CMOMM NEW YEAR'S HONOURS LIST: The McCann-doubters

A summary of police officers, professionals, authors and others who do not accept the McCanns’ claim that Madeleine was abducted or who are sceptical of the McCanns’ claims

[Not a full list, I'll add some more names another time]


One of the most outstanding features of this case is the number of people at all levels and positions of responsibility in society, here and abroad, who have in one form or another spoken out with their view that the McCanns have been ‘lying about what happened to Madeleine’ and ‘seeking to cover up what they had done’ - because they, too, believed that the evidence suggested that Madeleine had died in her parents’ apartment. Here are a few - maybe all 'haters' if the McCann-believers are right:

A. Police Officers, Lawyers and Public Officials

A1. Chief Inspector Tavares de Almeida, Portuguese Police, Senior Investigating Officer of the Madeleine McCann investigation and his team: Wrote the police report of 10 September 2007 which concluded that Madeleine McCann died in her parents’ apartment and thereafter they had covered this up; several lines of reasoning are explained in his report, endorsed by a whole team of detectives. He repeated this in court in Lisbon on 10 January 2010 when he said in court: “She died in the apartment as a result of a tragic accident and the parents simulated an abduction after failing to care of their children. These were the conclusions of a police report signed by me on September 10 2007. We have always spoken of a tragic accidental death - not homicide. The McCanns did not kill her, but they concealed the body” [from the transcript of the hearing in the Lisbon High Court].

A2. Dr Goncalo Amaral: Wrote A Verdade da Mentira (The Truth About a Lie), a definitive account by the original Coordinator of the Portuguese investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, setting out in detail the history of the investigation. Published on 28 July 2008, his book has been translated into eight different European languages and is estimated to have sold over ½ million copies, including 220,000 in Portugal. The book gives evidence that the McCanns had been lying and had covered up Madeleine’s death, which he said may have occurred as the result of an accident in the apartment. The factual details about the events of the investigation were comprehensive. Many of the details in this book have never appeared in any mainstream British news or print media. A 60-minute documentary was made featuring the main evidence and conclusions from the book .

A3 The documentary by Dr Goncalo Amaral on Portuguese TV channel TVi: This documentary, based on Dr Amaral’s book, was watched by a record Portuguese TV audience of 2.2 million. English translations of it posted on YouTube have been viewed by tens of thousands.

A4. Lee Rainbow, top Criminal Profiler with the U.K.’s National Police Intelligence Service: Filed a report in August 2007 stating that the evidence in the case suggested that the Portuguese Police should investigate the Claimants for murder. He was quoted in court by Dr Amaral’s lawyer as saying: “Madeleine's father was the last one to see her alive. The family is a lead that should be followed. Contradictions in Gerald McCann's statements might lead us to suspect a homicide”. More detail is given in this report in the Daily Record:

Madeleine McCann: It was British crime profiling expert who suggested parents could be suspects, by Lynn Davidson, 11 February 2010

“A BRITISH crime profiler made missing Madeleine McCann's parents suspects, it was claimed yesterday. A court was told Lee Rainbow, the top profiler with the National Policing Improvement Agency, told Portuguese cops to consider the McCanns' possible involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

“The advice came in a report Rainbow, who worked on the Ipswich Ripper and Shannon Matthews cases, wrote to senior Portuguese officers. It was revealed at a trial involving detective Goncalo Amaral, who led the Madeleine inquiry in its early days before being removed from the case. Amaral is trying to overturn a worldwide injunction banning the publication of his book Maddie: ‘The Truth Of The Lie’. “In it, he claims Glasgow-born heart consultant Gerry McCann and his GP wife were involved in Madeleine's death and staged her disappearance. The McCanns are suing him for libel.

“His lawyer Antonio Cabrita told the court that Rainbow wrote: ‘Madeleine's father was the last one to see her alive. The family is a lead that should be followed. Contradictions in Gerald McCann's statements might lead us to suspect a homicide’. Cabrita added: ‘This report has never been published before but is part of the investigation. It was British police who said they must consider not only abduction but homicide as well’. An NPIA spokesman said that the advice given to probe family and close friends was "generic" in missing persons cases. A ruling in Amaral's case is due to be made on February 18”.

A5. The comments of Mark Harrison, M.B.E.: Mark Harrison, M.B.E., is the National Search Adviser (Homicide, Missing Persons, Mass Fatality Disasters). Extracts of his confidential report were used during the Claimants’ libel proceedings against Dr Goncalo Amaral, and can be read on this McCann-sceptic website:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] . They included the following:

QUOTE

Report Aim

This report considers solely the possibility that Madeleine McCann has been murdered and her body is concealed within the areas previously searched by Police in Zone 1 around Praia Da Luz

'This report solely considers the search scenario that Madeline McCann [/size][size=12]has been murdered and her body is concealed on the beach at Praia Da Luz or has been put into the sea from the shore.

The report considers the viability of burial on the beach and the likely movement of a body if it entered the sea. It also considers the likely incidence of such a disposal choice and any local impact factors that make this a more or less likely event with the aim to inform decisions on any searches…”

UNQUOTE

A6. The Assistant Chief Constable of Leicestershire Constabulary

He said in 2007: “While both or one of [the McCanns] may be innocent, there is no clear evidence that eliminates them from involvement in Madeleine's disappearance”.

