Saturday, September 29, 2007
Parents Say "Find the Body; Prove We Killed Her"
• Portuguese prosecutors plan to read Kate's personal diary to prove she killed Madeleine
• 4,000 page Madeleine file 'could take weeks' to process
• Bail conditions could still be imposed on the McCanns
• McCanns decide not to use £1m fund for legal battle
The McCanns have issued a challenge to Portuguese police investigating Madeleine's disappearance saying: "Find the body and prove we killed her."
It is understood their lawyers have told them that without a body it will be extremely difficult for the authorities to press charges.
A close friend said: "The legitimate question to ask Portuguese police is: 'Where is the body? Where's the evidence that madeleine is dead? We have got no idea.'"
Meanwhile, it was revealed today that Portuguese prosecutors are planning to use Kate McCann's personal diary to help prove she killed Madeleine.
Sources close to the investigation say police believe that entries in the diary will bolster their case by revealing Mrs McCann's allegedly volatile state of mind in the days after Madeleine's disappearance in May.
In particular, they believe that the evidence could show to a court why an apparently devoted mother could have killed her child and engaged in what police believe is an elaborate cover-up.
The McCanns: Today the family went for a drive after posing for pictures
In a bid to clear their names, a friend said today that the McCanns were considering commissioning independent forensic tests on the car where Madeleine's DNA has supposedly been found.
The car is currently being kept in a safe area while the family decide their course of action.
Mrs McCann and husband Gerry today left their Leicestershire home for the first time since returning from the resort of Praia da Luz.
They drove their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to play at a nearby park for an hour. Mrs McCann, 39, looked tired and drained.
Today's revelations follow an emergency application by Portugal's public prosecutor to take possession of an unnamed item - now understood to be Mrs McCann's diary - within 24 hours.
Although the diary, which Mrs McCann has kept updated since the four-year-old vanished on 3 May, is already in the police's hands, legal rules mean they need judicial authorisation to use it in any trial.
The judge, Pedro Miguel dos Anjos Frias, has a day to grant the request, which is thought to be highly unusual, but is expected to approve the application.
The source said: "Police want to seize Kate's diary to see if it can reveal what really happened on the night."
Separate sources are also reporting that police also want to confiscate Madeleine's toys, including her favourite Cuddle Cat, which Mrs McCann has clung on to ever since her daughter vanished.
Police will want to examine the toys for forensic evidence to see how much DNA they contain of Madeleine and whether that would be sufficient to be left in the boot of the McCanns' hire car.
Special powers: Police want to seize Kate McCann's diary and Madeleine's toys, including the Cuddle Cat, seen here in Mrs McCann's bag.
The case against the McCanns detailed in the police report rests mainly on potentially damaging forensic test results which alleges Madeleine's DNA, contained in traces of bodily fluids, as well as her hair was found in the McCanns' hire car 25 days after she went missing on 3 May.
Portugal's attorney general has indicated the police investigation into Kate and Gerry McCann had not ended and indicated bail conditions could be imposed on the couple.
It's now thought it could take week for the Portuguese judge to go through the 4,000-page dossier of evidence against Kate and Gerry.
Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses, a public prosecutor based in Portimao in the Algarve, yesterday ordered the 10 lever-arch police files in the case to go before a criminal instructional judge.
A friend of the McCanns, citing a number of legal sources, said the family had been advised that the prosecutor is probably either seeking further guidance from the judge or applying for the authority to carry out more searches.
Madeleine: Bodily fluids found in the hire car - not necessarily blood - matched the missing girl's DNA
Today's demand came as the McCanns challenged Portuguese police: "Find the body and prove we killed her."
It is understood that lawyers acting for Kate and Gerry McCann have told them that without a body it will be extremely difficult for Portuguese authorities to press charges.
A close friend today said: "The legitimate question to ask Portuguese police is: 'Where is the body?' Where's the evidence that Madeleine is dead? We have got no idea."
The friend said the McCanns' new legal team, based in London, was working around the clock to "get up to speed on the case".
Legal sources say that without a body the case against the McCanns is weakened.
A 4,000-page police dossier on the case has now been handed to the judiciary. It is possible the judge could bring charges within days. But he could also order police to carry out more searches, conduct interviews or impose stricter bail conditions.
The fact police want to seize toys so long after the inquiry began will raise eyebrows and add to concern about the quality of the investigation. Cuddle Cat has been washed in recent weeks while other vital evidence may have been lost.
