Shopping for Cleaning Items at a Portuguese Super Market

by sallypelt 23.02.13 14:13

I've started this thread because I don't know where to ask this question. Admins, please remove if necessary, but the reason this particular thread is to ask anyone if they can remember way back, when it was stated on many occasions, about the McCann's going shopping in a nearby supermarket for bleach and other cleaning products. If my memory serves me correctly, it was on the same day that Madeleine went missing. However, I may be wrong about the exact date, but I know for sure that I read about them going shopping.
I believe the name of the supermarket is Baptista, and here's a link that I found while looking for the name of the supermarket.
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by **tigger** 23.02.13 18:59

I'm only adding to the problem because I did read that a cupboard in which cleaning materials were stored was broken into at OC around that time I believe. Can't for the life of me remember where I read it.

by bobbin 23.02.13 19:30

tigger wrote:I'm only adding to the problem because I did read that a cupboard in which cleaning materials were stored was broken into at OC around that time I believe. Can't for the life of me remember where I read it.

I remember a reference to this to. I'll go looking but think it was the cleaners who said that their store room had been got at and stuff was missing.

by bobbin 23.02.13 19:32

sallypelt wrote:I've started this thread because I don't know where to ask this question. Admins, please remove if necessary, but the reason this particular thread is to ask anyone if they can remember way back, when it was stated on many occasions, about the McCann's going shopping in a nearby supermarket for bleach and other cleaning products. If my memory serves me correctly, it was on the same day that Madeleine went missing. However, I may be wrong about the exact date, but I know for sure that I read about them going shopping.
I believe the name of the supermarket is Baptista, and here's a link that I found while looking for the name of the supermarket.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

also from the diary, Kate has written supermarket K and J. I assume that means Kate and Jane.

by Nina 23.02.13 20:16

bobbin wrote:
tigger wrote:I'm only adding to the problem because I did read that a cupboard in which cleaning materials were stored was broken into at OC around that time I believe. Can't for the life of me remember where I read it.
I remember a reference to this to. I'll go looking but think it was the cleaners who said that their store room had been got at and stuff was missing.

It was the store room of the pool cleaner who happened to be the ex husband of the then girl friend of Robert Murat. The man's name was Luis Antonio and he was the pool cleaner - at the Ocean Club.

by Guest 23.02.13 20:37

Nina wrote:
bobbin wrote:
tigger wrote:I'm only adding to the problem because I did read that a cupboard in which cleaning materials were stored was broken into at OC around that time I believe. Can't for the life of me remember where I read it.
I remember a reference to this to. I'll go looking but think it was the cleaners who said that their store room had been got at and stuff was missing.

It was the store room of the pool cleaner who happened to be the ex husband of the then girl friend of Robert Murat. The man's name was Luis Antonio and he was the pool cleaner - at the Ocean Club.

Hmm

Smell a rat?

by Nina 23.02.13 20:45

Portia wrote:
Nina wrote:
bobbin wrote:
tigger wrote:I'm only adding to the problem because I did read that a cupboard in which cleaning materials were stored was broken into at OC around that time I believe. Can't for the life of me remember where I read it.
I remember a reference to this to. I'll go looking but think it was the cleaners who said that their store room had been got at and stuff was missing.

It was the store room of the pool cleaner who happened to be the ex husband of the then girl friend of Robert Murat. The man's name was Luis Antonio and he was the pool cleaner - at the Ocean Club.

Hmm

Smell a rat?

And also a lot of chemicals, including chlorine winkwink

by bobbin 23.02.13 22:01

Nina wrote:
Portia wrote:
Nina wrote:
bobbin wrote:
tigger wrote:I'm only adding to the problem because I did read that a cupboard in which cleaning materials were stored was broken into at OC around that time I believe. Can't for the life of me remember where I read it.
I remember a reference to this to. I'll go looking but think it was the cleaners who said that their store room had been got at and stuff was missing.

