traduit par Astro
Maddie case: In their
first interview since they quit being suspects in the disappearance
of their daughter, Kate and Gerry McCann spoke about the re-launch of
the investigation, the fear that they felt in Portugal and the
unshakable certainty that Madeleine was abducted
“Nothing in the process
says that Madeleine has died”
Q – What are you
presently doing to find Madeleine?
Gerry – We have had
private investigators working with us for several months. Now that
the case has been archived, it’s easier because we accessed the
process. We carried out new interviews with those that had already
testified. And we interviewed others who approached us and had never
spoken before.
Kate – As we didn’t
know what the PJ had done, we repeated everything that seemed
important to us.
Q – Do the new
witnesses offer clues about the disappearance?
Gerry – Some report
sightings, but it’s not likely that they lead to our daughter. We
are more interested in persons that offer credible information that
can be verified through photographs or in another form; persons who
know who may be involved.
Q – What impression did
you get from the process? Were you shocked over its contents?
Gerry – We were
investigated into the smallest detail. There are entire volumes about
us. We can jump those. It must be disquieting information that will
not help us to find Madeleine.
Q – Don’t you think
that everything that was possible to do, was done? The investigation
reached Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, Morocco…
Gerry – Morocco is a
good example of what went wrong. A sighting was reported and it was
said that there were cameras at the petrol station. When the
inspectors went there, they concluded that there were none. The truth
is that there were none in the pump area, but in the shop. And when
the PJ returned, the tape had been recorded over.
Kate – It’s difficult
to describe how it feels to have our daughter taken away… We want
to see action everywhere. We wanted spotlights, we wanted
helicopters, we wanted everyone on the street, searching.
Q – If Madeleine had
disappeared in England, would things have been different?
Gerry – If it had
happened in a British city, I have no doubts. But I don’t know if
it would have been different if we had been in a small village in
Scotland. Clearly, the English police are more experienced in
abductions, they are more alert.
Q – If you have an
important clue concerning Madeleine’s whereabouts, will you
transmit it to the Portuguese police?
Gerry – If something
needs to be done in Portugal, we’ll have to. We cannot go around
breaking doors down or arresting people. But only when we feel that
we cannot advance any further on our own.
Q – Do you trust the
Portuguese authorities, after having been considered suspects?
Gerry – We wouldn’t
mind if we had been investigated at the beginning, if they thought
that could help. But months later, when the evidence had been lost?
It’s that once the suspicion is installed, we can never prove our
innocence again.
Q – Didn’t you find
it strange that the dogs found traces of blood in your room and in
your rental car…
Gerry – There was no
blood found! The indicia are worthless if they are not corroborated
by forensic information. And they were not.
Q – 40 apartments were
investigated and the dogs only marked yours. Ten cars and they only
reacted to yours.
Gerry – These dogs’
frailty was proved by a study that was carried out in the USA, in the
case of a man that had been accused of murder. They had ten rooms,
and in each room four boxes were placed, containing vegetables,
bones, trash. Some contained human remains. They stayed there for ten
hours. Eight hours after the boxes were removed, the dogs came in.
And the dogs failed two thirds of the attempts. Imagine the
reliability when these dogs test an apartment three months after the
disappearance of a child.
Q – Were you surprised
when you were made arguidos?
Kate – It was not
surprising after weeks with the media saying that we were suspects.
And there we have to ask why the information that reached the media
was disfigured. Why do the newspapers say that blood was found in the
apartment when the police report does not confirm it? Why was it said
that the DNA that was found in the car was a 100% match with
Madeleine’s?
Gerry – In a way, we
would like to have been accused so we could defend ourselves openly.
Now, reading the process, there is no evidence that justifies the
suspicion, apart from the dogs’ action. There was never a sustained
explanation. And the questioning: ‘What happened to Madeleine? How
did you get rid of her? Who helped you? Where did you put her? All
fantasy! If they had found DNA – so what? And if Madeleine had hurt
herself inside the apartment – why would that be our fault?
Q – Do you investigate
information that point towards Madeleine’s death?
Kate – We want to find
her alive, but if she is dead we want to know.
Q – Do you still
believe that she’s alive?
Kate – There are great
possibilities that she is alive, isn’t it? There is nothing in the
process to indicate that something bad has happened to her…
Q – But there are no
indicia that she has been abducted, either.
Gerry – We firmly
believe that she was abducted by a man, minutes after I went to see
her in the bedroom. There are two independent witnesses that saw a
child of around four years of age being carried that evening. Our
friend Jane Tanner and also the Smith family.
Q – The PJ discredits
Jane Tanner’s testimony. They say that when she saw said man with
the child, you [Gerry] were chatting nearby and it was impossible
that you hadn’t seen him as well…
Gerry – I didn’t see
her because my back was turned to the location where she passed. I
was talking to a friend. And there is also the couple with children
that saw a man carrying a child with a pyjama that was similar to
Madeleine’s, blond hair, the same age.
Q – Later on, that
family stated that the man they saw was Gerry…
Gerry – At that time I
was at the restaurant. The fact that we became suspects has probably
influenced the Smiths’ testimony.
