Part 1 of a look at PJ files info on Robert Murat

Here is part 1 (more to follow) of a summary of the McCannPJFiles website for those wanting to know at least something about this rather odd character, but don’t feel committed enough to trawl through it all.
 
On the Radar
 
It seems the PJ became interested in him on the 8^th May when they received an anonymous phone call from a female.  Only mentioning his first name, the female describes how Murat is a frequenter of internet sex chat lines and uses encrypted email (“due to the monitoring of the kind of content they possessed”), for contacts outside of Portugal, especially the UK.  On 11^th May PJ officers Joao Carlos and Luis Pereira, who were still working on the abduction theory, noticed that any abductor would have been in the immediate vicinity of Casa Liliana; Murat’s home.  It’s worth noting here that the officers had already discounted Jane Tanner’s testimony of the direction the abductor had taken in favour of a more logical one.
 
On 11^th May Robert Murat attended, as an interpreter, the interview of Dianne Webster by Inspector Particia Duarte.  Duarte was moved to comment that Murat questioned her repeatedly about suspects and the police strategy in the case, his continual attempts to glimpse evidence, and his attempts to influence the investigation; by putting forward his own suggested theories suggesting the abduction be attributed to foreign third parties.
 
The PJ followed this up and encouraged him to give his theories regarding the abduction.  He told them The 1M euro reward on offer would attract criminal elements from Russia and Romania, and mentioned an area called Baroes that was frequented by paedophiles.  He also mentioned abduction cases in the UK, mentioning a paedophile in UK who buried his victim near a military base in Southfolk (Suffolk?).
 
Keeping an eye
 
Further diligence on Murat was undertaken on 12^th May which may be summarised below.
 
He makes use of his green VW Van and travels to the town centre in Luz. After speaking, apparently in a casual manner, he sits at a bench with his mother “who was there to receive information about Madeleine from people who had some reluctance to communicate it to the authorities.”  My Comment: how would they know?  After buying his mother a snack from a nearby shop he travels to Rua Adelina in Lagos and enters a house where he stays for about one and a half hours.  He then returns home to the Villa.  About 45 minutes later he goes to an ATM machine in Luz and has a conversation in English with an unidentified person.  His mother turns up and they load some equipment into his van before meeting some thin bloke in an orange T shirt and entering a car rental establishment.
 
He leaves the car rental in a Hyundat Getz and travels to the Batista supermarket, afterwards returning to the address previously visited in Lagos where he picks up a woman already waiting for him.  They travel to Praia da Cabana and visit a restaurant where they stay for about 2 hours.  He then follows his mother, who must have already been there and who was driving a Peugeot, and return to the Villa.  He then takes his companion and returns to the centre of Luz at about 11:45. He finally returns the woman to the address in Lagos, travels back home, and presumably goes to bed after a very busy day.  The rental car was eventually returned on the 14^th May having covered approximately 706 kilometres.
 
Search Warrants
 
Subsequently a letter is sent to the Co-ordinator at the Ministry of Justice which begins by outlining the facts of the case as they stood, before mentioning Robert Murat, and making the following points:
 
·        He approached the GNR offering his services as a translator which was accepted.
·        He showed discomfort at being photographed by the media. Journalists approached the PJ about his strange manner. “We stress that at this time, we were contacted by various journalists, who alleged that they had noticed his strange comportment, and that he showed himself to be extremely curious. When they tired to capture his picture, he repudiated this vehemently, alleging that he was father to a little girl, the same age as Madeleine and was in the middle of a divorce.”
·        When questioned about his manner by the PJ he offered to discontinue his services as a translator. But was assured they would be retained (in order to keep an eye on him).
·        Mention is made of the proximity of his home to Apartment 5A
·        A request made for search warrants including his mobile phone, the Hyundai hire car, his mothers Peugeot and the VW van.
 
Telephone Records
 
On the 14^th May details of intercepted messages on Murat’s (3) phones were requested from Vodafone and TMN.  ‘Phone taps were also put in place.
 
