Madeleine McCann: 100 Days Of Voyeurism And Entertainment
THE case against Robert Murat is making slow progress, or no progress. An unblinking Madeleine McCann continues to stare at readers from the front page of the tabloids, scaring parents and children via leaflets in banks and cinema adverts.
But now there is a new bad man. He is Francisco Pagarete. He is the lawyer acting for suspect number one Robert Murat.
“Lawyers sick outburst,” says the Mirror’s front page. “These bloody McCanns should just go away and leave this town,” says he. “They’re giving it a bad name.”
The Express also leads with the lawyer’s words, albeit abridged to “Why don’t these bloody McCanns go home”. The words hang beneath the word “MADELEINE”, the Express’s bold statement playing at the bold facts.
And there is more from Pagarete. “As a Portuguese person I think it is strange that somebody would leave their kids. Then, after the first thing happened, they left their twins and went to see the Pope. It was like the McCanns on tour.”
The McCanns did meet the Pope. Or, as Mick Hume points out in the Times, “as a BBC headline put it, in a Lloyd-George-knew-my-father moment, ‘Pope meets Madeleine’s parents’.”
That was the private moment played out before millions. The McCanns were doing their bit, getting spiritual succour. But why were we all invited to watch? Were the media outlets going out of their way to help one family or just giving the public what they wanted: grief.
But there was no news. There is no news. All is a public spectacle. And now the lawyer for the only suspect is the bad man who says bad things.
“You would never leave them alone like that in a foreign country and go to have a drink. It is not a normal thing,” says he.
Many may well be appalled. Others will agree with Pagarete. But these words and their reporting add nothing to the case, shed no light on the girl’s disappearance.
In any case, the McCanns aren’t leaving. “I won’t be driven out by bullies,” says Kate McCann on the Mail’s front page. This is the “Kate McCann interview”.
Says she: “Sticks and stones… we will never go through anything worse than being parted from Madeleine. We will not be leaving or be forced out. I am not prepared to be bullied into something that I don’t want to.”
So she won’t go. And tomorrow when it will be 100 days since Madeleine disappeared, the McCanns will be in Praia da Luz. And so too will be the TV cameras and the newspaper reporters.
They will want a story. And they will get balloons, doves and to review an investigation that has turned into voyeurism and entertainment…
Posted: 10th, August 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (239) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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August 11th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I agree Julie…Sounds like Dad McCann wants to know what the police are thinking…..
August 11th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
I too believe that the police have far more information than is even speculated about at the moment. They are never going to release such sensitive information to ANYONE, until the time is right.
Releasing such information would allow those responsible to cover their tracks even further !
August 11th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Mr McCann called for the Portuguese police to be more open with the family.
He told the BBC: “There’s definitely been a shift. They haven’t said that she’s dead, on multiple occasions they (said they) believed they were looking for a missing child, but there’s been a shift.
“I want to see the evidence which has caused their shift because it’s so important to us as parents that if there is evidence, we need to know about it.”
In an interview broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he responded to their treatment in the Portuguese media.
He said: “We know we are absolutely innocent, we have had absolutely amazing support.
“What I would say is that if the focus of the investigation changing leads to finding out what’s happened to Madeleine and recovering her, that’s all we are interested in.
“I would ask people to continue to believe in us and support
I believe the shift is looking into the blood found in the apartment and the info the police may have gotten from the cell phones and texts and emails. Also maybe checking this British man and the other man in hospital after being shot in connection with the missing girl from Switzerland. If that is the case they are not gonna be sharing info with the Mccanns. Let the police do their job. Maybe they figured out that the McCanns publish stuff in the blog and they are on to something and will sit back and watch them and their friends.
Think back to Murat….was it not the mccann friends that said he was there, peeping into the room, saying they KNEW it was him,etc. Now it looks as if he may be innocent?
Like i said before i believe the police have more info and are just waiting on the blood results or watching someone…..
Amazing support…who then wants them to go home??
August 11th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Star,
Yes, agree with you 100 %. Parents of missing children are a mess, they are worried sick, sleep very little, are totally depressed and are basically unable to function with their everyday lives. They do not set up funds to help with the search, globetrot the world and appear on TV made up like movie stars! They can think of nothing else but finding their child, and are more often than not unable to make any rational decisions because of their state of mind.