A7. Former top detective John Stalker: Article in the Sunday Express: ‘McCanns ‘are hiding a big secret’, former police chief claims:

“Kate and Gerry McCann are hiding a ‘big secret’ about the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine, according a former police chief claims. John Stalker, who headed a famous inquiry into whether suspected IRA men were killed by RUC officers, is suspicious of their silence. The former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police told the Sunday Express: “My gut instinct is that some big secret is probably being covered up. I have watched the investigation into the Madeleine McCann case drag out for six months. One thing above all worries me: Why have the McCanns and the seven other members of their group (the Tapas Nine) remained so silent? Unlike other high-profile cases I have worked on, not one of them has been prepared to break ranks or really come out and support each other. After all this time and pressure, I cannot believe that nobody wants to speak. I have a real suspicion that we are not being told the whole truth. There is something else there, some issue that members of the party are embarrassed about’.”

A8. Other British police officers: At a court hearing in Lisbon on 10 January 2009, Chief Inspector Tavares de Almeida said: “The theory that the parents had covered up Madeleine’s death as outlined in Amaral’s book was one reached by British police on the ground in Portugal too. This wasn’t something invented by Amaral. It was a conclusion reached by the team of Portuguese investigators as well as British police”. (Daily Telegraph, 11 January 2010).

A9. Martin Grime, top Police Dog Handler, who brought his two cadaver dogs, Springer spaniels Eddie and Keela, to Praia da Luz, where they detected the scent of a human corpse in 12 separate locations associated with the McCanns (but nowhere else in Praia da Luz). These were: in the McCanns’ holiday flat, in the living room, in the parents’ bedroom, in a wardrobe, on the veranda, and in the garden; on two of Dr Kate McCann’s clothes, on a T-shirt belonging to one of the children, on the pink soft toy, Cuddle Cat, in the Claimants’ villa, on the floor of the Renault Scenic that the McCanns hired and on its key. Grime said: “My professional opinion as regards to the EVRD's [cadaver dog’s] alert indications is that they are suggestive that this is 'cadaver scent' contaminant”.

A10. Ricardo Paiva, Portuguese Police Officer and Liaison Officer for the Claimants McCanns during the initial investigation:

In court on 10 January 2010 Ricardo Paiva was reported by the Daily Telegraph as saying: “I received a ’phone call from Kate McCann in late July 2007. Kate called me, she was alone as Gerry was away, and she was crying. She said she had dreamt that Madeleine was on a hill and that we should search for her there. She gave the impression that she thought she was dead - it was a turning point for us. We searched the land but nothing was found. That is when we decided to send the specialist dogs in. British police informed us about how they could detect the scent of death. I was suspicious of the McCanns from the start of the investigation. They disobeyed our request to keep quiet about the details of their daughter’s disappearance while we conducted our investigation. Instead they turned it into a media circus and that gave rise to some suspicions”.

A11. Paulo Rebelo, Portuguese Police chief who succeeded Dr Goncalo Amaral as the head of the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance: From the Daily Mirror:

“Kate and Gerry McCann were furious last night after learning they are still prime suspects in daughter Madeleine's disappearance. The couple's hopes of being cleared today were crushed whenpolice chief Paulo Rebelo asked a judge to extend their arguido status because detectives are sticking to their belief that they accidentally killed the four-year-old”. Link:

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A12. Paulo Pereira Cristvoao, one of the detectives in the investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, wrote: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. The book did not believe that Madeleine McCann was abducted.

A13. From the files of the Portuguese Police: “PJ Case Files: Between 15h00 on August 4th 2007 and 06h30 on August 5th 2007, the following samples were recovered in the living room of apartment 5A at the OCEAN CLUB where a murder probably took place…"

A14. Moita Flores, Portuguese lawyer: “I have no doubts that the child died”.



B. Experts, writers and authors who believe that the McCann are not telling the truth

The books and articles listed below are all written by those who, in one form or another, doubt the accounts of the Claimants that Madeleine was abducted, and either support or give credence to the hypothesis that Madeleine died in her parents’ apartment:

B1. Daily Telegraph, 12 January 2010, by Fiona Givan in Lisbon: “Kate and Gerry McCann, both 41, were in court to hear how the detectives leading the investigation into their daughter’s disappearance believed they had lied to hide the truth”.

B2. Dr Christian Ludke, German Forensic Psychologist: Wrote a lengthy article, in a German professional magazine claiming that there were numerous indications that the McCanns were guilty of covering up the death of Madeleine. He is a respected forensic psychologist/psychiatrist based in Essen, north Germany.

