release, the document, a total of eight pages, will be handed to the Public Minister.

A case revived for the advantage of the Madeleine McCann case.

After lying around for several years in the drawers of the Public Ministry, during which time, different prosecutors have never succeeded in establishing with certainty if Léonor Cipriano was really assaulted and by whom, it took the Madeleine McCann case and in addition, a "divorce" between the police and the magistrates, for five PJ inspectors to be accused of acts of torture...amongst them the head of the investigation into Maddie's disappearance.

Surpisingly, Gonçalo Amaral only became an arguido in this trial after having considered Maddie's parents as suspects in the disappearance of their daughter, which any police officer would have done, given the various elements of the investigation.

Even if all the specialists are in agreement in considering that the Joana Cipriano case has no relation to the disappearance and death of Madeleine McCann, the British media (and some Portuguese) have been encouraged to "revive" this story in order to implicate the head of the investigation for the PJ, Gonçalo Amaral.

Now, four years after the murder and the disappearance of Joana's body, Marcos Aragão Correia, the lawyer who has worked with Metodo 3's Spanish detectives hired by Kate and Gerry McCann, has also become Léonor Cipriano's lawyer and continues to want to link the two cases, seeing the work of Gonçalo Amaral in both.

"Regardless of everything about the Cipriano case - where he doesn't give a damn - if Marcos Aragão Correia succeeds in tarnishing Amaral's image, he would at the same time restore the McCanns' image," a PJ specialist in communication states, stressing that, "this was the objective plotted with the Spanish."

See also :

Marcos Aragão Correia : à une "vision" de l’affaire Cipriano
Jugement de Gonçalo Amaral le 24 octobre
Mère de Joana condamné une nouvelle fois
"Nous l’avons battu (Léonor), car personne n’aime les assassins d’enfants"
Médecin dénonce que les photos ne correspondent pas aux lésions
Affaire Cipriano : Extrait d'entrevue avec le psychologue et professeur universitaire Paulo Sargento

Maddie, Joana and criminal investigation - the hidden truth

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

4/11/08

SOS Madeleine McCann

"Maddie, Joana and criminal investigation - The Hidden Truth," is the chosen theme for a conference debate with anthropologist and criminologist Barra da Costa, moderated by Professor Carlos Fernandes of the University of Aveiro.

The conference will take place on November 8th, at 9.30pm, in the small auditorium of the Figueira da Foz Centre for the Arts and Exhibitions.

Very controversial because of his position on the Madeleine McCann case, Barra da Costa, former PJ inspector, is the author of a book that carries the same title as the conference.

Marcos Aragão Correia, Léonor Cipriano's lawyer.

Marcos Aragão Correia, has been making very serious allegations in the courtroom at Faro, in the context of the trial of the five Portuguese police inspectors, involved in the alleged torture of Léonor Cipriano. He has alleged that Leandro Silva, husband of Léonor and Joana's step-father, knew a week beforehand that Goncalo Amaral was going to be dismissed from his job as coordinator of the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance. He has also alleged that British police carried out an investigation into Amaral's background and discovered some questionable details about Amaral's private life: for example that Dr Amaral beat his wife, Sofia, while under the influence of alcohol.

Marcos Aragão Correia, is the lawyer who set up the searches at the Arade Dam, employing divers to hunt for the body of Madeleine McCann, initially reported by him as being the result of a tip-off from some underworld criminals. More recently, Marcos Aragão Correia, has said that the searches at the dam were inspired by a "vision" he had about the Maddie case.

SOS Madeleine McCann "Marcos Aragão Correia has a "vision" of the Cipriano case."

In the present trial of the five PJ inspectors, it would appear that Marcos Aragão Correia is more concerned with discrediting Dr Amaral than of dealing with the matter at hand.

According to the Portuguese newspaper, Correio da Manha, Marcos Aragão Correia, has admitted receiving money from Metodo 3, the private detective agency hired by Kate and Gerry McCann, to help finance the searches at the Arade Dam. In today's copy, he denies that he is now being paid by anyone for representing Léonor in the present case being heard in Faro. The translation below is taken from the Joana Morais blog. (Link to Joana's blog on the right under, "Blogs of interest".)

"They've asked me to get in the Case"

The private detectives agency hired by the McCann couple asked Marcos Aragão Correia to enter in the 'Joana Case'. It is the lawyer, himself, who admits that Metodo3 ordered him to do 'an investigation' to the outlines regarding the [alleged] torture accusation of Joana's mother, by the PJ - the target, between the 5 inspectors, was evident: Gonçalo Amaral. Regardless, the [liar, pardon], the lawyer guarantees that now no one is paying him.

The private detective agency, contacted yesterday by CM, denied any connection whatsoever to the lawyer. The payment was also denied, even though Aragão Correia has already admitted that he received money to pay the 'expenses' when he made the searches to find Maddie's corpse in the dam of Bravura, in Lagos. The lawyer from Madeira [Portuguese Island], told he had a supernatural indication to the whereabouts of the body of the British child and that he had gone to the Algarve at his own expenses.

