En 2012, la police britannique a reçu de la PJ (données absentes des PJFiles) des éléments sur des centaines de personnes, dont l'Allemand désormais présenté comme suspect, auxquelles elle n'a pas attaché d'importance. Si les soupçons concernant CB étaient si évidents, les Britanniques auraient sollicité de nouvelles diligences, toujours autorisées (comme ils l'ont fait à propos de deux ou trois pauvres diables), mais ils n'ont rien demandé.
Face aux critiques concernant l'enquête de la PJ publiées par certains médias britanniques, Carlos Farinha affirme que le manque d'intérêt particulier attribué à la PJ par rapport à CB peut être attribué à SY ou au Met, au moins depuis 2012, car les données sur cet homme leur étaient également connues.
Face aux critiques concernant l'enquête de la PJ publiées par certains médias britanniques, Carlos Farinha affirme que le manque d'intérêt particulier attribué à la PJ par rapport à CB peut être attribué à SY ou au Met, au moins depuis 2012, car les données sur cet homme leur étaient également connues.
Les soupçons concernant n'ont augmenté qu'en 2017 lorsqu'un autre citoyen allemand a fourni des informations à SY. Après cela, avec l'aide de la PJ, il a été possible de déterminer qui était la personne concernée et, la police allemande (BKA) ayant été alerté, on est arrivé au suspect actuel.
Selon Carlos Farinha, en théorie, tout aurait pu être différent, mais en 2007 et en 2012, on ne savait pas ce qu'on a appris en 2017 (un compagnon de beuverie aurait entendu CB dire qu'il savait ce qui s'était passé à PdL) et les développements ultérieurs sont également le résultat du croisement d'informations avec la PJ. Des témoignages ont été obtenus en Allemagne et au Portugal.
Selon Carlos Farinha, en théorie, tout aurait pu être différent, mais en 2007 et en 2012, on ne savait pas ce qu'on a appris en 2017 (un compagnon de beuverie aurait entendu CB dire qu'il savait ce qui s'était passé à PdL) et les développements ultérieurs sont également le résultat du croisement d'informations avec la PJ. Des témoignages ont été obtenus en Allemagne et au Portugal.
Quant au travail des trois polices dans une affaire qui dure depuis 13 ans, CF nie qu'il y ait un malaise entre les institutions, garantissant qu'il y a toujours eu une coopération franche et ouverte, même en cas de perspectives divergentes à propos de l'affaire.
Comment s'explique alors le communiqué du Met qui présente le suspect comme "nouveau" ?
Ces derniers temps, il y a eu une augmentation de la conviction des enquêteurs et, grâce à l'appel au public, on pourrait collecter plus d'informations encore inconnues sur 2007. Le fait que le suspect ait été rendu public et que l'appel ait été lancé sont l'initiative de la police allemande du BKA, qui s'attend à recevoir des informations supplémentaires de la communauté allemande. Les données ont été publiées et maintenant nous sommes en train de recevoir des éléments qui peuvent être pertinents, nous les analyserons ensemble et déciderons ensuite des prochaines étapes d'un point de vue procédural, ce qui sera fait pouvant être à la suite soit d'une décision consensuelle des trois polices soit chacun pour faire ce qu'ils comprennent car chacun ayant une légitimité.
Bien que, depuis 2017, l'enquête se soit concentrée sur le citoyen allemand, certains soupçons ont grandi, qui ne sont malheureusement toujours pas suffisants pour constituer un accusé et une accusation.
Carlos Farinha a rappelé que Gonçalo Amaral avait quitté la PJ en 2008 et que, depuis, beaucoup de gens ont travaillé et travaillent encore sur cette affaire.
Senior detective argues MMC investigation was flawed from the start
The Week - 08.06.2020
Ces derniers temps, il y a eu une augmentation de la conviction des enquêteurs et, grâce à l'appel au public, on pourrait collecter plus d'informations encore inconnues sur 2007. Le fait que le suspect ait été rendu public et que l'appel ait été lancé sont l'initiative de la police allemande du BKA, qui s'attend à recevoir des informations supplémentaires de la communauté allemande. Les données ont été publiées et maintenant nous sommes en train de recevoir des éléments qui peuvent être pertinents, nous les analyserons ensemble et déciderons ensuite des prochaines étapes d'un point de vue procédural, ce qui sera fait pouvant être à la suite soit d'une décision consensuelle des trois polices soit chacun pour faire ce qu'ils comprennent car chacun ayant une légitimité.
