Re: Robert Murat Revisited

by Research_Reader 08.11.13 20:29

Maybe it was along the lines of: Help us store the body, and we'll pay you a large amount of money, but if you dare go to the police we will make sure that its blamed on you, we'll have the best legal team money can buy and you'll find yourself in prison.

It kind of makes sense of the whole picture of evidence, but still feels kind of fanciful to me.

by Guest 08.11.13 20:33

Do people who translate for the Police get thoroughly checked out I wonder? I say this because RM had previously translated for the PJ and had also translated for Norfolk police.

by TellTheTruth 08.11.13 20:42

Have been puzzled by the Murat/McCann thing for a long time.

Like the "Do you know Robert Murat? I'm not going to answer that." etc..

SO many questions.

If he helped them...

Who approached him?

Did one of them just ask about empty/vacant apartments?

If so, did he not think it odd? Bearing in mind they had a missing child who had not been found!

Did he enter the apartment/house and then know what was going on? (He must have have other keys to his properties.)

Did he say "Pay up or I'll talk?" Seems quite strange if he would do that

All I know is there is NO way that I would help anybody in these circumstances, I would be straight onto the police.

So, if he did help them and didn't go to the police... roll

Like I said, I can't sort out what's wrong here but something seems odd JMHO

by Research_Reader 08.11.13 20:44

I believe this theory would rely - at the very least - on them already knowing him, and not approaching him 'cold', so to speak.

by Hicks 08.11.13 20:50

There was a rumour floating around that RM was a guest at a Healy wedding but I cannot find any info on that.

There is always the Exeter connection!

by **Tony Bennett** 08.11.13 20:50

Let me be fair to Robert Murat and also post this, from The Times:

++++++++++++++++

Profile: Robert Murat, suspect in Madeleine case

Michael Horsnell of The Times

Robert Murat, a suspect in the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine McCann, adored his own daughter and desperately missed her after his marriage broke down.

The former car salesman “lost” her when his wife, Dawn, returned to her native Norfolk with their daughter four months after the family had emigrated to Portugal because she was homesick and he stayed behind.

Mr Murat, 33, whose father is Portuguese, carried on as a self-employed property consultant on the Algarve, but visited the child regularly.

Gareth Bailey, a close friend and former colleague of the suspect at Inchcape Autoparc used car dealership in Norwich, where Mr Murat had worked for four years, said the family embarked on a new life in Portugal in 2005.

Married in 1994 in Deerham, Norfolk, the couple had been trying for a baby for years until she fell pregnant in 2002 and had looked forward to moving abroad.

”But Dawn was unhappy in Portugal and became homesick,” Mr Bailey said. “She is a Norfolk girl and her family are in Norfolk.

”She only stayed with Rob for three or four months before she decided to come home with [their daughter]. He had already got a life out there, so he decided to stay. At first, he kept his relationship with Dawn and kept flying back to the UK to spend time with her and her daughter.

”He was going backwards and forwards between Portugal and here all the time, often only staying a couple of days before going back there. In the end, their relationship just fizzled out.”

Friends today described Mr Murat's daughter, four, who is also blonde, as “his life”.

Mr Bailey, who last saw his friend two months ago, added: “He is a laidback guy who loves the wonderful weather and the relaxed lifestyle out there.

”But he was upset about being away from his daughter. She is his first child and she means a lot to him. When she was born, it was the best thing ever for him. I know he stays in contact with [her] and telephones her all the time from Portugal. She is his world and he loves her to bits.”

Mr Murat was born on November 20, 1973, at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, Hammersmith, west London - the elder son of John Henry Queriol Murat, a company director, who is Portuguese, and Jennifer (nee Eveleigh), from Sidmouth, Devon.

Mr Murat’s parents were then living in Richmond-upon-Thames, but moved to Portugal, where he was educated.

As a young man, he returned to Britain, where he took a variety of jobs and enjoyed playing darts and clay pigeon shooting.

Mr Murat, who lost an eye in a motorbike accident as a teenager when he crashed into the wall of a railway station, worked for the turkey tycoon, Bernard Matthews, at the company factory in Lenwade, Norfolk, between 1994 and 2000.

