Madeleine McCann: Call Off The Dogs, Kate McCann’s Tears And Fatima
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
THE TIMES page 9: “McCanns send to US for help against evidence of sniffer dogs.”
Gerry and Kate McCann have consulted lawyers working on behalf of Eugene Zapata in Madison, Wisconsin.
In October 1976, Zapata’s wife, Jeanette, went missing. Her body has never been found. Last year sniffer dogs were brought in and Zapata was charged with her murder. The case went before Judge Patrick Fielder who said the evidence – dogs had picked up the scent of a corpse in Zapata’s basement – was inadmissible. He said the dogs were unreliable.
The dogs have yet to make a comment.
DAILY MIRROR front page: “MADDY JUDGE: LET ME TELL ALL.”
Pedro Daniel dos Anjos Frias wants to “speak freely” about the case.
Pages 6 and 7: “Mum’s tears at 11am Mass.” Once again the Mirror is all eyes for Kate McCann’s eyes. She is crying.
In church, Father Keith Tomlinson narrates the parable of the Prodigal Son. An eight-year-old child called Molly Earp reads “Jesus please continue to love and protect us, until she is found.”
And then Jesus can have a rest and the police can resume normal duties…
Pages 8 and 9: “On the beach Gerry gave Maddy loads of hugs and kisses, he was a perfect dad..The next time I saw him was about midnight..I saw a man alone, desperate. He was crying and screaming her name over and over and over again.” Words from a “WAITER AT MADDIE’S LAST MEAL” before she vanished.
THE SUN front page: “Maddie ‘gag’ lift.” Friends of Kate and Gerry McCann are hopeful of being allowed to speak out and defend themselves. A judge has asked for a lifting of Portugal’s secrecy laws.
Pages 6 and 7: “AGONY TO COME.” The Sun produces a picture of Kate and Gerry McCann’s wedding day. They are holding Kate’s goddaughter Ellie. There is also a new picture of Madeleine McCann “looking angelic”. Have you seen her? Or are you watching the parents?
THE EXPRESS front page: “MADELEINE. POLICE TO SEARCH SHRINE FOR BODY.” The McCanns went to Fatima. The McCanns car clocked up 1,709 miles in the fives weeks after their daughter went missing.
THE WORLD’S GREATEST NEWSPAPER Pages 2 and 3: “Hand in hand, McCanns go to family church.” The “devoutly Catholic couple” are leaving for church from their “£600,000 home”. Kate McCann is carrying Cuddle Cat.
Pages 4 and 5: “1,000 letters each day in support of the McCanns. Between 500 and 1,000 letters a day arrive at the McCanns’ home. “There are some crank letters,” says a spokesman for the family, “but that’s inevitable.”
None of these letters are believed to point to the whereabouts of Madeleine McCann.
Alex Cayles, a former neighbour of the McCanns, says “I never heard Kate or Gerry raise their voices to their children or anyone else.” Can the same be said of any parents of three very young children?
DAILY MAIL front page: a picture of Kate McCann smiling.
“MADELEINE:
• Doubt cast on sniffer dogs
• Police frontman quits investigation
• Branson funds the McCanns’ defence
• Witness’s vital new evidence”
Pages 10 and 11:2 “Maddie: Is the case crumbling?”
Chief inspector Olegario Sousa has resigned “in disgust” at the way in which fellow Portuguese officers have been briefing the media behind his back.
DAILY STAR front page: “MADDIE MUM ON MURDER RAP. Now cops claim to have found ‘a motive’.”
The Star says police have read Kate McCann’s diary and “claim it reveals she had a motive to kill”.
Pages 4 and 5: “DID KATE HAVE A MOTIVE?”
Well, we haven’t read the diary, but…
“The idea that Portuguese detectives are looking at my daughter’s most personal thoughts and taking them out of context is terrible,” says Kate McCann’s father Brian Healy.
Pages 6 and 7: “HUNT AT HOLY SHRINE.” Is Madeleine McCann’s body buried at Fatima, one of the Catholic Church’s holiest sites? The Star says the couple went there three weeks after their daughter went missing.
We wonder. Is she? Or is she buried in Germany, America, London or Morocco, places also visited by the McCanns?
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “New allegations against McCanns - As the McCanns begin a new campaign to clear their names, further allegations emerged over the weekend.”
Oh?