Another thing that I have found extremely odd in this whole scenario, is that there was a little girl who was a year (and more) younger than Madeleine in the same room. If, someone abducted her because they wanted a child desperately, why not abduct the younger child who would not be able to express herself (and give the “game” away) as much as a child who was almost 4? IF Madeleine was abducted for more sinister reasons (such as a paedophile ring), the younger girl would have ALSO been more suitable for their sick ends … for a paedophile … the younger the better!! (Sorry but I had to put that down to validate my point).
The whole “abduction” story does not gel with me!
August 11th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Julie…..I am in The States and have seen parents of missing children on the news many times…they are a wreck, crying, dark circles under their eyes, pleading for help, pleading to whoever took their children to please bring them back. No make up, their hair a mess.
Each time i see the McCanns I see 2 put together people, sure Kate looks upset when a camera is around, but they have been able to attend the zoo and other things. I keep hearing Dad say we are sure Madeleine is alive and being looked after(how can he make a statement like that?) I can see …we HOPE Madeleine is alive and we hope to have her back with us soon…The lastest thing is the end of the sky vid…..Kate has no emotion, laughs? what is with that? odd very odd people…Dad is more interested in saying that all the speculation about them being involved does not help. Well if the police has FACTS then yes it will help. And mom is busy with the sticks and stones and we will NOT be bullied….Looks like the people of Portugal might be losing interest. Poor Poor Madeleine
August 11th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Mrs M has not acted like a mother whose child has been “abducted” from the beginning. I watched a taped interview with her and Mr M soon after Madeleine went missing. Unlike mothers that my organisation deals with, the mothers of little ones who have gone missing show much more emotion, and are at times uncontrollably hysterical (and understandably so!). Mr & Mrs M do not come across as parents who are sick to death with worry over their little girl. This is my personal opinion of them, and perhaps the answer to this is that they are both, by nature, extremely calm people … who knows?
Molly, I admire you greatly for wanting to take a stand (I quote) :
“One of my personal goals (to be followed up away from the McCann issue and some time in the future when the furore has died down) is to lobby for an amendment to the 1989 Childrens Act which sets into stone appropriate ages at which children can be left alone, with prosecution a very real possibility for those who breach the law.”
Molly, don’t wait for the future, your firm belief in yourself that you can make a difference needs to happen now. (Your actions may prevent another tragedy). A group of concerned parents in my country have also said : ENOUGH! We decided that we were going to do something and not sit on the sidelines and shout the odds anymore. On a daily basis, we search for missing children. We do this out of our own pockets and in any free time that we have. We have also been succesfull in petitioning for a child to be removed from the parental home, because this child wandered away from her home due to pure neglect on the part of her parents. Although the case still has to go to the courts, the child is for the meantime, in a place of safety, and we trust that when the courts hear this case, they will judge in the best interests of the child.
August 11th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Hi Molly and Star,
Just looked at the Times article - was waiting to hear which theory the ex-policeman was going to say he thought was likeliest - but seems he refutes each theory he puts up (even McCanns in theory no.1) He says: “the failure to find the slightest trace of the child three months after she vanished in Praia da Luz weighs heavily against the McCanns, or any of the couples on holiday with them, being involved”.
He also seems to rule out (as likely): a stalking peodophile, a deluded adult, and a thief snatching her for sale - based on the fact she is the ‘wrong age and sex’ (I would question that.)
Finally, even though he says she might have wandered off to find her parents at the tapas bar (assuming she was wearing shoes and they had told her where they were going, he says) - the article ends with him saying “I do not believe that she wandered off and had an accident.”
Seems he doesn’t believe any one of his own theories…
August 11th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Madeleine’s grandparents Brian and Susan Healey manned a stall in the city centre of Liverpool, where they live, on Saturday asking for donations.
The McCanns are living off a ton of money in the Madeleine fund…and they are STILL asking for $$$$?
I dont know, I guess we will have to wait and see what the police have. Maybe they are just watching the McCanns and Friends and waiting on the DNA tests from the blood, and waiting on that man that was shot in the head, and this new mystery man. The only proble is they said that lots of other families have stayed in that room since she went missing…..I would think they would seal that room just in case
August 11th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Ringo…..No it’s a sad fact that children go missing and are abused and neglected and killed in The States also.
I was just remembering a post from someone out of this country that stated it was normal to leave a baby in a pram outside a store to run in and grab a few items. We have had a few children die here recently because one of the parents had them in the car and was suppose to drop them at daycare….instead drove straight to work and left them in the back seat of the car all day in extremely high heat, only to be found when mom called to see where the child was. It was too late for this lil boy!!