It was the store room of the pool cleaner who happened to be the ex husband of the then girl friend of Robert Murat. The man's name was Luis Antonio and he was the pool cleaner - at the Ocean Club.

Hmm

Smell a rat?

And also a lot of chemicals, including chlorine [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I've just posted up a load of the statements on the Met Dan in the Car thread. Seems that other people remember seeing Robert Murat around that evening night 3rd May. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by Guest 15.01.14 18:17

This is the topic I was referring to on the "Case simplification" thread.

by plebgate 15.01.14 18:28

sallypelt wrote:I've started this thread because I don't know where to ask this question. Admins, please remove if necessary, but the reason this particular thread is to ask anyone if they can remember way back, when it was stated on many occasions, about the McCann's going shopping in a nearby supermarket for bleach and other cleaning products. If my memory serves me correctly, it was on the same day that Madeleine went missing. However, I may be wrong about the exact date, but I know for sure that I read about them going shopping.
I believe the name of the supermarket is Baptista, and here's a link that I found while looking for the name of the supermarket.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Yes I remember it SallyP. It was definitely discussed early days but I cannot remember how the story came about.

by **tigger** 15.01.14 19:21

I'm also thinking of kate going to the supermarket with JT. It's in the book.

On the evening of Monday 30 April, I made my first foray to Baptista with Jane.

Gerry had made a trip to Baptista, a supermarket a short distance from the Ocean Club ( on the Sunday)

From chapter 4.

by Monty Heck 15.01.14 19:37

It would be the easiest thing in the world for any foreigner to have gone into Baptista and purchased cleaning materials without exciting any notice. At that time it was the only supermarket of any size in the village was usually busy and was extensively used by the expat community as well as foreign holidaymakers so strangers shopping there would barely have been taken notice of. Lots of tourists stay in self catering accommodation so any buying food or drinks, for example, plus a few cleaning products would easily have passed unnoticed. There was no CCTV there (still isn't as far as I'm aware) and it would have been an impossible task to have traced any particular till receipts back to the T9 unless credit cards were used.

Even if a purchase of bleach or whatever had been made, it would be difficult to turn that into an indicator of guilt as there's nothing that strange about buying household cleaning products during an apartment holiday, especially when young children were involved. Taken within the context of all the innocent explanations for cadaver odour, explaining why cleaning products had to be purchased would have been a breeze.

by Guest 15.01.14 19:42

I'm sure there was also mention of GPM walking along with one of the OC cleaners plus hoover virtually dragging her along (saying something like 'hurry up you wee sh*te' - can't remember where I read this or any more details, could be a forum myth. Does anyone else recall this?

by Monty Heck 15.01.14 19:43

tigger wrote:I'm also thinking of kate going to the supermarket with JT. It's in the book.

On the evening of Monday 30 April, I made my first foray to Baptista with Jane.

Gerry had made a trip to Baptista, a supermarket a short distance from the Ocean Club ( on the Sunday)

From chapter 4.

It could hardly be described as a foray. Such a drama queen. It was only a few yards away from the apartment, the staff all understand English even if some don't choose to speak it much, and given the number of expat customers plenty of recognisable brands are to be found.

by ultimaThule 15.01.14 19:53

tigger wrote:I'm also thinking of kate going to the supermarket with JT. It's in the book.

On the evening of Monday 30 April, I made my first foray to Baptista with Jane.

Gerry had made a trip to Baptista, a supermarket a short distance from the Ocean Club ( on the Sunday)

From chapter 4.

It's this kind of 'trivia', for want of a better word, that gives the lie to the version of events that has family McCann rapidly falling into a routine - collect kids from high tea, brief playtime (if any) before the ritutal of milk & cookies, bath, bed, story, lights out and immediate slumber for the children, after which their parents shower/bathe, dress for the evening, and leisurely enjoy a bottle (or more) of beer or wine before departing for the Tapas.

