‘They’ Say The Parents Killed Madeleine McCann
“WE DIDN’T KILL OUR MADELEINE.”
The Express is, of course, appalled at the suggestion that Gerry and Kate McCann did murder their daughter Madeleine. But the paper feels duty bound to report the denial on its front page.
Such is the passion evoked by the story of Madeleine McCann that the headline could read “WE DIDN’T KILL YOUR MADELEINE”, the McCanns’ appeal for understanding and compassion to the readers at large.
A source close to the couple tells the paper: “Kate and Gerry are well aware what these reports [Madeleine might have died in the apartment] are inferring – that they or one of their close friends killed Madeleine either deliberately or by accident.
“Gerry is completely livid about it all. It is completely hurtful and untrue.”
“Maddy parents’ fury at murder slurs,” say the Mail’s cover page. “YOU ARE NOT SUSPECTS,” says the Mirror’s front-page headline.
Police spokesman Olegario Sousa tells us: “The family are not suspects. This is the official position.”
But we don’t know. Facts on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann don’t stack up to much. The news of blood on the McCanns’ walls is open to much interpretation.
The Mirror considers the evidence. It says Madeleine may have died in the family holiday apartment. “Killers are often those closest to home, they say,” writes Julie McCaffrey, who repeats what “they say” for we readers to dismiss. “This shows the McCanns in a new light, they snipe. No smoke without fire…”
The writer goes on to warn: “But jumping to the wrong conclusions is dangerous, not least incredibly hurtful.” Indeed. Tell that to Robert Murat who one Mirror hack found so “creepy” she had to tell the police about him, rightly, and then tell her readers, wrongly.
In any case Madeleine McCann is not dead. As Gerry McCann assures us: “Kate and I strongly believe that Madeleine is alive and that she was taken from the apartment but obviously what we don’t know is what happened to her afterwards, who has taken and what was their motive.”
Which means the Express can feature stories about Madeleine in a Belgian restaurant. For three days running readers have been invited to wonder if it was Madeleine sat in a Flemish eatery with two adults. Today readers learn that the results of a DNA test on a glass will prove if it was the missing child.
And if it wasn’t Madeleine, what then? Are we back to watching the parents and seeing the media they are using to find their daughter turn against them?
August 8th, 2007 at 10:51 am
“Gerry is completely livid about it all. It is completely hurtful and untrue.”
So now he knows how poor Robert Murat feels. The man he arrogantly wrote off as a “sad loner”. Someone he knows nothing about except by hearsay. Someone whose behaviour doesn’t appear to be half so sad as his own.
Funny how the tabloid press treat McCann as a saint and demonise Murat. In neither case is there evidence to support the conclusion of guilt or innocence. But then we know which horse they backed three months ago. At least they are consistent.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:04 am
The DNA on the drink is not Madeleines. If the blood in the wall is not hers, then someone probably has Madeleine alive. Hopefull the Mccanns know something we don’t and she is going to be found soon.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:24 am
All this time I’ve been wondering who the McCann parents have been reminding me of with their media posturing and their Our Daughter Got Abducted world tour. And now I remember: it’s the parents of Jon Benet Ramsey.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:29 am
how come that DNA tests can come back (from where ever) within days from a bottle in belguim but dna in portugal is taken, lost, taken again and we still dont know who was in or who was not in the apartment. Or do they not want us to know.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:34 am
they now say that the DNA was not Madeleines but was that of a man, so maybe it was Madeleine and she never actually had a drink from the glass,
what next ……….
August 8th, 2007 at 11:57 am
I wonder how much longer all this bull crap is going to go on. Geez, somebody knows what happened to Madeleine, and it is about time they spoke up. This is ridiculous. Please, talk people so we can all get on with our lives. Damn.
August 8th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Gerry said yesterday in the sky interview that he didn’t know what happened after Madeleine was taken, who’d taken her and what “HER” motivation was. Freudian slip?
August 8th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
This is all speculation folks. Nobody knows for sure what happened.
