a picture of innocence by Dr. Roberts

EXCLUSIVE to mccannfiles.com

By Dr Martin Roberts
29 March 2012

A PICTURE OF INNOCENCE

As any half awake reader of 'Madeleine' will have discovered, the McCanns appear to have an answer for everything. Even though there may be questions yet to be put for which they might struggle to offer a convincing response, there is one in particular that they have already demonstrated they cannot answer. They could not answer it when it was put to them in 2007. And they still cannot answer it five years later. It surely does not require a clinical psychologist to point out that there is something seriously wrong when a parent deprived of his or her child cannot adequately recall that child's last moments with them.

When interviewed in 2007 for Spanish broadcaster Antena 3, the McCanns were asked:

"Allow me to take you both back to the 3rd May. What's the last thing you remember about Madeleine?"

KM: "Just a happy little girl. A beautiful, happy little girl"
(Not: 'She was sleeping beautifully' or 'was sound asleep').

GM: "Just think of all the times... the nice times that we've had with her in our house, and in her playing, in the playroom with her... with her... the twins."

The father could not even place Madeleine in Portugal. Instead he describes happy times at home in Leicester.

Fast forward now to 2012 and a very recent interview for Swedish Television:

Fredrik Skavlan: "Errm... If we could start by going back, errm... to... to May, errr... 3rd 2007. What's your strongest memories of Madeleine from that day?”

Gerry McCann: "I think the strongest memory I have is of really, the photograph that was the last photograph we have of her and, errr... you know, we'd had a lovely holiday. Madeleine was having a great time and just after lunch we went over to the pool area and, errr... she was sitting there paddling in the pool and I was sitting next to her and she turned round and she's just beaming. And then the... the last time I saw her, which was probably minutes before she was taken, when she was lying asleep, and it's terrible how... I've said this a few times but I had one of those poignant moments as a parent where... I went into her room, and the door was open, and I... I just paused for a second and I looked, and she was sound asleep, and I thought how beautiful she was. The twins were asleep in the... in their cots and I thought how lucky we were. And within, you know, minutes that was shattered!"

However intriguing one might find Gerry McCann's reference to his reverie being 'shattered,' or the verbatim repetition of his 'proud father moment' anecdote, the more revealing aspect of his response to the interviewer's question is the opener; the description, ostensibly, of his strongest memory of Madeleine from that day, which turns out not to be a particularly vivid memory of Madeleine at all, but the description of a photograph in which both Gerry McCann and his daughter Madeleine appear. As Gerry says:

"I think the strongest memory I have is of really, the photograph."

The 'last photograph we have of her' gives nothing away as regards the date it was taken but that is not the crux of the matter.

When Gerry speaks of his strongest memory being of a photograph he means exactly that. He does not describe his memory of accompanying two children by the pool and being photographed at the time. Oh no. He describes the photograph, from the onlooker's point of view:

"...just after lunch we went over to the pool area and, errr... she was sitting there paddling in the pool and I was sitting next to her and she turned round and she's just beaming."

Look at the photograph in question. Gerry is staring directly at the camera from behind a pair of sunglasses. Madeleine, a sun hat shielding her face, has turned away to her left with a broad smile. But from their relative positions at the time the shutter was pressed, Gerry would not have been able to tell whether Madeleine was beaming, frowning or crying. 'She's just beaming' is a description of what Madeleine looks like to anyone viewing the photograph. It is not a personal recollection of Gerry McCann's, the father who, despite attempts at convincing the PJ that his memory actually improved with time, has, five years on, a stronger memory of a photograph (its details, by virtue of the photograph's very existence, do not need to be remembered) than he does of a later interaction with Madeleine; an interaction which, in keeping with well-documented 'recency effects' in memory (last item(s) in a series best recalled), should constitute the stronger recollection, being nearer in time and, by definition, the last experience of its kind.

Amnesia apart, there are two reasons in particular why anyone should be unable to recollect the fundamental detail of a significant personal interaction: They have either forgotten all about it (it was not that significant after all), or the memory was not established in the first instance, i.e., what was supposed to have happened did not.

