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
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September 10th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
613 - This is precisely what makes this case so fascinating. Either that incredible scenario is true, or the police are making a mistake of monumental proportions. There is no middle ground. It must resolve one way or the other. You couldn’t make it up!
September 10th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
I don’t think you have all the details right, Java, as we’re also discussing other theories including more sinister: Like drugging the children.
I can, and do, believe that is possible. Terrible things happen. They don’t just happen — they are done.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Character Legend Update
Gerry McCann - The Whining Midget
Kate McCann - The Ice Maiden
Auntie Phil - Mark F (as in one size larger than a Marquee…)
Inspector Sousa - Clouseau
PJ - The Lying Squad
Jane Tanner - The Illusionist
Justine McGuiness - Comical Ali
The McCanns & Holiday Friends - Tapas 9
The Whining Midget and the Ice Maiden - Teflon 2 or Tapas 2
Auntie Phil (again) - Tapas 9 Meals
Robert Murat - The Patsy
Daily Express - The Worlds Greatest Newspaper
Distance Between Tapas Bar & Apartment - The Grassy Knoll
September 10th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Brooksie 541
What on earth do you mean ’she’? wherever did that come from?
Have I ever said I’m a she? In fact have I ever said I’m a he? In fact do any of us really know who anyone is on here?
I have been accused many times of being Gerry just because I didn’t run with the pack…… I could be Tony Blair, The Pope, Princess Di on her laptop in Harvey Nicks…..
lets face it, I could be anyone at all! Be afraid, be very afraid!
September 10th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Ooh, ouch, biting Anna 608. And entirely right.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Apart from making a serious mistake with their child care procedure, the McCanns seems to have done nothing wrong. Or do you really believe the following:
- while Gerry was playing tennis, Kate killed her daughter (by accident or otherwise)
- they together found a place to hide her body (somewhere outside their apartment)
- went for a dinner with friends
- created a story she was abducted
- started the biggest publicity campaign in the known history with all possible attention drawn to them
- kept the body three weeks in a freezer (or kept a rotting body in Portugal summer heat if they did not have a freezer big enough)
- rented a car and sneaked out to dispose the frozen or rotting body
Seriously, like the McCanns or not, you cannot believe this kind of story.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
They are also under time limits to get a judge involved.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Marc (582)
I’m not in Portugal unfortunately - but I’ll have a stab at answering your questions (hypothetically of course)
How did they hide the body from the huge manhunt when, presumably, less familiar to the area? It not being found is a major bit of luck….
There are plenty of places that a body might have been hidden - including their own apartment, which at that point was strictly off limits to the PJ who were being forced to pussyfoot around them by the British Establishment.
… so why did they move it three weeks later? And how could they not be seen - they must have been one of the most scrutinsed couples on earth (and, presumably, under police surveillance)
They hired that car the day before they went to see the Pope - some of the original Tapas 9 were in Portugal then - who says that the McCanns themselves used the car? All media attention was conveniently on the Vatican that day.
Why is there blood in a car from a 3-week old body (which, presumably, doesn’t bleed)?
Ahhh … the Portuguese reports say ‘body fluids’ not blood.
Smell of death - this lingers for a long time. They are doctors and presumably been around a lot of it.
Ummm - Kate is a locum GP who works 2 days a week - unless she is Harold Shipman, how many dead bodies can there be??? I know I have to wait a long time to see my GP, but I have yet to notice people dying during the wait
Even if she had certified a death or two before going to Portugal… most deaths are certified less than 2 hours after death (therefore no ‘death’ odour), most doctors merely listen to the heart and check for breathing (not much opportunity for aquiring an odour onto clothes), and why would she be wearing jeans to visit patients - even dead ones - let alone carrying Cuddle Cat and a bible!