This is not CSI, where everything is wrapped up in an hour.
The media is keeping the story in the headlines by coming
out with all these stories that have no facts to back them up.
Sadly they may never find out what happened to her.
August 8th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Cam, I’ve just listened to the interview again, and you are right it sounds as though he is saying ‘her’ motive, but cannot be sure. Wondering if he said ‘their’ but dropped the ‘th’ or we can’t hear the ‘th’ very well plus his Scottish accent would make ‘their’ sound like ‘ther’…
If he said ‘her’, maybe it’s based on an innocent assumption his child was wanted by a woman…
I think what’s a bit more troubling is the sentence: “Kate and I strongly believe Madeleine was alive when she was taken from the appartment… obviously what we don’t know is what happened to her afterwards (who’s taken her and what her/their motive is).”
It seem to keep open the possibility (slim maybe) that they did know what might have ‘happened to her’ up to the point she was taken… (or then again maybe not!) How could they be so sure (’strongly believe’) she was alive when she was taken? They must know something we don’t, quite possibly just stuff they cannot relay because it is a police enquiry.
Poor Madeleine.
August 8th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Opps: most transcripts of the interview put it as ‘the’ motive.
August 8th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
I just read the Flemish DNA did not match and that’s exactly what I thought would happen. I also think the so-called blood specks from the McCann apt. will be false, that is, if they can extract any DNA from the sample. The remarks made by a few McCann bashers that the parents did it or know who did is completely preposterous! My feeling is that she was taken by some scumbag(s)and she is gone. I think this case will never be solved and she will never be seen again.
August 8th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Hi Johnusa,
I definitely agree with most of what you are saying. Although I think they will solve this case and Madeleine will be found. They already have the DNA of a mystery person in the apartment which they can cross check with the Swiss guy Urs Von Aesch, so I am sure if he is involved they will know soon. I definitely think that two people are involved and all it will take is to catch one of them. I am sure they will not protect the second person. I find the guy that Urs Von Aesch shot in the forest odd because he claims he was just sleeping there and got shot. Something about that claim seems strange because they found that he was shot with a different gun (which they can not find) than the one Urs von Aesch used. Also it is frightening that Von Aesch was in the Algarve while the McCann’s were holidaying.
August 8th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
I am fed up of hearing people slating the Portuguese police! Don’t any of these PJ bashers watch Columbo?!
He knows not only who did it, but how and why, within a couple of minutes of meeting the culprit, but gives them more than enough rope to hang themselves with and then nails them.
And that is exactly what the Ports have done here. They’ve told the parents (now surely the prime suspects) that they are searching for Madeleine alive, whereas actually they have been watching their every move, reading their emails, tapping their phone calls etc.
These guys have done a terrific job!
August 8th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Cam Says:
August 8th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Gerry said yesterday in the sky interview that he didn’t know what happened after Madeleine was taken, who’d taken her and what “HER” motivation was. Freudian slip?
http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,91210-1278962,.html
I thought that last night when I listened and played that part over & over again until I could no longer tell what he said. Now I have gone back to listen and the video isn’t playing any more. Would someone please check the above link to see if it works for them?
The bit Cam is talking about is approx a 3rd into the video & has been quoted above as
“Kate and I strongly believe that Madeleine is alive and that she was taken from the apartment but obviously what we don’t know is what happened to her afterwards, who has taken and what was their motive.”
Thanks
Ringo.
August 8th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Yes Ray I am sure someone guilty of murder is going to be sending one email after another writing about it or making phone calls talking about it . The Portuguese tabloids seem worse than the UK ones. Please!