Bien que, depuis 2017, l'enquête se soit concentrée sur le citoyen allemand, certains soupçons ont grandi, qui ne sont malheureusement toujours pas suffisants pour constituer un accusé et une accusation.
Carlos Farinha a rappelé que Gonçalo Amaral avait quitté la PJ en 2008 et que, depuis, beaucoup de gens ont travaillé et travaillent encore sur cette affaire.
Senior detective argues MMC investigation was flawed from the start
The Week - 08.06.2020
An ex-officer who worked on the investigation explains why the search was doomed to failure
Dr Graham Hill, visiting research fellow at the school of law at the University of Leeds and former senior police officer, on the failings of the Madeleine McCann investigation. News that a 43-year-old German man is now the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case appears – at last – to be a significant development. The information from the German authorities and the Metropolitan Police Service indicates that in May 2007 this man was living and frequenting Praia da Luz, Portugal, and possibly committing burglaries at holiday complexes to fund his itinerant lifestyle. It also appears that as a teenager he was convicted of sexual offences against children in Germany and was therefore a known convicted sex offender in 2007.
This raises several questions: was he known to the Portuguese investigation team at the time? If so, when did his name enter their system and what did they do to implicate or eliminate him from their enquiry? When was his name passed on to the UK investigation team? These are questions at the forefront of my mind as I think back to my time in Portugal. Madeleine McCann had been missing for several days when I arrived in Praia da Luz in May 2007. I had been sent to Portugal as part of the UK’s Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) response to Madeleine’s disappearance. I was a detective superintendent and senior investigating officer (SIO) with knowledge about predatory child sexual abusers and non-familial child abduction.
After being briefed at the British Consulate regarding Madeleine’s disappearance, I met with Gerry and Kate McCann at their holiday apartment and we discussed the Portuguese police investigation strategy and possible scenarios that could have led to their daughter’s disappearance. Understandably, the McCanns were trying to come to terms with the situation they found themselves in. During our discussion, Gerry asked me directly if I thought his daughter was still alive, and I pointed out that if she had been abducted – statistically – she would by now be dead. The majority of children who are murdered after being abducted by someone unknown to them are dead within three to six hours. It was a difficult conversation, but I was struck by how focused the McCanns remained throughout. The following day I went to the police station in Praia da Luz and spoke with several of the lead Portuguese investigators. They were all very polite but it was clear from their attitude and response that they didn’t welcome what they considered to be UK interference in a Portuguese crime.
At that time, they were also receiving advice from Leicestershire Police (the McCanns’ home police force) supported by the then UK National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA). From the outset I was struck by the lack of urgency surrounding the investigation and it was difficult to establish any detailed information around what direction the investigation was taking. Over the next few days, whenever I suggested certain courses of action that they might wish to consider, the Portuguese police either dismissed it out of hand or I was informed that it had already been done without result.
Flawed investigation
As the days went by, I became more and more frustrated and I relayed this back to CEOP in my telephone conversations and daily written reports. After ten exasperating days avoiding the growing media presence, trying to get and impart information and having meetings cancelled at the last minute because investigators were too busy, it was still unclear to me whether many of the key investigative tasks had been adequately completed. For example, I had serious misgivings about the quality of the search strategy, the recording of full-time and casual staff at the holiday complex, identification of all known suspected and convicted sex offenders living or frequenting the area, and other significant or relevant crimes in the local area. My professional opinion was that the Portuguese investigative approach to Madeleine’s disappearance was flawed and not fit for purpose when set against what we would have been done in a similar investigation in the UK. This was reflected time and time again in my verbal and written reports and the “fiasco” was regularly reported on in the press.
Disappointingly, as the investigation progressed there was also a certain amount of inter-agency rivalry between the UK agencies involved, which resulted in a fraught working relationship.