August 11th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Molly…..
Very interesting article. Thanks for posting the link!!
I notice that Mark Williams-Thomas lists the abduction theory 3rd and lists her parents being responsible as #1.
If i had to pick, i think i would go with 1 or 2.
Mom McCann seems to be getting an attitude with EVERYONE…sticks and stones, and we will not be bullied into going home…and yes her video comment to her missing daughter was very odd….NOT A TEAR or a plea to whoever may have her, Dad did scratch his nose once.
Time may tell what happen to Madeleine…..
A while back i read a post that stated there was road work going on near the apartment Madeleine is missing from, they had dug the road up for sewers? and then the road was filled back in?…..I wonder if there is any truth in that and if these areas were searched.
It may sound silly but have they tried a physic? Have seen Sylvia Brown here in the states. Profilers are very good at reading people. Wonder if any have spoken to Kate and Gerry. I have not read about 100 days missing…will have to check the blog…..
August 11th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
A very interesting, and impartial, article in today’s Times… well worth a read whatever your stance and beliefs about this case:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2237613.ece?Submitted=true
August 11th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Being a mother myself, I cannot believe how anyone could leave 3 children alone. I certainly would not look to her as my Doctor for advice, she can’t even look after her own children.
I agree with others that her interview when asked if she’d got a message for Madeleine, her response was not a natural one. Most mothers would have taken the opportunity to plead for the return of their child and smother their child in words such as: We love you so much, we want you home, we are searching everywhere for you etc… NOT - We love her but she knows that.
Who can tell what state that little girls mind is in, how do we know what she has been through. Some simple comforting words might be just what she needs.
After all, I think it is “Madeleine” we are all concerned for, not her silly irresponsible Mum and Dad who call themselves Parents.
August 11th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
How can this be said?
One theory visual I looked at it and looked at it but have seen worse in person twice and knew it right away. Without being actual it is harder to get a grip on so that is the best guess. I am curious what other people say who might know actually? Maybe trying to figure this part is the source of absorbing the bad nerves. The rest is easier.
Every morning, somewhere around 4 give or take, and sometimes other hours just having absorbed so much of the story end up with shakes. It is like being real freaked out for no other reason at least. Where is the therapy lady? lol
Odd but initially I didn’t respond to this case thinking it was a long way off. There is the aspect of the profile picture of Madeleine that brings the mother instincts out I guess. Usually there is the general interest other than a close by type situation. So many in the public connected with Madeleine, which is a good thing.
Each attempt to quit worrying my husband puts me back in front of the computer. That is strange too or he knows so much about the case from having to listen he is curious. He has a theory about one circumstance which will be interesting.
Ringo, Americans are adapted to crime. Whatever you have to do to survive. People will say too much too little too thick too thin too early too late just do what you need to do. So, the McCanns did too little some say but otherwise it would be too much.
True whoever posted children more dangerous in traffic but you can’t leave them in the car either see? Everyone makes mistakes too but hopefully not learn the hard way as the McCanns. My guess is they experienced a life changing event.
Note: Some aspects of the crimes involving Madeleine’s abduction appear different than the typical what I notice over here. That probably gives a clue what is going on in some way. Most often here people don’t appear killing each other around it, extra guns involved or whatever…
Would someone please think of something interesting to tell me? Later tonight.
August 11th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
I’ll second that Saddened - Thank you for such a balanced and thought provoking post.
I do also believe that this whole case, and the way in which it has been presented to us, has raised far reaching questions which go way beyond Madeleine’s actual disappearance - and that it is also these questions and the debate/divide that they have highlighted which keep speculation and interest going.
Primarily among these is the matter of what exactly DOES constitute ‘responsible parenting’. UK law is ridiculously fuzzy about the matter, and opinion seems to be sharply divided. One of my personal goals (to be followed up away from the McCann issue and some time in the future when the furore has died down) is to lobby for an amendment to the 1989 Childrens Act which sets into stone appropriate ages at which children can be left alone, with prosecution a very real possibility for those who breach the law. It is becoming obvious that leaving such decisions to parents and woolly ‘guidance’ is simply not working.
