Gonçalo Amaral returns to Praia da Luz
Transcription de Joana Morais
From 0:00 to 2:10 –
Extracts from “Até à Verdade”[To the Truth] show where two
Canadians psychics share their experiences regarding Madeleine McCann
case with Rita Ferro Rodrigues (English).
2:10 – Extract from
that same show with Criminologist Francisco Moita Flores [FMF]
comment: “It is surprising for someone to discover the golf course
and a cliff, a cliff with a steep downslide… I don’t know, I
believe the cliff is important. I would look at it again.
Rita Ferro Rodrigues
[RFR]: Francisco, if you were the investigator you would look at it
again?
FMF: It’s always good
to have a look again, regardless of the provenance of the
information, where one has searched before.
2:40 – Cut to Júlia
Pinheiro’s morning talk show.
Júlia Pinheiro [JP]:
Those were the mediums of “Até à Verdade” on the Madeleine
McCann case. Hello, Hernâni.
Hernâni Carvalho [HC]:
Good afternoon, dear Júlia.
JP: Good afternoon, dear
Hernâni. Would you like to make a comment on the information that we
just watched?
HC: They are very
interesting… In Portugal there is a certain scepticism regarding
this kind of people. I do not have to hold an opinion on that at
least that is not the important issue, in my opinion. And it is not
important, because, either the institutions are useful with all the
methods that they use or they are not, that is, there were at certain
moments people who wanted to request the help of the FBI to assist
the investigation. Well, we should start by saying that the FBI does
seek advice from psychics in difficult cases. So, either…
03:30: [Lower Third]
Maddie disappeared almost five years ago…
JP: In the Anglo-Saxon
culture, namely in England, that also happens.
HC: Exactly.
JP: Specifically these
same mediums.
HC: Precisely. In
England, and in Canada, as you said, in the Anglo-Saxon culture this
is also used.
JP: These gentlemen are
Canadian.
HC: It should be said
that Scotland Yard also works with people that allege that they feel
those things, and in Canada the authorities that make criminal
investigations also consult that kind of people. In the European
continent it is uncommon; however, it is known that some police
forces have used mediums, in a more or less overtly manner. The
Judiciary Police itself did listen to things, texts, opinions of
people who say that they have, let us say, this sensations…
JP: We have Gonçalo
Amaral sitting next to you.
04:40 – [Lower Third]
To follow: Gonçalo Amaral returns to Praia da Luz.
HC: Exactly, this was
just until he arrived.
JP: Who coordinated the
entire investigation. This was just a warm up until he arrived.
[Laughs]
HC: So, without wishing
to give my opinion relatively to what psychics may feel or not, since
we now have here the responsible for the investigation, the first
question that I will make him is…
JP: Good afternoon.
Gonçalo Amaral [GA]:
Good afternoon.
HC: And the first
question is, Gonçalo, did you receive or not information from these
people who have a special “phone” to the other side and if you
did, did you take that into account or not?
GA: In cases like this
one, it is very common for messages to appear, several information,
some of which were staggering for the… – for example, a drawing
that I remember, an image, it was a figure of a person who resembles
someone who would appear in the case. Later on, I am able to say who
it was. Nevertheless, we the investigators are men of facts. We rely
on facts, in indicia, and we are to some extent sceptic regarding
these situations.
HC: So you received that
kind of information?
GA: Lots and lots of
information, just like the family, who also received, who pondered
about a few and even delivered emails and other things to the
Judiciary Police, saying where the body could be or where it could
have been placed - the Madeleine McCann family. There was something
initially, you’ve spoken about the FBI early on, when we considered
requesting the FBI assistance, the FBI was always… - the FBI which
is an US agency for criminal investigations - …was always willing
to help. There was a set back by the National Directorate of the
Judiciary Police, due to a possible clash with the English police
that was working with us and the arrival of the FBI, but the first
thing the FBI wanted to do initially was to send us a, let us call
it, a clairvoyant, a medium that works with them. Which was…
JP: That was the FBI
first procedural step?
GA: Immediately, in the
first days. However, I believe the National Directorate…
JP: It was SIC who
brought them; six years later SIC took care of that. [Laughs]
GA: But it was not those
gentlemen [reference to the Canadian mediums who appeared in “Até
à Verdade” show].
