Madeleine Suspects 'Not Fully Investigated'

Madeleine Suspects 'Not Fully Investigated'

Some suspects identified by Scotland Yard in the hunt for Madeleine McCann have been questioned before but not investigated fully.

7:01am UK, Monday 20 May 2013


Madeleine was almost four when she went missing

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent, Praia da Luz, Portugal

Known paedophiles, holidaymakers and Ocean Club staff are thought to be among the dozen suspects identified in a Scotland Yard review of the Madeleine McCann case.

Some of them at least have been questioned in the original Portuguese police investigation, but dismissed without being fully investigated.

A source said: "British detectives on the McCann review have had major problems because the Portuguese police did not record reasons for not pursuing leads.

"They would just record 'no further action' without any explanation or justification."


The apartment building where Madeleine disappeared

Another source said that cell-site analysis of suspects' mobile phones, which is standard practice in all crime cases, was not done fully.

That may have allowed Madeleine's abductor to avoid arrest.

Scotland Yard believes it has unearthed enough clues to justify the Portuguese authorities re-opening their investigation, which was abandoned 15 months after Madeleine vanished.

Portugal's new Attorney-General Joana Marques Vidal has so far refused to do so, but as a lawyer who specialises in child protection, she may eventually be more willing than her predecessor.

Madeleine disappeared from the bedroom of the ground floor apartment she was sharing with her brother and sister Sean and Amelie, who are twins, on the evening of May 3, 2007.

It was just days before her fourth birthday.

Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, had been enjoying a holiday meal with friends at a tapas restaurant just 130 yards away in the resort of Praia da Luz.

Reading between the lines, there is a lot in this report that I agree with.

http://news.sky.com/story/1093048/madeleine-suspects-not-fully-investigated

Known paedophiles
Holidaymakers
Telephone records not fully investigated (not forwarded from UK?)
Suspects questioned but not fully investigated (no reasons given, but we know that much information was withheld)


And, we have a new Attorney General who may be willing to get the case re-opened

Alongside this article we have the timeline below.


Note: The timeline is incorrect in stating that Tony Bennett suggested that the McCanns may be guilty of causing Madeleine's death. Tony has NEVER made such an allegation.

Madeleine: Key Events Timeline

Updated: 7:23pm UK, Friday 17 May 2013

Here is a timeline of the key events since Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

2007

:: May 3 - Kate and Gerry McCann leave their three children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while they dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.

Jane Tanner, one of the friends eating with the McCanns, later reports seeing a man carrying a child away earlier that night.

:: May 5 - Portuguese police reveal they believe Madeleine was abducted but is still alive and in Portugal, and say they have a sketch of a suspect.

:: May 14 - Detectives take Anglo-Portuguese man Robert Murat in for questioning and make him an "arguido", or official suspect.

:: May 25 - Detectives release a description of the man reported by Jane Tanner three weeks earlier after pressure from the McCanns, their legal team and the British Government.

:: May 30 - Mr and Mrs McCann meet the Pope in Rome in the first of a series of trips around Europe and beyond to highlight the search for their daughter.

:: August 6 - A Portuguese newspaper reports that British sniffer dogs have found traces of blood on a wall in the McCanns' holiday apartment.

:: August 11 - Exactly 100 days after Madeleine disappeared, investigating officers publicly acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead.

:: September 7 - During further questioning of Mr and Mrs McCann, detectives make them both "arguidos" in their daughter's disappearance.

:: September 9 - The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

:: October 2 - Goncalo Amaral, the detective in charge of the inquiry, is removed from the case after criticising the British police in a Portuguese newspaper interview.

:: October 25 - The McCanns release a new artist's impression drawn by an FBI-trained expert showing the man described by Jane Tanner.

2008

:: March 19 - Mr and Mrs McCann accept £550,000 libel damages and front-page apologies from Express Newspapers over allegations they were responsible for Madeleine's death.

:: April 7 - Three Portuguese detectives, led by Paulo Rebelo, fly to Britain to re-interview the seven friends on holiday with the McCanns when Madeleine vanished.

