Thursday, June 30, 2011

#McCanns : Publicity junkies...

The David Payne Visit


The visit, the “last sighting” of Madeleine McCann by someone outside the family, remains highly controversial and has been the subject of exhaustive debate on the internet and elsewhere.

The questions about it arise at the very beginning since it was not mentioned by David Payne, Gerry or Kate McCann in their initial police statements, despite Kate McCann’s repeated assertions in the book that she had told the police “everything”. The first reference to it comes, oddly, not from either of the individuals involved but from Gerry McCann, in his May 10 statement:

“David went to visit Kate and the children and returned close to 19H00, trying to convince the deponent to continue to play tennis, which he refused.”

Note the initial locution, “David went to visit Kate and the children”: there is no mention of any reason for the visit. Unfortunately the PJ did not hear what the principals had to say: neither Payne nor Kate McCann were present for that second round of interviews. Kate had cried off with stress; quite how Payne avoided questioning is unclear. Whatever, the result was that the Portuguese police received no information about the claimed visit from one of the participants until Kate McCann was questioned over four months later, on September 6 2007. And they still had no statement from Payne; in fact they were unable to compare his account with that of Kate McCann until they listened in to his rogatory interview in April 2008.

Kate McCann’s September 6 statement runs thus:

“While the children were eating and looking at some books, Kate had a shower which lasted around 5 minutes. After showering, at around 6:30/6:40 p.m. and while she was getting dry, she heard somebody knocking at the balcony door. She wrapped herself in a towel and went to see who was at the balcony door. This door was closed but not locked as Gerry had left through this door. She saw that it was David Payne, because he called out and had opened the door slightly.”

She now departs from direct knowledge deriving from her own experience, as she often does on important matters, adding helpfully:

“David’s visit was to help her to take the children to the recreation area. When David returned from the beach he was with Gerry at the tennis courts, and it was Gerry who asked him to help Kate with taking the children to the recreation area, which had been arranged but did not take place.”

Then, reverting from hearsay to evidence, she concluded:

“David was at the apartment for around 30 seconds, he didn’t even actually enter the flat, he remained at the balcony door. According to her he then left for the tennis courts where Gerry was. The time was around 6:30-6:40PM.”

This was the first appearance of the “Gerry asked Payne...” story — after four months! — and it was followed some twenty four hours later by the same story from Gerry himself in his arguido interview.

Two weeks later, with the couple safely back in England and during that muffled and murky period when they and the lawyers were using the media to explore their vulnerabilities, a lengthy and carefully contrived leak was given to the London Times by Clarence Mitchell. The story purported to be about disagreements between the McCanns as to how far to co-operate with the PJ but buried half way into the story we find this:

“Last week, however, a senior police source told a Portuguese newspaper that officers were still suspicious about the McCanns’ movements during the “missing six hours” before Madeleine’s disappearance.

Sources close to the family [Clarence Mitchell] say that David Payne, one of the holiday party, saw Madeleine being put to bed when he visited the McCann apartment at 7PM. Previously the last confirmed sighting of Madeleine was at 2.29PM when a photograph of her and Gerry was taken at the swimming pool.

Kate and Gerry McCann believe Payne’s testimony will be crucial in proving their innocence. They arrived at the tapas bar at 8.30PM, which would leave just an hour and a half in which they are supposed to have killed their daughter and disposed of the body.

A source close to the legal team [this was also Mitchell] said: ‘If they were responsible for killing their daughter, how would they have done so and hidden the body in that time? There is a very limited window of opportunity.’”

So the story had developed even further. Note that Payne himself, after almost six months, has still told the Portuguese police absolutely nothing about the visit. The only reference to it that he ever seems to have made comes in a curiously unsatisfactory email from the Leicester police to their Portuguese counterparts accompanying some forwarded statements. Detective Constable Marshall wrote that Payne had stated informally:

“...that he saw Madeleine, for the last time, at 17H00 [probably an error for 7PM] on 3/5/07 in the McCann apartment. Also present there were Kate and Gerry. He did not indicate the motive for being there or what he was doing. He also cannot indicate how long he stayed.”

Well!


The situation, therefore, was that Payne’s version of this visit was still open and, as it were, up for grabs. But not yet and certainly not for grabbing via the newspapers by the McCanns and their spokesman.As we have seen from his ingenious defence of the “checking” Payne has an instinct for keeping his options open. The claims were left standing, without rebuttal, for several weeks and perhaps there was a hope somewhere that it reflected Payne’s acquiescence in the story and the altered timescale. Not likely.

In late October, strangely enough on the same date that Detective Constable Marshall sent his email along with the Gaspar statements to Portugal, he made the extremely rare move of communicating via journalists himself, speaking effusively to the Daily Mail about Kate McCann and her lack of problems with her children [media code: no, she wasn’t nutty or stressed-out enough to have whacked the child and accidentally killed her]. But 7PM was now firmly out: in that same article Mitchell and the McCanns had to reverse themselves, now stating “David Payne saw Madeleine at around 6.30pm.” Point made.

In April 2008, just under a year after the child’s disappearance, David Payne was finally compelled to talk about the visit, making a statement to Leicester police as part of the rogatory interviews. The Portuguese police representatives watched the televised proceedings from behind a screen. Whether Lusitanian guffaws of disbelief resounded from their vantage point is not disclosed but Payne and Kate McCann seemed to be not just on different visits but different planets.

Q: Okay, and it was at what point that Gerry said to you go and, would you mind checking at Kate?

DP: I had to go back to my room to you know change into stuff appropriate for playing tennis in, and err so he knew that I’d walk up that by and past so he said oh why don’t you err, you know can you just pop in on the way, the way up...[fails to describe reason for visit]

KM again: David’s visit was to help her to take the children to the recreation area. When David returned from the beach he was with Gerry at the tennis courts, and it was Gerry who asked him to help Kate with taking the children to the recreation area,

Q: Did you open the door? Or was it already open?

DP: I think it was already open.

KM: This door was closed but not locked as Gerry had left through this door. She saw that it was David Payne, because he called out and had opened the door slightly.


Q: Did you actually go into the apartment?

DP: I did.

Q: Or did you do the conversation from the door?

DP: No, definitely was inside the apartment, you know whether it be two or three steps into the apartment or you know however many, but I was definitely in the apartment.

KM: He didn’t even actually enter the flat; he remained at the balcony door.