JP: No, it wasn’t them,
it was a woman. They collaborate with investigations in the US and in
Canada, which is where they live and where they are university
professors in a university where these lines of investigations are
seen as pertinent. Whilst in reality, in our southern European
culture is not [seen as relevant]. But let’s move to the facts,
Gonçalo Amaral spoke about facts. In May it will be the 5th
anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance, fact. Gonçalo
Amaral and Hernâni Carvalho returned to Praia da Luz and to the
cliff, the one mentioned by the mediums in the “Até à Verdade”
show. Let’s watch it.
07:14: Cut to Hernâni
Carvalho at the top of the cliff, in Praia da Luz. [Lower Third]
“Maddie Case”: Gonçalo Amaral returns to Praia da Luz!
HC: Some of the key
points mentioned in the TV program broadcast by SIC a few days ago
were precisely the beach and this cliff, and also a golf course and
all that makes sense with a thesis emerged in May 2007, that said
that the little girl could have been carried inside a sports bag or
in a golf bag, brought trough the golf course to this cliff and then
thrown here. Moita Flores said, in that show, that in doubt he would
also come back here. Gonçalo Amaral, what did the police do here in
Praia da Luz?
GA: In the first night,
searches were made using sniffer dogs, with the help of the public,
and all of this area was searched, here…
HC: But also the rocks
down here?
GA: Yes, in the rocks
down here, at the base of this cliff, probe rods1 were used to search
in the sand and in the soil in the cliff’s base, in order to
release eventual odours of cadaver, and nothing was detected. Aerial
searches were conducted in the first days as well as at the planning,
the planning was preceded by an assessment, let us call it, an
overview of the entire area by a helicopter that was ceded by the
civil protection of Faro, and nothing was detected. As to that
hypothesis, of throwing a body - and I recall that the little girl’s
weight would be about 30 kilos – from here to the sea, I would say
that is impossible. Notice that the sea is not immediately beneath
here, the cliff does not have a vertical steep, there is a vertical
grade and the sea is still far away. A great strength or almost a
gigantic person would be needed for the body to fall in the sea, and
in the deep sea. There are photos, taken in the rocks down bellow in
the water, were we can see searching, certainly he was not searching
for his live daughter…
HC: Are you referring to
Maddie’s father?
GA: To Gerald McCann.
Maddie’s father.
HC: He was walking around
here, in the rocks bellow?
GA: Yes, there are
pictures of that.
HC: But in that case, he
would have to have the firm belief that the girl was dead.
GA: I do not believe that
he was looking for crabs nor searching for a live daughter. According
to Moita Flores, it would be important to return to this area, I
believe so, even because there are people who continue to say today
that the body might be around here, and continue to give information
about places. It should be looked, the police should make searches,
they should reopen the process and resume the investigations. There
is much to be done still.
09:44 Cut to Studio
JP: Hernâni, I hand over
to you the first comments.
HC: The question is,
following that thesis regarding the hypothesis that the girl was
carried in a bag…
JP: In a golf bag.
HC: In a golf bag or in a
sports bag, the question is...
JP: Let me just show the
picture. [Behind HC and GA there is a flat TV screen, Gerald McCann
carrying a Golf bag is shown] Here it is, Gerry McCann with the golf
bag, I have to stress that this picture was taken by a British
photojournalist, Brian Bould.
HC: Without prejudice, I
am not saying that it was Mr. McCann, it's different. What I am
saying is, in the hypothesis - which was one of the theses at that
time - that the girl was taken from the bedroom, carried inside a
golf bag, or inside a sports bag, by whomever made her leave the
bedroom, and then carried her through the golf field to the cliff...
We already know, and it is not difficult to understand, that is not
possible to throw a 30 kilos2 body from that point, because the body
would never fall inside water, never. With a small rock, a rock with
the size of a hand, it is impossible to toss it into the ocean. So,
the question is, would it be possible for the girl to have been kept
hidden at the cliff area and then be taken from there?
GA: It is possible;
indeed that is the thesis, the conclusions that are reached by the
police until September of 2007. That the child’s body was kept
somewhere. In the first night, the body was taken from the apartment
and placed somewhere, and it was not detected. The searches made that
night were to find a living child not a dead one. Then later, we
know, because of the indicia, we get that information from the
indicia that was found in the car rented 20 days later, that probably
a body, a cadaver was placed there and it was likely Madeleine
McCann. The FSS handled the information…
HC: We will speak about
the FSS later on.