The McCanns' Portuguese lawyer Carlos Pinto de Abreu today hit out at Portugal's judicial system in a scathing interview with a local newspaper. "Justice in Portugal is slow and incapable of producing proof," he said.
Evidence: the Renault Scenic hire car used by the McCanns in Portugal. Police say they found substantial amounts of Madeleine's hair in the boot
"It is more appropriate to break down the patience of a believer and the reputation of an innocent man than to identify those responsible."
Another family friend said the growing speculation is taking its toll on the McCanns who left Praia da Luz, the resort where four-year-old Madeleine went missing, to return to their family home in Leicestershire at the weekend.
The source said: "Two days ago Gerry was telling everyone: 'I'm as strong as an ox'. Yesterday he was not quite as ebullient. They don't know where this is going. They fear they will be summoned back at some stage.
Presumably Portuguese authorities are looking at a trial. Gerry has remained consistent that they can explain everything that needs to be explained and will do so. They are innocent; they did not kill Madeleine and dispose of her body."
The McCanns fear they are losing the public relations battle which has seen them turn from being victims of a terrible child abduction to formal suspects in the police investigation.
Their campaign manager Justine McGuinness leaves her post on Saturday, having only ever been contracted until that date. The McCanns are now being advised to assemble a new media team to try to create more positive headlines.
But this will prove costly and the McCanns, said the source, may have to look at taking money out of the Madeleine Fund, which so far has raised more than £1 million from public donations. Such a move would risk a backlash that money raised to find Madeleine should be spent on PR.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23411696-details/Madeleine:+Police+believe+Kate's+diary+will+prove+she+killed+her+daughter/article.do
• 4,000 page Madeleine file 'could take weeks' to process
• Bail conditions could still be imposed on the McCanns
• McCanns decide not to use £1m fund for legal battle
The McCanns have issued a challenge to Portuguese police investigating Madeleine's disappearance saying: "Find the body and prove we killed her."
It is understood their lawyers have told them that without a body it will be extremely difficult for the authorities to press charges.
A close friend said: "The legitimate question to ask Portuguese police is: 'Where is the body? Where's the evidence that madeleine is dead? We have got no idea.'"
Meanwhile, it was revealed today that Portuguese prosecutors are planning to use Kate McCann's personal diary to help prove she killed Madeleine.
Sources close to the investigation say police believe that entries in the diary will bolster their case by revealing Mrs McCann's allegedly volatile state of mind in the days after Madeleine's disappearance in May.
In particular, they believe that the evidence could show to a court why an apparently devoted mother could have killed her child and engaged in what police believe is an elaborate cover-up.
The McCanns: Today the family went for a drive after posing for pictures
In a bid to clear their names, a friend said today that the McCanns were considering commissioning independent forensic tests on the car where Madeleine's DNA has supposedly been found.
The car is currently being kept in a safe area while the family decide their course of action.
Mrs McCann and husband Gerry today left their Leicestershire home for the first time since returning from the resort of Praia da Luz.
They drove their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to play at a nearby park for an hour. Mrs McCann, 39, looked tired and drained.
Today's revelations follow an emergency application by Portugal's public prosecutor to take possession of an unnamed item - now understood to be Mrs McCann's diary - within 24 hours.
Although the diary, which Mrs McCann has kept updated since the four-year-old vanished on 3 May, is already in the police's hands, legal rules mean they need judicial authorisation to use it in any trial.
The judge, Pedro Miguel dos Anjos Frias, has a day to grant the request, which is thought to be highly unusual, but is expected to approve the application.
The source said: "Police want to seize Kate's diary to see if it can reveal what really happened on the night."
Separate sources are also reporting that police also want to confiscate Madeleine's toys, including her favourite Cuddle Cat, which Mrs McCann has clung on to ever since her daughter vanished.
Police will want to examine the toys for forensic evidence to see how much DNA they contain of Madeleine and whether that would be sufficient to be left in the boot of the McCanns' hire car.
Special powers: Police want to seize Kate McCann's diary and Madeleine's toys, including the Cuddle Cat, seen here in Mrs McCann's bag.
The case against the McCanns detailed in the police report rests mainly on potentially damaging forensic test results which alleges Madeleine's DNA, contained in traces of bodily fluids, as well as her hair was found in the McCanns' hire car 25 days after she went missing on 3 May.
Portugal's attorney general has indicated the police investigation into Kate and Gerry McCann had not ended and indicated bail conditions could be imposed on the couple.