He and his wife, who has a son, David, now 20, by a previous marriage, bought a modest, semi-detached, three-bedroom house, now worth £190,000, in The Street, Hockering - a quiet Norfolk village near Deerham (population 230).

Mr Murat went on to become a successful car salesman with Inchcape for four years before moving on to work at Desira car dealership in Norwich, selling Nissans, Alfa Romeos, Fiats and Citroens.

But he also earned £150 a time as a translator for Norfolk police, using his language skills to help their inquiries among the large Portuguese community in the county.

Mr Bailey remains certain of his friend’s innocence. He said: “I would trust him with my own daughter. It was a complete shock to hear what has happened in Portugal. If I was to give him a character reference, I would describe him as brilliant and a real people person.

”He is ever such a likeable guy and probably one of the most helpful people you could come across. He was very conscientious when I worked with him and spent masses of time with customers - almost to the point where he would become annoying. It’s just the way he is.

”He is one of those overly helpful people who likes to get involved. Sometimes at work, I had to tell him to go away in a friendly way.”

Mr Murat had a reputation, not only in the car trade but in Hockering, as something of a Good Samaritan.

His next door neighbour, Colin Shackcloth, 85, said: “He is a lovely man, but, two years ago, I realised he was gone. I went round with a little present at Christmas, a box of chocolates and Dawn said: ’Robert has gone back and he is stopping there."

Mr Shackcloth, a retired display manager, added: “He always struck me as a down-to-earth kind of fellow. If you wanted anything, he would help. If you needed it, he would be round to replace a bulb for you. What he is supposed to have done just doesn’t fit.

”They were both very nice to us. We never had an angry word since they moved in about 11 years ago. I can’t say a bad word about him.”

Police stood guard at the house, from which Mrs Murat was driven away at speed by police late on Monday night carrying her daughter in a blanket.

The little girl and her mother are being cared for at an undisclosed address.

Mrs Murat’s mother, Margaret Chapman, who lives in Norwich declined to comment.

Geoffrey Livock, 71, said: “I was speaking to Dawn after the little girl went missing last week and she said that Rob had been helping out the police in Portugal. Dawn said she could not understand how anyone could take a little girl like that.”

by galena 08.11.13 20:58

Research_Reader wrote:
secrets and lies wrote:Unless the whole thing was planned, wasn't it risky enough for The McCanns to have the T7 involved without hiring help?(Murat.)

Surely if RM was involved he had very close connections to Mc's/T7's in order for them to trust him?
Yes, risky, but it does potentially fit in with the evidence:

(1) They would have needed a hiding place for the body that wouldn't easily be found through a typical search of local beaches, bins, sheds etc
(2) They seemed to be very quickly intent on raising a LOT of money - money which could be used to pay someone off
(3) If you believe the forensic/dog evidence, the body was subsequently transported in the hire car weeks after the initial alarm was raised on the disappearance, meaning there would needed to have been an interim hiding place

also, it would have served the McCanns to have had someone on the 'inside' observing the witnesses statements in the first stage of the police investigation, and Murat was able to do just that.

I have to agree. If they actually kept the body in a freezer they would have needed someone with access to a large enough freezer - something which would be extremely difficult for tourists without a local accomplice. Who are they likely to turn to other than the helpful bilingual man who gave R'OB his mobile number? I agree it would be risky for the Tapas people but IMO no more risky than carrying dead bodies around a holiday resort themselves. He may well have landed himself in such an incriminating position that he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut and hope the Tapas people kept their side of the bargain ...

by Hongkong Phooey 08.11.13 21:03

Maybe the connection was to do with the websites that he admitted he used. Could tie in with the Gaspers statement.

by TellTheTruth 08.11.13 21:09

R_R I agree.

Doesn't seem like the sort of help a complete stranger would give. But if he was to take the heat off them he was set up in front of the world's media.

I can tell you, there's no way I would do that, not for ANY money. So what's behind it all?

Am looking forward to the end of this case so I can say "Oh, yeah. I should have spotted that long ago!" :frown:

by Research_Reader 08.11.13 21:11

There are so many potential connecting threads.