GA: I am talking about
the information, we only had the information. I’m not talking about
what can be proved or not. The information that the police had and
was working with. We were at six months from the beginning of the
investigation, we should have followed that line, to understand where
that body – if there was a body – was placed…
HC: But the question is,
how is it possible to keep a body in that cliff without cadaver
deterioration?
GA: In that place the
body would always decay. The issue with the bag is the following,
Gerald McCann said at one point in time that he did not have any
sports bag. Mark Harrison, an English expert, who did the planning of
the searches that were carried out with the CSI dogs, of the cadaver
odour and blood, at the ends of July, early August, puts forward that
serious hypothesis - that the body was taken inside a sports bag3, he
speaks of a golf bag, of a sports bag – and indeed a sports bag
existed. There are photographs taken inside the apartment [rented by
the McCanns/5A] immediately after the disappearance, an hour later,
and the sports bag is there, inside the closet and is of a darkish
blue colour. Thus, those photographs exist, contrary to what anyone
can say that they did not own a sports bag – the sports bag was
there. A sports bag, even though there wasn't any brand like “Adidas”
in the bag, but it was a bag of that kind. So, what happened to that
bag, what took place next, other situations ensued relatively to
another bag, something that it’s not worth mentioning now here,
there are people who also talk about a bag... That cliff area is an
important zone, several people talked about it, there were many
important events that took place there, events that people saw and
suspected, in the golf course area, in the path to the geodesic mark,
all in that area. Therefore, it is an area where it is worthwhile to
make a search again. But to be searched in the scope of an
investigation that is reopened.
HC: Curiously, the whole
area was thoroughly examined, that should be said.
GA: As well, yes.
HC: The whole area was
examined, the whole area was acquired, the whole area was divided…
GA: There is an important
detail…
HC: You do not have
access to that area, because today you can see that certain parts are
private, curiously, almost in the path that goes to the cliff’s
escarpment.
GA: There is an important
aspect and that is the diary of Mrs Kate McCann. There are some who
have the opinion the diary was written to be read. At a certain point
in time, following the dates given there just a few days after the
disappearance, Mrs. Kate McCann says that she is running, doing her
jogging – the daughter is missing and she is doing her training –
and in there, in that plateau that we are seeing right now, she said
that she was climbing it when she saw a number of journalists, of
people and that she begun suspecting that the body of her daughter
had been found. That is in her diary. She points to that area. When
they have hired…
HC: But pointing to that
place, is using as basis that the child has lost her life?!
GA: Exactly, it was
always like that, since the beginning the parents, at least Kate
McCann, have always spoken about the death of the child. Those emails
that they delivered [to the PJ] of a clairvoyant that explained where
the body could be, beneath the church area, inside a sewer collector.
HC: I cannot agree with
that… I believe it was Gerry. Gerry said, “If you think the girl
is dead then show me her body”.
GA: Well, perhaps he
knows that there is no body. That is another question; I do not know
why he says that there must be a body. In order to prove that the
child is dead it is not necessary to have a body. Actually, in this
case, if we could abstract ourselves of the name of the child that
disappeared, of the child’s parents and just look at the facts, in
an objective manner and move forward with the investigation, facts
would speak for themselves! There is no point in saying that the
child is dead, or that the child is alive, what we need is to work
the investigation and carry it out to the end, something that was not
done. Let us forget for a few moments who is Madeleine McCann, who
are Madeleine McCann’s parents, and let us look at the facts
objectively. At facts that are in a process, that some have already
tried to dismiss as being historical, as if the process had no
importance. We will only know the truth – and that is what matters
- and in that truth we will know if the child is alive or dead, and
where she can be, what happened to her; if we proceed based on those
facts.
HC: But it is the
parent’s conviction, or at least is the conviction that is best
known, that the child is missing and the parents have reiterated that
they believe the child is alive.
GA: I don’t think so…
JP: That she is alive…
GA: I don’t think so,
and I’ll tell you why. I will give you an example, Hernâni. There
was a certain lawyer, who went to dams searching for a body. Método
3, an investigation agency that worked for the couple, hired that
lawyer, to link two cases, the Joana Cipriano case and the Madeleine
case. He was searching for a body. Today, defending him, in a libel
suit that I have moved against him is the McCann’s lawyer [Isabel
Duarte]. So if he says the child is dead 4, why are the McCanns’
defending him? Why are the McCanns in court [against me]? This is the
kind of contradictions that no one understands…
JP: Indeed no one
understands that. Let us watch now…
HC: Let us go to the
apartment.
