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
September 16th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
414, 418
From Reuters: http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnL15453479.html
This is so sad. I agree with each of you. I have had such a very hard time with this case because i knew it was going to end up with a very bad ending…
Sometimes, I can’t even look at the happy healthy beaming face of this 5 year old angel. She’s so full of life in that one photo that was only shown of her - and to see the photos of her scooter, her helmut and the little backpack with the bears on it, has absolutely been heart wrenching. Just makes me choke up imagining her single mother, working hard her job to be able to afford these items for her little girl. I envisioned her getting them as gifts for Christmas or her birthday and being so excited at receiving them. In the end they helped to identify her whereabouts. Intentionally left there by the perpetrator - who could have put them in his van but chose to leave them behind as a “trail” for the police to find her body knowing that she would not survive his demonic physical and psychological violations.
I often wonder about this little girl. She had so little in life compared to someone like Madeleine. She was full of goodness - which in the end, is the perverse reason that this filthy piece of shit hole took away her innocent life.
Psychiatrists, Forensic experts need to study these people at much greater lengths. As a society, we can’t afford to have the roam the earth stealing our children, taking away the innocence of yet another generation.
Ylenia. I am praying that you are in a safe place - that there is indeed a God and that you are protected this time and given every ounce of love and happiness that was stolen from you in this life. I never knew you - but I will never forget you either. God Bless you. You will be missed by your family and the people of Switzerland who failed to protect you from the horrors of the world. We owe it to you to be sure this doesn’t happen to another child ever again. Because complacency is no longer an option. Adults must fight back and make the safety and protection of the next generation a global effort and a common link to all societies.
Ylenia, I will light a candle to honor you tonight and every night this week.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Branson didnt get to where he is without spotting a good deal…
FREE 24-7 international press coverage for months, £1m and growing of free donations, open door to every newsroom, newspaper and magazine in europe, direct access to the Pope and No. 10 Downing Street… and much more..
not bad for a mere £100k is it?
no doubt he, and others in that boat, have implicitly linked themselves in with some sort of payback on Gerry’s future book deal (which he can even write from prison).
September 16th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
lol @ 443 - jazzzy!
September 16th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
441.helsangel - I think you have hit the nail on the head with that one!
If the McCanns are so selfish as to put themselves before their child - and even if that child is dead they are putting themselves before her memory - then one day they will be selfish enough to put themselves before the other!
Unless the media are again foolish enough to fall for the - we are good parents…just look at pictures of us with children….we are good parents…just listen to our childhood friends and family tell you….
I could puke!!!!!
A good parent does not have to ADVERTISE THE FACT!!!!!!!
September 16th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Perhaps the McCanns consider it a bit beneath themselves to go digging up actual rocks and looking under bushes, and they are willing to leave that to the ordinary plebs.
After all, they are doctors, albeit from lowly beginnings.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
434 Eddie is the cadaver dog - are they going to ignore him too?
September 16th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Tuscany, If private contractors are prepared to risk their lives in Iraq as bodyguards for just £10,000, I am sure there will be queues of P.I’s ready to be jailed for 6-12 months in Portugal to earn £150,000 to investigage M’s disappearance.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
#424 Simon…
What good is a media campaign in the first place? The media blitz has never made any sense to me. All the McCann’s have achieved is the upset of scores of people, who provide personal care for their own children and who wanted to take those children to the movies or on holiday.
Enough people watch television and read the internet to know what happened. Everyone has an eye out for the little child.
Maybe it’s a type of fatal attraction disorder of themselves with the media. The posts I have seen on narcissistic behavioral disorders have left an impression on me. Perhaps there is something to that possibility.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
(435) Are they allowed to search themselves? With the cops/search group? To be honest, even if parents are involved in the search of their missing children, it doesn’t always bode well for them in the media. I’m thinking about Jonbenet Ramsey case. I just wish more searching was being done, the police assume she is dead but don’t have a killer yet. There is all this focus on a case that isn’t solved, yet it appears people have stopped searching. I just don’t get it.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
440 Angela
Branson is too busy planning his new venture
Virgin McCann
September 16th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
391 - What an excellent clip. If ever you needed a psychology 101 example of how to spot someone lying that would be it. Classic! It could only be bettered if his nose had actually grown….