Q – Was it a
coincidence that you were made arguidos on one day and returned home
the next day?
Gerry – They questioned
us on that day because the PJ knew about our return.
Q – Were you afraid of
being arrested?
Kate – Obviously. At a
certain point we didn’t know very well what could happen.
Gerry – From the
information in the newspapers, of course we were afraid. It was
scary.
Q – Being in England,
you would not be extradited anymore.
Gerry – We asked the
inspector that was in charge of the case of he had any objection: the
answer was no. It’s obvious that we were afraid that people might
think we were escaping, but it was better not to be in Portugal at
that point in time.
Q – Why?
Kate – Because of the
hostile environment. We couldn’t even leave the house.
Q – Why did Kate refuse
to answer questions during your interrogation, that Gerry accepted to
clarify the next day?
Kate – I was advised by
my Portuguese lawyer not to reply.
Gerry – I received the
same advice but decided to disobey. My plan was to remain silent, but
the first question was: are you involved in your daughter’s
disappearance? It was nonsense and I decided to answer. From there
onwards, I replied to all of them.
Q – Why didn’t you
authorize the police to see the messages that you sent and received
on your mobile phone on the eve of Maddie’s disappearance.
Gerry – Nobody asked to
see my messages. On the day before and on the day of the
disappearance I did not receive or send 16 messages. I could hardly
write a text message. I received three or four phone calls and two
were from work. After the disappearance I received hundreds. And when
the police asked me for the registry, I told them to ask the service
provider. My phone only registers the last ten.
Q – The chief inspector
in the case, Tavares de Almeida, writes a report where he says that
your friends lied to save you, that Maddie died in the living room,
and that you hid the body.
Gerry – What can we
say? You will have to ask the police chiefs why they wrote that, why
they saw us as suspects.
Q – The majority of
crimes where the victims are children are committed by the parents.
Gerry – Not in the case
of abducted children. And this is a case of an abducted child. It’s
an exceptional case.
Q – When he archived
the case, the prosecutor said that the investigation can be reopened
if a new clue appears. Do you think that is possible?
Kate – Of course! It
could happen at any moment. All that it takes is for one person to
make the phone call that we wait for so much. We know that she was
abducted in Portugal and we vehemently believe that someone knows or
suspects something.
“Mr Amaral’s
behaviour is a disgrace”
They have not read the
book that is a best-seller in Portugal. And they don’t spare the
author and former PJ inspector
Q – Former inspector
Gonçalo Amaral remains convinced of your involvement in Madeleine’s
disappearance. Did you read ‘The Truth of the Lie’, the book that
he wrote?
Kate and Gerry – No.
Kate – Why would I?
Gerry – I won’t learn
anything from reading it.
Q – It was a success in
Portugal.
Gerry – Was it? How
many copies did it sell?
Q – Approximately 200
thousand. Next week, it is edited in Spain.
Gerry – That is what
can be called illicit enrichment.
Q – Your English
lawyers already have a translated copy and they are analyzing it. Do
you intend to sue Gonçalo Amaral?
Gerry – At this moment
we are focused on what we can do to find Madeleine and not in suing
anyone.
Kate – All that I am
going to say about this – because I’m not going to waste any time
on Mr Amaral – is that as a professional and as a person his
behaviour has been a disgrace.
Q – Aren’t you
curious to know what the book says?
Kate – What for? It
must be nothing but a load of rubbish. It is so secondary… It
certainly won’t help to find our daughter. My consolation is that
on the cover he calls her Maddie, the name that the media have
invented. We never called her anything like that.
Q – But you do know the
theory that Gonçalo Amaral defends: Madeleine accidentally died in
the Ocean Club apartment and you concealed the body.
Gerry – It really is a
waste of time. And we need all the time that we can get to analyze
the investigation’s documents, which contain a lot of information
that we didn’t know about.
Kate – You just have to
cross, loosely, his theory with the process in order to understand
that the facts that he reports are not correct.
Q – There is a theory
that defends that the coordinator was removed from the investigation
due to British political pressure.
Gerry – Who dismissed
him?
Q – The PJ’s national
director.
Gerry – Then you have
to ask him if he was pressured. Or if Gordon Brown discussed the case
with him. He surely didn’t.
Q – He also resigned.
And largely due to this process.
Gerry – That was not
what I was told. Apparently he had a vision of the police itself that
was different from the one held by the Justice Minister.
Q – In a final
analysis, they both left the PJ because the investigation failed.
Gerry – That’s not
our fault. I do not criticize the authorities over not trying to find
Madeleine. It doesn’t matter anymore. Now all that matters is that
we do everything to try to find her, through our own methods.
Q – Did you ever get to
know Gonçalo Amaral?
Kate – The question is
the other way around: did he get to know us?
There are photographs of
her all over the house
Gerry has returned to his
work as a cardiologist. Kate did not exercise medicine again. Twins
Sean and Amelie fill up her days as a mother
Q – How has your life
changed with the disappearance of Madeleine?