September 10th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Forget the Tapas 2… Make that the Teflon 2.. LOL
September 10th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I also read that the prosecutor can take months to make up his/her mind. So I wouldn’t be holding my breath.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
573. I wish the McCann’s would do something honorable like what you have suggested. And no one should be allowed to question their public charge that the Portuguese/British police are incompetent. After all, if anyone out there knows something about incompetence, it is the McCann’s who have given the whole world a lesson in how not to care for small children.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
http://elmerqgooseburger.blogspot.com/search/label/Madeleine%20McCann
September 10th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I’ve just read that the Portuguese police are giving the papers to the prosecutor today. They must feel they have reasonably good evidence against the McCanns.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
I don’t know where the “591″ came from above. It was said by Penster and it was 601.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Lately? Like wot, you mean lately as in hours or some longer more reasonable period of time?
(Gee, I’m an addict.)
September 10th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
(596) Chopper
Nice one.. no that would have been the “Tapas 9 Meals”
September 10th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
(594) Chopper
I dont think so. Whether they had the fund or not they still had the publicity. the fund did not pay for the publicity or the world tour because we are told that they have only spent £70,000 on natty little wrist bands.. much like the natty little wrist bands we were all wearing a couple of years back when Blair and the G8 lied to us about what they were gonna do for world poverty.
If you want to hush something up - manufacture some natty little wrist bands. I bet Brady & Hindley wish they had thought of that
So in answer Chopper… not in my opinion. At the end of the day a little girl is missing, presumed dead and they are looking more and more culpable.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
591 Moriaty, the family have not been sprouting facts lately have they? This case has more twists and turns than Cirque du Soleil so it would not surprise me if the visits to Vatican City was to distract the press from more subtle maneuvers like PI’s … god what am I talking about. Good night.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
That’s what I thought too. I was shocked when I learned their three year old daughter was left alone with younger children.
Now I’m out!
September 10th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
SSS - Yeah, I obviously realise that, but this fund seems to provoke a feeling of gain from the whole sorry episode.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
The fund is only part of it.
I don’t think the fund is necessarily sinister and I think a clause saying it can go to support the family while they lose income and incur expenses as they search for their daughter is natural.
The problems they have, I think, are now forensic, but at first was the inconsistencies and bizarre behaviour on May 3rd.
That’s been discussed at length and Chopper; great question. I’m sure many people can carry on the discussion.
However, I’m gonna have a burrito. Later, all!
September 10th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
594 Chopper - I think the Mc’s would have been viewed differently, had they not left 3 children under 4 alone! Had Madeleine gone missing under different circumstances, or wandered off.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Moriarty - I’m glad you described all the pseudo names earlier as I thought the Tapas 9 was referring Aunty Phil.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I personally thought Aunt Phil a bit of an oddball from when I saw her being interviewed just after Madeleine went missing and she said something along the lines of “of course she didn’t run away. Why would she, she was asleep next to her brother and sister, who loved her dearly. She is a much loved sister”.
To be honest, at that point, that was the first I knew of this Madeleine thing, having been seriously ill, and not seeing papers or TV and I thought some little kiddie had been left with MUCH older children whilst the mum and dad went out and wandered off.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Does anyone think that the McCanns may have been viewed differently if this fund had never been instigated? It seems the fund fuels a lot of shit towards them and maybe adds a sinister edge to it all.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Moriarty, no, which is why I said “possible” (but unlikely).
September 10th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Gets it in the neck?
Puhlease!
Can’t deal with the “agro”?
I believe ya.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
(583) (587) & (588)
And if they had hired detectives do you think the “family” would not have told the world about it?
I certainly think Auntie Phil would have done in between eating Cream Cakes, Doner Kebabs and flame grilled Whoppers
September 10th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
When are the final dna results out?
penster the lingo was colourful alright from cj but I was glad to see a few loudmouths get their own back even if they werent as good at taking it as they were at giving it. I have seen them on these sites before and their own contributions have been equally disgusting.
it was strong language but not unprovoked. I also note that anyone that vaguely says anything good about the mcanns gets it in the neck all one sided on here I am afraid so I’m off because as I am sitting on the fence on this one there is no place for some one like me cant be doing with the agro.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
587 Penster - Misunderstood the point you were making there.
My understanding of the fund, was that it was primarily to be used to find Madeleine, then also to be used to find other missing children.
Regards the question asked by Marc 582 - body fluids leak from a body for some considerable time after death.