
Madeleine McCann: Suspects Kate And Gerry And The Flight Of Fancy
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
THE SUN front page: “EXCLUSIVE – ‘We’re being set up. I’ve had enough. Let’s go home.’” This is the “ANGER OF MADDIE DAD.”
Gerry and Kate McCann, “the doctors”, are back in their home town of Rothley, Leicestershire.
Pages 4, 5, 6 & 7: A statement from Gerry McCann in which he thanks one and all for the support and adds: “But we would like to ask for our privacy to be respected now that we have returned home.”
But their private grief is public spectacle. Can they be left alone with their daughter still missing and their campaign to find her in progress?
“YOU’LL LOSE THE TWINS.” Portuguese police are said to have told Kate McCann she should confess or face losing her two children.
“FACT OR FIT-UP?” The Sun considers the claims and gives each an “EXPLANATION.”
THE SUN SAYS: “McCanns’ hell”. The McCann’s “torment gets more horrendous by the day.” Where is the “kidnapper who might still have the four-year-old child in his clutches?”
THE TIMES front page: “McCanns fly home to fights their case.”
Mr McCann says the police’s focus on them is “deeply disturbing”.
Portuguese newspapers claim the McCanns failed to answer 40 questions put to them during interviews last week. “They apparently feared that they could wrongly implicate themselves if he [sic] did so.”
Pages 6 & 7: “Puzzles and mysteries at the very heart of the investigation.”
The paper tries to answer some of these questions. It tells us: “Although a small child could be killed quickly it would take time to hide the body so that it was not discovered in the biggest search in Portuguese history.”
The paper’s David Brown does not reveal how he researched this. He just knows.
The window to the McCanns apartment might have been opened from the inside. Brown of the Wapping Yard concludes: “Or was the window opened to make it appear as if an intruder had used it to enter the bedroom?”
Hmmm. What say you Mr Brown?
DAILY MAIL front page: “Police are determined to charge McCanns with killing Madeleine. HOME…FOR HOW LONG?”
Mr McCann is said to have told a friends: “We are being completely stitched up by the Portuguese police. We are completely f*****. We should have seen this coming weeks ago and gone back to Britain.”
Pages 2 and 3: “Madeleine’s parents consult Pinochet’s lawyer.” The McCanns have consulted with Michael Caplan QC, the British lawyer who represented Chilean dictator General Pinochet, who stood accused to torture and human rights abuses. Interesting?
Pages 4 & 5: “Questions the police must answer.”
The paper wonders if Robert Murat was named as a suspect in the hope his presence might “lead the couple into committing an incriminating indiscretion?” Or not.
In attempting to answer the key questions, the Mail produces more questions.
And the evidence..? The paper’s Michael Hanson wonders just how “foolproof” forensic tests are. You can’t argue with the science. Or can you?
DAILY MIRROR front page: “Kate weeps in Maddy’s room.”
The paper’s “EXCLUSIVE” is that Kate McCann sat alone in Madeleine’s “pink-painted room” and “sobbed in despair”.
How does it know this?
A friend says: “They are not running and will clear their names.”
Pages 4 & 5: Four pictures of the McCanns: arriving at Faro airport; boarding a flight,;on the plane getting ready for take off; and walking to their family home in Rothley.
Pages 6 & 7: “40 questions they both ‘refused’ to answer’.” And: “Officers say her replies left a lot to be desired, ‘it was claimed.’”
“McCANNS FACE KILLING CHARGE.”
“WHY COPS THINK SHE WAS NOT ABDUCTED.”
Page 9: Brian Reade has a daughter the same age as Madeleine McCann. Brian, who writes for the Mirror, has found it “impossible to imagine the depth of pain and guilt”. Without a body, says Brian, “They may never be able to prove their total and complete innocence.”
DAILY EXPRESS front page: “MADELEINE ‘WE CAN PROVE PARENTS DID IT.’ Portuguese police make dramatic new claim over evidence.”
Pages 2, 3 4, 5: The paper’s Martin Evans is on flight EZY 6552. He sees the McCanns travel home. He experiences “first hand…Kate’s pain and anguish on that most difficult of journeys”.
The seatbelts sign goes off. A note is passed to Kate. It is from another passenger. Kate reads the “simple message” of support. “A female passenger kneels by Kate and gives her a “tight hug.”
Kate sobs, “tears dripping slowly down her cheeks”.
Page 6: “Questions for the McCanns.” The Express has a go at solving the mystery. It says “Case could hang over us for ever say parents”.
DAILY STAR front page: “Maddie’s parents surprise flight.” Flight?