“The hire car: The Renault Scenic hired by the McCanns 25 days after Madeleine went missing. New claims centre on its high mileage. Between May 27 and July 3, it was driven 1,700 miles, with police looking into the possibility that it may have been used to dispose of a body…There were also reports that detectives were waiting for permission from a judge to seize and dismantle the car to search for ‘traces of skin’.”
THE GUARDIAN: No Maddy news today.
Madeleine McCann The Public Spectacle
Posted: 17th, September 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,074) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
- Emily on Miley Cyrus Says Twilight Is A Bad Cult And Zac Effron Is Hot
- susan jones on Susan Boyle Weeps As The Press Set About Destroying Her
- The Real Stig on The Great Cathay Pacific Blocked Toilet Mystery
- SoDak-GhostDog on Interview With Survior Of James Arthur Ray’s Sedona Sweat Lodge
- Katie Norman on I’m A Celebrity: Joe Bugner’s Career In Pictures
September 17th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Watch this space! How say you if the divine diva suddenly announces she’s pregnant? What made me think this is the photo of her in today’s Daily Express (I buy it because its the only one you can’t get online). She’s shown wearing a smock. A rather awful floral thing with a band under the bustline and somehow or the other she looks suspiciously fatter than she did before - or is that a week’s relaxation opening wellwishers’ cards and presents back in England! But really, it’s possible this could be announced any day now by her trusty Clarence McMitchell and wouldn’t this be a collective “aaahhh! love her” from the crowd plus the added bonus of morning sickness, afternoon weariness and evenings choosing a name for the new mini McCann in order to fend off the possibility of recall to Portugal or any further nasty questions from anyone which might cause a miscarriage. You ask…yes, I can hear you….but if she had IVF to have the other three how could this pregnancy be? Well…miracles do happen!
September 17th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
683 - Anna. I’m only 19. What would be wrong with black britches? And what’s that got to do with the freemasons?
September 17th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
I think Maddy died hours befory 8pm, body dumped at sea, calm down, convince yourself it is for the best and ask God silently for their forgiveness. Maybe Gerry had his friends tow the line because Gerry threatened him with destoying their carreers or something like it. They clean up the crime scene with rags and cleaning spray. When they rent the car, the put the bloody rags in the boot of the car and DNA gets transferred. There is no way they kept the body 25 days. I’m sure they McCanns are getting a great laugh at that.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Well all you Catholics out there, ask yourself this question then.
What would Jesus do?
Would it be: “Behave like the McCann’s”?
Using any known method, their judgement isn’t looking good.
Law, Religion, Whatever.
Allegedly
September 17th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
681 - Wanderer
I doubt being advised to not show emotions is going to make a difference. I’m not talking about voluntary emotions like rage or anger, the problem I have is that I can’t believe you could control an emotion not to cry or react badly at having lost a child. That’s an emotion that you’d be hard pressed to control at all. Being told not to cry wouldn’t work one bit. Neither parent is a trained actor so they couldn’t do as they were told in that respect.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
(685) “I don’t see why our freedoms should be challenged for bad reporting, bad police work, and yes, sadly a slip up of bad parenting, if anything the people commenting here are the people would have gone out and offered to help. I know, I know, everyone has equal rights, including the reporters, police, and McCanns, it’s great and everything but the punishment of the many for the few won’t sit easy for most people.”
Sorry, I may have left out the abductor/murderer, who is the worst out of that bunch.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Anna 683
So the Masons are just as corrupt in the UK as Canada?
September 17th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
(678) Andrew:
“Yeah, almost as cruel as playing a part in their disappearance and dare I say as some do… their Death perhaps?”
If the McCanns did kill Madeleine and have managed to keep face and be free of “solid” evidence for her death, I think they’re cunning enough to know to keep up the act and not admit to anything. If they aren’t involved, obviously they hope their child is alive. That is all I was saying.
Apparently we have lots of questions, no answers, and no admissible evidence. I think it is time to start looking for the one-armed man!