B3. Dr Paulo Sargento is a University Professor, Forensic Psychologist and author in Portugal. He has published numerous articles in which he suggests that the Claimants are not telling the truth about what happened to Madeleine. These articles can be found at this internet link: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

B4. John Redwood M.P., writing on his blog: On 10 September 2007, John Redwoood M.P. wrote an article on his blog: ‘The McCanns - plenty of theories, little evidence’. He began his article: “The McCanns’ theory that the girl was abducted also needs evidence to support it…”

B5. Daniela Prousa, German psychiatrist and author: Wrote: Analyse des Vermisstenfalles Madeleine McCann (An analysis of the case of missing Madeleine McCann). She has analysed, using essentially an ‘Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis’ (IPA), the Claimants’ accounts regarding the disappearance of their daughter. In short, Prousa concludes from her analysis that Madeleine McCann died due to an accidental fall off the living room window-sill or sofa, and that the parents covered this up - a conclusion identical to that of Dr Goncalo Amaral.

B6. Christopher Freind, well-known U.S. commentator and writer: Published a long article highly sceptical of the McCanns: ‘The McCanns need to come clean now’, at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

B7. George Galloway: Wrote an article (10 September 2007) titled ‘This would have to be the mother of all injustices’ which included the words: “Not since Dr Crippen - long before the blizzard of 24/7 satellite media - will there have been a case like Madeleine McCann's if the now official suspicions of the Portuguese police turn out to have been well founded. They have turned it into a circus, with daily appearances at mass and the flight to the Vatican to kiss the hand of the Pope, invoking celebrities, inducing millions of people around the world to raise a fortune in a campaign fund and turning their child into one of the iconic faces of our age…On my radio shows, I have been critical of the McCanns from the start. Not least because I knew aspects of their story could not be true. Their supposed constant vigilance of their three toddlers while they ate in a Tapas bar and the children slept in an unlocked apartment was not possible. The distance between the two points was both greater and more convoluted than they said. The children's bedroom was on the OTHER side of the apartment block and, though both doctors, neither parent possessed X-ray vision…The McCanns have either been the victims of a cataclysmic historic injustice, almost unprecedented, or they have been complicit in a scheme so duplicitous, so evil, so foul that Shakespeare himself could not have written it".

B8. Pat Brown, Criminal Profiler, U.S.: Wrote recent e-book on the McCanns, “The Profile of the Disappearance of Madeleine McCann”. Pat Brown is a qualified criminologist who appears regularly on American TV. Her work is based on principles of criminal profiling, and concludes that Madeleine had died in her parents’ apartment and that the Claimants had covered this up. She has previously written articles setting out the same views. The Claimants forced Amazon to stop selling her e-book by writing a legal letter to Amazon claiming her e-book was libellous.

PLUS
Chelsea Hoffman - Crime analyst and profiler

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Was Madeleine McCann Murdered? Analysis Part Three

What happened to missing Madeleine McCann? In the last two installments of my analysis I highlighted the probability that the child was abducted either by a stranger or an acquaintance in Portugal. While there are always variables and possibilities in these unsolved cases, I am led to believe that this child was not necessarily "abducted," . . .
So far here is the list of verifiable evidence that I have been able to find in my research, although I am quite positive there are loads more:
Blood and cadaver dogs specifically hit on the scent of blood and post-mortem human oils in more than one part of apartment 5A -- and again in the hired/rental vehicle of the parents. The dogs also hit on these scents on the clothing belonging to the child and Kate McCann. The below video shows exactly what these celebrated scent dogs discovered.
By April 12, 2008 it was confirmed and released that the samples taken from the areas 'hit' by the blood and cadaver dogs indeed matched the DNA of Madeleine McCann. In fact, it was reported that the samples were a 88% match to the missing child's DNA found in the apartment and car. It should be noted that this car was not rented until approximately 25-days after the child was reported missing.

No so-called evidence points to an abduction.
No so-called evidence points to the child wandering away on her own.
No so-called sightings of Madeleine McCann have ever been confirmed.

First of all, I am a fan of forensic science. I am also a fan of scent dogs and the intelligence of working dogs in general. The fact that these two dogs are among the most famous in England for their work with police leaves me no reason to deny their discoveries -- especially since the DNA was confirmed as belonging to the missing child. When this is paired with the lack of any other DNA left by a "perp" it's hard to believe the child was kidnapped. No proof of abduction but forensic evidence of a dead body being both behind the couch and in the parents' bedroom in the villa directly points to foul play and directly indicates that the child may have never left the apartment alive. .
Still, there is the issue of who, what, why and how?
A 2012 study out of the UK reveals that 65% of child homicides are at the hands of the child's parent(s). Forty-seven percent of child homicides are at the hands of their mothers, while 53% at the hands of their fathers -- this is in England and Wales of course. On a worldwide scale, the statistics are a little different. I am, obviously, going by the UK stats in this example since the child and the parents were British visiting Portugal abroad.

As for the mode of homicide a United States governmental source indicates that homicides against young children are mostly perpetrated by family members. Suffocation and beatings are the top causes of homicidal death in both young boys and girls in this aspect. It should be mentioned, however, that the United States does surpass the leading countries where child homicide is prevalent by at least five times.


So where am I going with this? I think it's obvious, but more needs to be analyzed. I think the parents of Madeleine McCann have done a poor job of representing themselves to the public and the media with all of the evidence that has been claimed against them. What's more, their reactions to the forensic evidence confirmed to match the DNA of their missing daughter. See the video below:
The blatant avoidance of the topic perplexes me, and leads me to wonder just how deep this story is and just what may have happened to Maddie. One thing I am certain, however, is that this child never made it out apartment 5A alive. That's just my honest opinion.