September 16th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
430 - he has almost distanced himself from Kate on occassion, can’t give exact quote but he didn’t say “we know WE didn’t do this” he said ” Kate and I have 100% faith in each other” until it’s convenient for me (Gerry) to let her (Kate) take the fall
September 16th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
427. Pixie - The police are obviously counting the miles they know about and are left with a lot of unaccounted miles.
This is so they can plot on a map where they think a body may be found.
If Richard Branson wants to help why doesnt he buy a radar scanner and walk around Praia da Luz with it!
September 16th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
I further suspect they used the fund to pay for their extended stay in the villa, for their European and US ego-building tour, for their international mobile phone bills etc.
I also heard today thaat Gerry Mccan is on “unpaid leave” from the hospital. If its an NHS hospital, i want to know why the taxpayer is paying for this man who is officially accused as being involved, and who chooses to spend all his time on the phone to press-men rather than doing practical things to find his daughter (that’s assuming she is missing and not murdered).
September 16th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
433: Thanks Real Stig – I take your word for it - but I don’t need to understand everything in this world
September 16th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
On a previous thread, someone posted a link to an article which described how the Portuguese police were ready to charge PIs from the Netherlands, who were independently investigating the case. I believe there was a reference to mediums being involved too. So, apparently it is illegal to use PIs in Portugal, could that be why the McCanns have been unable to use the fund for anything other than posters and armbands? And even if the McCanns want to flout the law, would they be able to find a PI who was willing to do the same? I doubt it.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
432 Ian
A the website on unlimited bandwidth, probably costing them about £30 a month.
Gerry’s blog, worth jack sh*t
I read one day on it about a lovely afternoon around the pool. How sweet of him to share that. Must have been relaxing for him with one less kid to worry about. Cretin !!
September 16th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
424 Simon
I fully agree. Have they EVER done ANY searching themselves? And if you have a million in the fund why are you only spending 80,000 on advertising and not go the whole hog and spend it all in one final mass appeal? But then they never appealed to the ‘abductor’ either did they as would be normal in these type of cases? Is that because they knew there was no abductor?
September 16th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
“Keela’s evidence to be dismissed!”
So much for yer British sniffer dogs…I always knew they would have trouble if the dogs can’t talk.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2469329.ece
September 16th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
383 Pixie
Just ignore that nutter with the almanac and his conspiracy theories.
There is ALWAYS a circle on the surface of the earth where the angle to the sun is 80 degrees. This has been the case for every second of every day for as long as the Earth has existed. Of course the circle is imaginary - imagine it suspended from the Sun on a fine wire so it is just an inch above the ground - the earth turns underneath the circle, so the places on the Earth where the angle is 80 changes all the time, but there is always somewhere that is under the circle at any given moment.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
So Pixie, you are trying to tell us that they checked in at the airport more than they checked in on that fateful night with the kids ??
September 16th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Simon, I’m not sure about not spending any of the fund. First, there is the £80,000 we all know about for the posters in s.europe etc.
But they’re also paying a fulfilment house (search on net for details) to source/make, distribute the bands etc that are being sold, they are paying a website company to host the findm website and to post Gerry’s log (which no one understands the real purpose of), and for some dumb reason they are advertising on Google Adwords (pay per click) on M-related keywords. And no doubt Paypal is also taking its cut from online donations.
If I had £1million in the pot, I’d put a team of top investigators on the case immediately (irrespective of portugese lawy) - although I believe many professionals would do it voluntarily for free if a 3-year old child was genuinely abducted.
But of course, Mr & Mrs Mccan wouldnt want someone to really find out what happened and what they did with the poor girls body…
September 16th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
425:
helsangel:
I have been thinking about the same. I believe he’s running the show and setting the plot. But I’m quite convinced he will fail at some point.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
419 - Great question.
I still beleive the most likely thing to have happened is an abduction. Probably without the prior knowledge of the McCanns.
I am however very suspicious that as part of an abduction, something very sinister happened.
I do not buy into an accidental death by sedative at all.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Mum’s the word
September 16th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
421:
Angelo says:
They clocked a lot of miles on their car - which they attribited to picking up family at the airport…
Yes – 2 750 km in two weeks.
The distance between Faro airport and Praia da Luz is 80 km. That means they would have to travel that distance 34 times – that’s 17 journeys to the airport in 14 days.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Spudgun (303) you write:
“The British have a long history of treating their Media as a source of nourishment! Which is why the Government has always being so keen to use it to propogate their messages, especially at times of conflict and war, (as would most Countries). However, NEVER EVER have I seen such a blatant supine attitude from the British Media. Even in WAR TIME, certain factions of the British Press at least questioned some of Churchill’s ramblings. It has always been our proud tradition that the British Media, aggravating, elaborating and invariably exagerating have, at least on some occasions, made a stand against the Establishment on pretty much most subjects.”