Pages 6 & 7: “We’re not running away.”
Page 7: More from Martin Evans, who sees the McCanns’ “pained expressions”.
Pages 8 & 9: “Furious donors want cash back as pressure mounts on friends to reveal all. DAD: I’LL USE £1M MADDIE FUND TO CLEAR OUR NAMES.”
DAILY TELEGRAPH front page: “Year-long wait for McCanns to clear name.”
Says Kate McCann: “Portuguese law prohibits us from commenting on the police investigation. Despite their being so much we wish to say we are unable to do so except to say this: we have played no part in the disappearance of our lovely daughter Madeleine.”
Page 4: “Couple facing a ‘life sentence of grief’.”
THE GUARDIAN front page: “Exhausted and under suspicion, Madeleine’s family come home.”
Pages 2, 4 & 5: “Rothley villagers relieved to see family return.”
“Thank goodness. They’re back where they belong and it’s the best place they could possibly be,” says one young mother.
The Rev Mark Chandler adds: “My every sense tells me that Rothley is just pleased and relieved to have them back.”
THE INDEPENDENT front page: “130 days since they left for a family holiday, the McCanns return to Britain without Madeleine. This is “THE HOMECOMING”.
Pages 2 & 3: “A shattered family returns to Britain without Madeleine”. “Portugal’s media clamour for conviction”.
Says one mother holidaying in Praia da Luz: “You don’t want to believe the worst but when you read headlines like these [in Portuguese media], obviously one conclusion seems more likely than another.”
Says the Diario de Noticia: “PJ wait for final examinations to arrest Madeleine’s parents.”
Madeleine McCann: private grief as public spectacle
Posted: 10th, September 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,280) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments





September 10th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
(1060) m_taliking
See the Legend above
September 10th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
1057. If there was DNA from blood in the space the space tyre normally goes, maybe it wasn’t a spare tyre in there.
I have never quite bought into the idea that the parents were responsible, because I’ve never really seen how they could dispose of the body.
A hire car could be driven all over Portugal and beyond without anyone checking the spare tyre compartment.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Evolution has designed us to subliminally learn about the trustworthiness of other human beings. This inbuilt ability is there (like everything else we evolved) because it obviously has strong survival value.
It gives us the result of its subconscious analysis as intuition. It is likely to be more reliable as we get older, and gain more experience of others. There is no reason to claim it as the prerogative of people in certain professions, as a previous poster suggested.
I think it is too simple to say that the McCann’s don’t show enough emotion - responses can be different. But the fact that so many of us (myself included) have felt that “something is wrong” in their behaviour, even right from the beginning, is I think very significant. And events are seeming to confirm it so far.
My 92 year old mother declared them guilty after as little as 30seconds of their first TV interview. Though she can’t tell you exactly why. And nor can I.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Spare tyre theory - wouldn’t the dogs have picked up on that.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Ok my Catalan isn’t that good and McQ isn’t a brilliant film anyway so I thought I’d put this out there and see what people think.
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/09/06/google-earth-being-used-to-find-steve-fossett/
If, as Mr Branson (or is it Sir now?) seems to think that the images used by google earth are good enough and current enough to help in the search for his missing friend is it not possible that they (or similar) could be used to find out the movements of the hire car?
It’s a long shot I know but worth a try?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
good point, pete, i’ve hidden a number of things in car tyres before, you can get a fair amount in there
September 10th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Were the names of all the 4 couples who went on holiday together ever disclosed…
1) we have the Mccann’s
2) I’ve heard/seen pics’s of three other women.
3) I’ve heard of another doctor in the party… who was nipping back and forth to attend to his daughter who was sick and vomiting… (heck you just stay with her wouldn’t you?)
What about the other two men left… have they every had their names revealed?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
(1048) pete
Quite possibly spot on. It is my belief that one of the Teflon 2 will crack and reveal all to save their own skin, probably Gerry, as I think only one of them is responsible for the death of Madeleine.
I also think that one or more of the Tapas 9 - perhaps Fork Tongue or Doctor Death - will also crack, and I believe that one, or both, of these two is involved in the sedation/hiding/moving the body.
Pressure from the police with leaks, accusations, threats of imprisonment and now the DNA and intercept evidence will be their mental undoing.
My prediction?
The Ice Maiden for manslaughter
The Whining Midget for perverting the course of justice, fraud and small issues.
Doctor Death for assisted manslaughter, perverting the course of justice
Fork Tongue for perverting the course of justice
Auntie Phil for eating too many Cream Cakes, Doner Kebabs and flame grilled Whoppers
September 10th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Interesting, pete.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Simon - Spare tyre? Am I missing the point!!