‘Golden hours’ wasted
In the years since Madeleine’s disappearance, I have also raised my concerns as to whether agencies across Europe are still any better prepared for these types of investigations. When an investigation team doesn’t gather information or act in a timely and systematic fashion, the investigation gets away from them and this dramatically reduces the chances of the crime being solved. My experience then, and even more so now having studied the behaviour of non-familial child abductors and murderers in-depth as a criminologist, is that the first 24 to 48 hours of a child abduction investigation – often referred to as the “golden hours” – are critical to its successful outcome. It requires strong, dynamic leadership supported by clear defensible decision making.
This must be backed up by systems and structures designed to collect and evaluate information quickly. At the same time, information must be retained in a manner so that it can be revisited at appropriate times as the investigation moves forward and alternative lines of enquiry are considered. Non-familial child abduction attracts vast amounts of media attention. High-profile cases often attract national media coverage and cases where the child is murdered become, what is called in criminology, “mega-homicides”. These cases can attract worldwide attention and generate vast amounts of information.
The potential for this information to overwhelm even the best-prepared investigation agency during the early hours or days of an inquiry is considerable. For this reason, there is a need for a systematic approach to core policing functions to deal with the complexity. And it is vital to have a thorough, well documented investigation strategy. These investigations also require highly skilled and experienced investigators who have the ability to make defensible decisions based upon reliable information and create investigative strategy and policy that can stand the test of hindsight. A failure to do so can have serious consequences.
Three years after Madeleine’s disappearance, in 2010, I conducted and wrote CEOP’s internal review of the Portuguese investigation, which was subsequently passed to the Home Office. The review contained observations and recommendations that, after repeated requests from the McCanns, led to the Met being tasked to establish their own investigation, Operation Grange. The information timeline, when fully known, may offer clarity and explanations to many of the questions that have been swirling around this case since 2007. But these explanations may also raise more uncomfortable questions about the effectiveness of the initial police inquiry and the competence of the people who led it. I only hope this new information leads to some form of closure for the McCanns.
Un ancien officier qui a travaillé sur l'enquête explique pourquoi les recherches étaient vouées à l'échec.
Graham Hill, chercheur invité à la faculté de droit de l'université de Leeds et ancien officier supérieur de la police, s'exprime sur les échecs de l'enquête sur l'affaire Madeleine McCann. La nouvelle selon laquelle un Allemand de 43 ans est désormais le principal suspect dans l'affaire Madeleine McCann semble - enfin - constituer un développement significatif. Les informations fournies par les autorités allemandes et le Metropolitan Police Service indiquent qu'en mai 2007, cet homme vivait et fréquentait Praia da Luz, au Portugal, et commettait peut-être des cambriolages dans des complexes de vacances pour financer son mode de vie itinérant. Il apparaît également qu'adolescent, il a été condamné pour des délits sexuels sur des enfants en Allemagne et qu'il était donc un délinquant sexuel connu en 2007.
Cela soulève plusieurs questions : était-il connu de l'équipe d'enquête portugaise à l'époque ? Dans l'affirmative, quand son nom est-il entré dans leur système et qu'ont-ils fait pour l'impliquer ou l'éliminer de leur enquête ? Quand son nom a-t-il été transmis à l'équipe d'enquête britannique ? Ce sont les questions qui me viennent à l'esprit lorsque je repense à mon séjour au Portugal. Madeleine McCann avait disparu depuis plusieurs jours lorsque je suis arrivé à Praia da Luz en mai 2007. J'avais été envoyé au Portugal dans le cadre de la réponse du Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) du Royaume-Uni à la disparition de Madeleine. J'étais inspecteur et officier supérieur chargé de l'enquête (SIO) avec des connaissances sur les prédateurs sexuels d'enfants et les enlèvements d'enfants non familiaux.
Après avoir été informé au consulat britannique de la disparition de Madeleine, j'ai rencontré Gerry et Kate McCann dans leur appartement de vacances et nous avons discuté de la stratégie d'enquête de la police portugaise et des scénarios possibles qui auraient pu conduire à la disparition de leur fille. Nous avons discuté de la stratégie d'enquête de la police portugaise et des scénarios possibles qui auraient pu conduire à la disparition de leur fille. Il est compréhensible que les McCann essayaient d'accepter la situation dans laquelle ils se trouvaient. Au cours de notre discussion, Gerry m'a demandé directement si je pensais que sa fille était encore en vie, et je lui ai fait remarquer que si elle avait été enlevée - statistiquement - elle serait déjà morte. La majorité des enfants qui sont assassinés après avoir été enlevés par une personne inconnue sont morts dans les trois à six heures qui suivent. C'était une conversation difficile, mais j'ai été frappée par la concentration dont ont fait preuve les McCann tout au long de la conversation. Le lendemain, je me suis rendu au commissariat de police de Praia da Luz et j'ai parlé avec plusieurs des principaux enquêteurs portugais. Ils étaient tous très polis, mais leur attitude et leurs réponses montraient clairement qu'ils n'appréciaient pas ce qu'ils considéraient comme une ingérence du Royaume-Uni dans un crime portugais.