August 8th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Read this from SOS Madeleine (sorry translation not great)
“The kidnapper of small Ylenia, Switzerland Urs Hans von Aesch, 67 years, to summer with Praia da Luz during the month of mai.L’ information of a possible connection between the Swiss paedophile and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann gain a certain consistency. The control of the individual is consideré suspect and last information coming from Switzerland does nothing but stress that one could be face to face with a true predator. The man was owner of a white van, the same one which remained in parking, during several days, in front of the apartment occupied by the McCann family. Van which disappeared the night from the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The man lived in Spain since 1990 and, after May, with decided to return to Switzerland… or its ADN was identified on the effects Ylenia, 5 years and half, disappeared since last 31 July. Camera found in the van of Urs Hans But the Swiss police force now puts other questions concerning passed of Urs Hans bus during her life to Switzerland one finds traces of the passage of this man near the place from where are disappeared from other children and young people. The newspaper “the Morning” advances in its last edition that two other girls disappeared under similar conditions, twenty-five years ago, at the moment or the man worked like representative in the area. The last years, Urs Hans lived in Benimantell, in the Spanish area of Alicante. Side of the investigation one faces a mystery as complicated as that to which face the Portuguese authorities: it is not known or is small Ylenia nor if it is in life. Urs Hans would have committed suicide - or at assassinated summer - and with carried with him all its secrecies. Before its death, the man with tempted to kill a walker. The balls which one been used to draw on the walker and with the suicide as Urs Hans do not come from the same weapon as made think of the existence of a second weapon or another individual. The police force saint-Welsh is in possession of a numerical camera discovered inside the white light van of the suspect but his contents is not known. Disconcerting fact, Urs Hans had already programmed the abduction of a child in 1961 to obtain a ransom, being denounced at the time by his/her mother. The Germanic newspapers photographs are found and documents in its files but, with the police force, it did not remain any trace of the facts of time.”
August 8th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
no, i agree with you that doesn’t make sense for guilty party to send emails / make phone calls about a murder they’d committed, though the Daily Mail states that “Today’s daily Diario de Noticias claims that intercepted emails and telephone conversations between the McCanns and their friends show that they had information about their daughter’s death. The paper claims that these intercepted phone calls and emails have influenced the police’s new theory that Madeleine died in her apartment.”
- Again, it’s only what the Portuguese paper is reporting, not necessarily fact.
Do you have the original link to the SOS Madeleine stuff? I couldn’t really understand the details, though the gist is there. Thanks!
August 8th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
no - blindly believing that the McCanns had nothing to do with this is akin to the mythical ostrich burying its head in the sand.
The truth will out.
August 8th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Maz wrote: ‘..So now he knows how poor Robert Murat feels. The man he arrogantly wrote off as a “sad loner”. Someone he knows nothing about except by hearsay. Someone whose behaviour doesn’t appear to be half so sad as his own.
Funny how the tabloid press treat McCann as a saint and demonise Murat. In neither case is there evidence to support the conclusion of guilt or innocence. But then we know which horse they backed three months ago. At least they are consistent…’
Absolutely agree. Well said. What bile the tabloids print. I’m now really hoping Mr Murat is cleared fully. It’s going to be fun watching him take the tabloids to court for defamation, slander and any number of other crimes against his good character. He’s going to be rich man. Maybe as rich as the McCanns…
August 8th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
They may not have killed her, but, they are responisble for what has happened who abandons their children for any length of time in a strange country.
August 8th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Well..if the parents has anything to do with the disappearance…I want my money I gave to the FMMc fund back!
August 8th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Ray I am not blindly believing anything, I am basically looking at the facts so far and I am sorry it does not point to the parents. But I can certainly see how tabloid papers in Portugal are running around like chickens with their heads cut off not actually confirming any of their claims with the official JP spokesman. In fact if you read some of the papers today it said that because of this hysteria of the press in Portugal the JP had to make a statement in support of the McCanns to reiterate that they are NOT suspects.
And Audrey relax about the money, why don’t you wait and see what Madeleine’s fate is before asking for your money back which I am sure was probably not that much.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Actually Maz Gerry McCann made a statement a while back asking that people be treated innocent until proven guilty with reference to Murat becoming a suspect. He did not bite Murat’s head off and instead behaved respectfully. It is the tabloid press that behaved badly toward Murat just as the Portuguese tabloids are now behaving badly toward the McCanns.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Respectfully calling him a sad loner, no?