:: July 17 - Mr Murat receives £600,000 in libel damages from four newspaper groups over "seriously defamatory" articles connecting him with the child's disappearance.

:: July 21 - The Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation and lift the "arguido" status of the McCanns and Mr Murat.

:: August 4 - Thousands of pages of evidence from the Portuguese police files in the exhaustive investigation into Madeleine's disappearance are made public.

2009

:: January 13 - Mr McCann returns to Portugal for the first time since coming back to the UK without his daughter.

:: March 24 - The McCanns launch a localised new appeal for information focused on the area in the Algarve where Madeleine disappeared.

:: April 4 - Mr McCann goes back to Portugal to help film a reconstruction of the events on the night his daughter vanished.

:: April 22 - The McCanns fly to the US to record an interview with chat show host Oprah Winfrey to mark two years since Madeleine's disappearance.

:: June 14 - Dying paedophile Raymond Hewlett says he was in the Algarve when Madeleine disappeared and has an alibi - but has no plans to reveal it.

:: August 6 - Detectives say they are hunting a "Victoria Beckham lookalike" with an Australian or New Zealand accent, reportedly seen in Barcelona three days after the little girl went missing.

2010

:: Feb 18 - Kate and Gerry McCann say they are "pleased and relieved" at a judge's decision to uphold a ban on a book by former detective Goncalo Amaral.

:: Mar 3 - A newly-released file from Portugese police on possible sightings is called "gold dust" and could lead to a breakthrough, says a spokesman for the McCanns.

:: May 1 - Kate McCann reveals she had thoughts about being "wiped out" in a motorway crash to end the pain of losing Madeleine - but vows never to give up.

:: November 10 - Madeleine's parents launch an online petition to help force a UK and Portuguese joint review of all evidence in the case.

:: November 15 - The McCanns sign a deal to write a book about their daughter's disappearance.

2011

:: May 13 - The Prime Minister David Cameron asks London's Metropolitan Police to help investigate the case.

:: November 23 - Kate and Gerry McCann appear at the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics.

They tell how media pressure affected their family life and accuse newspaper editors of hampering the search for their missing daughter.

Kate McCann says she felt "violated" when her diary was published without her permission.

:: December 5 - Scotland Yard detectives spend time in Barcelona as part of their re-examination of the case.

2012

:: March 9 - Portuguese police in Oporto launch a review of the original investigation.

:: April 26 - Scotland Yard says Madeleine McCann may still be alive and release an artist's impression of what she may look like as a nine-year-old.

:: July 6 - British detectives examine a claim that the little girl's body is buried near the apartment from where she vanished. It comes after a self-styled investigator sends police radar scans he claims show a burial site.

2013

:: Feb 11 - Gerry McCann calls for politicians to implement the conclusions of the Leveson Inquiry in full, backed by legislation.

:: Feb 13 - Police say the results of DNA tests on a girl in New Zealand who was mistaken for Madeleine reveal that she is not the missing British girl.

:: Feb 21 - Retired solicitor Tony Bennett who published claims that Madeleine McCann's parents caused her death is given a suspended jail sentence.

:: May 2 - Madeleine McCann's parents tell Sky News a police review into their daughter’s disappearance is making "excellent progress" as they mark the sixth anniversary since she went missing.

:: May 17 - Scotland Yard say they have identified a number of "people of interest" they want to speak to.

Depending how you interpret Martin Brunt's article - known paedophiles etc - can also mean read to mean MET are looking at abduction theory.

It's hard to discern from that ambiguous piece of reporting which way inclined are the MET.

Martin should know better, you would of thought......

The Met are really saying very little and we also have an element of media manipulation, as usual.

We must also remember that the case in Portugal remains closed. The McCanns really wanted the PJ to run the investigation to suit their own agenda, this was never going to happen and the case was just closed. If the new AG was able to re-open the case, would she be doing so on behalf of the McCanns? how could she influence the case? Or, would this be a genuine re-opening of the case where the PJ are left alone to investigate the case as they see fit? Will the British authorities now provide the documents that the PJ requested in 2007?