Where were the children or, perhaps more pertinently, who were they with and what time was it when Kate forayed forth with JT?

by Rasputin 15.01.14 19:55

A wild card here , but amongst the items in the pool cupboard may have been Hydrochloric acid , the lady in the link below tried to use it to dispose of a body .
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by **sharonl** 15.01.14 20:31

Wasn't a key belonging to a lock up owned by a mate of Murats found in the McCanns' apartment? Didn't that lockup contain a number of chemicals?

by HelenMeg 15.01.14 20:36

tigger wrote:I'm also thinking of kate going to the supermarket with JT. It's in the book.

On the evening of Monday 30 April, I made my first foray to Baptista with Jane.

Gerry had made a trip to Baptista, a supermarket a short distance from the Ocean Club ( on the Sunday)

From chapter 4.

When Kate gives a bit of details such as this ' I made my first foray to Baptista' it usually means she is trying to cover up something else.
Therefore the fact she told us this probably means she had already been there purchasing cleaning things, but by telling us this was her first visit
she hopes we wont even consider that she'd been there previously.

Whatever snippets of fact they reveal to us, it is for a reason... always for a cunning reason.

by whodunit 19.08.15 2:42

sharonl wrote:Wasn't a key belonging to a lock up owned by a mate of Murats found in the McCanns' apartment? Didn't that lockup contain a number of chemicals?

??

by Guest 19.08.15 8:03

Monty Heck wrote:It would be the easiest thing in the world for any foreigner to have gone into Baptista and purchased cleaning materials without exciting any notice. At that time it was the only supermarket of any size in the village was usually busy and was extensively used by the expat community as well as foreign holidaymakers so strangers shopping there would barely have been taken notice of. Lots of tourists stay in self catering accommodation so any buying food or drinks, for example, plus a few cleaning products would easily have passed unnoticed. There was no CCTV there (still isn't as far as I'm aware) and it would have been an impossible task to have traced any particular till receipts back to the T9 unless credit cards were used.

Even if a purchase of bleach or whatever had been made, it would be difficult to turn that into an indicator of guilt as there's nothing that strange about buying household cleaning products during an apartment holiday, especially when young children were involved. Taken within the context of all the innocent explanations for cadaver odour, explaining why cleaning products had to be purchased would have been a breeze.

=========

Maybe the non-existing credit cards WERE used, so the trip HAD to be explained away?
Case of forward flight?

by **PeterMac** 19.08.15 8:18

It is another thirty paces down the street . . . !

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by woodpecker 19.08.15 10:26

With holiday lettings there may be a deposit which you can lose (in full or part) if the apartment is not clean when you leave or if there are breakages.

Now we are told the McCanns were struggling financially in 2007 so losing their deposit could have been a DISASTER. So my purported theory is that the purchase of the cleaning materials was to ensure they got the deposit back. I once had part of a deposit withheld as the agent, a fussy French woman, found crumbs from toast in the grill pan and deemed our apartment 'un peu sale'.

Suggestions that the cleaning materials were used for nefarious purposes are an insult to the saintly pair.

OOps just realised there was a cleaning service provided (?), Does this ruin my theory? Maybe Kate did not trust the cleaners so had to additional cleaning? These cleaners were Portuguese after all, probably as incompetent as the sardine munching police.

by **PeterMac** 19.08.15 10:55

And the idea that a consultant and a GP would be struggling financially . . . is ludicrous.
I can't remember who floated that one, or for what reason, but it is frankly not a starter.

by sallypelt 19.08.15 11:19

PeterMac wrote:And the idea that a consultant and a GP would be struggling financially . . . is ludicrous.
I can't remember who floated that one, or for what reason, but it is frankly not a starter.

Petermac, I totally agree. "struggling doctors"??? Don't make me laugh titter

by whodunit 19.08.15 16:42

You do not need to 'forensically clean' an apartment to the point the dna of the children is wiped out to get back a deposit. That is the very definition of going above and beyond.

Now what about those keys?