Of course it points to the parents. Their stories have changed continually; only last week Kate McCann said she found Maddie gone at 9pm, yet previously (and now again) it was TEN pm she checked the room.
They have created this circus to ensure they have a decent claim for an unfair trial and therefore will get off (relatively) scott free.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Well “no”. You just don’t get it do you? The Portuguese people are disgusted and amazed at the way the McCann’s have behaved pre and post “the abduction”. They also contrast the way the McCann’s have been treated with the recent case where a working-class (Portuguese) mother was jailed following the disappearance of her child. The Portuguese press is playing to the feelings of it’s public, just like the Uk media is doing pro-McCann and anti PJ /Murat. Both are guilty of poor journalism.
However, there is something about the case hasn’t been right from the start - it clearly wasn’t a “straight abduction” and we might just be close to finding out why; which may just shut the bleeding hearts pro McCann Brigade up …..
And as for the money, it doesn’t matter how much has been given, it is more than they deserve and it is just pathetic that you choose to belittle it. Open your mind, just a little.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
IF, and it’s a big if, the blood matches Maddie’s DNA then we will have a very interesting situation. Blood on a wall which allegedly has been cleaned off so well that it took many weeks and a specially trained dog to find it. To believe she was abducted then we would have to believe that someone took her, apparently injuring her, but in that highly pressurised moment had the presence of mind to take the time and trouble to attempt to clean blood from the wall with disinfectant. Now why would someone risk being caught to do that? It wouldn’t matter to an abductor intent on keeping Maddie Put frankly, it doesn’t add up. So the next step for the Police will be to interview the parents individually and try to “sweat” some information out of them. Of course, if the parents had returned to the UK, they would have been interviewed individually as a matter of routine weeks ago. Could this explain why both have “had to” stay in Portugal for the entire time. Something has been really strange (incredible) about this case from the start perhaps we are about to learn a little more.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
We’re hardly going to be told what is happening in an ongoing investigation and the lack of information fuels speculation. There has been conflicting reports from the outset re the McCann group and the amount of checking undertaken each evening. It seems to me that Madeleine could have been across the border, out to sea or wherever long before it was realised that she was missing - and that’s purely it - she is missing - hardly any clues to say what has happened to her. How many other children of her age go missing in these circumstances. Her parents have got to take the flak for this.
I can’t understand also how it is possible to keep Robert Murat a suspect for the best part of 3 months without further evidence.
I hope I am wrong but I feel it is too late now for Madeleine.
August 9th, 2007 at 12:04 am
In case you don’t think I am keeping up, I don’t believe that the blood in the apartment will be Madeleine’s, just as I wasn’t surprised that the DNA on the bottle/straw/glass wasn’t hers either. She won’t be seen in public unless she is being given back, which I hope to God she will be.
August 9th, 2007 at 3:40 am
I am Scottish and I also noticed Gerry McCann had said “I don’t know what happened after Madeleine was taken, who’d taken her and what “HER” motivation was” The video is no longer on SKY but can found at BBC News see link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news/uk/video/111000/bb/111421_16×9_bb.asx
This is just an observation, I don’t feel I am qualified to have an opinion on this matter and I don’t want to add to the speculation surrounding the case. I would welcome however definitive news on the case that the little is found - whether dead or alive so that this circus could finally stop.
August 9th, 2007 at 5:07 am
It’s interesting that people regard the Mccann’s behaviour as suspicious and their motive for staying in the Algarve. How are they meant to behave given the constrictions of Portugese law? If, God forbid, I was in their shoes, I would stay put, with life on hold indefinately, close to the investigation and try to give my other 2 kids some routine. I’d also be trying to drum up as much publicity as possible - if that is what I’d been told would be beneficial to finding my child. Imagine how they’d have been slated by returning to Britain and resuming their lives! There must be a huge amount going on that the press dont know about. How would you do differently - aside from leaving the kids unattended in the first place?