Q: Okay, so now what I’m gonna try and ask you to recollect, what everybody was wearing.
DP: I’m afraid that is, you know I’m, I cannot recall at all. I know that’s, you’d think that’d be an obvious thing to remember, I cannot remember. As I say the, from the children point of view predominantly I can remember the, you know, white, but I couldn’t say exactly what they were wearing. Err…

Q: But could you remember what Kate was wearing for example?

DP: I can’t, no.

KM: She wrapped herself in a towel and went to see who was at the balcony door.

Q: I’m gonna pin you down and ask you how long you think you were in there for.

DP: In their apartment, it, it, I’d say three minutes, five maximum.”

KM: David was at the apartment for around 30 seconds.

Q: When you finished ...did you say anything to Gerry about, about the fact that his family were fine?

DP: "Yeah, err yeah, I haven’t mentioned this before, but yes, yeah I’d certainly, when we met up I said oh yeah, you know everything’s fine there, you know probably along the lines of you know you’ve got a bit more of a free pass you know you can carry on for a bit longer...[fails to give reason for visit]

KM: ...asked him to help Kate with taking the children to the recreation area.

What can one say? It doesn’t corroborate and it doesn’t tally: there might have been visits to apartment 5A by David Payne or other members of the group that day but the written evidence shows that the one described by Payne and the McCanns did not take place.

Dangerous waters! What does Kate have to say now? Very little. In the book she falls back on copying out her September 6 statement:

“At around six forty, as I was drying myself off, there was a knock on the patio doors and I heard David’s voice calling me. Swiftly wrapping my towel around me I stepped into the sitting room.”

But then she uses words that aren’t in the statement: “David had popped his head round the patio doors looking for me,” which quite cleverly attempts to resolve the open/closed doors discrepancy as well as shading another question —inside the doors or outside the doors? Neither! He is in the doorway, head popping.


Having dipped her toes she moves rapidly back to the much safer territory of what others had said:

“The others had met up with Gerry at the tennis courts and he’d mentioned we were thinking of bringing the kids to the play area. David had nipped up to see if he could give me a hand taking them down. As they were all ready for bed and seemed content with their books I decided they were probably past the stage of needing any more activity. So he went back to the tennis while I quickly dressed and sat down on the couch with the children.”

One wonders which lawyers were involved in the “popping” paragraph because, by altering her statement, Kate McCann has provided internal evidence that she is covertly attempting to smooth away inconsistencies that are hazardous for her rather than trying to throw light on the truth as she vowed to do. Oh, and the bit about Payne only staying for thirty seconds has somehow gone missing



[snipped from article]

Full article here:
http://blacksmithbureau.blogspot.com/

Thursday, June 23, 2011

And so the special treatment of the McCanns continues.

Filed under: Madeleine,Madeleine McCann,McCanns,United Kingdom — Adam MacDonald @ 7:39 pm

 
So the McCann’s have recieved £550,000 from Express Newspapers. More specifically, from the bank account of the bloke that owns it. I don’t care how many millions you have, paying Kate and Gerry McCann in excess of half a million is going to hurt.

The Daily Star and the Daily Express had to pay the exorbitant fee and print a front-page apology. And do you know why? Because they dared to suggest that the McCanns had something to do with Madeleine’s disappearance, when they apparently had no evidence whatsoever to make such an outlandish accusation. Now, I’m no expert, but since they are arguidos or official supects in the case, there must be some evidence, like the sniffer dogs, or the DNA in the hire car, or some other thing about which we don’t know.

So as far as I can see they’ve got half a million quid unjustly. That’s gratitude for you. If it wasn’t for the Express, who have covered the story every single day for the past year, there’s a chance she would have fallen off the media radar altogether. But it doesn’t stop there. In the papers’ Page 1 appologies, they had to say that they “are completely innocent of any involvement in their daughter’s disappearance.” So if that is true, and I hope to God it is, is that why they’re not suspects? Oh wait…

How can they print that they’re innocent when there’s as much evidence to suggest they’re not than to suggest they are. Surely that means that the other official suspect in the case Robert Murat could sue the papers for proclaiming their innocence? The simple fact that the pair are official suspects means that the Policia Judiciaria have something to connect them to Maddy’s disapperance.

They’ve done two British newspapers, but what of the Portugese ones? Which have been far worse than their counterparts in this country. Are they going to try and get money ff them. Probably not, as they know they were lucky to win once, it’s unlikely to happen again. So far, I’ve been very careful not to say whether I think they’re guilty or not, because it seems that when it comes to the McCanns, people don’t have freedom of speech anymore, but, as an experiment, I’ll try this:

Kate and Gerry McCann killed their daughter and covered it up.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to run away from their lawyers.

http://adammacdonaldblog.wordpress.com/2008/03/19/and-so-the-special-treatment-of-the-mccanns-continues/

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

McCanns runaway

And now they finally come home!

Channel four news have just said that there is significant evidence of blood found in hotel room and in the car rented later.

Have they done a runner now the heat is on? I’m glad that fund has been frozen.

People didn’t pay that so the McCanns could use it for legal costs. They’ve a bloody cheek to complain about that.

All we can do now is watch and wait!

Sept- 9th, 2007
http://sillyzone.wordpress.com/2007/09/09/more-mccanns/

McCanns another crooked Scots person?

The McCanns have used their Missing Child Fund to make 2 mortgage payments.  Then they stopped when they became suspects.

Since they were on full pay of £200K+, it seemed rather ridiculous to do such a thing…but then such is greed (and tight Scottish ways).

Scots are terrible risk takers but when money is sitting unattended, they can’t resist…sad but true.

~ by theworldissicksoami on October 30, 2007.

http://dontcometoscotland.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/mccanns-another-crooked-scots-person/

McCanns go for retaliation first...

by richard@contentetc on 17 Oct, 2007
 
The McCanns, you must know them if not where their Maddy is, have hired lawyers. And those lawyers are tasked to warn the media not to suggest they drugged their children.

Another case of getting retaliation in first. See previous blog.
This amounts to pre-publication censorship.

Not that, I am pleased to say, the McCanns did drug their children.
But still not nice from a couple who need to media to find their child and prove themselves innocent.

http://contentetc.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/mccanns-go-for-retaliation-first/

MCCANN LINKS

Larry King: Ed Smart: Gerry McCann TRANSCRIPT

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Kate McCann has written her account of her daughter’s disappearance and the aftermath by Enid Brown

Four years after she disappeared in Portugal, Madeleine McCann has not been found.