Oh, and the best thing! Now contributors on a message board/forum have to worry about libel because of shoddy reporting and the McCanns self-made media frenzy? It seems to be fair comment to me, legally. I don’t see why our freedoms should be challenged for bad reporting, bad police work, and yes, sadly a slip up of bad parenting, if anything the people commenting here are the people would have gone out and offered to help. I know, I know, everyone has equal rights, including the reporters, police, and McCanns, it’s great and everything but the punishment of the many for the few won’t sit easy for most people.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
674 - Canada
I’m usually 100% for the hypothesis that the parents are involved but here’s some of my nagging doubts:
1. If Madeleine was abused physically or by way of drugs, there’d be some evidence of it that others - nanny, family, or public would see. At her age, if she became used to taking tablets or an injection, she’d be able to tell people about it or talk about it. It would be too risky for the parents to have that happen. All it would need is for Madeleine to say out loud “I don’t want my medicine tonight” or something similar. I really do doubt that the parents routinely gave any kind of medicine. If they did, I think it was a one-off that went wrong.
2. The timeline seems inconsistent but whichever way you look at it, the window of opportunity is incredibly small and certainly too small to stay composed and calm. The timeline aspect would seem to indicate some degree of pre-planning if the parents are involved. To stay as consistent as they are over 5 months is virtually impossible unless they are in pieces behind the cameras and media glare.
3. Hiding a body in a place you’ve only been to for less than 2 weeks is hardly going to be easy is it? If Madeleine did die, this is why I think she went missing/came to harm, hours before that evening. Perhaps something so simple as ran off and slipped and fell off a cliff for instance. Hiding a body is next to impossible under a stressful situation and the parents could have stayed in that night after all…
But…here’s the part I can’t figure out. If Madeleine did come to some harm/demise that evening, then the parents couldn’t really stay in because they’d still have to concoct a story about where/how Madeleine disappeared. The problem wouldn’t go away by staying in. I’m assuming they didn’t have a car then either so waiting till morning wouldn’t help at all because a corpse would only get into a worse state.
IF they did have something to do with a killing (accidental or otherwise), they really would have to have disposed of the body that night and gone out to put on a realistic show that everything was ok.
If they were anything other than doctors I’d have trouble believing they could do that. But, after almost 5 months of Gerry interviews and seeing how the parents behave, I still have the nagging feeling that the parents are involved.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
On the serious side, for those who still don’t know, since the 1960’s, the Catholic Church has been turned completely upside down. Revolutionary changes were imposed and are still being imposed. If any Catholic from the 1950’s or any previous age came back and saw what K&G were wearing to church yesterday - his & her black britches for those of you who missed the photo, they would think the church had been invaded.
The Masons appear to be in charge. Many Catholics have returned from visits to the Vatican and have reported that Cardinals openly wear masonic insignia. So it is no wonder at all that the Vatican pulled the Maddie page the day before the mother was named a formal suspect.
It is impossible, in this day and age, for any church to guarantee that confessions are not being unlawfully taped or overheard by outside parties.
On the lighter side, this problem is not limited to those countries that are technologically advanced. In a country in Africa, several years ago there was a report of a man who fell through the roof while eavesdropping on his wife’s confession.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
679 - Even if it has been converted to miles, 170 / 104 = 16.37 miles a day on average which is still not excessive
September 17th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
(673) Stevo:
Emotions are important, as even a jury will look at emotions/reactions within a court unconsciously or consciously, and it can make people seem more favorable.
For all we know, they may very well be on some anti-anxiety medication.
I would have liked to see the McCanns say/do more, but I would like a lot of things…
There reactions could be advised by some out-of-touch advisors, they could feel guilty, they could have murdered her, or they could be sedated. It will be interesting to see if they do start showing more emotions if there ever is a trial, although there are a few explanations for that as well (including, the “I can’t believe they think we did this!”, “I killed my daughter!”, etc.).
September 17th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Fantastic post 631. Your comments greatly resonated with me and I thank you for sharing your thoughts.
The past few weeks I have been envisioning Gerry as the 21st century’s Rumpelstilzchen. But then due to the meaning of the surname McCann I was also thinking about gypsies and wolf cubs traveling the wild Algarve coastline stealing British babies and Scotsmen’s wallets.
There is definitely a folktale/horror story nuance to this saga. The characters are all strong archetypes. I’ve actually read many journalists and commenters compare Kate McCann to Diana. Personally I don’t get it but I’m not a Brit nor do I live in the UK.
I wish Marshall Mcluhan were still here to offer some prophetic insights about 21st century mass media and culture. I don’t know if he was ever popular in the UK but much of what you say he commented on beginning in the 1960’s.