À l'époque, ils recevaient également des conseils de la police du Leicestershire (la police du pays d'origine des McCann), avec le soutien de l'Agence nationale d'amélioration de la police (NPIA) du Royaume-Uni. Dès le début, j'ai été frappé par le manque d'urgence de l'enquête et il était difficile d'obtenir des informations détaillées sur la direction que prenait l'enquête. Au cours des jours suivants, chaque fois que j'ai suggéré certaines mesures qu'ils pourraient envisager, la police portugaise les a rejetées d'emblée ou m'a informé qu'elles avaient déjà été prises sans résultat.Une enquête défectueuse
Au fil des jours, je suis devenu de plus en plus frustré et j'en ai fait part au CEOP dans mes conversations téléphoniques et mes rapports écrits quotidiens. Après dix jours exaspérants à éviter la présence croissante des médias, à essayer d'obtenir et de transmettre des informations et à voir des réunions annulées à la dernière minute parce que les enquêteurs étaient trop occupés, je ne savais toujours pas si un grand nombre de tâches d'enquête essentielles avaient été accomplies de manière adéquate. Par exemple, j'avais de sérieux doutes quant à la qualité de la stratégie de recherche, à l'enregistrement du personnel à temps plein et occasionnel du complexe de vacances, à l'identification de tous les délinquants sexuels connus, suspectés et condamnés, vivant ou fréquentant la région, et à d'autres crimes importants ou pertinents dans la région locale. Mon opinion professionnelle est que l'approche de l'enquête portugaise sur la disparition de Madeleine était défectueuse et ne correspondait pas à l'objectif visé lorsqu'elle est comparée à ce qui aurait été fait dans le cadre d'une enquête similaire au Royaume-Uni. Cette opinion s'est reflétée à maintes reprises dans mes rapports verbaux et écrits, et le "fiasco" a été régulièrement rapporté dans la presse.
Malheureusement, au fur et à mesure que l'enquête progressait, les agences britanniques impliquées ont également fait preuve d'une certaine rivalité entre elles, ce qui a donné lieu à des relations de travail tendues.
Des "heures en or" gaspillées
Au cours des années qui ont suivi la disparition de Madeleine, je me suis également demandé si les agences européennes étaient toujours mieux préparées à ce type d'enquête. Lorsqu'une équipe d'enquêteurs ne recueille pas les informations ou n'agit pas de manière opportune et systématique, l'enquête lui échappe, ce qui réduit considérablement les chances d'élucidation du crime. Mon expérience à l'époque, et encore plus aujourd'hui après avoir étudié en profondeur le comportement des ravisseurs et des meurtriers d'enfants non familiaux en tant que criminologue, est que les premières 24 à 48 heures d'une enquête sur un enlèvement d'enfant - souvent appelées "heures d'or" - sont cruciales pour son aboutissement. Il faut une direction forte et dynamique, soutenue par une prise de décision claire et défendable.
Ces décisions doivent être soutenues par des systèmes et des structures conçus pour collecter et évaluer rapidement les informations. Dans le même temps, les informations doivent être conservées de manière à pouvoir être réexaminées au moment opportun, à mesure que l'enquête progresse et que d'autres pistes d'investigation sont envisagées. Les affaires très médiatisées font souvent l'objet d'une couverture médiatique nationale et les cas où l'enfant est assassiné deviennent ce que l'on appelle en criminologie des "méga-homicides". Ces affaires peuvent attirer l'attention du monde entier et générer d'énormes quantités d'informations.
