January 2008

Following on from the action-packed November, December - here are 'bullet' points about January, courtesy mainly of McCann files.
It's is interesting to see that Oprah Winfrey, film rights, a documentary and the repeated stress on 'Amber Alert' - imo one of the main reasons for the whole charade - are in the forefront of the campaign. As well as possible libel actions making their appearance.
The Vanity Fair interview - for which they got paid - can be found on McCannfiles.com. TM were not at all happy with that interview, for obvious reasons once one reads it.
This is also the month that the Arade Dam performance takes place, which led to the McCanns saying that it was wonderful news. The first thing to come into their minds being that they might be relieved of their arguido status, not that their daughter had been raped, tied up with the rope found, and murdered.

JANUARY 2008


1/1
Francisco Pagarete, the lawyer of Robert Murat, has denied the story published today on the news website functionpix.com, signed by Toby Serter, about his client having been arrested again by Portuguese police. "This is completely false", Mr. Pagarete said, accusing the McCanns of being behind the recent revelations of new witnesses that claim they saw Robert Murat near the Ocean Club the night Madeleine disappeared: "All of this is just evidence of how desperate the McCanns are", Mr. Pagarete said.

2/1Last night Murat’s lawyer, Francisco Pagarette, claimed that detectives now believe he is innocent and are preparing to lift his arguido status tomorrow – exactly eight months after Madeleine vanished.

3/1


Gerry returns to work
 
Gerry McCann returns to full-time work today - exactly eight months after his daughter Madeleine disappeared.

The McCanns hire a new detective
 
It emerged today the McCanns have hired a detective who investigated a 7/7 suicide bomber. Noel Hogan is conducting a "cold case" review. The former Met detective superintendent, who runs the agency Hogan International, in Farnham said: "I have been reinterviewing witnesses that were out in Portugal at the time." It is understood these include friends of the McCanns.

Irish family's Maddie quiz The Sun
 From VERONICA LORRAINE in Praia da Luz
Published: 03 Jan 2008
 PRIVATE detectives hunting for Madeleine McCann are to quiz an Irish family who may have been the last to see her alive.

7/1

Claims that blood traces were definitely Madeleine's
It is claimed that blood traces discovered in Kate and Gerry McCann's hire car were from Madeleine. A Portuguese newspaper alleges that tests conducted at the FSS in Birmingham show conclusively that the blood is that of the four-year-old.
Daily newspaper Correio da Manha reported: "The definitive result of the tests recently sent from England leave no doubts for the Policia Judiciaria. The blood found in the McCanns’ car is that of Madeleine, as well as those samples detected in the flat rented by the English and where the child, then three years old, disappeared without trace. O'Brien and Tanner named as two who wanted to change story

Dr Russell O'Brien and his partner Jane Tanner are named as the two friends reported last year to have told police they wanted to change their account of that evening. Ms Tanner, 37, from Exeter, says she saw a mystery man carrying a child away from the flat at 9.15pm on the night Madeleine vanished. Police were said to believe Dr O'Brien, 36, wanted to change his statement to claim he also saw the man, newspaper 24 Horas reported.

8/1Madeleine: The Movie
It is reported that Kate and Gerry McCann are in talks to turn the story of their missing daughter Madeleine into a movie. They are negotiating with one of the world’s largest talent and entertainment agencies, IMG, over the film in a deal which could be worth millions. The couple are also considering a book deal and selling interviews to television broadcasters with all proceeds going to the Madeleine Fund, the body set up to finance the search for the girl.
The team that made Touching The Void, an award-winning drama-documentary about the fight for survival of two British climbers lost on a mountain, are the most likely to be involved in the Maddy film project.
It will be discussed at a meeting of the fund's directors, including Gerry, tomorrow night at the McCanns' home in Rothley, Leicestershire. It is reported that the meeting tomorrow follows the resignation of key board members, including the fund's spokeswoman Esther McVey

9/1
Madeleine's Fund running out of money?
 
It is reported that the search by Gerry and Kate McCann for their missing daughter may be grinding to a halt by the first anniversary of her disappearance because the Find Madeleine fund is running out of money. The fund, currently at £600,000, is spending £50,000 a month, mostly on the private detective agency Metodo 3.
 
By the end of March its directors expect it to have dwindled to £346,000 and they are aware that unless there is an injection of cash it will run dry by the summer. Clarence Mitchell, their official spokesman, said: "In theory by the summer the pot will run dry but we are taking steps to make sure that does not happen. Hopefully we would have found Madeleine by then." He said private donations from the public were still coming in, and the fund had been boosted by £100,000 following the Christmas appeal.

10/1Vanity Fair interview published Link: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The McCanns' interview with Vanity Fair magazine is published.
a McCann family source said: "We will carry on the search for Madeleine but not necessarily with Metodo 3. We are stuck with them to the end of the contracted period. "The question of whether it is renewed or not has still to be decided. They have faced not having their contract renewed ever since Francisco shot his mouth off. It was made clear what they were doing was foolish and unhelpful."

12/1Portuguese lawyer makes claims on Maddie's disappearance
Madeleine McCann was raped, murdered and her body dumped in a remote reservoir within 48 hours of her disappearance, a Portuguese lawyer has claimed. Marcos Correia said his information came from the underworld on May 6 - three days after she vanished. But he claims police failed to act because they believed her parents Kate and Gerry were involved.

17/1
Concern mounts over delay by British authorities
Concern is mounting in Portugal over the time British authorities are taking to respond to official requests to interview the McCanns' friends and seize the couple's personal items, including 39-year-old Kate's diary.

25/1
McCanns accused of wasting Madeleine's Fund money
Kate and Gerry McCann were accused today of wasting ''astonishing'' sums of money raised by public donations by looking for their missing daughter Madeleine in Morocco.