Was she murdered or did she die as a result of an accident? Did something else entirely happen that still leaves the family completely unconnected? Possibly.
In the next installment of my analysis, I will dig deeper into what may have happened to Madeleine McCann and who may be responsible.

Please keep in mind that I am only giving my own analysis of the evidence available. These are my views only, and not intended to sway the opinions of others. Furthermore, I stand to gain nothing by sharing my opinions.

Very well thougth out post, thank you. I seem to remember that Jon Guant wan't a great believer in the unmentionables story and certainly gave their mouthpiece the grey reaper a tough time on his radio interview. Good ol Gaunty. Happy New Year to all of you. I hope 2013 sees the breaking of the grid lock in this shocking case. Perhaps the Met Police will try and re-establish belief in British Policing which has taken a deserved battering recently. Come on the Met wake up and smell the coffee!

By Jon Gaunt , on Today at 10:00 [18th May 2011]

Jon Gaunt, our provocative blogger on the ongoing Euro crisis, Madeleine McCann and those pesky super-injunctions.

. . . . Now that David Cameron has done exactly what the Editor of the Sun instructed him to do and ordered the Met to effectively reopen the Madeline McCann case I trust that every single penny that is raised through the new book sale and the serialisation rights will be going directly to the treasury.
No more money should be spent on PR men and useless Private Dicks from Madrid who promise to find Maddie by Christmas and achieve sweet FA.

Please don’t get me wrong I have enormous sympathy for the McCann’s and their loss but like many parents in Britain I still find it odd and wrong that they thought it was okay to leave three toddlers home alone whilst they went out eating and drinking.
Of course they didn’t deserve to be punished for their neglect by having their child abducted and the only criminal is the person who took Maddie but frankly too much of the serialisation and all the other coverage has been about their plight, including the sickening revelation about how it affected their sex life, and not enough about the horror the child must be or did go through.

Also the unpalatable truth as many on the Police Authority and in the Lords are now saying is that the money being spent is probably a complete waste of cash, as most experts in the field believe that Maddie would have been killed within 48 hours of her abduction.

Cameron, the former TV spin man, is playing a dangerous PR game here in acting up to the tabloid press and the Murdoch empire in particular and one has to ask will he now be ordering the Met to reopen the case into missing Ben Needham and thousands of other children who have gone missing?
I am extremely uncomfortable with this whole story are you?
As you can tell from this from column I am a passionate believer in free speech but I also believe in privacy so the super injunction furore is fascinating me.
The Internet and Twitter in particular has made the law an ass or a twit as it has proved that these gagging orders in the Internet age are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.
I know, and you probably know every single name of these rich men who have used these orders so what it is the point of the injunctions?
One has to ask would it not have been cheaper and fairer to all the women involved if these fellows instead of whipping out their cheque books at their “Briefs” had instead kept something in their briefs?!

© Jon Gaunt

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I hadn't read this from Gaunty so thank you PeterMac for sharing. Do you think the Met will re-question the members of the McCanns holiday party over the numerous witness statement inconsistencies that are regularly discussed on this forum? I would be interested in your opinion. Thank you in anticipation...

Jon Gaunt wrote:Of course they didn’t deserve to be punished for their neglect by having their child abducted and the only criminal is the person who took Maddie but frankly too much of the serialisation and all the other coverage has been about their plight, including the sickening revelation about how it affected their sex life, and not enough about the horror the child must be or did go through.

not enough about the horror the child must be or did go through

But there is "absolutely no evidence that suggests Madeleine has been seriously harmed" so how could she be going through or have gone through any horror? Not like the horror the we know that they've gone through of not being able to make love to each other for a while.

This is an article by an Irish journalist who also did some analysis of the fund. It asks some questions in a way most journalists never have much.

Was Madeleine Abducted? A Review of Kate McCanns Book by Enid O’Dowd

21
JUN
Four years after she disappeared in Portugal, Madeleine McCann has not been found. Kate McCann has written her account of her daughter’s disappearance and the aftermath  

By Enid O’Dowd

You’re meeting seven neighbours, with eight children under four between you, in one of Ranelagh’s many restaurants, only 120 metres or so from your homes which you can’t see from the restaurant; what do you do about childcare?

That was the ‘almost’ equivalent dilemma faced by Kate and Gerry McCann and their friends on their holiday in Praia da Luz in May 2007 – except they were not on their home patch as you were in Ranelagh.  The group, which became known as the Tapas nine and six of whom were doctors, decided to make 30 minute checks. This system, Kate claims, had worked on previous evenings but when she checked at 10 pm on Thursday May 3rd, Madeleine was not there and, despite an international search involving the Portuguese and UK police and private detectives, she has still not been found.

Last month Kate McCann published “Madeleine – our daughter’s disappearance and the continuing search for her”. In the foreword of the book she states that her “reason for writing the book is to give an account of the truth”. Isn’t that odd phraseology – surely there can only be one version of the truth? All kinds of tales have circulated about Madeleine’s disappearance according to Kate, and indeed they have; the publication of this “truthful” book seems to have accelerated the internet debates on the discrepancies in the McCanns’ story.