You’re meeting seven neighbours, with eight children under four between you, in one of Ranelagh’s many restaurants, only 120 metres or so from your homes which you can’t see from the restaurant; what do you do about childcare? That was the ‘almost’ equivalent dilemma faced by Kate and Gerry McCann and their friends on their holiday in Praia da Luz in May 2007 – except they were not on their home patch as you were in Ranelagh. The group, which became known as the Tapas nine and six of whom were doctors, decided to make 30 minute checks. This system, Kate claims, had worked on previous evenings but when she checked at 10 pm on Thursday May 3rd, Madeleine was not there and, despite an international search involving the Portuguese and UK police and private detectives, she has still not been found.Last month Kate McCann published “Madeleine - our daughter’s disappearance and the continuing search for her”.

In the foreword of the book she states that her “reason for writing the book is to give an account of the truth”. Isn’t that odd phraseology - surely there can only be one version of the truth? All kinds of tales have circulated about Madeleine’s disappearance according to Kate, and indeed they have; the publication of this “truthful” book seems to have accelerated the internet debates on the discrepancies in the McCanns’ story. The book is actually the story of Kate’s life to date. It covers her childhood, her education, her meeting and marriage to Gerry McCann and the births of their three children. The McCanns needed a series of IVF treatments to become parents which makes it all the more odd that they would leave three children under four in an unlocked apartment on the ground floor in a foreign country. According to Kate, all three children were good sleepers. She did not want to use the evening crèche provided by the holiday company; understandable as her children had a routine and were in bed by the time the crèche opened at 7.30 pm.

She argues on p. 54 that it would have been unwise to leave the children with someone neither they nor themselves knew. Yet her children were happy in the day childcare facilities and had come to know the staff who were available, at extra cost, to babysit for clients in the evening. She states “we felt so secure we simply didn’t think it was necessary (to hire a babysitter) and our own apartment was only 30-45 seconds away”. An astonishing statement. Surely security concerns are not the main reason parents organise babysitters? As a GP, she more than anyone, would appreciate that the risks of leaving children alone at night do not relate to “security” but to other factors, like vomiting and choking, waking up from a nightmare, wetting the bed, and febrile convulsions which affect one in twenty children under five. Kate does not mention a witness statement by Pamela Fenn who lived in the apartment above stating that she heard a child crying for 75 minutes on Tuesday May 1st calling for “daddy”. This contradicts Kate’s statement of 30 minute checks. The book cover proclaims that all royalties are donated to the Madeleine Fund.

A company called Madeleine Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd was incorporated on 15 May 2007. According to Kate, over the weekend of 11th, 12th and 13th May she and Gerry had meetings in Praia da Luz with a paralegal from the International Family Law Group and a barrister. The barrister told them “our behaviour (in leaving the children unattended) could not be deemed negligent” and was “well within the bounds of reasonable parenting”. The legal pair suggested the McCanns use London solicitors Bates Wells and Braithwaite to set up a company to manage the funds that would be donated. On p.137 she records that this firm drew up articles of association for the fighting fund (limited company) and talked to the Charity Commission who ruled that the proposed company did not meet the requirements for charity status as it focussed on one child and did not meet the public benefit test. Hence Kate says, the decision was that “it would be a ‘not for profit’ private limited company. It was set up with great care and due diligence by experts in the field”.From the dates Kate gives, it would appear that Bates Wells and Braithwaite could not have had instructions to act until Monday May 14th, yet they were able to incorporate the company the very next day. A day is very little time for the solicitors to have drafted company documents for this proposed company which was not an ordinary trading company, to have agreed the documents with their clients the McCanns who were in Portugal and also to have obtained a ruling from the Charity Commission.And what was the hurry given that Madeleine could have been found at this early stage of the investigation?On p.138 Kate says “everyone agreed that despite the costs involved it (the company) must be run to the highest standards of transparency”.

To date, three sets of accounts have been filed with the UK Company’s office. In the first set going to March 2008 an analysis of expenditure is given though this is not a statutory requirement under UK law. However the accounts filed for the years to March 2009 and to March 2010 give no expenditure analysis. Now this is perfectly legal but not the “transparency” to which Kate referred. In 2009 for example the only expenditure information filed gives the merchandising and campaign costs as £974,786 and the administration expenses as £30,865. Not very informative!When the McCanns were made arguidos (suspects) in September 2007 Kate refused on legal advice to answer the 48 questions put to her. This was her legal right but the refusal fuelled the doubts about her story. It is understandable why she might not want to answer questions in a foreign country with the possibility of mistranslations complicating her difficult situation but surely there is no reason now not to put the record straight by answering the questions in her book. She doesn’t do so.British sniffer dogs Eddie and Keela and their handler Martin Grime were used by the Portuguese authorities. These dogs had a 100% accuracy rate in 200 cases and found both blood and cadaver (dead body) traces in various places in the holiday apartment and in the boot of the car rented after the disappearance. Kate says that research Gerry conducted after the Portuguese police showed them the video of the dogs’ search revealed that dog evidence is unreliable. She quotes Gerry as dismissing the sniffer dog video as “the most subjective piece of evidence gathering imaginable”. She claims that the dogs had merely been trying to please their instructor.

If you read this book without having read the other material available which questions the abduction theory, you could not fail to have the greatest of sympathy for the McCanns. However, it is a statistical fact that in the majority of missing children cases, a family member, a neighbour or someone known to the child, is involved. The Portuguese police would have been negligent if they did not consider this possibility. They did not find any forensic evidence of an intruder in the apartment which had been to some extent contaminated by the Tapas group searching the apartment when Kate raised the alarm.Since the book was published last month, Scotland Yard has agreed to conduct a review. A reconstruction of that evening which the Tapas nine initially agreed to do but which never happened would help. Hopefully the review will be independent with the co-operation of all and with no possibilities excluded.

The book costs €15.99 in local shops and is published by Bantam Press.
http://www.townandvillage.ie/files/downloads/t&v_june_11.pdf

Interview in Netherlands

HANOVER: Proud to have cleaned up the McCanns reputation !

McCanns were broke in 2007


Patricia said: "It is so hard to watch Kate and Gerry push themselves constantly. When Madeleine first went missing, family and friends had to step in to help them pay the mortgage.


http://mccannfundfraud.info/2011/01/mccanns-were-broke-in-2007/

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2010/12/23/madeleine-mccann-s-aunt-explains-why-she-has-joined-charity-for-missing-people-and-how-search-for-little-girl-goes-on-86908-22802145/

Great joy as the stolen wallet is returned...