The McCanns have been propped up by two classes of supporter over the years: The enthusiastic subalterns with their own political and/or professional agendas, and the cohorts of the gullible. Head of the Portuguese Lawyers Order Dr. António Marinho e Pinto, a witness for the McCann couple in the forthcoming libel action against Dr. Gonçalo Amaral, the first co-ordinator of the investigation to Maddie's disappearance, belongs in the former category, as illustrated by a recent statement of his on Portuguese Television:

"I am highly critical of the options taken by the Judiciary Police officers, namely of Dr. Gonçalo Amaral [MeP seems oblivious to Paulo Rebelo's role as coordinator of the 'second part' of the investigation that lead directly to the archival]. I believe that it is absurd to attribute... first of all to conclude that the child died, secondly to attribute that death to the parents. I believe that an English couple that is holidaying in the Algarve did not come here to murder their daughter. And if indeed she died, due to an accident, the first thing they would do, obviously, wouldn't be to hide the cadaver, it would be to try to save her, to take her to a hospital. A couple that sees their daughter in that situation, in that situation..."

Dr. António Marinho e Pinto (and anyone else sharing his belief in the seemingly absurd) is cordially invited to read/re-read as appropriate, 'There's Nothing to Say She’s Not Out There Alive' (McCannFiles, 27 June, 2009). Anyone capable of playing the game 'noughts and crosses' should be able to interpret a matrix of four possibilities. If they cannot do that then they have no right to opine as 'experts' in front of a T.V. camera. Assuming they can recognise four discrete conditions, then what is it about the following pairing the likes of Dr. António Marinho e Pinto currently fail to understand?

If Madeleine McCann is not 'out there alive' then she is dead.

Abduction is the only route to being 'out there alive,' all other possibilities having been dismissed by the parents. Hence 'out there alive' equates to 'abducted.' So if Madeleine McCann was not abducted then, as surely as night follows day, she is dead - and then some. The statements by Jane Tanner and Aoife Smith tell us, in effect, that Madeleine McCann cannot have been abducted, unless she was tossed in the air like a pancake just before being witnessed (sighted, call it what you will) by Tanner, or else changed out of her Eeyore pyjamas 'on the hoof' before being spotted by the Smiths.

The abduction story more than verges on the ridiculous. It is ridiculous. It most certainly does not deserve to be called a 'thesis.'

As for the second of Dr. António Marinho e Pinto’s 'beliefs,' it too has already been addressed ('A Line in The Sand:' McCannFiles, 19 March). So it's 'back to the drawing board' for April then...?

Yes it's most odd.... and ,You know I've been thinking, if I had the spare money i would love to take part in a reconstruction, go out there and try and reconstruct things

Asked the same question about what KM remembers of that day from the Woman's Hour interview...........



Jenni Murray: What do you remember Kate of the last day you spent together as a family?

Kate McCann: Longish pause and than a large intake of breath and tongue clicking noise I mean, we'd had a brilliant holiday, we'd had a really good time, the kids had had a fantastic time, Madeleine herself had had a ball. Inhales audibly Ermm, exasperated sigh Again I can't go into specifics about the actual day, but, ermm, you know, Madeleine was very happy, y.. you know, we hadn't done anythink out the norm of that week. Ermm, small pause you know, she, she, was just very happy really, and, you know, my last memory of her is being very happy.

Jenni Murray: We've read that she told you what a wonderful time she'd had that day....

Kate McCann: Yeah

Jenni Murray: .... How important is that for you to hold on to?

Kate McCann: That's on, that's really important. I mean, it, I mean it was obvious to me that she'd had a really good week anyway. Ermm, it just so happened that on the Thursday she said that was the best Kate emphasises on the word 'best' day of the week she'd had. Ermmm, and, you know, she was quite tired but she was happy and tired. And, erm, I mean, that's how I remember Madeleine.

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id59.html

Kate McCann: That's on, that's really important. I mean, it, I mean it was obvious to me that she'd had a really good week anyway. Ermm, it just so happened that on the Thursday she said that was the best Kate emphasises on the word 'best' day of the week she'd had. Ermmm, and, you know, she was quite tired but she was happy and tired. And, erm, I mean, that's how I remember Madeleine.

I'll have to check the book, but In there it is 'the best day ever!' Yet another tweak after reading these sites? If Maddie said that, I'm a penguin. She was four years old with little or no temporal awareness.

But just like Gerry, Kate is also incapable of recalling these events, or non events. I picked up on Gerry's strange answer immediately - it just stands out in neon lights - we can only hope the Swedes and Norwegians aren't that easily fooled.

I've just come across some earlier photographs of Gerry and Kate. Don't know about Kate but I'm willing to bet a fiver that Gerry's been botoxed pretty comprehensively. I'd been wondering about his shiny smooth forehead - the man's had 'work done'. imo.
Perhaps it's to stop him squirming and flapping his eyelashes so much in interviews.