It's now thought it could take week for the Portuguese judge to go through the 4,000-page dossier of evidence against Kate and Gerry.
Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses, a public prosecutor based in Portimao in the Algarve, yesterday ordered the 10 lever-arch police files in the case to go before a criminal instructional judge.
A friend of the McCanns, citing a number of legal sources, said the family had been advised that the prosecutor is probably either seeking further guidance from the judge or applying for the authority to carry out more searches.
Madeleine: Bodily fluids found in the hire car - not necessarily blood - matched the missing girl's DNA
Today's demand came as the McCanns challenged Portuguese police: "Find the body and prove we killed her."
It is understood that lawyers acting for Kate and Gerry McCann have told them that without a body it will be extremely difficult for Portuguese authorities to press charges.
A close friend today said: "The legitimate question to ask Portuguese police is: 'Where is the body?' Where's the evidence that Madeleine is dead? We have got no idea."
The friend said the McCanns' new legal team, based in London, was working around the clock to "get up to speed on the case".
Legal sources say that without a body the case against the McCanns is weakened.
A 4,000-page police dossier on the case has now been handed to the judiciary. It is possible the judge could bring charges within days. But he could also order police to carry out more searches, conduct interviews or impose stricter bail conditions.
The fact police want to seize toys so long after the inquiry began will raise eyebrows and add to concern about the quality of the investigation. Cuddle Cat has been washed in recent weeks while other vital evidence may have been lost.
The McCanns' Portuguese lawyer Carlos Pinto de Abreu today hit out at Portugal's judicial system in a scathing interview with a local newspaper. "Justice in Portugal is slow and incapable of producing proof," he said.
Evidence: the Renault Scenic hire car used by the McCanns in Portugal. Police say they found substantial amounts of Madeleine's hair in the boot
"It is more appropriate to break down the patience of a believer and the reputation of an innocent man than to identify those responsible."
Another family friend said the growing speculation is taking its toll on the McCanns who left Praia da Luz, the resort where four-year-old Madeleine went missing, to return to their family home in Leicestershire at the weekend.
The source said: "Two days ago Gerry was telling everyone: 'I'm as strong as an ox'. Yesterday he was not quite as ebullient. They don't know where this is going. They fear they will be summoned back at some stage.
Presumably Portuguese authorities are looking at a trial. Gerry has remained consistent that they can explain everything that needs to be explained and will do so. They are innocent; they did not kill Madeleine and dispose of her body."
The McCanns fear they are losing the public relations battle which has seen them turn from being victims of a terrible child abduction to formal suspects in the police investigation.
Their campaign manager Justine McGuinness leaves her post on Saturday, having only ever been contracted until that date. The McCanns are now being advised to assemble a new media team to try to create more positive headlines.
But this will prove costly and the McCanns, said the source, may have to look at taking money out of the Madeleine Fund, which so far has raised more than £1 million from public donations. Such a move would risk a backlash that money raised to find Madeleine should be spent on PR.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23411696-details/Madeleine:+Police+believe+Kate's+diary+will+prove+she+killed+her+daughter/article.do
Ten Key Points in The Madeleine McCann Case
10 key elements in McCann dossier
By Gordon Rayner and Caroline Gammell
Last Updated: 2:25am BST 12/09/2007
Neither the McCanns nor their legal team have been told the contents of the dossier of evidence presented to a judge.
They will only find out why police believe they are responsible for their daughter's disappearance if and when they are charged.
However the dossier is almost certain to contain 10 key elements:
1 Forensic evidence:
Last month samples were taken from the McCanns' holiday apartment and their Renault Scenic hire car and sent for analysis to the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham. After the test results reached Portugal last week, the McCanns were re-interviewed and declared formal suspects or "arguidos".
Reports alleged that the samples included large amounts of Madeleine's hair, as well as bodily fluids, recovered from the car boot.
2 Toxicology reports:
The Forensic Science Service is understood to have carried out toxicology tests on the samples to check whether Madeleine may have been drugged or poisoned.
Detectives are said to have asked the McCanns whether they sedated their daughter.
3 Interview transcripts:
The McCanns have been interviewed repeatedly by police since Madeleine went missing 132 days ago.
Last week, Kate McCann was questioned for 16 hours over two days. Detectives are reportedly unconvinced by the answers the McCanns gave to several key questions. The couple are also said to have exercised their right of silence on some questions.