The PJ files search warrant had included an order to Murat’s telephone providers to make available records of activity between 25^Th April and 13^th May, and specifically mention 3 mobile phones;  ***359, ***557, and ***078.  I have analysed the Image files of the ‘phone logs and was surprised that ***359 appears nowhere referenced in the content of the images provided either as being used to make calls, or receive them.  The two providers were Vodafone and TMN.  I am not confident enough to be able to tabulate details of specific ‘phone numbers in the public domain, so much of the data available for analysis will, unfortunately have to stay with me, but I will try to give a flavour of what went on with Murat’s ‘phones.
 
You must bear in mind that the analysis is mine and comes with that warning.  The statistics are NOT part of the PJ files.  If I’m wrong, I’m not very far wrong, so it can all be taken as indicative.  The Vodafone network breaks down calls separately as received and made, but that analysis is not available from TMN who just identify the two parties: That or it wasn’t used for incoming calls, maybe if someone knows they could pass on the info.  Whether anything below is actually meaningful is another thing, but it’s better than staring at images of ‘phone logs.
 
There were 232 calls either received or made by both providers between 25^th April and 13^th May, 160 made on the TMN network and 72 on Vodafone.  63 calls were after 8:00pm so assumed most of those are not work related.  A call was made to a number in Ibiza on 6^th May 2007 at 21:08.  A call from a UK mobile was made from Albufeira on the 8^th May at 17:15 (79***02); assuming Guia (the location) to be a civil parish within that town.
 
There were 123 SMS messages between 25^th April and 13^th May. 114 made on the Vodafone Network and 9 on TMS. There was a communication with a UK mobile (79***36) to the Lagos Hotel location on 8^th May at 18:46, after which he must have gone to the Lagos Marina because there were 2 messages to Murat’s ‘phone from a
 UK based ‘phone at 18:55 and 19:00 (79***36) at a Lagos Marina location, then a location ‘Club Nautico’ which must be near or at the Marina because it was made at 19:03 (79***36) on the same night.  Club Nautico doesn’t Google.  There were 2 SMS from UK mobiles on the 8^th May received in Guia at 16:07 and 17:18 (79***02).  On the 13^th May there was a call to his land line from Lagos at 07:43.
 
The most number of ‘phone calls made or received in a single day was 31 on 12^th May, 30 on 9^th May, 28 on the 11^Th May and 20 on 4^th May.  Calls up to and including 3^rd May totalled 34, and 198 from 4^th to 13^th May.  The total number of ‘phone communications made involving UK based ‘phones was 73, and the total number of SMS communications involving UK ‘phones was 94.  The most ‘anti-social’ hour for receiving calls was at 03:36 and 03:37 on the 4^th May, and 01:08 on the 6^th May.  There were no significant ‘bursts’ of activity, just 6 calls between 13:30 and 13:45 on the 11^th May, and 6 SMS messages on the 8^th May between 18:45 and 19:00, and the same number between 22:15 and 22:30 on 12^th May.
 
The most number of SMS in a single day is 37 on the 8^th May, then 22 on the 11^th May.  Texts up to and including 3^rd May totalled 15, and 108 between 4^th May and 13^th May.
 
‘Phone calls to the GNR totalled 3 on 7^th May, at 23:29, 23:34, and 23:36.  ‘Phone calls between him and MW, his partner totalled 42 but none were ‘out of hours’ or on significant dates IMO, but there again, who knows?
 
There was communication with a total of 16 UK ‘phone numbers totalling 167 instances in all.  The most contacted number was 77***05, with 75 contact events.
 
Villa Search
 
Between 07:20 and 21:00 on the 14^th May, 2 search teams and 4 GNR dogs conducted an internal and external search of the premises and the three vehicles, seizing a number of items.  Nothing of any significance was found. The laptop seized during the search had a faulty hard drive and no information could be retrieved.  On the 16^th May the PJ approached a Mr. Desmond Taylor, the Civil Engineer who had designed Casa Liliana.  The PJ’s concern was an empty area below the lounge, for which Mr Taylor recollects it was sealed off by brickwork.  This was confirmed by a visit to the Villa on the 17^th of May.
 
That’s all for now, but I’ll be taking a look at the Murat arguido statement etc in a couple of days.