The other one that plays on my mind is the strange fact of him being asked to meet Brian Kennedy , the wealthy donator to the mccann's and the fact that both Murat's girlfriend and Kennedy are Jehovah's witnesses. Just a random co-incidence or does it mean something?

by petunia 08.11.13 21:16

also didn't jenny Murat set up a camper van asking for information? in 2007/8 i would have nothing wrong said about Robert'but over the last couple of years reading things about him i started to have doubt's about his involement in this case, but having read Tony's post tonight i am now convinced he is some way involved in this whole mess and as much has it pains me to say this i don't know if his Mother is to be trusted either.

by galena 08.11.13 21:25

It certainly makes sense of one thing that has always puzzled me since the hire car evidence came to light - where on earth did they hide the body where it would be secure for detection till they got a chance to dispose of it properly? They would surely need access to a private property. somewhere that would not be accessible to the general public that had no obvious connection to them. They would need a local to help them with that and Murat seems to fit the picture of someone who might be that person.

by Mirage 08.11.13 21:27

I have a memory of some phone conversations between RM and Brunty which I couldn't quite make sense of.

by Hicks 08.11.13 21:32

Is there a link between these crèche records for the 1st May and RM hastily booking his flight 1st May?

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by chillyheat 08.11.13 21:39

Hongkong Phooey wrote:Maybe the connection was to do with the websites that he admitted he used. Could tie in with the Gaspers statement.

Or missing wallets big grin

by Estelle 08.11.13 21:40

Over the years, Robert Murat has been suspected of many things in this case, but the most likely thing is that he was a willing patsy for the abduction. I doubt he knows where the body would be now.

by chillyheat 08.11.13 21:40

Has an archaeologist ever been mentioned on here ?

by bellum 08.11.13 21:48

hastly booking a flight to Algarve has nothing to do with Madeleine, I believe.
She died on the 3rd.

by bellum 08.11.13 21:49

hastly booking a flight to Algarve on the 1st has nothing to do with Madeleine, I believe.
She died on the 3rd.

by Estelle 08.11.13 21:50

bellum wrote:hastly booking a flight to Algarve has nothing to do with Madeleine, I believe.
She died on the 3rd.

How can you be so sure! I am privy to other information.

by bellum 08.11.13 21:54

Wasn't there another Briton who received the key of the chuch and gave it to the McCanns?

by TellTheTruth 08.11.13 21:55

Something else confuses me though.

Murat helped the PJ and the Mcs.

The PJ knew he had property.

His family home was searched, we saw it on the news complete with floor plans.

Did they search his other properties?

All of them?

IF he had helped them, how did they manage to keep one step ahead of the PJ?

I still have an open mind on this btw...atm!

by TellTheTruth 08.11.13 21:59

Estelle wrote:
bellum wrote:hastly booking a flight to Algarve has nothing to do with Madeleine, I believe.
She died on the 3rd.
How can you be so sure! I am privy to other information.

OOh,Estelle.

Do tell!

Do you mean the flight or the 3rd? Shocked

by BRODFB 08.11.13 22:26

Tony Bennett wrote:Once again, things that we need to recall about Murat:

++++++++++++++++++++

From the PJ Files, Statement made 8 May 2007:

02-Processos Volume II PJ Record 8th May 2007 -

At about 20.00 the police received a phone call from a number that could not be identified, from a person with a female voice speaking in correct Portuguese, who did not want to be identified ...

Also to be fair this was 2 days after he was reported to the police...

by Guest 09.11.13 7:58

Murat Telephone Conversation with UK Police Officer Phil

Processos Vol VI

Pages 1683 – 1691

Transcript of Telephone Interceptions

On 2nd June 2007, in the installations of the Portimao DIC, I, Carlos Moura, Police Interpreter, proceeded to effect the audition of the telephone registers relating to the code 1L769M, translating them into Portuguese:

Session nº 56

Elements related to the transcript:

Information Related to the Session:

Code : 1L769M
Session number: 56
Caller nº¨351282697628
Destination nº : 917462308
Time of initiation of call: 15.05.2007 15:15:08
Final time: 15.05.2007 15.27.31

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This is a long telephone conversation between a UK Police Officer Phill (no surname) and Robert Murat about phone detection.

Sal, could this be Sally Eveleigh ?

Jen, Jenny Murat ?

Why would a UK Police Officer talk to Robert Murat about phone detection ?