McCann does not mention the images of Madeleine that were so special to him and a thief would not return money , 30 Euro, is 30 Euro it is money and may be changed into sterling at any bank. So, it must have been the need to cancel his credit cards....McCann, like the broken, jemmied , smashed shutter, to him, his lie was proof of an abduction. He chose once again theft to square a devious way to cancel his credit.

http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/press/3jul7/Express-02-07-07.htm

Stolen Wallet: Gerry has to cancel ALL his credit cards...

The need to cancel credit cards behind the lie of a stolen wallet ?

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id178.html

Irreplaceable Maddy photos stolen from father

They cannot seem to get their stories straight regarding the images of Madeleine. Jon Corner claims they were old photos taken when in Amsterdam  before the twins were born. Aunt Phil claims one is of Madeleine and the other of the twins (WENS) misquote. The other taken of Madeleine recently in church !

One picture is said to show Madeleine at 15-months-old while the other was taken in church more recently.

Susan Healey, the mother of Mrs McCann, said it was "yet another kick in the teeth".

She added: “It contained precious photographs which have now been lost forever.”

Philomena McCann, his sister, said that after all the goodwill directed towards Mr McCann and his family in Portugal, the theft in London was a "demoralising" sign of the times.

She explained that Mr McCann, who is due to return to Portugal tonight, had taken £100 out of an ATM and had the wallet snatched from his back pocket.
The 48-year-old teacher from Glasgow said: "There were two pictures, special ones that Gerry always kept with him, showing Madeleine and the wens. They were his favourites, really treasured pictures. They are irreplaceable.
"He bent down to put something in his rucksack and some dirty animal had the wallet out of his back pocket.

"We don’t care about the money, but we do care about getting the pictures back."

She added: "How can you do that to someone who’s been through what he has? He’s already demoralised enough and to be put on the back foot like this, you can’t believe some people can stoop so low.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1555098/Irreplaceable-Maddy-photos-stolen-from-father.html

Find Gerry's Wallet !

Photos of missing Madeleine McCann that were snatched by a pickpocket are irreplaceable and were carried by her father for "ages", her family has said.

The girl's relatives are appealing for the return of the touching snaps that were in a wallet stolen from Madeleine's father Gerry this week.

The pictures are thought to be the only ones of their kind and were taken around two years ago when the family lived in Amsterdam.

Mr McCann's brother John, from Glasgow, said: "Gerry had his wallet stolen and there were two pictures of Madeleine taken when they lived in Amsterdam. They were taken around two years ago, before the twins were born.

"The photos meant a lot to Gerry, he had carried them for ages. They are irreplaceable, and we are appealing to whoever took them to hand them back."

The theft happened on Tuesday after Mr McCann flew back to London for a series of meetings about his abducted four-year-old daughter.

It is thought the pickpocket struck at London's Waterloo station, swiping the wallet from his back pocket as Mr McCann bent down to attend to a rucksack. The wallet also contained his driving licence and bank cards.

Cardiologist Mr McCann also put his medical skills to use after a man collapsed on his flight back to the UK. The medic went to the patient's rescue as he flew from Faro to Gatwick after the man collapsed while the plane was in the air.

Mr McCann cared for him until they were met by an ambulance at the airport, despite having spoken in the past about not feeling ready to go back to work or look after people since his daughter was taken from Praia da Luz in the Algarve 48 days ago.

He is on compassionate leave from Glenfield General Hospital in Leicester until the end of the month. He has said he does not know what will happen after that.


http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2388057851

Jane Tanner: Important to get across she had not been in apt 5a.! Which would imply she had been in there.

LP asking about the checking of kids:4078 “Okay. Up until this point then, Sunday evening this would be, had there been a kind of discussion between the group about child care or was it something that just sort of happened as you went along?”
Reply “Err…”
4078 “The reason I ask is because I’m aware that later on in the group people started to take it in turns to check other people’s children.”
Reply “Yeah.”
4078 “How did that come about?”
Reply “I think we just probably became more comfortable with the arrangements and it was sort of like a pop your head in if you, I think the first night I think we were all checking our own but as we became more comfortable with it, it was if one person was going back they would listen, listen you know at the door as well so, I don’t think, it wasn’t a, I don’t think it was a specific decision right now we all stopped, we’ll start checking on each other’s children, it was just a you know, you’re going back, you know, have a, have a listen as well.”


Later on in Janes statement she says that AFTER Maddie went missing and she went into 5a to tell Gerry what she'd 'seen':
Reply “Well him and Matt they were doing the, they were, I think they were sort of searching, I don’t know where they searched, but they, they were actually sort of running around actually looking farther afield, so didn’t really see them much at all. I think that they did come back and as I say I can’t remember when they came back but I remember them coming back and then they went off again. And then I think they, Russell was there when I spoke to the PJ, because I can remember Russell coming in with me when I spoke to the PJ, because there was Russell and Gerry was there as well in the apartment when I spoke to the PJ. And that was the first time I’d ever been into their, into Kate and Gerry’s apartment through the whole week, I hadn’t, it might seem like, but we hadn’t really been into their apartment before”.

Monday, June 20, 2011

McCanns may sue over claims they killed Madeleine

By SAM GREENHILL
Last updated at 23:40 23 August 2007

Kate and Gerry McCann are considering legal action to stem the endless tide of smears against themselves and their friends in the Portuguese media.
They have suffered a hurtful whispering campaign implying they or members of the group they dined with on the night their four-year-old daughter Madeleine disappeared had been involved in her murder or abduction.
The couple have endured the slurs with dignity, but now they appear to be ready to fight back.
Scroll down for more...
 Sandra Felgueiras Top Portuguese TV presenter Sandra Felgueiras is said to have 'accused' Madeleine's mother
And one particular target appears to have fallen into their sights - glamorous Portuguese TV reporter Sandra Felgueiras.
For the Portuguese people, the blonde broadcaster has become the face of the Madeleine story, bringing live updates to their living rooms on national television station RTP.
But the McCanns are incensed over at least one live broadcast by Miss Felgueiras, 30, in which she is said to have implied Mrs McCann could have murdered her own daughter.
Now the McCanns are considering taking libel action under Portuguese human rights laws protecting the right to a 'good name', said a friend.