JP: Let us go to the
apartment. Let us tackle the facts, the facts mentioned by Gonçalo
Amaral.
HC: Facts.
JP: Fact: May, five years
since Madeleine McCann disappeared. After we saw the considerations
made by the mediums in the TV program “Até à Verdade”, we are
going to ask someone who was involved in the process, Gonçalo Amaral
and Hernâni Carvalho our man on the field. They have returned to
Praia da Luz to the very place, to the bedroom door, from where the
child disappeared.
17: 17 Cut to Apartment
5A, Praia da Luz, Algarve
HC: Madeleine McCann
disappeared on the 3rd of May of 2007 from this apartment in Praia da
Luz. From the apartment 5A of the Ocean Club. Moita Flores, for
example, does not believe the child could have been taken through
this window. In fact, the window is right next to the door [HC points
to the door right next to him, turns to Gonçalo Amaral and asks him]
Objectively, I would ask you if, in your perception, would it be
possible for the little girl to have disappeared through this window?
GA: It is our conviction,
and from the indicia that were collected during those initial months,
that it would be materially impossible for this window to be the
means of entry or exit, particularly since there are no traces of a
break-in. What we have instead are vestiges of a simulation inside -
namely a simulation5 where the window is opened. There are
fingerprints of Kate McCann opening the window towards her left
hand-side, whereas she says the window has always been closed, with
the shutters always down and therefore all these... There are no
footprints or anything similar. Undeniably, this window, as I have
said before, is a window ‘facing the world’ and it is where the
solution of the case lies.
HC: As the investigators
put it, no one enters through a door and then exits through a window!
GA: It is a fact and if
you watch closely, the door it is less exposed than the window. It
would be much more spectacular to exit through the window rather than
the door, which is rather more hidden, more receded than the window.
Therefore, this door would be a more obvious away to exit.
18: 46 The scene then
changes with both HC and GA walking past the Ocean Club’s
information board at the streets intersection. As they pass
underneath another of the apartment’s windows, the living room
window, GA draws HC’s attention to it and comments:
GA: That is the other
window where inside is that sofa where blood vestiges were found,
which the FSS said that it could belong to Madeleine McCann…
HC: Behind that window?
GA: Yes, on the inside.
HC: Where the blood
vestiges were found by the floor?
GA Yes, by the floor and
where there was also cadaver odour, besides the blood.
19:11 Camera pans briefly
at the rear of Apartment’s 5A [garden corner where cadaver odour
was also detected] before focusing in the rear access staircase to
the same living room area GA was just referring to. Immediately
afterwards GA and HC enter the small gate that opens directly to a
public road and climb the stairs.
HC: So, this was usually
the service entrance; the street access of apartment 5A, right?
GA: Exactly, the
apartments, or rather the manner in which that group of tourists
entered their apartments was from the rear; both the McCann couple as
well as the others, which were on the ground-floor, on the other
side. This raises questions such as… The path that is there
[pointing towards the alleyway] was the one used by the other
members. When Jane Tanner said that she goes up the street, and walks
around in order to go home, that to us rings hollow because this was
the usual pathway. Gerald McCann himself goes as far as to say that
when he came to see his daughter at about 9pm, that he does not enter
through here [sliding doors]; even though he was in a hurry to reach
the bathroom. Yet he chooses to walk the longest path [round gesture
with extended arm], to open the door [main entrance] with the key.
There is a report from Control Risks6, the first private detective
agency which was brought to the case [by the McCanns] in the very
first days, where they state, after speaking with Gerald McCann and
other witnesses in that group [Tapas 9], that the key that Mr. Gerald
McCann alleges to have used had in fact been left in the kitchen, in
the kitchen’s counter. Right away, the lies started. Moreover, in
order to have an abductor he would have had to enter through here
[sliding doors]. Apart from the fact that there are no traces of a
break-in, there aren't any fingerprints, he could have used gloves
for example, in any case the entry would have to be done through
here. There are no signs of a forced entry anywhere; not in the door
nor in the window. There is a simulation, as if someone wishes to
make others believe that the bedroom window was the passage point of
the child, which, in our firm belief, could not have taken place.
