Georges Moréas: Little Maddie's disappearance turns into melodrama

In its Crimewatch programme, three days ago, the BBC attempted reconstruct the investigation into little Madeleine McCann's disappearance. As we know, it was on May 3rd 2007, in a seaside resort in the south of Portugal. 

By coincidence, the broadcast was screened in the middle of the case brought by the little girl's parents against Gonçalo Amaral, the police officer who led the investigation.  

The broadcast exploded the ratings. It must be said that the transmission was simmered in a slow cooker. We had to wait for Scotland Yard's sensational revelations, perhaps even for live arrests according to certain tabloids ...Interviewed by Spanish TV the following day, Amaral summed up the opinion of many Portuguese, "Nothing new!"

In any case, even if the criminal investigation is a failure, the television series was a success: 6.7 million viewers, representing 27.4% of the ratings. A BBC spokesman said: "It's the best audience for Crimewatch since 2002." Almost double the average. Nearly a thousand people contacted Scotland Yard about the broadcast. Potential witness statements and tip-offs all came after the showing of several E-fits. The case has turned out to be so juicy that other channels are predicted to follow in the BBC's footsteps.

Pamalam's blog, which since the start of the investigation, has listed every detail of the case in "McCann: PJ Files," registered a hundred visitors a minute after the broadcast.

It's now more than six years since Madeleine McCann disappeared. Was she abducted? Is she dead? Millions of people are fascinated by this case, which will remain, without doubt, in the record books as the first criminal investigation to have set the internet ablaze. And without doubt, also the one that has amassed the most money. Shortly after the events, Maddie's parents opened a web site to collect donations and celebrities from several countries got their cheque books out, people like Joanne Rowling (Harry Potter) and Cristiano Ronaldo. 

At the same time, the McCanns threatened with prosecution for defamation, several news media, who chose to negotiate terms of settlement. In total, close to £1.2 million. Kate McCann also wrote a book, whose promotion was guaranteed by a tabloid, which had undertaken to pay £200,000 for exclusive rights to publish the final proofs.

Today, their kitty must be comfortable. With that money, after having slammed the door in the Portuguese PJ's face, they were able to engage a myriad of private detectives, some of whom just sniffed a good money-maker. The McCanns are stars. They were received by Pope Benedict XVI and it was David Cameron who personally asked the Met in May 2011 to attach a team of investigators to this case - following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who intervened personally in the case. On the other side of the channel, however, people were astonished at this use of resources and wondered if taxpayers' money was being well spent. 

Maddie's parents have also taken action against Gonçalo Amaral who, after being thrown off the case, gave his version of events in a book (In France L'Enquête Interdite, published by Bourin) They are suing him for £1 million. 

For the former police officer, the little girl is dead, in all probability following an accident, and the parents concealed her body to escape responsibility. A situation we have recently encountered here. The trial is currently being held in Lisbon. Amaral denies all claims of defamation. He has done nothing but report the facts, he says. Several police officers have appeared in the witness box to confirm that in his book all he has done is repeat the details that figure in the official PJ records. Not without humour, in referring to the back cover of the book which promised unpublished revelations, the judge declared: "OK, so this is misleading advertising!" 

And so it was, in the middle of the trial, that Scotland Yard decided to take its findings to the BBC to demonstrate that it was well and truly an abduction and that Maddie was probably still alive, which, as a result strengthens the accusation of defamation against Gonçalo Amaral. Elsewhere, there are murmurs that this might be about a manoeuvre to influence the Portuguese trial. If that is the case, it has not succeeded because the judge does not seem to have allowed herself to be influenced by it. She has put in his place Gerry McCann, who, after having stated that he would not be appearing at the trial has applied pressure to give evidence. We'll see after the appearance of the listed witnesses if hearing the plaintiff and the accused is necessary, the judge responded dryly. The verdict is predicted for the end of November.   

But why the devil would Scotland Yard want to whitewash the McCanns at all costs?

Pat Brown, an American profiler, talks in her blog about a ridiculous reconstruction (the film was made in Spain with professional comedians) and of a story adapted for television. She has studied this case and written a book on the little girl's disappearance. (Profile of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann) This book was withdrawn by booksellers Amazon at the request of the McCann family, but it is possible to find it on other sites. She includes the theory (without believing it) that the investigators tried to entrap the McCanns. In any case, stone by stone, she demolishes the BBC's "investigation." 

Scotland Yard is offering a reward that could amount to £20,000 for any information useful to the investigation. It's almost an admission of failure, because, it must be said that in spite of all their talk, the British investigators have done no better than their Portuguese colleagues. It's probably an abduction "to order," says Andy Redwood. Unless, he adds, it's a burglary gone wrong. But nothing was stolen. The only troubling detail is in the timing. Until now, it was thought that the events took place at around 9.15pm. In fact, according to the Met, it would be more likely to have been around 10pm. 

If this theory is confirmed, it will be necessary to re-interview all the witnesses, taking into account where they were at the time of the events. That could only be done seriously during a total reconstruction, each person taking up where they were on that evening of May 2007. That is obvious! 