The book is actually the story of Kate’s life to date. It covers her childhood, her education, her meeting and marriage to Gerry McCann and the births of their three children. The McCanns needed a series of IVF treatments to become parents which makes it all the more odd that they would leave three children under four in an unlocked apartment on the ground floor in a foreign country.

According to Kate, all three children were good sleepers. She did not want to use the evening crèche provided by the holiday company; understandable as her children had a routine and were in bed by the time the crèche opened at 7.30 pm.

She argues on p. 54 that it would have been unwise to leave the children with someone neither they nor themselves knew.  Yet her children were happy in the day childcare facilities and had come to know the staff who were available, at extra cost, to babysit for clients in the evening.

She states “we felt so secure we simply didn’t think it was necessary (to hire a babysitter) and our own apartment was only 30-45 seconds away”.

An astonishing statement.

Surely security concerns are not the main reason parents organise babysitters? As a GP, she more than anyone, would appreciate that the risks of leaving children alone at night do not relate to “security” but to other factors, like vomiting and choking, waking up from a nightmare, wetting the bed, and febrile convulsions which affect one in twenty children under five.

Kate does not mention a witness statement by Pamela Fenn who lived in the apartment above stating that she heard a child crying for 75 minutes on Tuesday May 1st calling for “daddy”. This contradicts Kate’s statement of 30 minute checks.

The book cover proclaims that all royalties are donated to the Madeleine Fund. A company called Madeleine Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd was incorporated on 15 May 2007. According to Kate, over the weekend of 11th, 12th and 13th May she and Gerry had meetings in Praia da Luz with a paralegal from the International Family Law Group and a barrister. The barrister told them “our behaviour (in leaving the children unattended) could not be deemed negligent” and was “well within the bounds of reasonable parenting”.

The legal pair suggested the McCanns use London solicitors Bates Wells and Braithwaite to set up a company to manage the funds that would be donated. On p.137 she records that this firm drew up articles of association for the fighting fund (limited company) and talked to the Charity Commission who ruled that the proposed company did not meet the requirements for charity status as it focussed on one child and did not meet the public benefit test. Hence Kate says, the decision was that “it would be a ‘not for profit’ private limited company. It was set up with great care and due diligence by experts in the field”.

From the dates Kate gives, it would appear that Bates Wells and Braithwaite could not have had instructions to act until Monday May 14th, yet they were able to incorporate the company the very next day.

A day is very little time for the solicitors to have drafted company documents for this proposed company which was not an ordinary trading company, to have agreed the documents with their clients the McCanns who were in Portugal and also to have obtained a ruling from the Charity Commission.

And what was the hurry given that Madeleine could have been found at this early stage of the investigation?

On p.138 Kate says “everyone agreed that despite the costs involved it (the company) must be run to the highest standards of transparency”.

To date, three sets of accounts have been filed with the UK Company’s office. In the first set going to March 2008 an analysis of expenditure is given though this is not a statutory requirement under UK law. However the accounts filed for the years to March 2009 and to March 2010 give no expenditure analysis. Now this is perfectly legal but not the “transparency” to which Kate referred. In 2009 for example the only expenditure information filed gives the merchandising and campaign costs as £974,786 and the administration expenses as £30,865. Not very informative!

When the McCanns were made arguidos (suspects) in September 2007 Kate refused on legal advice to answer the 48 questions put to her. This was her legal right but the refusal fuelled the doubts about her story. It is understandable why she might not want to answer questions in a foreign country with the possibility of mistranslations complicating her difficult situation but surely there is no reason now not to put the record straight by answering the questions in her book. She doesn’t do so.

British sniffer dogs Eddie and Keela and their handler Martin Grime were used by the Portuguese authorities. These dogs had a 100% accuracy rate in 200 cases and found both blood and cadaver (dead body) traces in various places in the holiday apartment and in the boot of the car rented after the disappearance. Kate says that research Gerry conducted after the Portuguese police showed them the video of the dogs’ search revealed that dog evidence is unreliable. She quotes Gerry as dismissing the sniffer dog video as “the most subjective piece of evidence gathering imaginable”. She claims that the dogs had merely been trying to please their instructor.

If you read this book without having read the other material available which questions the abduction theory, you could not fail to have the greatest of sympathy for the McCanns. However, it is a statistical fact that in the majority of missing children cases, a family member, a neighbour or someone known to the child, is involved. The Portuguese police would have been negligent if they did not consider this possibility. They did not find any forensic evidence of an intruder in the apartment which had been to some extent contaminated by the Tapas group searching the apartment when Kate raised the alarm.

Since the book was published last month, Scotland Yard has agreed to conduct a review. A reconstruction of that evening which the Tapas nine initially agreed to do but which never happened would help. Hopefully the review will be independent with the co-operation of all and with no possibilities excluded.

The book costs €15.99 in local shops and is published by Bantam Press.

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A link to an earlier topic about this article.

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Thanks Jean.

Thanks to Peter for the link to that Chelsea Hoffman article.