HC: The parents have said
that they were able to keep an eye on the apartment from the
restaurant [Tapas] but that is hard to see how, particularly bearing
in mind that it was night. Gonçalo Amaral, Dr. Moita Flores, said a
few days ago, publicly, that it is his profound belief that Maddie
likely died in this apartment, what is your conclusion?
GA: My conviction is
identical, based on the evidence. [small cut/edit at 21:09] So,
exactly what happened? There are the blood vestiges, the cadaver
odour that appeared precisely in the place where the blood was, that
appeared in the couple’s bedroom, that appeared here [pointing to
the apartment’s backyard] in the shrubs that were there, at the
back. Add to that the contradictions and the inconsistencies of all
the testimonies, and then there is something that should have been
made, the reconstruction of the events, which was refused by the
witnesses, by the [McCann] friends; the couple never came back for it
and until today that remains to be done. That would be enlightening.
GA: The investigation
process should not have ended, in October [2007], in the way that it
did. From then on, it was six months up to the archival, and today
continues to be archived. The answer for the case is in that
investigation, that is there, gaining dust, stored in a court archive
until it’s ‘dead’. Or maybe, until someone is brave enough to
order the reopening of the process, and continue the investigation.
22:19 Cut back to studio
JP: Hernâni, You have
spoken a while ago about something public, that I myself don’t
understand how it’s related to this: hairs?
HC: Yes. I don’t know
if you remember this, of the times that we worked together on this
case… In other times.
JP: At another place
[referring to when her morning talk show was broadcast by TVI]
HC: Suddenly, Madeleine’s
hairs where all over the place! Hairs were sent to the FSS, hairs
were sent to the Lab, hairs were sent to the police, hairs
everywhere.
GA: Too many hairs.
HC: Please explain, how
is it possible for a child who disappeared to have so much hair?
GA: I don’t know, but
it is a fact that there were several hairs, that were sent, and the
conclusion is that they likely belonged to the child. Even the hairs
that appeared in the boot of the car rented 20 days later [by the
McCanns], they were sent to the FSS [Forensic Science Service]. Hairs
that…
HC: Is it possible for me
to have a hair and than say ‘this hair belongs to Mr. José
António” [figure of speech]?
GA: I was about to
explain that. The FSS stated that due to the hair tone, they belonged
to Madeleine McCann, but that they couldn’t extract the DNA because
the hairs did not have any roots. Nowadays, labs in Europe can
actually extract DNA without the roots, and arrive to a conclusion,
if the DNA belongs to that person or not. Furthermore, those hairs
can help us understand if the child - like her grandfather said, some
journalists also said that at the time - did take an antihistaminic
in order to sleep at night. And then consider the influence that it
could have produced. Those hairs, if they still exist and if they do
belong to Madeleine, and if she was indeed – her siblings never
woke up in that night – given, like her grandfather said in the
English television; if the McCanns gave the children Calpol7 at night
in order for them, or for the little girl to sleep… From that point
on, we might be able to arrive to a conclusion regarding what
happened. When they write in a book that the girl’s sleeping
disorders had ended years ago, that is a lie, since the problems that
concern that child, existed to the last day, to the day of her
disappearance. And there is evidence that establishes that.
HC: Gonçalo, I have to
tell you this, and you know that this is public. Since the beginning,
I have always thought that it was very strange that Madeleine
disappeared; but there were several conclusions that one could
formulate particularly due to the other two children that did not
disappear. However, there is a question – and we are already
without time to continue – there is a question that I must ask: Who
decided that the FSS should be the one, instead of any other forensic
lab, to make all those analysis?
GA: The Police
Directorate, we wanted to ‘trust’ in the English police…
HC: That is all that I
wanted to know! Okay!
JP: [Laughs]
HC: It was just that.
There are several excellent laboratories, famous all over the world
in Switzerland, in…
GA: We didn’t want…
HC: …it had to be in
England!
GA: It is similar to the
non-arrival of the FBI, we didn’t want to create friction, a
“diplomatic incident”.
JP: It was due to a
diplomatic settlement that everything turned out the way it did.
GA: It is due to
diplomacy that we are now here.
HC: Thank you, Gonçalo.
JC: I thank Gonçalo
Amaral - who was truly committed to this case - for coming here
today, for clarifying and for providing us with information regarding
some aspects of this case.