Something is certainly happening here, but what?

I see that this timeline totally omits the fact that the Appeals Court in Lisbon overturned the book ban in October 2010!

sharonl wrote:[...] Will the British authorities now provide the documents that the PJ requested in 2007?

Something is certainly happening here, but what?

***
Good question. I can imagine the Yard would have such information and use it in their investigation.

Châtelaine wrote:

sharonl wrote:[...] Will the British authorities now provide the documents that the PJ requested in 2007?

Something is certainly happening here, but what?

***
Good question. I can imagine the Yard would have such information and use it in their investigation.

I would hope that the PJ would flat out refuse to reopen the case until they receive the documents they requested back in 2007.

Indeed.
The wording in the report I saw in the Times was ambiguous, hopefully deliberately, and I noticed that the word used was 'disappearance' instead of 'abduction'.
I hope the Portugese authorities make tough condition for any re-opening of the case - starting with an insistence that the Tapas lot return for the re-enactment and are rigorously questioned.

Press reports seemed to have calmed down a little bit on the abduction scenario.

We had the "Bring them all back to Portugal" article.

The McCanns seem to have lost their smiles

Kate darted off to Portugal two weeks ago

We have a new Attorney General

Cameron is under pressure and losing power. Theresa May didn't want this review in the first place, it was only down to Rebekah Brooks "persuading" Cameron to start one.

Put all of that together and at least we have hope

aiyoyo wrote:Depending how you interpret Martin Brunt's article - known paedophiles etc - can also mean read to mean MET are looking at abduction theory.

It's hard to discern from that ambiguous piece of reporting which way inclined are the MET.

Well, without saying too much, some of the holidaymakers who were at the OC could be known paedophiles to the British authorities but not the public.

Montclair wrote:I see that this timeline totally omits the fact that the Appeals Court in Lisbon overturned the book ban in October 2010!

It omits the Lisbon court showdown where the "Rainbow Report" was made public for the first time. Brunt was there as well.

probably way off the mark but.........hasnt G A always said he has an ace up his sleeve..[does anyone remember this]...also something about information ..not in the files..that he has



sorry wrong topic

garfy wrote:probably way off the mark but.........hasnt G A always said he has an ace up his sleeve..[does anyone remember this]...also something about information ..not in the files..that he has



sorry wrong topic

He has said that in a couple of interviews. To paraphrase, in that context, he has said that he is certain Madeleine died in 5A.

sharonl wrote:Press reports seemed to have calmed down a little bit on the abduction scenario.

We had the "Bring them all back to Portugal" article.

The McCanns seem to have lost their smiles

Kate darted off to Portugal two weeks ago

We have a new Attorney General

Cameron is under pressure and losing power. Theresa May didn't want this review in the first place, it was only down to Rebekah Brooks "persuading" Cameron to start one.

Put all of that together and at least we have hope

Kate's pre-announcement visit, and Brunt's post announcement visit may indeed have some significance.
Hopefully the MET is playing the blinder and something is happening behind the scenes.

garfy wrote:probably way off the mark but.........hasnt G A always said he has an ace up his sleeve..[does anyone remember this]...also something about information ..not in the files..that he has



sorry wrong topic

Maybe damning phone records that can't be used ......or something like that.

IMO they have the records, but cannot use them in evidence. If true that must be frustrating. However, on the basis of that knowledge, together, hopefully they can unearth other evidence. I still have good hopes for a solution to this case.

I still hope for a good outcome for justice for Madeleine, but I have this nagging doubt.

The apparent protection given to the parents over the past 6 years, linked to political intervention and even Masonic support makes them feel 'untouchable'; when it comes to allowing the truth to be made known openly to the world and a proper trial held to establish guilt (even if it is just for child neglect/abuse) I am still very sceptical.

Still - we must stay positive! Thank goodness for the internet, without which we would never know what we do now.

[As a newbie, may I give a huge thank you to Hi-de-ho for the videos - I think I have seen every one over the years!]