The significant lead (the famous revelation that the world was waiting for), centres on this unknown who was allegedly seen carrying a child in his arms. But this detail was already present in the Portuguese police investigation. It's about the witness statements of an Irish family, the Smiths, who were on holiday in the area. Mr Smith and his wife had flinched when they saw Gerry McCann on their television, descending from the plane which had brought him from Portugal in 2007. It was his way of walking and the way he was holding one of his children in his arms, which drew their attention. They gave a statement to the Gardai (Irish police) who alerted the PJ. Amaral then took up their statements to get them to return to Portugal and organise a reconstruction. But shortly afterwards, he was removed from the case and his successor didn't find it important to follow up this lead. A pity, because without being one hundred per cent sure, both said that the individual whom they saw on the evening of the drama, strongly resembled Maddie's father. - 
That's worrying, is it not! 


(Original article by Georges Moréas 17/10/2013)

Enfants Kidnappés: an Irish witness saw Gerry carrying Maddie.

Martin Smith, from Ireland, was on holiday in Praia da Luz at the same time as the McCanns. This week it has been reported in the Portuguese press that Mr Smith saw a man carrying a child, whom he thought was Madeleine, and that only when he returned to Ireland and saw Gerry's image on TV, did he think that the man he had seen was Gerry.

Enfants Kidnappés, dated 7/07/08

http://www.kidnapping.be/affairemaddie07j/index.html

07 juillet 2008

An Irish witness saw Gerry carrying Maddie

Irishman Martin Smith told the PJ that he had seen a man carrying a child under his arm. To him, that child seemed to be Maddie. The events would have taken place round about dinner time on the evening of May 3rd. The hearing of the witness was recorded early on in the research. A few days after returning to his country of origin, Martin Smith went to the police. Following the media coverage of the case, he guaranteed that he had no doubts when he saw Gerry's face on television for the first time, as he was leaving a plane. The man who was carrying the child on the day that Maddie disappeared was her father!

The information was sent to the Portuguese authorities at a time when the PJ were still concentrating on the abduction theory. And, according to the final report, the lead would not have been followed because at the time when Martin stated having seen Gerry carrying Maddie under his arm, the latter was having dinner with friends of the couple at the Tapas Bar. It was only later that the PJ realised that no one amongst the T9 could say at exactly what time each member of the group was to be found at the restaurant. The PJ then requested additional investigation of this witness via the rogatory letters. The additional tasks concerning this witness were finally not carried out and without other details could not be examined more thoroughly.

The British police hand over certain details of the investigation to the McCanns.

On Monday, the British police agreed to hand over to Madeleine McCann's parents, certain details of their file on the little girl's disappearance in the south of Portugal in May 2007, to enable private investigators whom they had engaged to assess them. In return, Kate and Gerry McCann withdrew from a legal procedure designed to force the police of Leicestershire, the central England county where they live, to let them have that information. "Kate and Gerry are satisfied with this compromise reached with the police," Clarence Mitchell, their spokesman, stated. "If we had not gone to court, we would not have obtained these 81 pieces (of information) The whole file would contain nearly 11,000 documents. They are now going to our private investigators who will work with them as a priority."

It remains difficult to believe that these documents will be useful to Metodo 3 in the sole objective of finding Madeleine. It seems difficult that this company, with a doubtful reputation and dubious legal methods, could do better than the PJ who have placed more than 300 men on the case. It remains to know if these 81 documents and hearings also contain the witness statements of the two crucial witnesses of whom the hearings have still not been sent to the Portuguese authorities? If such is the case, this looks more like a manoeuvre for preparing a defence than searching for a missing little girl.

Metodo 3 called into question by the PJ.

The final report criticises the, "research," done by the private detective agency hired by the couple. It was because of them that the PJ lost enormous amounts of time, money and energy in following, checking, assessing, analysing every, "false," lead put forward by Metodo 3, all over the place. There was Gail Cooper's witness statement, heard for the first time by the British authorities. She spoke of a beggar, whom she had only seen once and who could have taken the child. Later at the agency of the private detectives hired by the couple, she stated that she had seen the same beggar three times. And that on one of these three times, he had surprised her by looking at the group of children that Madeleine was part of, in a, "strange," way.

Then it was the turn of Jane Tanner who had not succeeded, initially, in describing the face of the man whom she asserted she had seen carrying Maddie in his arms, to go back on her statements. She stated that the man seen by Gail Cooper resembled the one she saw. The photo-fit went round the world and forced the PJ to check hundreds of leads which turned out to be false. Without taking into account that the PJ have had to take themselves to the farthest flung places on the planet. On the same day, at the same time, Maddie happened to be seen at places more than 4,000 kilometers apart! The report leaves to be implied that if someone had wanted to slow down the investigation, to prevent its being successful, this was as good a way as any.

The British modified the results of the tests.

This was the strangest about-turn of the investigation. The first analyses of the biological samples, carried out in the UK, on residues collected under the spare wheel, in the boot of the car rented by the parents, were compatible with Madeleine's genetic profile. Later, after the parents were designated as, "arguidos," or suspected of having concealed Madeleine's body, the laboratory announced the correction of their initial analyses. Afterward, the biological traces found in the Renault Scenic rented by the parents were not conclusive. In addition, even the quality of the samples was suddenly placed in doubt. This scientific reversal, not yet completely clarified, risks taking the investigation to a dead end. In effect the doubt always benefits the accused.

If one of the most important testing laboratories suddenly places samples themselves in doubt, that will be wholly beneficial for the defence. Note, however, that the use of dogs for detecting cadaver odours and traces of blood, is quite valid in the Portuguese legal system and the laboratory would have to scientifically corroberate the indications of the dogs. The PJ's decision to send the analyses to the UK, when they could have been done in Portugal, was initially a question of credibility.The inspectors did not want the results to be called into question in the UK.