Police now believe Madeleine McCann may have died in the apartment
In the week leading up to the 100-day anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance, there was a flurry of media reports based on the police theory that the little girl died the night she vanished.
Some implied that the McCanns or their friends, with whom they were dining at the Mark Warner resort in Praia da Luz, were somehow involved in her disappearance.
A source close to the McCanns said: "This is about trying to stop lurid accusations being aired. She [Felgueiras] was outrageous that week in the run-up to the 100 days. She really was outrageous."
The source claimed Miss Felgueiras's report 'encouraged a media frenzy', adding: 'Both the McCanns are hard-working, law abiding professionals. It is very important to protect their reputation.'
The exact wording of Miss Felgueiras's live report is unknown, because nobody has specified which one of many is at issue.
Miss Felgueiras said last night she had no idea which report it might be and denied ever branding either of the McCanns a 'murderer'.
She said: "I never said that and I never insinuated anything like that. I never in my life put anyone under suspicion but just told viewers that police are investigating the possibility that Madeleine has died and that it is murder or an accident.
"I'm absolutely sure that everything I said was only what the police were telling us concerning this new lead of the investigation.
"If the McCanns presume that this is an accusation against them, then that is their assumption, not mine. My conscience is completely clear."
Miss Felgueiras, who has personally interviewed the McCanns on several occasions, added: "I am the most moderate reporter. Sometimes other channels talk about things that I refuse to talk about. I even made a live report saying everybody is innocent until they go to court.
"Also I never talk about Kate and Gerry in an isolated way, I always talk about the couple. So it's very strange to be accused of saying Kate did something."
The McCanns and their friends have been battling adverse publicity for the past three weeks following a series of leaks from Portuguese police to the local media.
Fuelled by an absence of clues as to what really happened to Madeleine, Portuguese newspapers have made allegations as offensive as they are unlikely.
The McCanns have been accused of doping their children to get them to sleep, leaving them alone for hours on end while getting drunk, and of mounting a cover-up.
Their holiday friends have been accused of giving conflicting accounts of the evening, and one, Dr Russell O'Brien, was forced to defend himself against the hurtful and untrue suggestion that he was 'missing' at the time Madeleine vanished.
Mr McCann is set to talk for the first time about how becoming "household names' has taken its toll on his family.
He will travel to the Edinburgh International Television Festival this weekend where he has been invited to speak about the "double-edged sword" of launching such a wide public appeal to try to get his daughter back.
The campaign has so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, and the spotlight has turned on the parents, who have been upset by the "aggressive and intrusive" Portuguese paparrazi, said a source close to the McCanns.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-477214/McCanns-sue-claims-killed-Madeleine.html#ixzz1PpL1C4nZ

Saturday, June 18, 2011

J.K.Rowling new mystery project..

SPUDGUN tweets



spudgun01 Mike Spudgun
Apparently the #McCanns are objecting to comments made about 'Cuddle Cat' and Madeleines blanket on a TV discussion show.....
1 hour ago »

spudgun01 Mike Spudgun
http://t.co/xa4hvQI "knows details which could lead to the re-opening of the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance" #McCanns
1 hour ago »

spudgun01 Mike Spudgun
@ @Katycakes1 For 'search', read 'cover-up'!!
1 hour ago »
Katycakes1 Katycakes

by spudgun01
@ @spudgun01 yes, proceeds from book can be spent on loads of legal action for McCanns as Government happy to pay £3 million + for 'search'
1 hour ago »

spudgun01 Mike Spudgun
http://t.co/oQucg3W This is where the #McCanns £2m book proceeds is going. Trying to stifle truth and Justice.
1 hour ago »

spudgun01 Mike Spudgun
@ @DavidAllenGreen How about privileged, contrived, fabricated and false for starters.
1 hour ago »

RealHumptyB Humpty Bumpty
by spudgun01
Anyone wanting to know truth about #McCann case should start by reading this book and watching this film... http://tinyurl.com/lyz285
3 hours ago »

Qaudrille Rocki Stone
by spudgun01
#mccanns deny secret meeting http://t.co/V3llIUf
2 hours ago »

spudgun01 Mike Spudgun
http://t.co/xtUR9kn The TAPAS 'rehearsal' meeting referred to in the FINAL Portuguese report, the one the #McCanns insist CLEARS them.
1 hour ago »

spudgun01 Mike Spudgun
http://t.co/W2Tfyn7 J.K. Rowlings new "Mystery" project. Perhaps it's a "Where's Maddy" book. Madeleine #McCanns
2 hours ago


https://twitter.com/#!/spudgun01

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Was Ramona the victim of a serial killer? Police use specially-trained cadaver dogs to hunt for body of little girl who vanished 50 YEARS ago

By Fiona Roberts
Last updated at 2:35 PM on 16th June 2011


Police are renewing their search for seven-year-old Ramona Price who vanished without a trace five decades ago by bringing in specially-trained cadaver dogs.
It is hoped the dogs will finally be able to find the remains of the little girl when they search through the dirt and brush of a bridge over the 101 Freeway in Santa Barbara which was being built when she disappeared in 1961 and is soon to be torn down.
Santa Barbara police now believe that Ramona fell victim to one of the area's most prolific serial killers the day she told her father she was going to run ahead to their new home. She never arrived.
Victim: Ramona Price vanished without trace on September 2, 1961 when she was just seven-years-old
Victim: Ramona Price vanished without trace on September 2, 1961 when she was just seven-years-old
Serial killer: Ramona is thought to have been a victim of Mack Ray Edwards who boasted that he buried some of his bodies under roads while he was a construction worker
Serial killer: Ramona is thought to have been a victim of Mack Ray Edwards who boasted that he buried some of his bodies under roads while he was a construction worker
They believe she may have fallen victim to Mack Ray Edwards, who worked on the structure as a heavy machine operator in September, 1961, when Ramona went missing.
Edwards confessed to six murders and is believed to have killed at least 20 children before turning himself in to police in 1970. He hung himself in his San Quentin cell the next year.

 

According to Cam Sanchez, Santa Barbara Police Chief, he even joked about his murders in prison and said most of his victims would never be found because they were buried underneath roads.
Edwards, who died at the age of 53, wasn’t suspected at the time. Instead, police questioned two brothers who had convictions for sex crimes, but there was not enough evidence to prosecute them, and the case went cold.
Then four years ago author Weston DeWalt, who is writing a book on Edwards, started going through old police files.
Serial killer: Mack Ray Edwards, pictured in 1971, was convicted of murdering six children in the 50s and 60s. Police believe Romana Price was one of his victims
Serial killer: Mack Ray Edwards, pictured in 1971, was convicted of murdering six children in the 50s and 60s. Police believe Romana Price was one of his victims
Renewed search: Santa Barbara cold case detective Jaycee Hunter is shown with her search dog sniffing for the remains of seven-year-old Ramona Price, who may be buried by the 101 Freeway
Renewed search: Santa Barbara cold case detective Jaycee Hunter is shown with her search dog sniffing for the remains of seven-year-old Ramona Price, who may be buried by the 101 Freeway
Last year he discovered Edwards had worked for a highway contracting company in Santa Barbara, and spoke to the friend he had shared a room with, just a quarter of a mile away from the bridge.
He told police he believed Edwards may have killed Ramona, too, but they have waited until now, as the overpass is demolished, to reveal their suspicions.
Police have warned the lead is only a possibility, but cold case investigator Jaycee Hunter told the Los Angeles Times: ‘The big thing is for us not to miss this opportunity. We would be stupid not to do it.’