They did seem untouchable, but after Jimmy Savile, I think the 'untouchablility' is breaking down - and particularly now that there have been recent high profile cases of child deaths caused by parents (Philpot) and parents' friends (Tia Sharpe) the public will be less surprised if TM turn out to be implicated.

garfy wrote:probably way off the mark but.........hasnt G A always said he has an ace up his sleeve..[does anyone remember this]...also something about information ..not in the files..that he has
sorry wrong topic

Yes I am certain he has said something like this. I think around the time of the original banning of the book when he was being slated here, there and everywhere, he had much more to tell.

Praiaaa wrote:They did seem untouchable, but after Jimmy Savile, I think the 'untouchablility' is breaking down - and particularly now that there have been recent high profile cases of child deaths caused by parents (Philpot) and parents' friends (Tia Sharpe) the public will be less surprised if TM turn out to be implicated.

There was a documentary on BBC1 last night about how the Hillsborough tragedy was covered up for 24 years by police officers, politicians, lawyers and judges...how they all played a part in burying the truth.

Have there been any comments from the mccanns via Clarence Mitchell to this latest news, if not why not

admin wrote:

Praiaaa wrote:They did seem untouchable, but after Jimmy Savile, I think the 'untouchablility' is breaking down - and particularly now that there have been recent high profile cases of child deaths caused by parents (Philpot) and parents' friends (Tia Sharpe) the public will be less surprised if TM turn out to be implicated.

There was a documentary on BBC1 last night about how the Hillsborough tragedy was covered up for 24 years by police officers, politicians, lawyers and judges...how they all played a part in burying the truth.

yes watched it -just goes to show how the cover up started didnt it almost the day it happened they were covering it up- but i think that with the savile news times are changing

ShuBob wrote:

aiyoyo wrote:Depending how you interpret Martin Brunt's article - known paedophiles etc - can also mean read to mean MET are looking at abduction theory.

It's hard to discern from that ambiguous piece of reporting which way inclined are the MET.

Well, without saying too much, some of the holidaymakers who were at the OC could be known paedophiles to the British authorities but not the public.

Yes, you could be right didn't GA wife also make a comment about pedophiles ?

tiny wrote:Have there been any comments from the mccanns via Clarence Mitchell to this latest news, if not why not

This story both confirms kate's words about someone coming in the night before but simultaneously wrecks their version of checking. I can't see how they can respond to this - snookered springs to mind.

Jozi - yes, the comment was to the effect that she and her husband did not allow paedos in their circle of friends.

Smokeandmirrors wrote:

tiny wrote:Have there been any comments from the mccanns via Clarence Mitchell to this latest news, if not why not

This story both confirms kate's words about someone coming in the night before but simultaneously wrecks their version of checking. I can't see how they can respond to this - snookered springs to mind.

Yes I can see that,but if it confirms kate words why don't they just admit they never checked at all or would that throw a bigger spanner in the works.

if in wrong place, please move :

ANORAK : THE COUPLE WHO HEARD A CHILD CRYING AT NIGHT AND WENT TO HELP.

In “WHO SOOTHED WEEPING MADDIE?" the Daily Express leads
with a Madeleine McCann “exclusive”. It adds: “Police seek couple who
entered McCann apartment when Madeleine was crying.”

This becomes:

Mystery couple seen going into McCanns’ flat on night before sobbing Madeleine disappeared

The
night before? A couple of strangers walked into the McCanns’ apartment
where a child was crying the night before that child vanished? How does
the Express know it was Madeleine who was crying? Three children were in
the McCanns’ apartment.

SCOTLAND YARD detectives are trying to
find a middle-aged couple said to have entered Madeleine McCann’s
holiday apartment to comfort her because she was crying, we can reveal
today.

This looks like new news. James Murray adds:

It is
believed they entered the bedroom on May 2, 2007, the evening before
Madeleine disappeared from the Ocean Club at Praia da Luz on Portugal’s
Algarve.

Believed? By whom? Who did they tell?

The tip-off was given by two key witnesses who were reinterviewed as part of the Yard’s two-year, £4.5million investigation.