Another issue is that of Official involvement and assistance in cases of missing children - with the McCanns we have seen a level of Govt intervention that is un-precedented, and that has certainly not been carried over even to other children who have vanished during the last 100 days. This is completely un-acceptable, and a definitive policy (much like the US Amber Alert) needs to be set into place to ensure that ALL missing children and their families receive the same level of treatment and care as each other, regardless of circumstances or status.
Regardless of the truth behind Madeleine’s disappearance, and whether or not the truth is ever discovered, I believe that paedophilia - not the media’s version of the lurking predator waiting to snatch your child - needs to be discussed openly and honestly. The real danger to over 90% of children lies within their immediate circle, a fact which Tabloid Hysteria sucessfully shrouds. Laws involving Sex Offender Registers and open information about the whereabouts of Offenders can only go so far… especially since less than 10% of active paedophiles are ever caught, convicted and placed on such records (incidentally - how many people are aware that whilst Madeleine Frenzy has been going on, and MP’s wore yellow ribbons, Sarah’s Law quietly failed to pass through Parliament?).
ALL of our children need to be educated about how to keep themselves safe…appropriate and inappropriate touching; good and bad secrets; what to do and who to tell if an adult makes them feel uncomfortable as a matter of course. At the very least, this programme (already in place with Social Services) should be part of the National Curriculum from age 4 onwards, and informational leaflets for parents as to how to implement the programme themselves, and as to the depth of the problem, should be widely distributed. Perhaps by reducing the number of available targets, the number of victims can be reduced and the number of offenders caught be increased.
For me, Madeleine’s Legacy will be in pursuing these issues in their own right.
August 11th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Thank you Saddened. What a considered and thoughtful post. You have put everything into perspective for me.
August 11th, 2007 at 8:21 am
Well, I suppose it is rather odd that people who can believe in shrines and miracles and the power of prayer don’t want the help of someone who thinks he has predictive dreams, now I come to think about it, but since I don’t believe in any of that I just write it all off as superstitious, illogical nonsense, I’m afraid.
I have no idea whatsoever what happened in Portugal that night, and it seems that not many other people do either; certainly not the media. Using the principle of Occam’s Razor (all things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one) it seems to me highly unlikely that her parents had any hand in her (highly probable) death, especially given their behaviour (wise, tasteful or otherwise) since. Even if one of them had accidentally caused her death, and somehow managed to spirit the body away and rapidly rustle up a conspiracy of 9 people, it seems more likely that the better strategy would have been one distraught media interview and then home to quiet privacy, and the less fuss the better. The only caveat here would be if the media circus had been started in Britain, without their knowledge, and they just found themselves unable to stop it. But that doesn’t really seem very probable at all.
Taking an interest in a story like this is rather unusual for me - only because these things do happen, sadly but very rarely (most child abductions are divorcing parents snatching their own). Stranger abductions usually have the same tragic outcome, and very quickly, unless it is done by those longing for a child (but you’d have taken one of the twins, not articulate Madeleine), and I have long thought that this was probably the awful outcome here. I think what grabs everyone is the odd behaviour of the McCann party, and I don’t mean just the media circus.
I think the McCann’s realised very quickly that under Portuguese law they would be liable to prosecution for child neglect, that that would ruin their careers, and they and their friends have tried to suppress this aspect of the case. And as for emails and phone calls between them indicating that they know the child is dead - well, that’s hardly surprising after 100 days, is it?
I also think the Portuguese Police, who have endured a media circus and imputations of incompetence, will not be very forgiving if they can prove that the McCann party fudged aspects of evidence which would suggest neglect. I wouldn’t be surprised if, as well as pursuing what leads they have over her disappearance, they aren’t also preparing charges against her parents of neglect and obstruction. Which will lead to a very messy and unsatisfactory outcome if, as is likely, they never manage either to find Madeleine, or charge anyone with abduction / murder. And in that case, Mr. Murat, even if cleared as a suspect by the Police, will find that for the rest of his life, many people will continue to believe he did it. Poor man.
August 11th, 2007 at 8:05 am
From the begining I felt The McCanns should have done more with the donations to hire serious investigators. They had all the support. They could have gotten an undercover agent to go into the depths of hell to find there daughter. Ballons, bracelets, visits to the Pope. This does not sound like parents who have there piorities in order or have been given good advice. In the first week Gerry McCann said he would wait before doing anything more substantive. Why? He repeatedly says the case is making progress. How? He knows she is alive.where?100 days and she can’t be found. Someone knows something.
