Madeleine McCann: Torture, A Witness, Robert Murat’s Innocence And Richard Branson Investigates
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
SUNDAY MAIL front page: “MADDIE POLICE TORTURE TRIAL.”
As reported by Anorak on June 11 (see Madeleine McCann And Amaral Policing): “Chief Inspector Goncalo Amaral has been accused of concealing evidence that the mother of eight-year-old Joana Cipriano, who disappeared in the Algarve three years ago, was tortured by police into confessing she had killed her daughter, whose body was never found.”
Is this the British Press discrediting the Portuguese police? Should they leave our Kate and Gerry alone? (Do the Portuguese police have a PR?)
“Lies, beatings, secret trials: the dark side of police handling Madeleine case” – If the Portuguese police do have a PR, they should get a new one.
“Madeleine: Hair in McCann Renault: ‘It could be anyone’s’” - British forensic experts have concluded the fragments said to be Madeleine’s could belong to any number of people who had come into contact with the silver Renault Scenic.
THE OBSERVER: “Maddy police: we blundered.” Remember Robert Murat?
Says a source said to be from within the Portuguese police force: “British police and crime experts also suggested that Murat fitted the profile to have been behind a kidnapping. But the Lisbon investigators were from the start unsettled about the lack of any motive. Months later, there is nothing to suggest he was involved.”
But, er, Robert Murat remains a suspect.
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: “Hope for McCanns as law on secrecy is eased.”
Plans are afoot to change the rules in Portugal. The “new law means that all suspects and third parties, including the media, will have access to police documents in any investigation - unless the public prosecutor decides that secrecy will benefit the inquiry or protect the rights of the accused.”
And the police can make their views known to the public, too.
And: the McCanns have announced an £80,000 advertising campaign to help find Madeleine.
SUNDAY EXPRESS: “MADELEINE MYSTERY - POLICE TO ACT OUT MADDIE TRAGEDY”.
No longer a criminal case. It is now a tragedy. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says a tragedy is a “branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual.”
Yes, dignified. Who knew?
DAILY STAR ON SUNDAY front page: “MADDIE. The missing journey.”
Where did she go?
SUNDAY TIMES front page: “Branson gives cash to defend McCanns.”
Sir Richard Branson is giving £100,000 to create a “fighting fund” to help the parents of Madeleine McCann to clear their names.
A source close to Branson says: “Sir Richard wants to ensure the McCanns get access to the best legal advice. He has a good instinct on these things.”
The Virgin Sniffer will crack the case. Or will his PR and marketing departments get there first.
But is Branson right? Let’s take a look at the survey…
“According to a YouGov poll for The Sunday Times, only 20% of respondents believe that the McCanns are completely innocent. Nearly half (48%) believe that they could have been responsible for their daughter’s death, even if it was an accident; 32% were unsure. A total of 40% said that the McCanns’ high-profile campaign had made them suspicious, but 50% said that it had not.”
Tasteful stuff. But we need another poll to find out what happened to Madeleine McCann.
Times Columnist India Knight is a McCann junkie. “I want to stop reading, listening, watching, Googling, amateur sleuthing; I nauseate myself with my own prurience. My appetite for commentary – which is all that’s left, in the absence of hard facts – has been sated many times over. But I can’t stop.”
She craves information. But there isn’t any. Unless you listen to sources”…
“Police leaks, gossip and a clash of cultures close in on McCanns” - Yesterday the police spokesman Olegario de Sousa quit “in dismay” at the daily leaks to the press.
Those Portuguese police leaks only add to the speculation and the pain. Thanks goodness for the clarity and sensitivity provided by the Times.
As the Times notes: “Maria do Sameiro Oliveira, a psychologist who does criminal profiling for the police, said she found it strange ‘how they function so much as a unit, always holding hands rigidly’ and pointed out that normally in cases of child disappearances, ‘the mother and father start to diverge, one wants to continue the search, the other not’. She added: “They show little evidence of suffering. They are very formal.”
You should not be influence by Ms Oliveria’s words. When responding to the Times’ survey, make your judgement. Make up your own survey.
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: “The McCanns: Unbelievable truth or unimaginable nightmare?”
The human interest angle and a time to look back over week of speculation.
NEWS OF THE WORLD: “MADDIE: THE SECRET WITNESS – TV boss holds vital clue to mystery.”
Jeremy Wilkins is the man whose “bombshell testimony could clear the McCanns”.