KILLING SPREE: VICTIMS OF MACK EDWARDS 

In 1971, Edwards was convicted of killing three children:
Stella Nolan, eight, from Compton. She disappeared on June 20, 1953
Gary Rochet, 16, from Granada Hills, who was shot on November 26, 1968
Donald Todd, 13, from Pacoima, who disappeared on May 16, 1969
He also confessed to another three murders, but couldn’t be charged because their bodies were never found. Those victims were:
Donald Lee Baker, 15 and Brenda Jo Howell, 12, from Azusa, who both vanished on August 6, 1956
Roger Madison, 16, from Sylmar, who disappeared on December 16, 1968
Across the state, officers are still trying to unravel the full extent of Edwards’s killing spree. He hinted to police he had murdered many more than six, but hung himself in jail before they could verify his claims.
LAPD detective Vivian Flores said: ‘We can't give up finding these kids, we just can't. These children represent your kids and my kids. Would you ever want detectives to stop looking if your child was missing?’
Police say if the three dogs detect the presence of a body, excavation work could begin next week.
They hope to have more success than in 2008, when they excavated an exit ramp in search of Roger Dale Madison, a 16-year-old boy who Edwards confessed to stabbing.
He went missing in 1968, when the killer was working on the freeway, and officials thought he could be buried underneath it. After five days, the search was called off.
Edwards became known for the terrible brutality of his crimes. His first murder was in 1953, when he abducted and sexually assaulted an eight-year-old girl called Stella Nolan.
He strangled her and threw her off a bridge, but when he came back the next day and found she was still somehow alive and had managed to crawl 100 yards, he stabbed the little girl and buried her in an embankment.
Edwards’s spree finally stopped in 1970, when he and a 15-year-old accomplice bungled the kidnap of three sisters.
Yet he also displayed an odd streak of kindness which bemused investigators. When he turned himself into police after the botched abduction, he warned the sergeant his gun was loaded.
He also said he was disappointed the families of his victims would have to hear the details of the horrific murders in court even though he pleaded guilty.
During his trial he said he wanted to be executed, and tried twice to commit suicide in custody.
He was convicted of three murders in 1971 and was sentenced to the death penalty he craved, but he hung himself before his execution.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2003953/Ramona-Price-vanished-50-years-ago-victim-serial-killer-Mack-Ray-Edwards.html#ixzz1PTXuFP4t

McCann final report: Proving they are far from innocent.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Madeleine: Sniffer dogs 'found scent of death' on one of the McCanns' friends

Last updated at 09:29 26 September 2007


Friends of the McCanns faced fresh allegations yesterday after it was claimed that sniffer dogs had found the "scent of death" on one of them.

The same police dog which reacted to Mrs McCann's clothes - first causing suspicion to fall on her - was alleged to have smelled "death" on one of the friends who had dinner with the couple the night Madeleine vanished.
Police sources briefed a Portuguese newspaper that two police dogs from South Yorkshire, trained to detect corpses, human remains and microscopic traces of blood, had reacted to some items of clothing.
Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell denied categorically that any such procedure had happened.
The newspaper did not reveal which of the friends' clothing was meant to have triggered the reaction. Police in South Yorkshire refused to comment.
Scroll down for more ...
tapas nine Clockwise from top left, Fiona Payne, Jane Tanner, Russell O' Brien, Rachael Oldfield
Detectives are writing to British police asking them to re-interview the seven friends the McCanns dined with on the night Madeleine vanished.
Madeleine's parents were dining in a tapas restaurant just yards from the apartment in the Mark Warner Resort in the Algarve, Portugal, when their daughter disappeared.
She had been sleeping inside the apartment with her brother and sister, twins Sean and Amelie.
According to reports from Portugal, all of those dining with the McCanns that night face further police questioning because their accounts of the night's events allegedly clashed.
Leicestershire police have consistently refused to comment on its role in the investigation and directed all questions to Portugal.
A spokeswoman said: "As the inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is a Portuguese police investigation it is not appropriate for us to comment on it. Our role is to assist the Portuguese authorities, when and if they request it, with UK based inquiries.
"But because it is a Portuguese investigation, and because of the judicial system there, we are not able to disclose the nature of those inquires."
The seven friends - who, with the McCanns, make up the Tapas Nine - have been steadfast in their loyalty to Madeleine's family.
The group - most of them doctors and professionals - was made up of:
Madeleine McCann Still missing: Madeleine McCann
Dr Russell O'Brien, 36
A consultant in acute medicine at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, he knew Gerry McCann from Leicester.
He was on holiday with his partner Jane Tanner and their two young daughters.
At 9.25pm he left the restaurant for around 25 minutes to check on one of the girls, who was ill.
He has been subject to a vicious Portuguese press campaign alleging he was absent for over an hour when Madeleine went missing. He has threatened to sue, insisting: "These reports are completely untrue and extremely hurtful."
Jane Tanner, 37
Dr O'Brien's partner. She arrived late at the tapas bar after treating their sick daughter.
On the way, she passed the McCanns' apartment and saw a man carrying a child. Crucially, her description of the child's clothes matched Madeleine's pink pyjamas.
Dr Matthew Oldfield, 37
Dr Oldfield, an endocrinologist at Kingston Hospital in South-West London, went to check the McCann children at 9 25pm.
But he did not look inside the flat - simply listened from outside to ensure Madeleine and the twins were not crying.
Rachael Oldfield, 36
Dr Oldfield's wife, a former lawyer who is now a recruitment consultant.
She is one of four witnesses who claim to have seen the first suspect, British expat Robert Murat, near the McCanns' flat.
Last month she angrily dismissed reports that police had intercepted phone calls and emails between the McCanns and their friends which contradicted the group's earlier statements.
Mrs Oldfield accused Portuguese police of "throwing mud when we are not able to defend oursleves"
David Payne, 41
Mr Payne is a senior research fellow in cardiovascular sciences at Leicester University
He and his wife and mother-in-law joined the group at 8.55pm.
They are believed to have been the only ones using a baby monitor to check on their two children.
Mr Payne has said: "All these smears and rumours are overshadowing the important thing, which is to get Madeleine back."
Dr Fiona Payne, 34
Mr Payne's wife, she is understood to have told police she saw Mr Murat shortly after Madeleine vanished.
Dr Payne and her husband stayed on in the Algarve to support the McCanns. When the couple were made official suspects, she said: "It's an outrage - a preposterous accusation."
Dianne Webster
Dr Payne's mother. She has given no public interviews.
 