August 11th, 2007 at 7:48 am
Feeling…
Police are covering up something. You don’t question someone as a suspect for 3 months, let them go (or let the news fizzle on them), then decide to say well the parents must have done something to Madeleine.
3 children and parents and other people were in that room. They found specks of blood and ASSUME it was Madeleine’s and that she died in the apartment. Like I’ve said before, I have had cuts on fingers, etc. Might have gotten specks of blood on something and then ummmm Yes I would clean it up!! Doesn’t mean I am dead!!!
Also Surely - a black volvo could be traced by the info given to them by the witness. Surely if the people driving that volvo were innocent, they would have come forward and said it was them that was there that night at the restaurant.
Either police have no clue what they are doing or they are covering up something.
August 11th, 2007 at 7:08 am
Murat is a suspect. No he isn’t. Yes he is….
The McCanns always claimed the police were doing a great job and said there were things they were not allowed to discuss but that they WERE making progress.
Well? Seems as though the wool was pulled over their eyes because every time I read an article the police are stalling again. They again have nothing.
The McCanns sought help from the public to find their daughter. Not to be ridiculed. They can’t turn back time. They can’t undo a mistake.
Those who judge the McCanns for leaving their children (instead of focusing on the case) have never made a mistake and must be holier than thou.
They are giving it a bad name???? They went THERE on vacation. That is where their child was STOLEN. Maybe the idiot that took her was from THERE. Seems to me Prai Da Luz had a bad name to begin with - it’s just coming to light now since this case was made so public.
One thing I do not understand is that the McCanns have declined help from Brian. He’s the Dreams/Prediction expert that feels he can help them find Madeleine but they declined because of religious beliefs???? Can’t for the love of Pete figure that one out.
Good night all - PRAY hard for Madeleine to be found alive and safe.
August 11th, 2007 at 4:42 am
Ok i believe they have cleared Murta….
that leaves the following:
-Kate and Gerry McCann
(The Portuguese press are reporting this evening that the country’s police knew a month ago that Madeleine was dead, and the paper ‘Diario de Noticias’ says that parents Kate and Gerry are back on the suspects list, according to a police source quoted by the paper.)
-The McCann’s friends who were on Holiday with them
(cell phones, texts and emails between the friends and the McCanns have been bugged by police)
-Urls Hans Von Aesch
(With reports of blood now being found in the McCann’s holiday apartment in Portugal coinciding with claims that Urls Hans Von Aesch was on the Algarve at the time that Madeleine disappeared, speculation is now rife as to whether he could have been involved in the McCann case too.)
-Unnamed British man
(The paper also claims that there is a new suspect who they describe as bring a British man of African origin.
I pray God keeps Madeleine and the lil missing girl from Switzerland safe and brings them home soon!!
August 11th, 2007 at 3:44 am
I guess we will all have to wait and see what happens. Yes, the Mccanns left there children alone…but that is done and over with. The main thing now is did they have anything to do with Madeleine being missing? All the talk about the police “bugging” the McCann’s and their friends phones. Do they have legitimate info? The video with Mom Mccann was odd. That lil laugh and not looking into the camera. I dont know. I guess none of us know. But some where someone knows what happen to Madeleine. I hope we find out and i pray that she is alive and well.
August 11th, 2007 at 3:23 am
What helps are pictures Anorak
August 11th, 2007 at 3:21 am
I can think of a possible look out person other than Murat.
August 11th, 2007 at 3:16 am
Okay could there have been a peadophile convention at the Algarve?
August 11th, 2007 at 2:31 am
OK night Colette. Rather differing than convenient!
August 11th, 2007 at 2:23 am
not gone yet, yes was rather garbled.
to cut short: i thought murat’s alibi rather convenient for him, that’s all.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:20 am
OK? Goodnight…gulp!
August 11th, 2007 at 2:18 am
Sorry Colette, don’t follow the last bit.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:16 am
Don’t want to point fingers, just having fun!
Gnight.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:13 am
Is there a rating for alibis?
If two people can give you an alibi then that’s stronger than one person giving you an alibi right? And if a stranger can give you an alibi, then that would be stronger than a family member’s alibi?
And if your alibi involved going to bed early (with no one checking you weren’t crying!) then that wouldn’t be as strong as an alibi that has someone seeing you all night long…? Lots of (in fact several) hours missing there… (as opposed to just the one).