Re: Brenda Ryan's Open Apology to the McCanns

by Zelina 08.07.11 12:51

I have heard this before too from people who don't believe anyone would keep up a lie for so many years.

The only answer I can give is some people are psychopaths, narcissists or just compulsive liars. There are people whose entire lives are built on lies and deception. Until you get to know a person like that, you will remain in blissful ignorance of the things they are capable of.

I'm interested in the McCanns financial background too. I've never been very clear on this: did the McCanns have debts or not? I remember they made 1 mortgage payment with the fund which was widely publicised. At the time I felt the media were making a mountain out of a molehill because it was just the 1 payment and the fund was set up to provide financial assistance to the McCanns if needed.
However I'm finding it difficult to understand how a family with such a high combined income could be in financial trouble.

by Guest 08.07.11 13:02

Zelina, it was not one but TWO mortgage payments, according to Clarence Mitchell, amounting to around £4,000 IIRC.

McCanns used Madeleine fund to pay mortgage

Share reddit this Fred Attewill and agencies guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 30 October 2007 12.36 GMT Article historyMadeleine McCann's parents used the £1m fund set up to help find her to pay their mortgage, it has been confirmed.
Gerry and Kate McCann, who have been on unpaid leave since Madeleine disappeared almost six months ago, used the money to make two mortgage payments on their home in Leicestershire.

Clarence Mitchell, the family's official spokesman, said: "The fund has always had the ability to assist the family financially if necessary, and they've only used it to pay for two mortgage payments earlier this year.

"When they were made arguido [official suspects], it stopped, which was a mutual decision on the part of the fund and the McCanns - they were happy to accept that their changed status meant they were no longer entitled to that assistance."

On the Find Madeleine website, the fund lists one of its purposes as to "support the family".

It has also emerged that Portuguese police have staged a re-enactment of how a possible abductor could have taken Madeleine from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3.

The detective in charge of the case, Paulo Rebelo, was yesterday photographed at the flat examining the scene with colleagues.

Mr Mitchell said Mr and Mrs McCann welcomed the renewed focus on the theory that their daughter was abducted.

Mr Mitchell yesterday also issued a statement on behalf of friends of the McCanns who were on holiday with them at the resort, denying they have entered into a "pact of silence" to protect the couple.

The so-called "tapas seven", who had dinner with the McCanns on the night their daughter vanished, have been the subject of media reports suggesting they are withholding vital clues from police.

The friends said: "We wish to state that there is categorically no 'pact of silence' or indeed anything secretive between us - just the desire to assist the search for Madeleine.

"This is reflected in us saying and doing nothing that could in any way hinder the investigations now under way."

Mr McCann is due to return to work as a consultant cardiologist at Glenfield hospital in Leicester on Thursday.

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by Zelina 08.07.11 15:30

Thanks Candyfloss, I didn't know about the other payment.
I wonder if any serious articles were written about the alleged gambling debt or if that was just a rumour?

by lj 08.07.11 16:06

pauline wrote:Indeed I often wonder why this 'search' has gone on so long. When I discuss with unconverted friends and acquaintances, this is what they always bring up - why would anyone continue after four years if they know the child is dead, and they are getting attacked from some quarters? I can't give them a coherent answer.

Some would say it all about money now, but I wonder how much money they are getting allowing for legal and PR expenses. They lost in thePortuguese appeal court in Oct 2010 and in the supreme court in March 2011 - presumably they have to pay Amaral's costs for those hearings? They needed the book income to keep paying the lawyers. Gerry earns £75,000 pa - why do they need money?

Can anyone suggest what I can say to the unconverted to explain why they continue to search if they know she is dead?

Tell them that sociopaths have an insatiable need for attention. In fact negative attention will do as well as positive one. Kate would fall apart if next week everyone all at the sudden would praise her maternal qualities. It's partly because they love the victim role, that gives them an excuse for a lot of things, but also they/she need(s) to be always in the center of what's happening. Don't forget that everything they have done so far has been rewarding. Yes, even being made arguidos: the whole (????) of the UK rallied behind them. OK maybe not the whole but some big pockets or big mouth dumbos were eager to help the poor damsel in distress.
Apart from that the twins are getting older and wiser, and soon their questions will be not "why does not the police help us mommy" but also "why weren't you there when Madeleine disappeared"?

They can't stop, unless they go and bury themselves in the Sahara desert or so, and Kate would never survive that.
Or maybe she is afraid they might even remember things

What is that saying again? If you ride a tiger, you can't get off.

by Miraflores 08.07.11 16:18

it has been confirmed.
Gerry and Kate McCann, who have been on unpaid
leave since Madeleine disappeared almost six months ago, used the money
to make two mortgage payments on their home in Leicestershire.

But Kate now confirms in her book that Gerry was given some sort of paid leave and the partners in the practice she worked at also generously made her a payment of a couple of month's salary. (Sorry, don't have the details to hand because I read a library copy of the book). So was this just Clarence telling porkies here or was it the McCann's allowing the issue to be confused?

As has been said elsewhere, given the publicity they received, their mortgage provider is likely to have allowed them to suspend a couple of month's payments. It could also be asked, why didn't they sell up and move somewhere cheaper? You would think that they would want to spend every penny they had in the search for Madeleine.

by Guest 08.07.11 19:53

Cherry, your thoughts are the same as mine. I'm sure there has never been another case (certainly not in the U K anyway) where the parents of a missing child have set up commercial fund raising enterprises in the first place, let alone at a speed which suggests advance planning. Thinking of the few genuine cases of abduction and murder in the last 20 years, such as James Bulger, Sarah Payne, Milly Dowler and the Soham girls, none of their parents ever considered it was a good idea to market their lost children in the way that the McCanns have and to demand special treatment. I can accept that whatever happened to Madeleine was an accident but how such an event then turned into what I believe is one of the greatest hoaxes of all time is beyond my understanding.

by lufc50337 13.08.11 20:38

The Shelfstacker wrote:Like I care.