" I can't go into specifics about the actual day "

Interesting how Kate can't be specific, I wonder why not. Same as her " I can't go into the reasons why" she knew Maddie had been abducted and had absolutely not [insulting to her intelligence to suggest it] wandered out of the unlocked apartment.
Yet she is absolutely sure, and can't say exactly why.

tigger wrote:Kate McCann: That's on, that's really important. I mean, it, I mean it was obvious to me that she'd had a really good week anyway. Ermm, it just so happened that on the Thursday she said that was the best Kate emphasises on the word 'best' day of the week she'd had. Ermmm, and, you know, she was quite tired but she was happy and tired. And, erm, I mean, that's how I remember Madeleine.

I'll have to check the book, but In there it is 'the best day ever!' Yet another tweak after reading these sites? If Maddie said that, I'm a penguin. She was four years old with little or no temporal awareness.

But just like Gerry, Kate is also incapable of recalling these events, or non events. I picked up on Gerry's strange answer immediately - it just stands out in neon lights - we can only hope the Swedes and Norwegians aren't that easily fooled.

I've just come across some earlier photographs of Gerry and Kate. Don't know about Kate but I'm willing to bet a fiver that Gerry's been botoxed pretty comprehensively. I'd been wondering about his shiny smooth forehead - the man's had 'work done'. imo.
Perhaps it's to stop him squirming and flapping his eyelashes so much in interviews.

Didn't work though, did it?
I watched the vid on Tuesday. You're right that his answer stood out in neon - BUT what stood out for me, was whilst giving that answer, was his outstanding blink rate! He looked like he was caught in a sandstorm. As soon as he'd answered and was back on 'neutral territory' he visibly relaxed and blink rate niiice and eeeasy.
Now WHY would the question of 'your last recollection of your daughter' make an innocent father so nervous?

When he said it was the photo I got goosebumps.
He did not say it was their moments at the pool. HE said it was the PHOTO! Err........what kind of answer is that?

HE was asked about his last memory of her, meaning interactive time spent with her, what has that got anything to do with a still photo - christ on a bike!

What about the interim time till he goes out to the Tapas bar? Didnt he do anything together with Maddie?

russiandoll wrote:" I can't go into specifics about the actual day "
Interesting how Kate can't be specific, I wonder why not. Same as her " I can't go into the reasons why" she knew Maddie had been abducted and had absolutely not [insulting to her intelligence to suggest it] wandered out of the unlocked apartment.
Yet she is absolutely sure, and can't say exactly why.

There was, at one point, a good reason not to blab about the details of the evidence for an 'abduction'.
The police, and the police alone, should know the entire details, and leaking those details to the press, or putting them in the public domain would be counterproductive and in the particular set of circumstances "purported" by the McCanns, would be a probable death sentence for their daughter.
But for that to be correct Kate would have had to have told the police absolutely every piece of evidence they had to "purport" their theory, assumption, or hypothesis of abduction. And it would have been written down in great detail in their statements.
But as we know - it wasn't.
Nor did Kate bother to tend to annoying detail of answering questions, an action, or lack of action, which the police advised her in terms might inhibit the success of the investigation.
And still, four years later, they are saying that there are details about the "actual day" which they have, but are not prepared to reveal to anyone, police, public, investigators, SY, no one (except possible Clarence Mitchell and C-R !).
In this case, for the first time, let me state publicly - I believe you, Kate.

tigger wrote:I'll have to check the book, but In there it is 'the best day ever!' Yet another tweak after reading these sites? If Maddie said that, I'm a penguin. She was four years old with little or no temporal awareness.

Kate desperately needs to be seen as "cool" but doesn't realize that no matter what it's the very last way people would see her. It's pretty embarrassing. She also tries to make Madeleine cool, this is one example and another is of Madeleine singing along to a song that she never heard before trying to make her into a cool pre-teen. And the cringeworthy remark about them being such good friends and going out for coffee together. Yuck. The scary thing for me is that Kate seems to have no concept of what a mother does, the nature of a mother's relationship with her children or the role that they should play. She says that if she had bigger boobs then the world would see her as a good mother, that speaks volumes to me. In her ramblings of their PDL days sometimes I get the impression that things were a lot like her game playing with Madeleine, Madeleine was the adult and Kate was the child.

