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
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September 11th, 2007 at 4:25 am
hi everyone. i’m finally back from my trip out west. what a vacation. rocky mountain spotted fever and loads of rattle snakes galore. got some great photos of endangered species. hope to sell them to national geographic. heard the mccans are finally caught redhanded.just as i thought it would happen while i was gone. i predicted it would end this way.
hello to pat and tessa. look forward to catching up soon on madeleine gossip!
September 11th, 2007 at 4:17 am
1214 - The clue is at the zoo.
In the mouth of a lion, in cage number two.
??????????????????????????????
September 11th, 2007 at 4:07 am
What do the posters make of this article? Please comment:
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/featuresopinon/display.var.1678614.0.0.php
September 11th, 2007 at 4:02 am
1213 - Or maybe you can serve the sentence out for them? That would keep you off the streets
and off the forums. LOL!!
September 11th, 2007 at 3:56 am
Thanks so far!
September 11th, 2007 at 3:55 am
According to Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic expert on DNA, a toxicology report on the blood found in the trunk of the car, can reveal whether or not there were drugs in the system of the deceased. Even 25 days later when the body has already started to badly decompose. If sedatives were given to Madeleine, this can be traced in the DNA and this information may very well already be in the dossier of reports which the PJ are presenting to the DA tomorrow.
Interviews with the Mccanns from the summer mos have been replayed all evening. The Body language of the two is not looking good. Kate does not look up or into the camera for one minute. No eye contact. Her eyes dart all over the room and on the floor. But she never looks directly at the interviewer or the camera. She blinks a lot too. The body language experts suggests she’s hiding something. The clues have been there all along. But no one could have believed.
September 11th, 2007 at 3:44 am
1230 -That’s strange! But here’s something stranger: I had a dream about Mods and Admin coming to get me in the middle of the night while I slept. Like body snatchers. And I don’t even know what they look like. Now that’s even stranger. What does it all mean???!!!
September 11th, 2007 at 3:09 am
Too late for me too, goodnight.
September 11th, 2007 at 3:08 am
… And ‘national interest’ is one of the key factors determining the choice of jurisdiction if it’s shared between signatories of the Framework Convention. That might also explain the otherwise strange involvement of senior government and legal figures on both sides.
Not saying it will happen, just that it might, and quite a few things would fall into place if this was going on behind the scenes.
September 11th, 2007 at 3:07 am
It may seem a little far-fetched to some, but if the McCann’s are really the McConn’s, then the first thing they would have done is pay off a local church to bury their daughter. Seems like there was an unusual episode early on when Mr. McCann’s stuffed-to-the-brim??? wallet went missing.
September 11th, 2007 at 3:03 am
Martin - surely not: Expedience before Justice? How cynical
September 11th, 2007 at 3:01 am
Interesting ‘talking’ to you, Martin…quem sabe o que passera? Sorry, I meant to say “who knows what will happen?”…I’m tired and slipping into Portuguese! Fact will surely be stranger than fiction. And public opinion will be as changeable as the British weather. Time to turn in! Good night!
September 11th, 2007 at 2:59 am
1234: My impression is that the Portuguese press, along with the Portuguese government and tourist industry, might be very happy to get rid of the McCanns - any sentence would be served in Briatin anyway.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:57 am
1233 - precisely - if Portugal tried to insist on their jurisdiction, and it was contested by the McCann’s elite lawyers.
So (just maybe) they’re cooking up a way around that, by allowing arrest, charge and trial in England. It would solve so many problems.
Only one possibility, but it certainly makes some sense of the otherwise strange interventions by Portuguese and British authorities at the very highest level.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:57 am
“If the Portuguese surrendered their default territorial jurisdiction to English personal jurisdiction, that would certainly silence all the British tabloid complaints about defective Portuguese justice, wouldn’t it?”
Well, yes, it might…but why would we assume that the Portuguese legal authorities would be at all concerned about the views of the British tabloids? (It is very easy to counter with “at least we don’t shoot dead innocent people entering a Lisbon metro station”…). They might be more concerned about the views in the Portuguese press.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:51 am
1226 - interesting. I posted 1227 before I read your 1226…
Put simply, lawyers could tie this legal process up for years before a satisfactory outcome was reached….YUK…!