It
is already known that Pamela Fenn, who lived directly above apartment
5a, heard a child, believed to be Madeleine, crying for about an hour on
the evening of May 2.

She was so concerned she rang a friend in the village to ask what to do and considered ringing Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria.

At the time, Madeleine’s mother Kate and father Gerry were dining with friends at a tapas bar some 50 yards from the apartment.

Had she only have rang the police things may well have been different for Madeleine.

An unnamed source tells the Express that a couple also heard the crying and went to help.

Pamela Fenn has since died. In 2007, The Daily Mail reported:

Pamela
Fenn, 81, lives above the apartment where Madeleine disappeared and is
reported to have told police she heard Madeleine screaming below. But
yesterday she broke her silence to say it was “absolute rubbish” she had
made any such claims to police. Mrs Fenn said: “I didn’t even know that
family was in there.”

So. What Murray says is “already known” is “rubbish”.

Murray
then does have some news. He says a couple, presumably the aforesaid
“key witnesses” who had been staying in the same block as the McCanns,
gave police a statement back in February. British police had previously
spoken with them. Murray reproduces extracts from that statement. He
also says the couple were never formally interviewed by Portuguese
detectives. The statement tells us:

“I stood on the balcony at about 9.15 with a whisky.

“I
saw people eating at the tapas bar and children in the play area. We
went to bed at 10pm-ish. We were woken up by our bell ringing at
11.30pm. It was a friend of the McCanns, saying that a little girl had
been abducted. The friend asked if we had a computer so they could get
the media involved in the search.

“Two police were on the corner
of our block, one lady said that off-duty police had come and were
searching. We did see single men on mobiles while we were out who could
have been police…

“We walked back up towards our apartment, a
group had gathered on the corner. The McCanns were in bits, he was
crying on the shoulder of a friend. She was screaming: ‘The f*****g
bastards have taken her’. Finally, at around 4am, we said: ‘Is it OK if
we go to bed?’ We directed this comment towards a man in a white shirt
and jeans, who seemed to be authoritative.”

The couple had not seen anything suspicious:

“We
have one of the best views of the whole block. We are sure of the
timings. If we had seen anyone we would have remembered. We will
continue to answer the Yard’s questions. We have given our fingerprints
and DNA. We were happy to assist. They should be left to get on with
their inquiries.”

Such are the facts…

tiny wrote:

Smokeandmirrors wrote:

tiny wrote:Have there been any comments from the mccanns via Clarence Mitchell to this latest news, if not why not

This story both confirms kate's words about someone coming in the night before but simultaneously wrecks their version of checking. I can't see how they can respond to this - snookered springs to mind.

Yes I can see that,but if it confirms kate words why don't they just admit they never checked at all or would that throw a bigger spanner in the works.

By admitting to fewer or even no checks, it widens the abduction window, conveniently. It also inconveniently demonstrates that by concealing this fact of fewer or no checks, they hindered the investigation and led police deliberately down a path limited to a tiny timeframe on 3. 5 07. Now with a beloved child gone, why on earth would they do that?
They can't spin their way out of this one.
q: do you believe it is the truth or a piece of journalistic mischief with a "wider agenda "?

russiandoll wrote:

tiny wrote:

Smokeandmirrors wrote:

tiny wrote:Have there been any comments from the mccanns via Clarence Mitchell to this latest news, if not why not

This story both confirms kate's words about someone coming in the night before but simultaneously wrecks their version of checking. I can't see how they can respond to this - snookered springs to mind.

Yes I can see that,but if it confirms kate words why don't they just admit they never checked at all or would that throw a bigger spanner in the works.

By admitting to fewer or even no checks, it widens the abduction window, conveniently. It also inconveniently demonstrates that by concealing this fact of fewer or no checks, they hindered the investigation and led police deliberately down a path limited to a tiny timeframe on 3. 5 07. Now with a beloved child gone, why on earth would they do that?
They can't spin their way out of this one.
q: do you believe it is the truth or a piece of journalistic mischief with a "wider agenda "?

I believe it to be a load of bull,i think what they wanted to print was ,look out tapas and kate and Gerry your time is coming to an end.