So here's the rub:

Child goes missing in an apartment
Statements from family and friends are riddled with lies, contradictions and inaccuracies
Actions of family and friends in immediate aftermath are strange
Friends statement providing the sole basis for an abduction is suspect and does not concur with other witnesses (Jez Wilkins)
Police sniffer dogs find bioloigical material only in and around McCann's property, nowhere else and no false alerts
Whilst technically "inconlusive" it is confirmed Maddie's DNA is not excluded from being the source of the materials found
Parents and friends bring the investigation to a halt by refusing to return for a reconstruction
Home Office figures show 65% of all cases the parenta are the main suspect

So how can the McCann's not expect to be suspects and more relevent now how can the Yard fail to take this into account when reviewing the files?

sharonl wrote:A summary of police officers, professionals, authors and others who do not accept the McCanns’ claim that Madeleine was abducted or who are sceptical of the McCanns’ claims

[Not a full list, I'll add some more names another time]


One of the most outstanding features of this case is the number of people at all levels and positions of responsibility in society, here and abroad, who have in one form or another spoken out with their view that the McCanns have been ‘lying about what happened to Madeleine’ and ‘seeking to cover up what they had done’ - because they, too, believed that the evidence suggested that Madeleine had died in her parents’ apartment. Here are a few - maybe all 'haters' if the McCann-believers are right:

A. Police Officers, Lawyers and Public Officials

A1. Chief Inspector Tavares de Almeida, Portuguese Police, Senior Investigating Officer of the Madeleine McCann investigation and his team: Wrote the police report of 10 September 2007 which concluded that Madeleine McCann died in her parents’ apartment and thereafter they had covered this up; several lines of reasoning are explained in his report, endorsed by a whole team of detectives. He repeated this in court in Lisbon on 10 January 2010 when he said in court: “She died in the apartment as a result of a tragic accident and the parents simulated an abduction after failing to care of their children. These were the conclusions of a police report signed by me on September 10 2007. We have always spoken of a tragic accidental death - not homicide. The McCanns did not kill her, but they concealed the body” [from the transcript of the hearing in the Lisbon High Court].

A2. Dr Goncalo Amaral: Wrote A Verdade da Mentira (The Truth About a Lie), a definitive account by the original Coordinator of the Portuguese investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, setting out in detail the history of the investigation. Published on 28 July 2008, his book has been translated into eight different European languages and is estimated to have sold over ½ million copies, including 220,000 in Portugal. The book gives evidence that the McCanns had been lying and had covered up Madeleine’s death, which he said may have occurred as the result of an accident in the apartment. The factual details about the events of the investigation were comprehensive. Many of the details in this book have never appeared in any mainstream British news or print media. A 60-minute documentary was made featuring the main evidence and conclusions from the book .

A3 The documentary by Dr Goncalo Amaral on Portuguese TV channel TVi: This documentary, based on Dr Amaral’s book, was watched by a record Portuguese TV audience of 2.2 million. English translations of it posted on YouTube have been viewed by tens of thousands.

A4. Lee Rainbow, top Criminal Profiler with the U.K.’s National Police Intelligence Service: Filed a report in August 2007 stating that the evidence in the case suggested that the Portuguese Police should investigate the Claimants for murder. He was quoted in court by Dr Amaral’s lawyer as saying: “Madeleine's father was the last one to see her alive. The family is a lead that should be followed. Contradictions in Gerald McCann's statements might lead us to suspect a homicide”. More detail is given in this report in the Daily Record:

Madeleine McCann: It was British crime profiling expert who suggested parents could be suspects, by Lynn Davidson, 11 February 2010

“A BRITISH crime profiler made missing Madeleine McCann's parents suspects, it was claimed yesterday. A court was told Lee Rainbow, the top profiler with the National Policing Improvement Agency, told Portuguese cops to consider the McCanns' possible involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

“The advice came in a report Rainbow, who worked on the Ipswich Ripper and Shannon Matthews cases, wrote to senior Portuguese officers. It was revealed at a trial involving detective Goncalo Amaral, who led the Madeleine inquiry in its early days before being removed from the case. Amaral is trying to overturn a worldwide injunction banning the publication of his book Maddie: ‘The Truth Of The Lie’. “In it, he claims Glasgow-born heart consultant Gerry McCann and his GP wife were involved in Madeleine's death and staged her disappearance. The McCanns are suing him for libel.

“His lawyer Antonio Cabrita told the court that Rainbow wrote: ‘Madeleine's father was the last one to see her alive. The family is a lead that should be followed. Contradictions in Gerald McCann's statements might lead us to suspect a homicide’. Cabrita added: ‘This report has never been published before but is part of the investigation. It was British police who said they must consider not only abduction but homicide as well’. An NPIA spokesman said that the advice given to probe family and close friends was "generic" in missing persons cases. A ruling in Amaral's case is due to be made on February 18”.

A5. The comments of Mark Harrison, M.B.E.: Mark Harrison, M.B.E., is the National Search Adviser (Homicide, Missing Persons, Mass Fatality Disasters). Extracts of his confidential report were used during the Claimants’ libel proceedings against Dr Goncalo Amaral, and can be read on this McCann-sceptic website:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] . They included the following:

QUOTE

Report Aim

This report considers solely the possibility that Madeleine McCann has been murdered and her body is concealed within the areas previously searched by Police in Zone 1 around Praia Da Luz

'This report solely considers the search scenario that Madeline McCann [/size][size=12]has been murdered and her body is concealed on the beach at Praia Da Luz or has been put into the sea from the shore.