September 10th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
What if the body was put INSIDE a spare tyre?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Chopper 175….. I saw on a c4 news slot that this year it is 16 missing kids in UK…Compared to say South Africa or Asia it is a drop in ocean.Who speaks and donates for them.????
September 10th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
I agree your explanation is most likely.
Although, are you implying sexual abuse of Madeleine?
Because while that’s a possibility, I think it more likely they were covering up that she was drugged, which would be awful by itself.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
moriarty, you better add the ‘keystone wops’
September 10th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
ok here goes…implicitly of course
Apart from the ’sedation accidentally’ theory where they chose suddenly to not accept the wrap and dispose of a loving daughter to save their careers, I feel that this doesnt quite add up as logical, especially getting others to concur and to subsequently behave so relatively composed. Though it may be true.
I prefer the more logical line that they HAD to dispose of the body. I would be interested to know if anyone agrees with that logic, irrespective of the more disturbing path that may take us down.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
I wonder if a spare tyre was spotted leaning against a wall back in May/June for three weeks? Four weeks tops…
September 10th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
Robert Murat aka Lee Harvey Oswald aka Roger Rabbit.
Hire Car > used before in JFKs presidential motorcade.
Pope > piously furious, probably reads Anorak opinions and jiggied the Vatican website so as not to be seen to be offering pontifical support to the sinners.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
I don’t know if the Jo Moore thing reached the States?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
re emotions. Your mind will switch off for a while to prevent you going mad in a very stressful situation, but not for 4 months after the event.
To me that meant the main stress was caused by the possibility of being found out, and was continuous.
I think Gerry ‘came round’ as he was reading out his statement on landing…the first sign of any emotion.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
I’m glad social services is involved. Parents who have harmed their child in the past, allegedly, and who are under enormous stress now is NOT the safest place for kids.
I hope there is a safe family environment they can stay for now. In any even, I don’t think they should be with the McCanns.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Go in peace, Anita Roddick.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
BBC TV now discussing possible Social Services action over the twins after meeting today.
They stress this is standard procedure once someone becomes a suspect, and “doesn’t imply any wrong doing at all”
September 10th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
No one suggested it did. You mentioned your a peace activist — which has nothing to do with the McCann’s. And I offered a suggestion how you could help your country’s home remain at peace — which has nothing to do with the McCann’s.
Commenting on issues of war and peace immediately after someone mentions they are a “peace activist” isn’t an “abnormal thought process”.
The stretch of “reasoning” one has to engage in to believe peace is brought by activists or to quote this false figures you quoted with all your feminist nonsense about how men are always (99.99%) at fault here — when they’re usually at fault, but not always — is the “abnormal thought process”.
Goodnight and enjoy your Slushie as I shall mine.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
I see the death of Body Shop founder Anita Roddick has pushed “Maddie” off my Sky News Vista Gadget as the top news story so I’m guessing that there won’t be any more updates until tomorrow.
Guess it’s back to watching McQ in Catalan for me then.
I’m glad I stumbled across this forum though. It really does save a lot of trawling the internet for information.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
1031 - Absolutely correct. I still have my daughter’s puffy bear after 20 years. It will never see a washing machine.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
Are there any LURKERS here who haven’t posted but would like to contribute on topic ?
Who might like to hazard a guess on who might have hidden the body and where. Retrieved it why and how ?
We could do with a few more posters more interested in the case than themselves and each other, in my opinion.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
(1030) And Justice blah blah
How gullible are you??
September 10th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
1032 - Thank you for saying this. I lost a boyfriend in the Twin Towers that day.
My life was pretty much a train wreck for 4 or so years afterwards. Just now pulling it all together. It was devastating. To say the least.
Goodnite and God Bless everyone….
-Justice for All.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Sorry if I missed it, but what happened to the original rumour that
Madeleine might have wandered off and fallen down that big hole in the
road that was filled in the day afterwards? All this DNA business seems
to be rather prone to contamination.
As for emotions…I honestly feel that I would act weird
in the McCanns’ circumstances. A minority of people are very calm in a
crisis, so although it’s unusual it’s not entirely abnormal I think.
I just wonder if we have a case of (probably) negligent parents,
(possibly) unfortunate accident, (possibly) rather eager police trying out
new fancy forensic technology, and a lot of heartache and misunderstanding all round?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
How long did it take to dry cuddly rabbit…? would this be top of your list of things to do when your daughters gone missing?