Gerry – Independently
of what happens, it will never be the same again. If you talk to the
parents of other abducted children, they also mention this parallel
life which we entered. Sean and Amelie, being so young, force us to
introduce a certain normalcy in our lives, to make it normal for
them. And it’s them who, for moments, make it normal for us. But it
will never be normal for us. They are aged three and a half, and they
are very, very happy.
Q – Did you explain to
the twins what happened to their sister?
Kate – They perceive
Madeleine’s absence perfectly. I have no doubt whatsoever. But they
don’t know the details. They know that she disappeared and that
we’re looking for her.
Gerry – We were advised
concerning what we should tell them, how and when. Larger
explanations are kept for later. We realize that they miss their
older sister. They know that her not being with us is not a good
thing, and they hope that she returns.
Q – How do you keep
Madeleine present in your lives?
Kate – There are
photographs of her all over the house. And we speak about her with
the twins every day – it’s an important part of their lives. Sean
and Amelie talk about her and still include her in their playing…
If they receive sweets, they say “Let’s keep one for Madeleine”.
Or “When she comes home I’ll give her this or that”. It’s
endearing and it makes our days less difficult.
Q – Did you fear that
you might lose custody over Sean and Amelie because your behaviour
was considered to be negligent?
Gerry – We were not
negligent, we did what any reasonable parent would do. But we deeply
lament what happened, because in our action, someone saw an
opportunity to take Madeleine. I’m an optimist person. I never
thought that something like this could happen.
Q – Did you change the
manner in which you deal with Sean and Amelie?
Gerry – We are more
protective and less trusting. We never left our children alone again
and many families will never do so again because of us.
Kate – Now we think
about everything that can happen, about predators, abductors. We
don’t even let go of them in the shopping centre.
€1.200.000
The McCanns say that the
fund has spent €1.2 million with the private investigation. But the
reward of €3 million still stands
Q – How much have you
spent on the private investigation so far?
Gerry – Approximately
one million pounds, over the past ten months, paid with money from
the FindMadeleine fund. A substantial sum was also spent on our
defence, but two benefactors have covered that expense, which means
that the fund was solely used in the search for our daughter.
Q – Do you maintain the
offer of 2.5 million ponds to whoever finds Madeleine?
Gerry – We do not
control that reward, but everything leads me to believe that it still
stands. And that there will also be money available for whoever
supplies credible information.
Kate – It’s a lot of
money, but we cannot set limits, a child is priceless. We’ll pay
whatever is necessary.
Q – Is there still
money left in the fund?
Gerry – There is still
some money left. Recently, British newspapers (‘Express
newspapers’) paid us a compensation of 550 thousand pounds, which
fed the fund. That had an important impact. And there are still
donations, people who send money directly.
Q – But less than in
the beginning, before you were made arguidos.
Gerry – Of course!
Those who were in doubt stopped contributing. Many write to us asking
for forgiveness because they believed in our guilt. We know that we
have to make an effort for people to know that there is no evidence
that Madeleine is dead and that we were not involved in the
disappearance.
Other issues
Dogs – “We read
everything that we found about these dogs that detect cadavers. It
was due to them that we became suspects”
Clues – “The
sightings continue. Since May we received one thousand phone calls
and an equal number of emails, some containing relevant data”
Media exposure –
“Appearing in the media was never good. We did it to publicize
Madeleine’s face and to find her. We failed”
Background
Details of two hours of
conversation
Kate and Gerry are
different. More relaxed, or conformed. It is difficult to tell. “The
twins force us to a certain normalcy”, the mother explains. It’s
been 16 months and the mystery of the disappearance of Madeleine
McCann remains unsolved.
The parents have already
been victims of a tragedy and suspects of a terrible crime. The
process was archived, but they are judged every day. Gerry agrees:
“From the moment when the suspicion is installed, we can never
prove our innocence”.
This is the first
interview since the process was archived, on the 21st of July. It is
scheduled in Rothley, a small village in the British Midlands where
nobody suspects the McCanns’ guilt. Even less the owner of the
Court House Hotel, which is installed in a medieval building and
where the interview is held, in the late afternoon last Monday. There
is tea with milk and biscuits. There is no guide and there are no
forbidden questions.
In almost two hours of
interview, Kate and Gerry, both 40, clearly state the intention that
supports their availability for the conversation. “We believe that
in Portugal someone knows about Madeleine, that it is where the
solution for our daughter’s disappearance lies”. And they want
that person, whether singular or collective, to know that they search
for him, that they ensure his anonymity and that they even give him
2.5 million pounds if he tells them where Madeleine is.
Every day, in their very
British house of little bricks, they study a little more of the
process of the Polícia Judiciária’s investigation, which they
personally consult as it is being translated. They understand
“nothing” of Portuguese. From a first reading they reinforced
their hope of finding Maddie alive. Nothing tells them that she is
dead. The volumes about themselves, from the time when they were made
arguidos, have been put aside. “We do not intend to read them”.
They remind them of the
days when they were afraid of being arrested in Portugal, accused of
Madeleine’s death.