And: “Jeremy Wilkins’ evidence blows holes in the police theory that Gerry and Kate killed four-year-old Madeleine.”
Wilkins is said to be the man who spoke to Gerry McCann for up to 15 minutes outside the holiday apartments — “moments after checking on his children for the last time.”
A pal says: “He is entirely convinced of Kate and Gerry’s innocence. He believes they are a decent family caught up in an unimaginable nightmare.”
With Wilkin’s certainly and Richard Branson’s sense of smell, the McCanns may be placed once more above suspicion.
All the Madeleine McCann Faction Here…
Posted: 16th, September 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (655) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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September 16th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Just a quickie as I’m off out…..
Dont know if this has been commented on but Branson is apparently organising a legal fund for the McCanns so its been reported. A very strange thing to do when they’re under such suspicion as it could easily backfire. The portugese had better have an airtight case though with such support. Time will tell.
Makes you wonder where all these people were when Ben Needham went missing years ago. Dont know if anyone helped her with anything and she was never suspected of anything. And he was never found, was he?
September 16th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Why on earth should Jane Tanner have mentioned seeing a dad carrying his child?
a) because she didn’t know the man she claims to have seen and apparently everyone at this resort knew one another if even casually
b) because when a tragedy strikes a normal minded person’s thinking goes into high gear recalling all the events they’ve witnessed, observed, feelings they’ve had - which may or may not be relevant to the situation
c) because the bundle, the bundle which mind you suddenly became a small child - The bundle/child Tanner reported 2 weeks after the disappearance of Madeleine - that alleged bundled up child Tanner claims to have seen was amazingly wearing the same pajamas as Madeleine
September 16th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Tony Bennet….. Ta!
To be fair, if I was in their shoes, innocent or guilty, I’d try and get the best lawyer I could!
September 16th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Why on earth should Jane Tanner have mentioned seeing a dad carrying his child? I presume she hardly noticed and only remembered later when Madeleine was missing. She was reported as feeling absolutely dreadful about it (only press reports, I know!) and that the McCanns were actually trying to console her. One would not think that someone was abducting a child. Definitely not the first thought to occur!
Why the police would not publish her description until really pressurised to do so by the McCanns and other outsiders, I have no idea. It was all to do with their secrecy laws, it was said at the time. They also did not issue a description of what the child was wearing nor did they organise a public appeal to the abductor. The McCanns had to do all that themselves.
Not sure why secrecy laws would apply to a pair of pink jimjams, but there you are. Perhaps they didn’t want the abductor to know anything about what they knew? Perhaps.
The Portuguese secrecy rules are changing with effect from tomorrow. The McCanns are reported as hoping to find out a bit more about what the police are actually thinking. This could just be more rubbishy reporting of course. Only read it in the press! The law is certainly changing though and their Portuguese lawyer is said to be a “prime mover” in bringing about these changes. Today’s Telegraph.
September 16th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
re Post 61 (Moderation):
REPLY: Your point accepted. See this from ntlworld.com news:
“The McCanns, who are both medical doctors, have hired a high profile legal team that includes Michael Caplan, who represented former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet when Spain tried to extradite him from Britain in 1999.
However, it could be hard to challenge any attempts by Portugal to extradite the McCanns because of the cross-border European Union Arrest Warrant introduced in 2004 to make it easier for people accused of serious crimes to stand trial in other EU countries”.
September 16th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Someone has mentioned that before - the delaying tactic and it is well worth considering.
September 16th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Another thought just occurred to me and again it didn’t hurt.
McCann could simply have been delaying Wilkins behind the apartment while a third party took Madeline away from the front, and Tanner was telling the truth.
If so there is still no excuse for her not saying anything when she got back to the bar.
And I still want to know if Madeleine was with the McCanns when the collected the twins from kiddiecare
September 16th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Thats what I had thought previously ‘Judge Dread’.
There wasn’t only one alleyway. Its a maze there.
September 16th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
You are under arrest for being satirical anonymous.
September 16th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
I’d probably speak out in my friend’s defence too - but none of us could swear 100% their friends do not have bodies stored in their deep freeze.
Of course, one would hope they haven’t but one never knows…..
September 16th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
“FRIENDS SPEAK OUT IN KATE’S DEFENCE”:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20070916/tuk-friends-speak-out-in-kate-s-defence-6323e80_2.html
September 16th, 2007 at 11:59 am
A thought just occurred to me, and no it didn’t hurt.