I'm not the most ardent or the most vociferous poster but I have followed this case since 4 May 2007, first on the Mirror Forum then the 3As and now here as well as the MCF forum. Nothing I've seen or heard since has shaken me from my position of being a McCann-sceptic. Nothing has made me question my belief that their story is a confection.

I'm four square behind JillyCL on the MCF that the checking routine was made up to hide a harsher truth. I don't believe for a minute any of those children were left alone and neglected. I'm with Stella in the belief that events took place well before 3 May. Where I might stand alone, I don't know, is my belief that the McCanns may not be the orchestrators of this bizarre, byzantine con. I don't think they are in control of events and I don't think it's they who are being protected. In fact I kind of get the impression that are trying to tell us something. I came to that opinion after watching the " make-up and lollipop" video.

I think they are trying to say something too - I'm paraphrasing but hasn't GM said recently it will give people a chance to speak out now who didn't earlier

by **PeterMac** 13.08.11 21:59

"I have heard this before too from people who don't believe anyone would keep up a lie for so many years."
How long did Robert Maxwell keep up his lie ?
How long did Bernard Madoff keep up his lie ?
Answer in both cases - for a very long time.
How could it happen ?
Answer in both cases - because they were protected by corrupt lawyers who knew exactly what was going on, but let it happen, so long as they were paid.

Any parallels to any other situation anyone might be thinking about is entirely coincidental of course.

by ROSA 13.08.11 23:22

Yes keep the lie up or go to prisoner

by aiyoyo 16.08.11 11:08

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not sure where to post this so thought this space is as good as any. if mod wants to move it...please themselves.

by Guest 16.08.11 13:23

There is a topic here called "Brenda Ryan's Open Apology to the McCanns" for those of you who may not be aware of her.

Honest m'lud, I did start out with the intention of being neutral with this latest article but I stumbled at the first post when I read that she believes the abduction theory in all its glory and she feels that people are only adding to the McCanns' grief by going on and on about the mistake they made in leaving the children unattended.

After that it became more or less impossible to take seriously anything that she says but at least she doesn't seem to be quite as mentally unstable as she was at the time of the open apology.

I hope that in time she will learn not to insult anyone with whom she once agreed.

by Guest 16.08.11 13:28

There's a more recent article about her under the heading "Fact, Fiction and Fallacy" if anyone is interested.

by ROSA 16.08.11 13:32

To Brenda
:puke:

by Guest 16.08.11 13:34

Topics merged.

by Guest 17.10.11 13:47

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by Guest 17.10.11 17:11

I like the bit where she criticises Pat Brown for the way she pronounces the name Madeleine (I presume this is the American pronunciation) and then says that at least that's something the McCanns get right. Well I think they should as she is their daughter but they can't seem to make up their minds if they ever called her Maddie and on occasions Gerry has referred to her as "this girl" or even "Margaret"!

by DocMartin 17.10.11 17:14

Jean wrote:I like the bit where she criticises Pat Brown for the way she pronounces the name Madeleine (I presume this is the American pronunciation) and then says that at least that's something the McCanns get right. Well I think they should as she is their daughter but they can't seem to make up their minds if they ever called her Maddie and on occasions Gerry has referred to her as "this girl" or even "Margaret"!

by happychick 17.10.11 18:10

I have to say I find it very odd that people change their minds and become McCann supporters (especially having hosted a forum like the 3 Arguidos) because they are basically saying that people like Amaral, Grime, Lee Rainbow etc are wrong. They cannot all be wrong.

If the McCanns are as innocent as they want us to believe then they should get the case reopened and into court so that they are officially cleared. Who on earth ever heard of a missing child case being played out in libel courts!!

If I have to choose between the McCann's version of events and those like Amaral, Grime, Rainbow etc then I choose the latter and I will not read any more of Bren's ramblings. I think she is probably disgruntled because she lost her forum and no one cares about her anymore. Her behaviour on the 3As was nothing more than childish with her tantrums and flounces.

by Gillyspot 17.10.11 20:35

She has told (on twitter) me she saw the light when she had some time off work and actually read and understood the files So what had she been doing before then?

Then she pointed me to her ramblings (well named IMO) big grin

by Shibboleth 17.10.11 20:44

Has she made any sort of apology to Tony Bennett yet. She has a whole blog dedicated to making him appear to be a creepy stalker.

by Guest 17.10.11 22:51

I was going to say that Hell will freeze over sooner than Bren issuing an apology but then again, that's exactly what she did with the McCanns and that was really unexpected. I'll still advise Tony not to hold his breath waiting for an apology though!

by littlepixie 17.10.11 23:48

IMO Bren is now "paid to post" as are a few others who were once mods on 3As.

She is not stupid, she knows we know.

Couldn't do it myself.

by listener 18.10.11 0:33

littlepixie wrote:IMO Bren is now "paid to post" as are a few others who were once mods on 3As.

She is not stupid, she knows we know.

Couldn't do it myself.

By who?

by Angelique 18.10.11 0:42

I too know very little about Bren or her site.

IMO she probably has been CR'd but not for money - just persuaded to post as a pro McCann in leu of.

by littlepixie 18.10.11 0:55

listener wrote:
littlepixie wrote:IMO Bren is now "paid to post" as are a few others who were once mods on 3As.

She is not stupid, she knows we know.

Couldn't do it myself.

By who?

Probably by the same people who pay or (who are) the nutters that post on twitter. The ones who use CAPTIAL letters thinking that it intimidates people.