He entered in contact with the McCann Detectives, which made him a request: "They have asked me to try to get involved in the Case Joana to obtain statements from Leonor and her brother and to try to understand if there was torture, nothing else", he guarantees. This at a time where suspicions have been raised that by defending Leonor, he is being paid by someone who is interested that Gonçalo Amaral is convicted, precisely because he was the Coordinator of the investigation to the Case Maddie, which pointed towards the involvement of the parents in the crime. "I don't get paid in pounds or in euros. I am here for principles, and my objective is to set free Leonor."


Source: Correio da Manhã, by Rui Pando Gomes

Joana Morais.

Joana Cipriano's mother Leonor sentenced again.

After a request by Marcos Aragao Correia, considered groundless, in the trial brought by the Public Prosecutor against the PJ inspectors, the Second Criminal Court of Faro sentenced Joana's mother to pay a fine of 270 €.

As a reminder, Leonor Cipriano accused the PJ inspectors of having assaulted her during one of the interrogations preceding her sentencing to 16 years in prison for the murder of her daughter Joana. (Read here)

Since he became Leonor's lawyer, Marcos Aragao Correia has continually put forward new requests and new witnesses. Recently the lawyer, himself the subject of several criminal cases, had announced that he wanted to be placed under protection, indicating that one of the inspectors had compared him to a dog that should be given a good smacking.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

19/10/08

SOS Madeleine McCann: Marcos Aragão Correia has a "vision" of the Cipriano case.

Marcos Aragão Correia, who made himself known as a protagonist in the Madeleine McCann case, is to be the new lawyer for Léonor Cipriano in the proceedings against the PJ inspectors for having tortured Joana Cipriano's mother.

(Editor's note: there are times when Blogger just does its own thing. So, apologies if the font of the paragraphs following this note seem to change font size and font style and the paragraphs are not clearly defined. I have tried editing many times and what looks like Verdana, text size Normal, with clear paragraphs, looks entirely different when posted, though I save each time I edit. So, rather than delete this article I am inserting this note.)

The Portuguese Public Minister accuses three PJ inspectors of having tortured Joana Cipriano's mother during her interrogation. One is accused of falsifying documents and the fifth, Gonçalo Amaral is accused of non-cooperation and failure to disclose.

Marcos Aragão, who replaces João Grade, is the lawyer who had taken legal action against the Portuguese postal services, accusing them of not having delivered to the McCanns in person, a recorded letter, in which, according to him, he indicated leads which might have helped the investigation. Marcos Aragão, in contact with the Metodo 3 agency, then began searches in the Arade Dam, a few kilometres from the place where Madeleine McCann dispappeared, finding only rubbish and a few animal bones.

Initially, the lawyer claimed to hold information about the location of Madeleine's body, but finally admitted that the searches at the Arade Dam - the lead he was seeking to pass on to the McCanns - were carried out based on a vision, which he allegedly had about the disappearance of the little British girl.

The lawyer was already known in this case, as the author of a report from the Association Against Exclusion by Development, released in April this year, which supported the existence of a crime of torture perpetrated by the PJ. This same report, contradicting statements from Leonor Cipriano's - who has continually changed her version since the start of the trial - accuses Gonçalo Amaral of being present at the time of the alleged assaults. The former coordinator of the PJ's DIC at Portimao, has meanwhile decided to pursue legal action against the lawyer.

A trial that highlights the conflict between the Public Minister and the PJ.

Gonçalo Amaral, former coordinator of the PJ's Portimao Department of Criminal Investigation (DIC), is accused by thr Public Minister of non-cooperation and of not disclosing the alleged assaults on Leonor Cipriano by the PJ inspectors.

After Joana Cipriano's disappearance on September 12th 2004, her mother Leonor, and her uncle João, were sentenced to 16 years in prison for murder and concealment of a corpse. (Read the details here.)

According to the inspectors' witness statement, after her interrogation, Joana's mother had managed to evade the attention of the inspectors and, stating that she wanted to commit suicide, threw herself down the stairs. Injured, she was then driven by the inspectors to see a doctor and then taken to prison.

A letter from another prisoner, sent to the authorities about the accusations made against the inspectors, reinforces that version: according to that witness, Joana's mother had admitted to fellow prisoners that she had fallen down the stairs, but that, after a meeting with the prison's director, she had changed her version, stating that she had been tortured and that she expected to receive compensation.

Confronted by Gonçalo Amaral, Leonor Cipriano stated that the former coordinator of the PJ's DIC at Portimao had never assaulted her. In spite of several confrontations with the other inspectors, Joana's mother never managed to identify them as being her attackers, which has not stopped the prosecutor from going ahead with the trial, admitting that he too could not guarantee that it was the right inspectors or if the assault had actually taken place.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

9/10/08