MCLUHAN: In the past, the effects of media were experienced more gradually, allowing the individual and society to absorb and cushion their impact to some degree. Today, in the electronic age of instantaneous communication, I believe that our survival, and at the very least our comfort and happiness, is predicated on understanding the nature of our new environment, because unlike previous environmental changes, the electric media constitute a total and near-instantaneous transformation of culture, values and attitudes. This upheaval generates great pain and identity loss, which can be ameliorated only through a conscious awareness of its dynamics. If we understand the revolutionary transformations caused by new media, we can anticipate and control them; but if we continue in our self-induced subliminal trance, we will become their slaves.
Because of today’s terrific speed-up of information moving, we have a chance to apprehend, predict and influence the environmental forces shaping us–and thus win back control of our own destinies. The new extensions of man and the environment they generate are the central manifestations of the evolutionary process, and yet we still cannot free ourselves of the delusion that it is how a medium is used that counts, rather than what it does to us and with us. This is the zombie stance of the technological idiot. It’s to escape this Narcissus trance that I’ve tried to trace and reveal the impact of media on man, from the beginning of recorded time to the present.
……..the booming business psychiatrists are doing. All our alienation and atomization are reflected in the crumbling of such time-honored social values as the right of privacy and the sanctity of the individual; as they yield to the intensities of the new technology’s electric circus, it seems to the average citizen that the sky is falling in. As man is tribally metamorphosed by the electric media, we all become Chicken Littles, scurrying around frantically in search of our former identities, and in the process unleash tremendous violence. As the preliterate confronts the literate in the postliterate arena, as new information patterns inundate and uproot the old, mental breakdowns of varying degrees–including the collective nervous breakdowns of whole societies unable to resolve their crises of identity–will become very common.
It is not an easy period in which to live, especially for the television-conditioned young who, unlike their literate elders, cannot take refuge in the zombie trance of Narcissus narcosis that numbs the state of psychic shock induced by the impact of the new media. From Tokyo to Paris to Columbia, youth mindlessly acts out its identity quest in the theater of the streets, searching not for goals but for roles, striving for an identity that eludes them.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
658
I haven’t seen an odometer reading givem in km; have the Mail cocked up and forgotton to convert.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
670 wanderer “There have been cases where the children are kept with their abductors for years, some of the children even are allowed to see/read what their parents have to say. I would never say to the press “I believe my child is dead”. What if the child wasn’t and read that? That is cruel parenting”
Yeah, almost as cruel as playing a part in their disappearance and dare I say as some do… their Death perhaps?
allegedly
September 17th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Stevo - yes, what about that law suit???? I’d like to know what is happening there.
Another point of interest in the tabloid coverage is the idea of their being ‘devout catholics’ which has got into the papers and now doesn’t seem to be able to get out.
They appeared on the now defunct BBC Heaven and Earth show as part of their media tour and described the effect the loss of MM had had on their faith.
They stated that faith had always meant more to Kate than it had to Gerry.
Gerry actually described the loss of his child as having a “silver lining”. This silver lining was apparently the re-awakening in him of faith/ interest in religion.
Yes, it took me some time to reconnect my lower jaw to the rest of my head.
But I don’t suppose many journos saw this interview on a Sunday morning.
They go to mass now so they are devout Catholics.
September 17th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
674 - I’ve always maintained that Kate looks like she’s on anti-depressants.
September 17th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
1700Km = 1055 miles.
May 28th - September 9th = 104 days
Average daily mileage = 10.15
How is this in any way excessive?
September 17th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Maybe Maddy was killed between 6pm and 8pm then hide the body. If the parents did carry sedatives with them, maybe they had meds for nerves so that they could get over the shakes from killing the daughter.
September 17th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
670 - Wanderer
Bad choice of the word “stupid” but I feel it’s more deflection by the parents because they know she’s gone. They’ve always acted like they’ve lost a pet dog than lost a child and their lack of emotion is what has always bothered me about them.
It’s been talked about a lot about the emotions and psychological aspects of their behaviour and demeanour but it really is important to look at that and not dismiss it by saying things like “you don’t know how you’d react…”
In life, we always react emotionally. That’s how we read body language. If we didn’t show outward emotions we’d have a hard time reading people. How could you tell if someone was happy, sad, angry etc. if you didn’t notice their emotions? We’d all be robots if that were the case.
Also let’s not forget that the McCann’s were not bound by secrecy laws until they became arguidos. For 4 months they could have talked about this in any way they liked…but the reality is that they hardly said a word other than the same old day to day rhetoric we heard in the first few weeks.