Ends at 25: 39
SIC - Querida Júlia
[Dear Júlia], Morning Talk Show, broadcast by SIC, February 17, 2012
Reference Notes
1 «The search process
used personnel to physically, intrusively and invasively explore all
areas of disturbance, voids and concealment within the areas
searched. The search utilised dogs trained to locate human remains
and human blood, ground penetrating radar to detect sub surface
disturbance and concealment, clearance teams to remove concealing
vegetation, endoscopes to search drains and voids and metal probes to
search the ground. These teams were supported by experts in Forensic
Anthropology for human bone identification and a professor in
geophysics.» in Mark Harrison MBE, National Search Adviser, National
Policing Improvement Agency [NPIA] report in the Process, Volumes IX
and XI
2 It should be said that
Madeleine McCann was probably lighter than 30 Kilos, her height was
shorter than average for a 4 year old child with about 90 cm [35.4"
roughly], with probably less than 15 kilos[33 pounds] of weight.
Regardless of the probable miscalculation of Madeleine’s weight,
the point being made does not depend on the accuracy of the child’s
weight.
3 «It is revealed that
police want to trace a blue tennis bag allegedly taken from Kate and
Gerry McCann's apartment on the night Madeleine went missing.
Detectives think the hold-all could have been used to carry Madeleine
as she was taken away, or even to transport the three-year-old's
body. It belonged to the girl's father but has not been seen since
the night of May 3, according to a Sky News documentary due to be
broadcast on Christmas Eve. Expert Tony Rogers, who reviews unsolved
cases for British police and worked on the Soham investigation, said:
“If it's a bag of a size that could be used to take a child away
from the flat, that would be of great interest to the investigating
officer.” But McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell flatly
denied that Mr McCann had lost a bag during the family's holiday. He
said: “As far as Kate and Gerry are concerned, there is no missing
tennis bag. They came back from holiday with everything except of
course, tragically, Madeleine.” Mr McCann told friends yesterday
that he did not take any tennis equipment to Praia da Luz, and did
not own a blue tennis bag. But Sky News stood by its story, which it
said came from sources who had travelled to the resort after
Madeleine's disappearance.» in Daily Mail, 25 December 2007,
archived at McCannFiles
3a Martin Brunt's
report for Sky News: “The Mystery of Madeleine McCann” -
Broadcast December 24 2007 - Part1, Part 2 & Part 3
4 «How did that
premonition of yours about the Maddie case happen?
On the 5th of May, upon
returning from a spiritualist meeting in Madeira, right after going
to bed, but before falling asleep, at around midnight, an
extraordinary thing happened to me for the first time in my life: I
saw the image of a little girl that must have been around 4 years of
age, with blond, shoulder-length straight hair, blue eyes, very
disturbed, visibly unable to understand what was happening to her,
accompanied by a female being of great beauty and great spiritual
standing… Then, other images appeared, related to what had happened
to her: I saw a strongly built man, blue eyes, somewhat balding and
with blondish hair, brutally raping that girl and then strangling her
with his hands, throwing the cadaver into a lake. I perceived by a
map that was shown to me, that this happened in the Algarve, but I
couldn’t read the name of the village. I stress that I hadn’t
seen any photo of Maddie before, I only knew, from what I’d heard
on the radio, that she was 3 years old.» in ‘Spanish detectives
asked me to arrange for evidence against Gonçalo Amaral’, O Crime,
4 December 2008
4a «Método 3, the
Spanish detective agency hired by the McCanns, tried to convince
Leonor Cipriano's Lawyer to change the course of defense. The agency
operational wanted to make of Gonçalo Amaral - the former
coordinator of the PJ of Portimão, responsible for the investigation
to the disappearance of Madeleine and Joana, the main target, through
the intersection of the two cases.» in 'Detectives Hired by the
McCanns want to Frame Gonçalo Amaral - A puzzle with crossed
stories', SIC, 13 February 2009
5 «Mr McCann, a
consultant cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, told his
sister, Trish Cameron, that his wife had found the front door to
their ground-floor apartment open and that the louvred shutters had
been "jemmied" open. “[Gerry rang last night and told me]
'Madeleine's been abducted, she's been abducted',” Ms Cameron said.
