Police chief blamed Kate and Gerry McCann for Madeleine's disappearance 'to ensure Portuguese detectives didn't abandon case'

Police chief blamed Kate and Gerry McCann for Madeleine's disappearance 'to ensure Portuguese detectives didn't abandon case'
Goncalo Amaral was said to have been 'against shelving of original probe'
Kate and Gerry McCann are suing Mr Amaral over his claims in 2008 book

He alleged couple faked the abduction to cover up her death in Portugal
McCanns say book turned people against them when they needed help


By Gerard Couzens

PUBLISHED: 20:24, 5 November 2013 | UPDATED: 23:40, 5 November 2013


A former Portuguese police chief blamed Madeleine McCann's parents for the three-year-old girl's disappearance to ensure detectives carried on looking for her, a former colleague claimed today.

Antonio Paulo dos Santos told a Lisbon court he believed his friend Goncalo Amaral penned a book pointing the finger at the couple because he was against the shelving of the original investigation.

Kate and Gerry McCann are suing Mr Amaral over his claims in his July 2008 book The Truth of the Lie that they faked their daughter's abduction to cover up her death in their holiday apartment.


Goncalo Amaral was a leading investigator on the disappearance of British child Madeleine McCann

Kate McCann and Gerry McCann, parents of missing Madeleine McCann, give an interview in May


Trial: Kate and Gerry McCann (right) are suing former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral (left) over his claims in a book that they faked their daughter's abduction to cover up her death in their holiday apartment



His book was released three days after the Portuguese police probe into the girl’s diappearance was archived and the McCanns were told their status as official suspects or arguidos was being lifted.

Defence witness Mr dos Santos, who worked with Mr Amaral in the early Nineties and remains in close contact with him, spoke at the hearing this afternoon.

He said: ‘Everything that's in the book appears to be in the case files. It's not fictional. They are the conclusions of a factual analysis by Goncalo Amaral as the head of the police investigation.


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‘I think the main reason he wrote the book was so that the case would continue to be investigated. When he published the book I presume he didn't agree with its archiving.’

Today's libel trial hearing was the first since Portuguese authorities announced last month they were reopening their probe into Madeleine's disappearance more than five years after it was shelved.

The morning court session started with a disappointment for the defence when it emerged a key witness was on honeymoon and his evidence had to be rescheduled for a later date.



Publication: Mr Amaral's 2008 book was released three days after the Portuguese police probe into the girl's disappearance was archived and the McCanns were told their status as official suspects was being lifted
Publication: Mr Amaral's 2008 book was released three days after the Portuguese police probe into the girl's disappearance was archived and the McCanns were told their status as official suspects was being lifted



Criminologist and university professor Paulo Sargento was expected to support Mr Amaral and say he did not believe Madeleine had been abducted from her Algarve holiday apartment.

In October 2007 he created a 3D reconstruction of the night on May 3, 2007 when Madeleine disappeared - and concluded any abductor would only have had eight minutes in which to strike.

Mystery: Madeleine McCann disappeared in Portugal in May 2007 and has never been found
Mystery: Madeleine McCann disappeared in Portugal in May 2007 and has never been found



He later came up with a computer edit based on witness statements of a long-haired bearded man which the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell insisted at the time could cause confusion.

Mario Sena Lopes, editor of Guerra & Paz which published Mr Amaral's controversial book, admitted he could not guarantee all copies had been returned after the McCanns successfully injected it.

The couple secured a temporary injunction in September 2008 before a court upheld the ban in February 2010 after a challenge from Mr Amaral. The injunction was lifted again in March 2011.

Mr Lopes, who is still Mr Amaral's literary agent, told the hearing: ‘There are always booksellers who do not respect the orders of the distributors.’

He also admitted knowing the book had been circulated in Brazil but insisted Guerra & Paz had nothing to do with it.

Luis Vale Frois, former managing director of a firm which distributed a DVD of a documentary based on Mr Amaral's book, said it was inevitable pirate copies would find their way onto the Internet.

He told the hearing: ‘If this week you release a series on TV, next week it's already on the internet with Portuguese subtitles.’