The report considers the viability of burial on the beach and the likely movement of a body if it entered the sea. It also considers the likely incidence of such a disposal choice and any local impact factors that make this a more or less likely event with the aim to inform decisions on any searches…”

UNQUOTE

A6. The Assistant Chief Constable of Leicestershire Constabulary

He said in 2007: “While both or one of [the McCanns] may be innocent, there is no clear evidence that eliminates them from involvement in Madeleine's disappearance”.

A7. Former top detective John Stalker: Article in the Sunday Express: ‘McCanns ‘are hiding a big secret’, former police chief claims:

“Kate and Gerry McCann are hiding a ‘big secret’ about the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine, according a former police chief claims. John Stalker, who headed a famous inquiry into whether suspected IRA men were killed by RUC officers, is suspicious of their silence. The former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police told the Sunday Express: “My gut instinct is that some big secret is probably being covered up. I have watched the investigation into the Madeleine McCann case drag out for six months. One thing above all worries me: Why have the McCanns and the seven other members of their group (the Tapas Nine) remained so silent? Unlike other high-profile cases I have worked on, not one of them has been prepared to break ranks or really come out and support each other. After all this time and pressure, I cannot believe that nobody wants to speak. I have a real suspicion that we are not being told the whole truth. There is something else there, some issue that members of the party are embarrassed about’.”

A8. Other British police officers: At a court hearing in Lisbon on 10 January 2009, Chief Inspector Tavares de Almeida said: “The theory that the parents had covered up Madeleine’s death as outlined in Amaral’s book was one reached by British police on the ground in Portugal too. This wasn’t something invented by Amaral. It was a conclusion reached by the team of Portuguese investigators as well as British police”. (Daily Telegraph, 11 January 2010).

A9. Martin Grime, top Police Dog Handler, who brought his two cadaver dogs, Springer spaniels Eddie and Keela, to Praia da Luz, where they detected the scent of a human corpse in 12 separate locations associated with the McCanns (but nowhere else in Praia da Luz). These were: in the McCanns’ holiday flat, in the living room, in the parents’ bedroom, in a wardrobe, on the veranda, and in the garden; on two of Dr Kate McCann’s clothes, on a T-shirt belonging to one of the children, on the pink soft toy, Cuddle Cat, in the Claimants’ villa, on the floor of the Renault Scenic that the McCanns hired and on its key. Grime said: “My professional opinion as regards to the EVRD's [cadaver dog’s] alert indications is that they are suggestive that this is 'cadaver scent' contaminant”.

A10. Ricardo Paiva, Portuguese Police Officer and Liaison Officer for the Claimants McCanns during the initial investigation:

In court on 10 January 2010 Ricardo Paiva was reported by the Daily Telegraph as saying: “I received a ’phone call from Kate McCann in late July 2007. Kate called me, she was alone as Gerry was away, and she was crying. She said she had dreamt that Madeleine was on a hill and that we should search for her there. She gave the impression that she thought she was dead - it was a turning point for us. We searched the land but nothing was found. That is when we decided to send the specialist dogs in. British police informed us about how they could detect the scent of death. I was suspicious of the McCanns from the start of the investigation. They disobeyed our request to keep quiet about the details of their daughter’s disappearance while we conducted our investigation. Instead they turned it into a media circus and that gave rise to some suspicions”.

A11. Paulo Rebelo, Portuguese Police chief who succeeded Dr Goncalo Amaral as the head of the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance: From the Daily Mirror:

“Kate and Gerry McCann were furious last night after learning they are still prime suspects in daughter Madeleine's disappearance. The couple's hopes of being cleared today were crushed whenpolice chief Paulo Rebelo asked a judge to extend their arguido status because detectives are sticking to their belief that they accidentally killed the four-year-old”. Link:

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A12. Paulo Pereira Cristvoao, one of the detectives in the investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, wrote: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. The book did not believe that Madeleine McCann was abducted.

A13. From the files of the Portuguese Police: “PJ Case Files: Between 15h00 on August 4th 2007 and 06h30 on August 5th 2007, the following samples were recovered in the living room of apartment 5A at the OCEAN CLUB where a murder probably took place…"

A14. Moita Flores, Portuguese lawyer: “I have no doubts that the child died”.



B. Experts, writers and authors who believe that the McCann are not telling the truth

The books and articles listed below are all written by those who, in one form or another, doubt the accounts of the Claimants that Madeleine was abducted, and either support or give credence to the hypothesis that Madeleine died in her parents’ apartment:

B1. Daily Telegraph, 12 January 2010, by Fiona Givan in Lisbon: “Kate and Gerry McCann, both 41, were in court to hear how the detectives leading the investigation into their daughter’s disappearance believed they had lied to hide the truth”.

B2. Dr Christian Ludke, German Forensic Psychologist: Wrote a lengthy article, in a German professional magazine claiming that there were numerous indications that the McCanns were guilty of covering up the death of Madeleine. He is a respected forensic psychologist/psychiatrist based in Essen, north Germany.