“Nothing had been touched in the apartment, no valuables taken, no
passports. They think someone must have come in the window and gone
out the door with her.”(...) Police notified border police, Spanish
police and airports and deployed sniffer dogs. But with each hour
that passes, hopes that Madeleine merely wandered off are
fading.There were conflicting reports yesterday of how effective the
Portuguese police operation has been. A family friend, Jill Renwick,
told GMTV that police activity ground to a halt at 3am. But Mr Hill
said this was not true, and that police had been searching with dogs
overnight and continued to search today.» in The Independent, 5 May
2007
6«Kate and Gerry McCann
could face criminal charges for using a private security company to
investigate the disappearance of their daughter, a senior Portuguese
judge has said. The couple have been secretly receiving advice for
more than four months from Control Risks Group, which employs former
members of the British intelligence services and special forces. News
of the investigators' role has led to deep concern amongst the
authorities in Portugal, where it is illegal for private detectives
to become involved in criminal cases. A source close to the McCann's
legal team has confirmed the involvement of Control Risks Group but
insisted it is simply providing advice on the hunt for Madeleine
rather than becoming actively involved in searches in Portugal.(...)
The judge said that Mr and Mrs McCann, both 39, from Rothley,
Leicestershire, could be charged with "obstruction of justice"
if prosecutors find evidence of a parallel investigation. The couple
are already official suspects in the disappearance of their daughter
from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz 145 days ago. A high-ranking
officer in the Polícia Judiciária, which is investigating the
disappearance of Madeleine shortly before her fourth birthday, said
that the investigators could be arrested if they are found operating
in Portugal. “If they come here they will be running a serious risk
of being arrested,” he said. Carlos Anjos, President of the
Judicial Police Inspector's Union, accused to Mr and Mrs McCann of
using “diversion tactics”. Mr McCann had previously said that
they had decided not to use private detectives. “This is just
another McCann strategy who today say one thing and tomorrow
something completely contrary,” said Mr Anjos “This can only be
another diversion tactic from the McCanns."» in The Times, 25
September 2007
6a «Brian Kennedy
commissioned private detectives to conduct an investigation parallel
to the one run by the Portuguese police. But his choice showed how
dangerous it is when powerful and wealthy businessmen try to play
detective. In September 2007, he hired Metodo 3, an agency based in
Barcelona, on a six-month contract and paid it an estimated £50,000
a month. Metodo 3 was hired because of Spain’s ‘language and
cultural connection’ with Portugal. “If we’d had big-booted
Brits or, heaven forbid, Americans, we would have had doors slammed
in our faces” said Clarence Mitchell, spokesperson for the McCann’s
at the time. “And it’s quite likely that we could have been
charged with hindering the investigation as technically it’s
illegal in Portugal to undertake a secondary investigation”.» in
'Mark Hollingsworth Investigates The McCann Files', ES Magazine, 28
August 2009
6b«Fired abruptly by
the Find Madeline Fund which has sought to find Madeline McCann, Red
Defence International also wrangled in the past with Trafigura. An
affiliate of Red Defence International, a firm headed by Britain’s
Kevin Halligen, the investigative concern Oakley International Group
was hired in March, 2008 to help find Madeline McCann, the
three-year-old British child who vanished in May, 2007 from a hotel
on the Portuguese coast. In late August, the Find Madeline Fund,
which bankrolls the search for the child, suddenly cut all links with
Oakley International, officially for “inadequate results”.» in
'Red Defence in Red Zone', Intelligence Online, October 9 2008
7 Mr. Brian Healy,
Madeleine's grandfather interview on Calpol in Sky News, September 7,
2007
7a «Calpol
guidelines changed over dosing worries (...)Now, it says only those
aged four or over should be given the maximum dose of two teaspoons a
time. (...)However, paediatricians have recently begun to raise
concerns over the potential long-term health impacts of regularly
dosing up children on paracetamol. (...) And in May a study of
Scottish children found a quarter of paracetamol prescriptions for
one to three-year-olds were for "excessive" dosages, that
academics warned could put them at risk of liver damage(...)The
updated guidance follows an MHRA warning in 2009 that more than 60
cough and cold remedies should not be given to under sixes, due to
evidence they could be harmful and did not work.» in The Telegraph,
November 20 2011
7b CALPOL® Night
contained a sedating antihistamine called diphenhydramine
hydrochloride as one of the two active ingredients, the other being
paracetemol. It was discontinued in the UK in March 2009. Similar
products with the same active ingredients are advised to not be used
in children under 6 years of age. in NetDoctor.co.uk, March 2009
Sur la campagne de dénigrement qui suivit, orchestrée par Isabel Duarte, voir ici.