It's a very good point about the last photo, who would look back and remember the exact moment of a photograph and nothing around it? And if it was such a remarkable family moment where was little Sean? Back to the mother role, surely the safest and happiest place while the mother is focused on photo taking would be by his dad's side splashing in the pool and not roaming around the pool's edge out of her line of vision. And after all, Madeleine did enjoy playing with her erm the twins.

aiyoyo wrote:When he said it was the photo I got goosebumps.
He did not say it was their moments at the pool. HE said it was the PHOTO! Err........what kind of answer is that?

HE was asked about his last memory of her, meaning interactive time spent with her, what has that got anything to do with a still photo - christ on a bike!

What about the interim time till he goes out to the Tapas bar? Didnt he do anything together with Maddie?

Perhaps he's rather proud of that photo - he may see it as evidence. It's almost as if they asked him if he can prove she was there and his brain immediately came up with irrefutable evidence - a photograph! Something we can not dispute.
They were actually asking about memories and what you did together the last day - but that may not have occurred to Gerry, since it's unlikely they ever interacted much with her at all.

I love Dr. Roberts!

tigger wrote:

aiyoyo wrote:When he said it was the photo I got goosebumps.
He did not say it was their moments at the pool. HE said it was the PHOTO! Err........what kind of answer is that?

HE was asked about his last memory of her, meaning interactive time spent with her, what has that got anything to do with a still photo - christ on a bike!

What about the interim time till he goes out to the Tapas bar? Didnt he do anything together with Maddie?

Perhaps he's rather proud of that photo - he may see it as evidence. It's almost as if they asked him if he can prove she was there and his brain immediately came up with irrefutable evidence - a photograph! Something we can not dispute.
They were actually asking about memories and what you did together the last day - but that may not have occurred to Gerry, since it's unlikely they ever interacted much with her at all.

I love Dr. Roberts!

So is that one for the forensic linguistic thread?

Yes Dr Roberts observes rather well they actually never spoken about the activity they did together with her on that day/
Neither kate nor gerry can recall or relate that day interactive time with Madeleine, Not even milk and biscuit time and story reading time which Kate alleged in her statements that was what she did with Maddie on the evening of the 3rd.. Or for that matter the memorable morning convo.

Its as if their mind shuts down when asked that question.

I wonder whether Dr Roberts send his analysis to the Yard?

Dr Roberts is extremely prolific right now, isn't he?
His insights are getting better and better...

Aiyoyo, just copied and pasted to the FL thread, which is going to make great reading for students of that subject!

quote from Molly :

Back to the mother role, surely the safest and happiest place while the mother is focused on photo taking would be by his dad's side splashing in the pool and not roaming around the pool's edge out of her line of vision. And after all, Madeleine did enjoy playing with her erm the twins.
Molly how do we know that Sean was not next to or in front of his mother in the pool, wearing water-wings? Who said he was roaming around the pool's edge...no evidence of where he was as he is not in the photo.
As for the mother's role, if Sean were on dry land, I would suggest while Kate was busy focusing her camera, it would, should have been Gerry keeping an eye out for his son's wellbeing as he was simply sitting with his daughters waiting to be photographed. A bit sexist that Molly...giving all the caregiving role to the female !

russiandoll wrote:quote from Molly : Back to the mother role, surely the safest and happiest place while the mother is focused on photo taking would be by his dad's side splashing in the pool and not roaming around the pool's edge out of her line of vision. And after all, Madeleine did enjoy playing with her erm the twins.
Molly how do we know that Sean was not next to or in front of his mother in the pool, wearing water-wings? Who said he was roaming around the pool's edge...no evidence of where he was as he is not in the photo.
As for the mother's role, if Sean were on dry land, I would suggest while Kate was busy focusing her camera, it would, should have been Gerry keeping an eye out for his son's wellbeing as he was simply sitting with his daughters waiting to be photographed. A bit sexist that Molly...giving all the caregiving role to the female !

It's not a sexist comment as in if Kate was in the picture I'd be saying the exact same thing about Gerry and it was Kate who wrote the book therefore I make the comments about her as a mother. But you are right, I didn't express my point properly and unfortunately can't be as eloquent as some people here, it's just not my particular strength. I get bogged down in what they've said, where is the real truth and what is hidden and what's implied and then forget to articulate. When it comes across as a sexist comment it's definitely time to call it a day. Wishing you all the best of luck and here is hoping that justice will prevail.

Molly I really hope that you aren't being serious in saying you're leaving because something you said was misinterpreted. There wouldn't be anybody here if we all left for that reason. Hang on a minute, has the date 1st April got anything to do with it?