Gerry goes to watch rugby
Gerry visits Edgeley Park, the home of Sale Sharks Rugby Club, to watch their evening match with Harlequins, in the company of Clarence Mitchell and Sale owner, and chief McCann financier, Brian Kennedy.

26/1
McCanns in talks for £1million chat show deal
 
The parents of Madeleine McCann are in talks to strike a £1million deal with two of America's biggest chat show stars. Kate and Gerry McCann are at the centre of a bidding war between Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters.

Last night, their spokesman Clarence Mitchell confirmed that representatives of Mr and Mrs McCann had held talks with producers from both shows, which attract huge audiences in the U.S. But he denied they were selling their story to the highest bidder and said money would not be the deciding factor. The couple will appear on the show which can best help to search for Madeleine, he insisted.
The couple, both doctors, also want to campaign for a better Europe-wide alert system for missing children, based on an American model.

 
McCanns discuss new documentary
 
It is reported that Kate and Gerry McCann are holding talks with broadcasters about a second TV documentary on their daughter's disappearance, a spokesman for the couple said on Saturday. The couple would request a ''donation'' to the Find Madeleine appeal fund in exchange for their involvement.
 
The McCanns hope the documentary will put pressure on European countries to adopt an alert system similar to one used in the United States to provide rapid notification to all states when a child goes missing. The AMBER system, standing for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, is named after Amber Hagerman, a Texas girl kidnapped and murdered in 1996.
 
The McCanns are unhappy that, when the youngster went missing just before her fourth birthday in the resort of Praia da Luz, Spanish border officials were not informed by their Portuguese counterparts until 12 hours later.
"We've talked to a few broadcasters and one or two are minded to look at it," the McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell told Reuters of the documentary proposal. " If Madeleine were never found and if some sort of legacy for her was a system which would mean that no other family was ever in this terrible position again, then at least some good would have come out of this."

Sunday 27  January 2008
McCanns say Murat not kidnapper
Kate and Gerry McCann are certain original suspect Robert Murat is not the man who snatched their daughter Madeleine. The couple have now revealed how they never thought the expatriate was responsible. Despite doubts over his alibi, they have ruled out the 34-year-old after a major  probe in Praia da Luz.

28/1
Madeleine McCann: Oprah 'Bidding War' Is Played Down Sky News
9:22am UK, Monday January 28, 2008
 
Kate and Gerry McCann have been approached to appear on the Oprah Winfrey show and for an interview with American network ABC.
 
The couple's spokesman confirmed that they had been approached by US TV executives.
 
It had been reported that missing Madeleine McCanns' parents were at the centre of a bidding war worth £1m between Winfrey and ABC star Barbara Walters.
 
Both are said to want an exclusive interview with the couple.
The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said they had been approached by both chat show programmes but said no money had been discussed.
 The McCanns are already thought to be considering whether to give the go-ahead to a film about their daughter, who went missing last May on a holiday in the Algarve in Portugal.
 
It has been confirmed that they were approached by entertainment company IMG but neither Gerry or Kate McCann attended the meeting.
 
Mr Mitchell said then that a film would be considered only if the McCanns believed it would help raise awareness of the case or if it could help fund the search for their daughter.
 

29/1
Police say McCanns hindering investigation
Police in Portugal claim Kate and Gerry McCann are hindering the probe into missing Madeleine by releasing sketches of the possible kidnapper. Detectives say officers have checked out several sightings of the "creepy" stalker that came to nothing, wasting their time.
The latest, a builder in Gibraltar, was quizzed after a tip-off but ruled out. One detective said the drawings were too vague and could "identify dozens or hundreds of people". But McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell hinted more sketches could be on the way "if we get any more information".
Portuguese police accuse Home Secretary Jacqui Smith of stalling the investigation
 
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was yesterday accused of stalling the Madeleine McCann investigation. Portuguese police said the nine-month case had reached "a stalemate" because the Home Office had failed to respond to a list of demands sent almost a month ago.
 
30/1
McCanns warn over libel action
 
Madeleine McCann's parents have not ruled out suing newspapers and websites that they believe have libelled them.

Kate and Gerry McCann have stopped reading the "tittle-tattle" written about them in the press - but their representatives are keeping an eye on any "rubbish" printed in the press they believe to be defamatory.

Mitchell said, ''We have made it very clear that publications in Britain and Portugal are subject to the laws of libel and defamation, like everyone else, and our lawyers are watching all of this. We reserve the right to take legal action and have three years in which to do it."

31/1McCanns 'not suspects in UK' according to Clarence Mitchell
British police do not consider Madeleine McCann's parents suspects in her disappearance, according to the couple's spokesman. Clarence Mitchell said officials, including child protection workers, had assured him in private briefings that they were treating the case as one of "rare stranger abduction".
Note: This is what Clarence Mitchell actually said:
'I've also had briefings privately from the police and CEOP, Child Exploitation Online Potection Centre', before I went out the first time, that also gave me complete reassurance that the authorities in this country, certainly, are treaing this as a case of rare stranger abduction - as they call it'.
 
- Notice these private briefings happened 'before I went out the first time' - Clarence is talking about briefings that happened in May 2007 when most people knew very little of what had actually happened.  

Tigger, it's pretty disgusting that the police/authorities would have private briefings full stop - and then this 'private info' is made public knowledge (regardless of any time delay). It's extraodinary that libel actions are thrust upon people who 'hinder the search for Madeleine'. I'd love to know what constitutes 'hindering' as it seems very subjective to me.

Thanks for a great post.

Thank you for this great read. It does seem like there is a financial gain behind this fund.