When Murat was the key suspect, we didn’t hear much opinion from the McCann’s did we? Each time there was a sighting, we didn’t see the McCann’s rushing to the police station for updates.
The emotions are a very important and key indicator.
September 17th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
How long before Team McCann starts referring to the PJ file handed on to the Portimao judge as the
“DODGY DOSSIER” ???
September 17th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
664 - Karen
I know. The papers are either 110% for or they’re on the fence. There’s not really a paper that is showing that it is impartial or convinced they had something to do with “it”. They risk libel actions against them of course, so it’s easier to print all the mushy stuff. Kate and Gerry are definitely not “normal” parents showing normal reactions. There’s never been any like this pair in living memory.
Incidentally, talking about libel…what happened to the lawsuit the McCann’s filed against that Portuguese Tabloid?
September 17th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
(662) Stevo:
“The McCann’s always say they are “convinced” Madeleine is still alive. What a stupid thing to say without evidence!”
That is hardly a stupid thing for a parent with a missing child to say or even a parent who murdered their child. Either the parents have hope or want to cover their tracks, either way, not stupid.
And even if they were told my officials and by basic reports that children missing for x amount of time are usually dead? There have been cases where the children are kept with their abductors for years, some of the children even are allowed to see/read what their parents have to say. I would never say to the press “I believe my child is dead”. What if the child wasn’t and read that? That is cruel parenting.
September 17th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
663 - Canada
I know. It’s not like their story has a lot of consistency to it is it?
Some people say the Tapas 9 hardly left the restaurant at all that evening. Tanner’s story is refuted by Gerry’s tennis buddy. They say the doors/windows were left open but we hear they were forced. They criticize the cops on that evening but we hear that about 60+ people looked for Madeleine into the small hours that night. I’d say 60 people out looking for a missing toddler after she was reported missing is as good as you would expect - in fact an excellent response.
My theory is that Madeleine was never in the room that night and she disappeared before they went out to dine at Chaplins (Tapas Bar). I think the going back to check on the kids was a ruse to make it appear that Madeleine and the twins were there. Wherever Madeleine was that evening, I think she was nowhere nearby and so they’d have no chance of finding her.
September 17th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Seymour Laws:
“The interesting point is what happens with blogs, on-line forums etc - if they are widely read (and not cupboards for a relative handful of nutters which I suspect is nearer the case) why should they not end up subject to the same reporting restrictions?”
Wouldn’t there be a more severe lockdown on the sensational press before threatening an uproar among the masses? Governments do like to keep the little people happy when they make a fuss.
I think the key words there are reporting restrictions, we are making speculative comments about the reports that are legally coming out, the media is controlling the situation (The UK being more favorable to the McCanns, the rest of world, not so favorable). We are not reporters, we are not providing a service to the public by providing them with mostly neutral news (and no views); something becoming increasingly hard to find as the news is now solely looked at as an entertainment business and not a service, well not unless you want to make the reporters feel good about themselves.
Furthermore, these reporters all claim to have a “source”, I’d think the government would crack down more on the “unnamed sources” to make it clear certain people are just speculating as well or potentially remove the people who are part of the case, but not abiding by the court’s gag orders or secrecy laws.
There is a right to a fair trial, thankfully, the lawyers get to play a role in who will be on the jury. Some people are actually avoiding the case, along with people being on extended holiday, etc. I am sure out of all the potential jurors available on a master jury list , that someone could still get a fair trial, even with the media’s meddling. The only disadvantage is that it would take longer to bring them all in and select them.
September 17th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
637 - Impressed - I not impressed! (the “net” is called the “web” today, by the way. No real techies ever call it the “net” anymore. Not since the new millenium. I think you should study the laws of libel on the web a little more closely too. They’re not what you seem to think….not at t’all)
And shakin’ in my boots!
September 17th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Yes, Stevo - an OCD abductor. Well observed.
September 17th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Headline “Kate says new campaign all stitched together.”
September 17th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
I was reading the comments on the Daily Mail site - they were all saying how normal Kate is. They can say it all they like, she isn’t.
I also wish people wouldn’t fall back on religious stereotypes. Going to mass every Sunday doesn’t prove anything. I promise Father every month or so to give up swearing and drinking, I haven’t managed it yet.
September 17th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Stevo 656
I agree 100%. If the neighbour “Fenn” stated she heard Maddy cry for a couple of hours one night crying for daddy, how come she did not hear the twins cry. Wouldn’t Maddy’s cry wake up the twins?