If Wilkins and McCann were talking in the alley, that is on the opposite side of the apartment to the patio door. Based on the map, Tanner went around to the patio door side of the apartment, therefore could have seen something that Wilkins and McCann didn’t.
The plot thickens
September 16th, 2007 at 11:58 am
99.
What agenda could I possibly have commenting on a satirical news forum?
You can study those conflicting topsy turvy timelines all day and night and you will never find the answers there.
September 16th, 2007 at 11:56 am
Wasn’t Jeremy Wilkins the guys who allegedly seen Gerry tamper with the shutters as discussed a while back on the Mirror Forums
September 16th, 2007 at 11:55 am
And everything I state can only be gleaned from what the media lets us know.
September 16th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Anon 97
Are you just being sarcastic or do you have another agenda?
Not sure what your point is means.
What I am stating is that Wilkins did not see Tanner or anyone else apart from GcC in the timeframe Tanner stated she saw a man carrying a child 9.15 -9.30.
According to Oldfield he went to check with OBrien on children at 9.30.
September 16th, 2007 at 11:48 am
money…monkey - what’s the difference really?
Case is solved!
September 16th, 2007 at 11:47 am
92. john Says:
September 16th, 2007 at 11:40 am
Jeremy Wilkins sees nothing-hears nothing but talks to GMcC for about ten minutes somewhere between 9.05 and 9.25 in alleyway.
For the love of OxyContin! I get it now!
The Tapas 9 & Wilkinson are doing the monkey thing! A kind of charade game where they’ve invited all of us to join in the money McCann madness!
Oh I am so glad I solved another one!
Thank you Anorak Readers!
September 16th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Based on the fact that someone is lying, it is probaly Tanner, as Wilkins only met the Mccanns on the holiday therefore would have no loyalty to them after the holiday had ended.
I think on that basis it is safe to say the McCanns arrived at the bar at 8.30 as claimed, as it would be crazy to expect them to have checked any less than the 35 minutes claimed.
However, that still does not put Madeline in the apartment any time after the last sighting of her at 6.30.
September 16th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Why does the NOTW headline with Man who Could Clear McCanns when his evidence could point away from the abduction theory?
September 16th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Mods and Admin.
I posted about an hour ago. It seemed to get through at the time but doesn’t seem to be there now? I’ve checked a few times.
Any ideas?
September 16th, 2007 at 11:42 am
89. Annika Says:
September 16th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Anyone know Kate and Ger’s star signs?
Ummmm….Crossed and dim?
September 16th, 2007 at 11:40 am
GMcC checks on the children at 9 -9.10/he does/doesn’t actually see Madeleine -goes back to the party.
The patio door is locked/is unlocked according to McCann
Tanner sees a man with a child at 9.10 or is it 9.30 in alleyway.
Jeremy Wilkins sees nothing-hears nothing but talks to GMcC for about ten minutes somewhere between 9.05 and 9.25 in alleyway.
Oldfield goes to the apartment -listens in - thinks that the room is light for time of evening. Neither Oldfield nor Tanner say anything when they return to the bar.
O’Brien goes to check his sick child at 9.45.
KMcC - states patio door hanging open at 10pm when it is her turn to check..
The party (except for Mrs Webster) go to the apartment -check everywhere - get staff help room full of people - local police arrive.
On top of all of this there are statements that say that the McCanns did not arrive until 9pm - after some of the others.
Web of confusion. Would be fun to try to unravel as a party game if a girl’s life was not at stake.
GMcC - states shutter forced - police and hotel management find no sign of damage.
September 16th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Opps forgot the link
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/1609_maddie.shtml
September 16th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Hmmm new addition to time line.
September 16th, 2007 at 11:33 am
I think you will find thi link answers many of our questions….
http://gryphonastrology.wordpress.com/2007/05/25/the-astrology-of-missing-people-madeleine-mccann/
September 16th, 2007 at 11:32 am
74.
Dearest Will,
I apologize for your technical loss. Please send the bill to my solicitor:
Michael Caplan
10 Downing Street
London,
SW1A 2AA
September 16th, 2007 at 11:27 am
85. Does the coffee by any chance have the long word: DECAFFEINATED in front of it or anywhere on the label?
September 16th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Look let’snot turn on each other - that’s exactly what they want!
September 16th, 2007 at 11:24 am
84 - Tea gives me a migraine. I drink coffee.
The point is that sometimes the written word can be taken in a number of ways.