4 Statements from the McCanns' friends:
The police must establish that there was an opportunity to kill Madeleine and for her parents to dispose of her body before charges can be considered. The statements of the seven friends who were with them on the night Madeleine went missing will be crucial in determining their movements.
5 Statements from other witnesses:
Dozens of other witnesses, many of them locals, have provided statements about what they saw on May 3 and how the McCanns behaved on holiday. They may include evidence from Pamela Fenn, who was in an apartment above the McCanns, and another witness who has allegedly described the way Kate McCann dealt with her children.
6 Phone tap evidence:
Police are said to have been bugging the McCanns' phones and intercepting their emails for weeks. Reports in the Portuguese press have suggested that some of their conversations may have contradicted statements they gave to police. One newspaper suggested that the phone taps had helped satisfy police that the couple believed their daughter was dead. Gerry McCann has told friends: "The police are listening to every word we say."
7 Background reports:
Portuguese police are reported to have spent considerable time investigating the McCanns' family background in a search for any evidence that they may have mistreated their children or have any hidden motive for wanting to harm them. Portuguese newspapers have reported something which the family have dismissed as an attempt to smear them.
8 Surveillance:
The McCanns are believed to have been under discreet video surveillance.
9 Videos of police 'cadaver' dogs:
Dogs trained to detect decomposing bodies are reported to have reacted to the "smell of death" in the McCanns' apartment, in their hire car and on Kate McCann's clothes. Police showed Mrs McCann videos of the dogs barking when they checked the car.
10 Timeline:
The police will have compiled a comprehensive timeline of events to explain who was where at what times.
By Gordon Rayner and Caroline Gammell
Last Updated: 2:25am BST 12/09/2007
Neither the McCanns nor their legal team have been told the contents of the dossier of evidence presented to a judge.
They will only find out why police believe they are responsible for their daughter's disappearance if and when they are charged.
However the dossier is almost certain to contain 10 key elements:
1 Forensic evidence:
Last month samples were taken from the McCanns' holiday apartment and their Renault Scenic hire car and sent for analysis to the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham. After the test results reached Portugal last week, the McCanns were re-interviewed and declared formal suspects or "arguidos".
Reports alleged that the samples included large amounts of Madeleine's hair, as well as bodily fluids, recovered from the car boot.
2 Toxicology reports:
The Forensic Science Service is understood to have carried out toxicology tests on the samples to check whether Madeleine may have been drugged or poisoned.
Detectives are said to have asked the McCanns whether they sedated their daughter.
3 Interview transcripts:
The McCanns have been interviewed repeatedly by police since Madeleine went missing 132 days ago.
Last week, Kate McCann was questioned for 16 hours over two days. Detectives are reportedly unconvinced by the answers the McCanns gave to several key questions. The couple are also said to have exercised their right of silence on some questions.
4 Statements from the McCanns' friends:
The police must establish that there was an opportunity to kill Madeleine and for her parents to dispose of her body before charges can be considered. The statements of the seven friends who were with them on the night Madeleine went missing will be crucial in determining their movements.
5 Statements from other witnesses:
Dozens of other witnesses, many of them locals, have provided statements about what they saw on May 3 and how the McCanns behaved on holiday. They may include evidence from Pamela Fenn, who was in an apartment above the McCanns, and another witness who has allegedly described the way Kate McCann dealt with her children.
6 Phone tap evidence:
Police are said to have been bugging the McCanns' phones and intercepting their emails for weeks. Reports in the Portuguese press have suggested that some of their conversations may have contradicted statements they gave to police. One newspaper suggested that the phone taps had helped satisfy police that the couple believed their daughter was dead. Gerry McCann has told friends: "The police are listening to every word we say."
7 Background reports:
Portuguese police are reported to have spent considerable time investigating the McCanns' family background in a search for any evidence that they may have mistreated their children or have any hidden motive for wanting to harm them. Portuguese newspapers have reported something which the family have dismissed as an attempt to smear them.
8 Surveillance:
The McCanns are believed to have been under discreet video surveillance.
9 Videos of police 'cadaver' dogs:
Dogs trained to detect decomposing bodies are reported to have reacted to the "smell of death" in the McCanns' apartment, in their hire car and on Kate McCann's clothes. Police showed Mrs McCann videos of the dogs barking when they checked the car.
10 Timeline:
The police will have compiled a comprehensive timeline of events to explain who was where at what times.
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