The Smith Sighting...of Gerry McCann

His trousers were smooth "rights" along the legs, beige in colour, cotton fabric, thicker than linen, possibly with buttons, and without any other decoration. http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/MARTIN_SMITH.htm



Enlarge this imageReduce this image Click to see fullsize


The matching jackets...how many have noticed how alike the jacket worn by Gerry McCann and their 'pantomime' abductor in PDL ?..The same jacket Martin Smith saw perhaps. Conveniently a strand of hair covers the dark loop, seen on the outside, on the back of McCanns jacket.

The Case of Madeleine McCann: Updates on the weeks events.

Profiler Pat Brown also onboard giving her 'tuppenceworth'...news to warm the cockles of Kate McCanns heart.... and the punch bag in Rothley will surely be of use this bright and sunny morning.

http://paper.li/mccnr9/caso-madeleine-mccann

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Lucky McCann : No CCTV footage of him carrying a child answering to Madeleines description

May 4th. Suitcase bucket and spade...

McCann and his wife, both 39, yesterday walked hand in hand through the apartment complex. They had lunch with the twins at the same tapas bar as the evening before. McCann returned alone to the apartment, emerging with a suitcase and a bucket and spade for the twins.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1752277.ece

and an early discussion:http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070814081935AA51CKt

Kate McCann will not brainwash MUMSNET

Maddy: The possibilities


Peter Kirkham, senior investigating officer on more than 20 murders, looks at four possible scenarios surrounding Maddy's disappearance.

By former Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector Peter Kirkham 08/09/2007

THEORY ONE

Madeleine was killed, her body hidden before being moved in the boot of the McCanns' silver Renault Scenic

DCI Kirkham: This is what police will have been quizzing Kate about. You don't have some one in for 11 hours to check a few points. Portuguese police apparently believe Madeleine was killed by accident. That fits with the suggestion that her body could have been hidden for a while. If murder is pre-meditated, the killer has worked out what to do with the body. If it happens without planning, most people panic and either run, cover up how the death happened or hide the body. Small bodies can easily disappear down holes and even if you do not know the area you will not have to go far to find somewhere to dump it. Later, if you think you are getting away with it, there may be a temptation to return and dispose of the body before the search widens or somebody stumbles across it.

THEORY TWO

Kate and Gerry are being framed by the Portuguese police for the death, as several close relatives have claimed

DCI Kirkham: This is highly unlikely. Although Portuguese police made early mistakes, it is big leap to accuse them of fitting up the McCanns. The crucial evidence is the DNA recovered by British police and tested in a British laboratory. If Madeleine's body had been found it would be possible for somebody to take her blood and plant traces to implicate somebody. But without a body where is the supply of blood cells from Madeleine?

THEORY THREE

The samples found in the Renault Scenic are from cross-contamination or accidental transfer, possibly from the McCanns' belongings

DCI Kirkham: This would be possible if the DNA samples were so small they could be identified as coming from a particular cell - blood, hair or sweat. A police officer could have picked up Madeleine's DNA on gloves during one search and not changed them immediately after placing the sample in the evidence bag. However there is a big "But" here. If the British scientists found blood cells and enough of them to know it was significant, it makes it very unlikely they are there by chance. Blood is very strong circumstantial evidence especially with a DNA match when it's found where it shouldn't be.

THEORY FOUR

Madeleine was abducted and her attacker used the same hire car which the McCanns later hired

DCI Kirkham: This is the million-to-one defence which someone who has all the evidence stacked against them would use. The Portuguese police should be checking who had that Scenic before, tracing them and inter viewing to make sure they had no explanation for having Madeleine's blood. If I was in charge of this investigation I would do it, but only to double and triple-check the case.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/top...-19753205/

Mark Warner: Designed with adults in mind.

Club Mark Warner was set up as a response to a huge number of adult only holiday makers wanting something a bit different. From Mark Warner's point of view we wanted to showcase our fabulous resorts, and their excellent range of activities. Whether sailing, tennis or windsurfing ticks your boxes or relaxing by the pool and getting stuck into a good book is more your style we have something for everyone. Plus don't tell anyone, but on Club Mark Warner weeks we spoil you rotten and put on entertainments, drinks promotions, activities excursions and nights out that are exclusive to Club guests.

Follow Rebelos theory of all children together with one sick missing each night from the tapas (babysitter) leaves a lot of empty rooms !

http://www.markwarner.co.uk/why-choose-us/sun/adult-only

Lee Rainbow...facing facts

Saturday, June 11, 2011

My wife is innocent....

Gerry McCann could not work it out , the apartment had been cleaned thoroughly, as he has repeatedly stated 'there is no evidence'... he had made sure of it.....Madeleines toothbrush disposed of so no traces of drugs could be found....and yet the cadaver dogs were called in, WHY?....McCann was in England and Kate taken in by the good looking Ricardo made a late night call after a bottle of wine, distressed she told him she had had a 'dream' of Madeleine, her body buried on a hill.......The 'dream' changed the whole investigation and cadaver dogs were brought in.

Not until the day, while seated in a Lisbon court ,did the truth hit McCann right between the eyes, his wife had betrayed them both. In her drunken stupor she had phoned her friend Ricardo to confess where she thought the remains of Madeleine could be found OR where she had been told the remains of Madeleine had been buried BUT by whom ? by someone who knew she could not be trusted....and they were right !

http://steelmagnolia-mccannarchives.blogspot.com/2011/06/gerry-mccann-calls-ricardo-paiva-liar.html

http://steelmagnolia-mccannarchives.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-wife-is-innocent-says-gerry-mccann.html

David Payne on 'sleeping arrangements'

Who can possibly believe the children were left alone at night, Payne having a hard time convincing himself let alone the officer ? Paulo Rebelo: All children were together. I agree...no neglect.


1485 ”And what sort of time would you generally put them to sleep?”