Jean wrote:Molly I really hope that you aren't being serious in saying you're leaving because something you said was misinterpreted. There wouldn't be anybody here if we all left for that reason. Hang on a minute, has the date 1st April got anything to do with it?

Sadly I don't think we can spin this one as a prank - its way past midday Jean!
I second you though, Molly please don't go! The sensible stalwarts are all diasappearing and we're being left with the likes of Merrymo!
I can assure you, I saw nothing sexist in that comment, and I agree - where was Sean? I've often thought he could be where 'Maddie' is.

rainbow-fairy wrote:

Jean wrote:Molly I really hope that you aren't being serious in saying you're leaving because something you said was misinterpreted. There wouldn't be anybody here if we all left for that reason. Hang on a minute, has the date 1st April got anything to do with it?

Sadly I don't think we can spin this one as a prank - its way past midday Jean!
I second you though, Molly please don't go! The sensible stalwarts are all diasappearing and we're being left with the likes of Merrymo!
I can assure you, I saw nothing sexist in that comment, and I agree - where was Sean? I've often thought he could be where 'Maddie' is.

Lol, Jean, totally forgot it was April fools.

And yes, Rainbow, I've often thought it was originally Sean in M's place. Or that he was safely hanging out with the others while the rogatories say nobody else was around at the pool at lunchtime on 3rd. Everyone knows the risks of children and water so for me this particular picture doesn't work.

I think I've lost the optimism that I initially had and sort of wised up to the reality. I don't like the person that I come across as and can't find any positives to contribute any more. Lots of people drop on and drop off, the only difference in this situation is I shared my reasons.

I do know what you mean by sometimes there doesn't seem to be any point in contributing but then I realise I would miss being able to talk about this case without being insulted as happens on ordinary message boards.

Of course it's entirely your decison Molly but I hope that you may pop back from time to time.

Best wishes from Jean.

Molly, you have no idea what a nasty shock it was to see you want to 'bow out' . I hope it isn't something I've done or said?

You have also no idea how valuable you are to a site like this. You may think you have lost your optimism but this site is such a thorn in the side of TM that masses of perfectly good posts had to be removed.
You were away before for a long time, then you came back and I was so pleased to see you again. So please! don't leave, you are of value.
Re the point about Sean and the pool, of course you'd worry about his safety. Recently I visited a newly developed area of The Hague, lots of nice new houses and lots and lots of canals and water everywhere, my first thought was that no child of mine would leave the house without water wings on, ever!
Yet the people I met said how nice it was and how safe for children. Arrrgh!

So please - stay!

Molly please don't leave over what I said.........the sexist bit should have been in brackets I am sorry it upset you...it was tongue in cheek really.
I was serious though about Sean, there is no evidence of him roaming around anywhere and the jump to child non- safety was a jump too far for me.

anyway, I am a nice woman and the thought I have upset you has made me feel rather sad. I think I am def not going to reply to Merrymo any more [ am convinced by writing style she is a he] as he winds me up and I think I had replied to a couple of his posts/her posts before yours, did not properly engage my brain, did not think in the haste to reply and definitely did not re read my post before hitting send and if it sounded mean or I offended you I am truly sorry.

Don't worry yourself, I am sure Molly was joking - surely no resaonable person could get in a huff about an innocuous comment!

". Ermmm, and, you know, she was quite tired but she was happy and tired. "



The two words "happy" and "tired" don't really go together when describing a child of Madeleine's age, do they? How many almost four year olds do you know that aren't fractious and miserable and prone to tantrums when they are tired?

russiandoll wrote: Molly please don't leave over what I said.........the sexist bit should have been in brackets I am sorry it upset you...it was tongue in cheek really.
I was serious though about Sean, there is no evidence of him roaming around anywhere and the jump to child non- safety was a jump too far for me.

anyway, I am a nice woman and the thought I have upset you has made me feel rather sad. I think I am def not going to reply to Merrymo any more [ am convinced by writing style she is a he] as he winds me up and I think I had replied to a couple of his posts/her posts before yours, did not properly engage my brain, did not think in the haste to reply and definitely did not re read my post before hitting send and if it sounded mean or I offended you I am truly sorry.

I worry about this.
I too am guilty of being more aggressive than I would normally be, on account of certain posters nonsense answers!
I'm not against those who doubt the McCanns involvement per se, its when these posters become vexatious and don't actually add to discussion that the problems arise.

Don't worry, Molly isn't blaming any of us. She's just so fed up that the McCanns are still pulling the same tricks and like a lot of us, overburdened with work and daily life.