Ces informations risquent de submerger même l'organisme d'enquête le mieux préparé au cours des premières heures ou des premiers jours de l'enquête. C'est pourquoi il est nécessaire d'adopter une approche systématique des fonctions essentielles de la police pour faire face à cette complexité. Il est également essentiel de disposer d'une stratégie d'enquête approfondie et bien documentée. Ces enquêtes requièrent également des enquêteurs hautement qualifiés et expérimentés, capables de prendre des décisions défendables sur la base d'informations fiables et d'élaborer une stratégie et une politique d'enquête qui puissent résister à l'épreuve du recul. Un manquement à cet égard peut avoir de graves conséquences.
Trois ans après la disparition de Madeleine, en 2010, j'ai mené et rédigé l'examen interne du CEOP sur l'enquête portugaise, qui a ensuite été transmis au ministère de l'intérieur. Cet examen contenait des observations et des recommandations qui, à la suite des demandes répétées des McCann, ont conduit le ministère de l'intérieur à établir sa propre enquête, Operation Grange. La chronologie des informations, lorsqu'elle sera entièrement connue, pourra apporter des éclaircissements et des explications à de nombreuses questions qui tournent autour de cette affaire depuis 2007.
Mais ces explications peuvent également soulever des questions plus gênantes sur l'efficacité de l'enquête initiale de la police et sur la compétence des personnes qui l'ont menée. J'espère seulement que ces nouvelles informations permettront aux McCann de tourner la page.
Pat Brown
So, what about Christian
Brückner? Is there any validity in him being linked to the
disappearance of Madeleine McCann? Or is it just another fake suspect
or a media splash? Well, let’s look at the various possibilities.
One, another media story
because they need another media story about Madeleine McCann. Or the
McCanns are pushing for more publicity. Or Operation Grange needs
justification for more money. We have seen all of this before, so it
would not surprise me to see it done yet again.
Two, the guy is really a
pedophile or robber who snatched Maddie of his own volition. I
sincerely doubt this. Why? Because robbers do not snatch children.
Also, there was no evidence of an abduction that would be necessary
if he were a child sex predator. And, if he were just some random
creep and it was a true abduction, the McCanns sure have acted
strangely all these years.
Three, Christian Brückner
WAS involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann but his only
role was in carting the child off.
Let’s look at his
ex-girlfriend’s statement.
On May 2, 2007, he is
supposed to have said to her, “I have a job to do in Praia da Luz
tomorrow. It’s a horrible job but it’s something I have to do and
it will change my life. You won’t be seeing me for a while.”
Okay, first of all, we
don’t know that he really said this. Ex-girlfriends may make stuff
up or disremember something or exaggerate something. What he said or
didn’t actually say may have nothing to do with this case at all.
But, let’s suppose it
did. What would it mean? Well, it certainly doesn’t sound like
something a child predator says to his girlfriend. He wouldn’t tell
her of a child he is planning to abduct. He also doesn’t think that
abducting that child (which would end with her death a few hours
later at most) will change his life because he would expect to do it
and be done with it. Then, he would go back to his normal life.
Secondly, he wouldn’t
call abduction a “job.” And it wouldn’t be a “horrible job.”
It would be fun.
So, if he really WAS
going to do a “horrible job,” what would this mean. “Job”
means someone has hired you and “horrible” means it isn’t
pleasant. And if it would change his life, it would mean he was going
to make a lot of money for doing it. That he wouldn’t be seen for a
while would mean he was going to lie low.
So, if he did take
Maddie, the only explanation would be at the request of the McCanns.
This would be a job, an unpleasant one of removing a body of a small
child, and one that would pay well. If the man were hired to do such
a thing, it would explain why there was no sign of an abduction
because the door would have been left unlocked for him. It would
explain why nothing was disturbed. It could explain why drugging two
children might be necessary and why the parents would have to be out
that evening and why Gerry would be lurking around at a certain time.
It could explain Smithman with a little girl in his arms and it could
explain why the McCanns did not want Smithman to be identified. It
could explain why the dogs had no trouble identifying cadaver odor
behind the sofa.
Le problème est que Smithman qui est brun ne ressemble pas du tout à CB, qui est blond et élancé.