You say that “the Government has always been so keen to use it (their media) to propagate their messages, especially at times of conflict and war”. Our country is in conflict and the government is at war but with us, the people. When a country has no outside enemy it turns in on itself to find the enemy within. Anyone who doesn’t tick the right boxes in this country now is the enemy. That means single men, especially if they live with their mothers, married couples without children, married couples generally (the government prefers ‘partners’), the elderly. Doctors are sacrosanct - the Muslim ones who tried to blow up Glasgow Airport rattled the cage a bit - but still doctors are on a pedestal. The NHS needs them. Otherwise we have to import the Glasgow Airport variety and who knows what they will do. The government might be forced to take some action which would rock the boat.
The trick is to turn one section of civil society against another. This is what the Nazis did. The Nazis even banned smoking everywhere as well as subverting the press. This is why we are constantly spied on (the most CCTV in the world), and why the State has interfered in every area of our life and whipped up hysteria. This is why Kate McCann couldn’t control her children - the State has seen to that; why we are all terrified of pedophiles (even though they are no more common now than they always were -probably less common). This is why useless ID cards will be introduced - to cow us and reduce us to a cipher. It’s called witch-hunting and control, or another way of putting it is war - against us. It all helps to distract attention from what’s going on up there - huge profits, deals, deceit, you name it, it’s happening. The people who see the big picture are either ignored or accused, or got rid of.
The McCanns present a splendid diversion. He’s a working class lad who’s made it, she’s good-looking. If she hadn’t been good-looking the show wouldn’t have opened on the night as the focus of the whole country is on chicks, chicks, chicks - doesn’t matter who they are, what they’ve done, what’s in their heads. All that’s needed is to be female to be young (Mrs. McCs knocking it a bit) and to be beautiful (though that’s debatable in many cases but it’s a matter of opinion). Then you add the ‘celebrity’ status - usually gained by being an utter talentless nobody who’s had their mug in front of a camera for a sufficiently long time and/or in the newspapers…whatever it is for doesn’t really matter. The public adores ‘celebrity’ and the media plays it up for all its worth. Unfortunately, so far, the ideal candidate, Robert Murat, to ‘have done it’ in Portugal hasn’t been nailed. If he had been, or were to be, most of the country would heave a sigh of relief and worship at the McCann altar, for ever, as they got richer and richer and more and more famous. A little bit like J. K. Rowling - another chancer (to use a good old Irish term). The newspapers and TV are in on this conspiracy big-time. Either it’s easy, or they’re being controlled too - or both.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
415 - my theory Pixie, is the poor woman is responsible, and control freak Gerry won’t have his career interrupted. I reckon she would confess, but Gerry is having none of it. Read his crass mundane blog. He never says “there’s no news of Maddie, I’m despondent. He says he played tennis and gave an interview with Paris Match!!!! This man turned his child’s “abduction” into an opportunity to have an audience with the US senate, never mind the pope -at least Kate looks exhausted
400 yeah Angelo, sorry am only 3 days in. Can’t catch up on 135 days of blog - have to earn a living and make sure my kids are okay!
September 16th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
416 - This is something that really disturbs me. I beleive strongly in innocent until proven guilty and a lot of the circumstantial evidance and opinions against the McCann s can be argued away.
But I cannot get my head around why they would build up a million pound fund, to be used primarily to find Maddie, but then hardly use any of it.
I am perplexed that they were not out day after day either orchestrating or being involved in searches. I can live with trips abroad, but I don’t get the lack of activity from the McCanns in Portugal.
Their immediate move to get counsel and suggest they would sell their house makes perfect sense. I would do the same. I just don’t get why they weren’t as committed to finding Maddie as they are to protecting themselves.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
413 Angelo
I applaud you. Thank god someone can see what’s really doing on.
If it was my kid missing, I’d not be playing happy families in the park in Rothley, I’d still be there looking
If anyone can show me evidence of them actually looking for her and not sat round the pool with Auntie Phi, Uncle John and other various relatives flown in for a comfy seat in the villa paid for out of the millionaire fund, I’ll donate 50p to their law action fund (that’ll pay for 4 seconds of solicitor time for them)