September 11th, 2007 at 2:48 am
Open Mind:
If the Portuguese surrendered their default territorial jurisdiction to English personal jurisdiction, that would certainly silence all the British tabloid complaints about defective Portuguese justice, wouldn’t it?
Just a possibility, but like the possibility that the McCann’s were responsible for involuntary manslaughter and a cover-up, it would explain an otherwise rather strange pattern (here, in the judical proceedings).
September 11th, 2007 at 2:44 am
1230:
U r nuts
September 11th, 2007 at 2:41 am
I have been so obsessed w/ this whole Madeleine Mccann tragedy that this morning, when I was in the shower and closed my eyes to wash my face, I felt she was in the room.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:40 am
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91210-1283521,00.html?f=vg
“However Alipio Ribeiro, head of the investigative Policia Judiciaria (PJ), suggested the forensic tests had not been conclusive.
He told Portuguese state broadcaster RTP: “We can’t say with certainty whether it was the blood of person ‘A’ or person ‘B’.”.”
–
Looks like this latest evidence might slip off the “Teflon 2″ as well.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:39 am
September 11th, 2007 at 2:37 am
Martin,
The Guardian reports the following:
—>> Portugal’s assistant attorney general confirmed that British officers could be called upon to question the McCanns on behalf of their Portuguese colleagues.
“This is the most usual procedure when people involved in certain investigations in Portugal are outside the country,” Antonio Cluny told Publico newspaper. “That is what we will possibly see the next time the police or the prosecutor’s office wish to talk to the couple.”
This would only happen if Portuguese detectives had additional questions for them and the McCanns broke a pledge to return if asked.—->>
THis does not mean that there would be a failure to press ahead with charges, should there be enough evidence to proceed, it means that the police forces would cooperate given that the suspects are in a different jurisdiction from where the alledged offence took place.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:36 am
… And though there’s no jury in the Portuguese system, there are ‘lay assessors’ who sit with the judges. And Pinto de Abreu could argue that the McCann’s human rights would be infringed in various ways by trial in Portugal (not understanding the language, being separated from their young children &c &c).
I also imagine that the need for a unanimous jury verdict in England, and the inadmissability of intercept evidence might easily be factors in what the Americans call ‘forum shopping’ where there is concurrent jurisdiction.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:32 am
oh, no it doesn’t on te dns info above but it does on my dns tracer??????
September 11th, 2007 at 2:31 am
Open mind: yes, it would normally be very straightforward with a EAW, but have you taken into account the fact that in this case there’s concurrent jurisdiction - do some research. Of course territorial jurisdiction is the default, but in this case, the DPP and Portuguese AG might agree (as, according to the Convention, they can) to allow English personal jurisdiction to take precedence.
I think that perhaps this has been on the table for some time, and would explain the choice of Pinto de Abreu and Capaln.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:30 am
hey have another look at that dns info above, the domain was registered on the 7 of maythats like 3 days after the event, since it takes 24-48 hours, its a bit soon isn’t it
September 11th, 2007 at 2:26 am
AHA…
“But the Attorney-General, Pinto Monteiro, travelled from Lisbon to Portimao for a private meeting with the McCanns’ lawyer, Carlos Pinto de Abreu. Portuguese newspapers said some form of “deal” was struck.”
Since any initial decision as to where to hold a trial would be agreed (following the new ‘Framework Convention’ for inter-EU extradition in effect from 2004) in discussions between Pinto Monteiro and the English DPP, this could perhaps expalin the strange meeting of Pinto Monteiro and Pinto de Abreu last Thurday.
Note that the Times article says that some of the investigation is already being handed over to the Leicestershire police.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:25 am
and it could be lord lucans but its not
September 11th, 2007 at 2:25 am
Which means that the twins need to get tested..and this whole ordeal may take a Long time.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:24 am
bearing in mind this was on the 15-16 may i guess i could prolly mention it again now