Reply ”Err I mean we would, so they, I mean they had the you know if they ate at the err kids club you know and again it’s just difficult what happened after, you know for the weeks after because we ate at the kids club then, did we eat before, how often did we eat, ours were a bit fussy on the eating and from what I can remember sometimes we ate you know in the, in the room, but that could’ve been mixed up with my recollections of you know what we did after. Err but that was generally around five, five thirty so we wouldn’t certainly get back to the room till six, we often went to the play area you know that seemed to be quite another time of the day where we, you know most people would be there and the children were there err you know played, sometimes you know there was a social tennis bit in the evening err certainly we tended to watch a little bit of that if we hadn’t played, you know, ourselves and then from err from there you know say right okay it’s time to go up, so perhaps you go up around six thirty, seven o’ clock, then they’d have you know the, most nights we liked to give ours baths because you know we just felt that we liked to get them into as much of a routine in a strange environment as possible. Err you know so probably we’re looking at trying to get them down about seven thirty, somewhere around there.”

Friday, June 10, 2011

Funeral or christening ?

Madeleine shrine
Shrine: The mantelpiece at the family home in Leicestershire


Praia da Luz
12:01AM BST 16 Jul 2007
The mother of missing Madeleine McCann made an emotional journey back to Britain at the weekend for the first time since her daughter was abducted in Portugal on May 3.

Kate McCann, 38, of Rothley, Leics, has repeatedly said that she did not want to return home without the missing four-year-old, but made the trip back to attend a family christening.

Yesterday on her return to Portugal, where the family are now based, she described the visit as "heart-breaking" but important. "Saturday was an emotional day," she said.

Mrs McCann travelled to England with her two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, and was re-united with her husband Gerry, 39, who was in London meeting police involved in the investigation.

Mr McCann, a consultant cardiologist, also met child abduction experts at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.


Speaking about the christening Mrs McCann said: "Gerry and I wanted to be there, to take part and to support our godchildren on one of the most important days of their lives.

But, I am sure every mother in the world will understand that it was heart-breaking for me to be with our family, yet not be with Madeleine.

"Gerry and I have returned to Portugal to continue the search for our daughter."

Robert Murat, 33, the only formal suspect, faces further questioning by Portuguese police this week. "I have had no help from the British authorities. They do not seem to care what happens to me," he said.

"I can see no light at the end of the tunnel."

Kates visions. Madeleine came..includes money pot shrine !

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... tched.html

Where were you that night, Kate? What grandmother said after she was told that Madeleine had been snatched

By VANESSA ALLEN and NEIL SEARS
Last updated at 10:25 30 April 2008

(...)

Madeleine's grandmother Mrs Healy said Mrs McCann is so traumatised by her daughter's disappearance that she sees the little girl in 'visions'.

She told Closer magazine: 'When Kate told me she was unable to sleep on a few occasions, I asked her if her twins had woken her as they sometimes get into her bed. But she told me: ?Madeleine came?.

'She imagines Madeleine is there with her. My heart goes out to her. There are times when she's absolutely devastated and bereft.'

Court agony for McCanns: Couple listen in disbelief as Portuguese police say Maddie is dead and abduction was faked


By Vanessa Allen
Last updated at 9:19 AM on 13th January 2010

* Comments (31)
* Add to My Stories

Portuguese police convinced themselves Madeleine McCann's parents faked her abduction, despite having no evidence against them, a court was told yesterday.

Officers leading the investigation into the three-year-old's disappearance believed she died in a 'tragic accident' and that her parents hid her body, a senior detective admitted yesterday.

The dramatic confession was made during a tense legal battle in a Portuguese courtroom, played out in front of Kate and Gerry McCann.
Gerry and Kate McCann arrive at court in Lisbon yesterday

Reliving the pain: Gerry and Kate McCann arrive at court in Lisbon yesterday

After almost three years of leaks, slurs and innuendo, Inspector Tavares Almeida laid bare unsubstantiated police suspicions against the couple.

It was the first time any Portuguese police officer has spoken publicly about the decision to name the McCanns as arguidos, or official suspects.


More...

* Coronation Street finally runs missing child storyline three years after Madeleine McCann's disappearance

Mr Almeida said the decision was taken after he filed a damning report to the Portuguese prosecutor in September 2007, four months after Madeleine's disappearance.

'The conclusion arrived at in the report was that Madeleine McCann died in the apartment and that the McCanns simulated the abduction,' he said.
Madeleine McCann

Portuguese police believe Madeleine McCann died in a 'tragic accident' and that her parents hid her body

'So they are suspects. It was a tragic accident in the apartment that night.'

Mr McCann shook his head in disbelief as Mr Almeida gave his evidence on behalf of his former senior officer, disgraced detective Goncalo Amaral.

He put his arm around his wife as they sat in the public gallery of the court.

The couple, both 41, have accused Mr Amaral of libel after he wrote a book accusing them of covering up their daughter's death.

Yesterday's hearing was part of that £1million libel case.

Mr Almeida claimed that British police had also believed the McCanns were involved after Madeleine vanished from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

'We all believe she is dead,' he declared defiantly. 'It was our conclusion as police professionals, both Portuguese and British police. The McCanns didn't kill her but they concealed the body.'

Madeleine vanished from a holiday apartment while her parents ate dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant on May 3, 2007.

The McCanns led a worldwide campaign to find her, but there have been no confirmed sightings.
The 'turning point' dream - McCann graphic

Image
A second officer, Ricardo Paiva, said Portuguese police were suspicious of the couple's 'merchandising' operation in the months after Maddie disappeared. The Madeleine Fund they set up sold wristbands and T-shirts publicising the case and used the money to support the search.

Mr Paiva said they should have faced prosecution for leaving their children alone, saying: 'People have been arrested for far less - even in the UK.'
Former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral wrote a book accusing the McCanns of covering up their daughter's death

Former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral wrote a book accusing the McCanns of covering up their daughter's death

He admitted that Mr Amaral's conviction about the McCanns' involvement had stopped police from investigating other theories.

But the only evidence the Portuguese police could amass against the McCanns was the reaction of sniffer dogs sent into the couple's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, which smelled 'the scent of death'.

The performance of the dogs has been called into question after they also reacted to remains at Haut de la Garenne orphanage in Jersey, which were later found to be animal bones.

Mr and Mrs McCann, both doctors, were finally cleared when the police investigation was officially shelved because of a lack of evidence.

Mr Amaral, 49, was sacked from the investigation after launching an outspoken attack against British police.

Speaking after the hearing, McCann family spokesman Claudia Nogueira said the couple, of Rothley, Leicestershire, had been 'hurt' by the day's allegations.

She said: 'However, they know what really happened, so they're confident. They just want to find their daughter.'

The case continues.

Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z0cUzGko8L