Concern: Kate and Gerry McCann claim Mr Amaral's book turned Portuguese people against them when they most needed their help in finding their daughter
Concern: Kate and Gerry McCann claim Mr Amaral's book turned Portuguese people against them when they most needed their help in finding their daughter



Mr Amaral, removed as head of the Madeleine McCann probe in October 2007 after criticising the British police, attended court for the trial as he has done every day since its start in September.

Portuguese-based Cape Verdean associations have reacted angrily to reports an immigrant thief has been blamed for Madeleine McCann's disappearance and death.

It emerged last week Euclides Monteiro, who died in a tractor accident in 2009, was a suspect.

A spokesman for a Cape Verdean association said: ‘The representatives of Cape Verdean associations in Portugal always defend the normal workings of justice and the idea that unlawful behaviour should be punished accordingly through the proper legal channels.

‘However we denounce the fact that this immigrant cannot defend himself from these accusations in the Madeleine McCann case which could, conveniently, remove blame from other people and ease some consciences.

‘We discover history repeating itself - with yet another Cape Verdian suspect and a community which feels once again smeared.’
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He has been critical of a new British police appeal about the six-and-a-half year-old mystery, branding it a ‘PR campaign of intoxication and misinformation.’

But he declined to comment today on the reopened Portuguese police investigation into Madeleine's disappearance.

Mr Amaral's lawyer Vitor dos Santos insisted outside court: ‘We are not going to make any comment about the criminal investigation. This is a civil case and when it's over my client will be free to speak. No lawyer should make any statements about people being absolved or not being absolved from an investigation.


'This is not the time to be saying anything about it because it makes no sense to do so.’

The McCanns claim Mr Amaral's book turned Portuguese people against them when they most needed their help in finding their daughter.

The ex-police chief is denying defamation and insists everything in the book was contained in police files. Former police colleagues have given evidence backing his argument.

The McCanns, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have applied to take the witness stand as well as Mr Amaral.


Judge Maria Emilia Melo e Castro is expected to rule on their application at the end of the month. The case, scheduled to finish in December, continues.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2487987/Madeleine-McCanns-parents-suspects-Portuguese-detectives-didnt-abandon-case.html#ixzz2jqQWSTmr
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Headline reads like a poor excuse for writing his book but other than that, a decent article for once from the Daily Mail.  Will be interesting to see what the comments are for this article.

That sounds damming to me ' he only accused them to make sure the search continued " it makes it sound like his views were NOT sincere . worrying ..

"When the McCanns most needed their help!? The case had been archived and they could have asked to have it kept open, but didn't!"
.................................................................................................

"whether the case is re-opened, or NOT, it DOSEN'T matter"

Kate McCann, mother of the missing child.
Lisbon, 23rd September, 2009.

P317, bewk. 'madeleine'.

"It may sound odd, but in some ways we were GLAD the investigation had been closed."

KM. 'ambassador' for 'missing' people.
........................................................................

Well yes, very ODD indeed, that the parents of a missing child would be GLAD that the investigation into their child's 'disappearance' had been closed.

I wonder if the relatives of other 'missing' people are also glad that investigations into them are closed, just like their 'ambassador' states.

The important thing in this article to me is the statement that everything in the book is factual from the information in the case files.   If I was not up on the portuguese police files or Sr Amaral's book, that would be the first thing I would be 'googling' after reading that.

melisande wrote:Headline reads like a poor excuse for writing his book but other than that, a decent article for once from the Daily Mail.  Will be interesting to see what the comments are for this article.

I thought that at first melisande but then I thought it means something more along the lines of, Amaral had to write the book to ensure that MM's case continued to be investigated.

suzyjohnson wrote:

melisande wrote:Headline reads like a poor excuse for writing his book but other than that, a decent article for once from the Daily Mail.  Will be interesting to see what the comments are for this article.

I thought that at first melisande but then I thought it means something more along the lines of, Amaral had to write the book to ensure that MM's case continued to be investigated.

At first, on seeing the headline, I read it as a negative statement but on reading the article through and reading what was actually said in court, it read that Amaral wasn't happy with the case being shelved and hoped by writing the book it would continue to be investigated.   So yes, I agree with what you say.  The headline could have been better written, but most probably deliberate.