B3. Dr Paulo Sargento is a University Professor, Forensic Psychologist and author in Portugal. He has published numerous articles in which he suggests that the Claimants are not telling the truth about what happened to Madeleine. These articles can be found at this internet link: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

B4. John Redwood M.P., writing on his blog: On 10 September 2007, John Redwoood M.P. wrote an article on his blog: ‘The McCanns - plenty of theories, little evidence’. He began his article: “The McCanns’ theory that the girl was abducted also needs evidence to support it…”

B5. Daniela Prousa, German psychiatrist and author: Wrote: Analyse des Vermisstenfalles Madeleine McCann (An analysis of the case of missing Madeleine McCann). She has analysed, using essentially an ‘Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis’ (IPA), the Claimants’ accounts regarding the disappearance of their daughter. In short, Prousa concludes from her analysis that Madeleine McCann died due to an accidental fall off the living room window-sill or sofa, and that the parents covered this up - a conclusion identical to that of Dr Goncalo Amaral.

B6. Christopher Freind, well-known U.S. commentator and writer: Published a long article highly sceptical of the McCanns: ‘The McCanns need to come clean now’, at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

B7. George Galloway: Wrote an article (10 September 2007) titled ‘This would have to be the mother of all injustices’ which included the words: “Not since Dr Crippen - long before the blizzard of 24/7 satellite media - will there have been a case like Madeleine McCann's if the now official suspicions of the Portuguese police turn out to have been well founded. They have turned it into a circus, with daily appearances at mass and the flight to the Vatican to kiss the hand of the Pope, invoking celebrities, inducing millions of people around the world to raise a fortune in a campaign fund and turning their child into one of the iconic faces of our age…On my radio shows, I have been critical of the McCanns from the start. Not least because I knew aspects of their story could not be true. Their supposed constant vigilance of their three toddlers while they ate in a Tapas bar and the children slept in an unlocked apartment was not possible. The distance between the two points was both greater and more convoluted than they said. The children's bedroom was on the OTHER side of the apartment block and, though both doctors, neither parent possessed X-ray vision…The McCanns have either been the victims of a cataclysmic historic injustice, almost unprecedented, or they have been complicit in a scheme so duplicitous, so evil, so foul that Shakespeare himself could not have written it".

B8. Pat Brown, Criminal Profiler, U.S.: Wrote recent e-book on the McCanns, “The Profile of the Disappearance of Madeleine McCann”. Pat Brown is a qualified criminologist who appears regularly on American TV. Her work is based on principles of criminal profiling, and concludes that Madeleine had died in her parents’ apartment and that the Claimants had covered this up. She has previously written articles setting out the same views. The Claimants forced Amazon to stop selling her e-book by writing a legal letter to Amazon claiming her e-book was libellous.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]To all of them

I wonder if anyone else can be added to this list....

Richard D. Hall

Peter Hyatt -Statement analyst




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Martin Roberts.

The Independent Press Standards Organisation?

I'd like to add Wendy Murphy' former US prosecutor.
Link to her views aired on US TV.

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Surely this must include SIO Hamish Campbell, Andy Redwood, Rebekah Brooks, David Cameron, Jim Gamble, Martin **nt, Brian kennedy and Clarence Mitchell, along with an entourage of cohorts from the UK Police, MI5/6 and the MSM for duping the public for so long?

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None of the above are McCann doubters, IMO.

Ladyinred wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
None of the above are McCann doubters, IMO.

They all have sweet Angelique voices singing so sweetly,"Madeleine was Abducted" but we do not know who took her, we'er still looking for Madeleine?

? Anne Gueddes and ? the other person who took notes at the court hearing in Portugal.   I put ? as I cannot recall having seen a post from them expressing doubts (I do not visit others sites) but a for them too.

Plebgate:
 
‘the other person who took notes at the court hearing in Portugal’
 
   
Joana Morais, who was in court, plus ‘Astro’?

Thanks Doug D.   Clap for Joana and Astro  Hadn't realised or forgotten that!

I did read somewhere that there was a man taking notes, possibly from the Justice forum but can't really remember.

Enid O'Dowd, Accountant.

Next set of accounts due soon.

Natasha Donn, 'Algarve Resident' newspaper.

Channel 4 news presenter Alex Thompson has said the Madeleine McCann story did not deserve its news ranking. "I've been sickened by the way the media have allowed themselves to be taken for a full-scale ride by the McCanns." He added that the parents' conduct, "a contributory factor in the abduction, was largely downplayed or ignored altogether by sycophantic, gullible blanket coverage."

Cherry wrote:Channel 4 news presenter Alex Thompson has said the Madeleine McCann story did not deserve its news ranking. "I've been sickened by the way the media have allowed themselves to be taken for a full-scale ride by the McCanns." He added that the parents' conduct, "a contributory factor in the abduction, was largely downplayed or ignored altogether by sycophantic, gullible blanket coverage."

  I haven't seen that quote before, Cherry - I'm sure I can make use of that!

It's a great one as well, got it from Wikipedia

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Captain Sensible

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