I know many of you might
say this means that Maddie was dead for many days. I still would
think that is an unlikely scenario. It is far more likely that
something would have only happened the day before and there was less
than 24 hours to figure out what to do. The evening was still a mess
and reeks of panic. Why the dogs would hit on the McCann car might be
explained by a later moving of the body to a final burial place. That
the dogs hit behind the sofa could be that this was the spot they
chose to hide the body that evening for the remover to find.
Possible? Well, possible. However, fake children at the crèche and
phony last photos and fake children being carried about is not
likely. It is also possible that an accident occurred where Maddie
fell behind the sofa on the previous evening and her body was placed
in the closet.
So, where does that leave
us? With two possible theories. Maddie died on May 3, 2007 and panic
ensued and Gerry was Smithman. Or, Maddie died the day before, panic
ensued, and Gerry hired Smithman.
IF the latter is true,
there has to be some connection between Christian Brückner and Gerry
McCann and that should be traceable. I find it odd that if there was
a connection that this was not discovered earlier and only now
Brückner is being looked at. Very strange.
But, whether he is linked
or not to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, I still find that
the evidence leads back to the McCanns. If this is not proven and
Christian Brückner goes down as a pedophile working alone, I will
still think something crooked is happening with Scotland Yard. And
if, finally, the McCanns become suspects, one wonders what would have
taken Scotland Yard so incredibly long to come to this point in the
investigation.
It will be interesting to
see what comes of this. It may be nothing but hot air, but if there
is really any evidence of Brückner’s involvement, then, maybe, we
will finally learn the truth.
There is NO Forensic Evidence that She is Dead - 15.06.20
I am sure there isn’t. I am sure there is no body and no DNA and nothing else of any physical sort. I am sure there are no photos of her dead body or articles of her clothing in Christian Brückner secret hiding place. Because when the police say there is not forensic evidence that she is dead but they have other evidence, not evidence that is good enough to go to court with, but which only “indicates” she is dead, this means they haven’t got shit.
And if they haven’t got a case, they have no business making known their theories to the parents and public with a vague “We are the investigators and therefore we are to be believed if we say this is what we think.”
As a profiler, I have cited all the evidence I have to support my conclusions. So far, all the German police have come up with is a creepy guy named Christian Brückner that was in Praia da Luz at the time and chatted on the phone that evening.
One of two things is going on: either the German police haven’t got anything on this guy outside of gossip and are just making up stuff to say they solved the case or they haven’t got anything on this guy and they are trying to pressure him into a confession with a plea deal.
Either way, this is shaping up to be the patsy many of us have suspected would finally be found to close the case.
“There’s also the
feeling that anybody who could have possibly been interrogated has
already said all that could be said,” one public official said of
the 2007 disappearance of the British 3-year-old.
By Raphael Minder - NYT June 10, 2020
PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal —
In Praia da Luz, the words “McCann circus” have been graffitied
below “Stop” on some traffic signs.
The stark message
reflects the feelings of frustration and ennui that have built up
among some residents of the town over the 13 years since a British
toddler, Madeleine McCann, vanished from her family’s rented
holiday apartment when she was 3 years old.
This month, journalists
and camera crews returned to Praia da Luz, in Portugal’s southern
Algarve region, after the German authorities identified a 43-year-old
German sex offender as the main suspect in Madeleine’s abduction,
and said they were investigating.
The suspect, who was
named as Christian B., is in prison in Germany on a sentence for a
drug offense. He is also appealing a conviction for the 2005 rape of
a 72-year-old American in her home, which was also in Praia da Luz. His phone records reveal
he was still in the town the evening of May 3, 2007, when Madeleine
was left sleeping alongside her twin siblings, while her parents and
their friends had a tapas dinner at a restaurant within their holiday
resort.
But while the trickle of
information about Christian B. and his past whereabouts and crimes
has made the newspaper headlines, it is difficult to find anyone in
Praia da Luz who has welcomed the revival of the police
investigation. Few also sound hopeful about its outcome.
“People have got tired
of listening to all the theories about Madeleine, and I think that it
is understandable that nothing feels very new after 13 years” of
various police leads turning out to be cold, said Hugo Pereira, the
mayor of the municipality that includes Praia da Luz.
“There’s also the
feeling that anybody who could have possibly been interrogated has
already said all that could be said,” he added. Some residents also
questioned why significant police and media resources have continued
to be devoted to the search for one missing girl while other similar
unresolved crimes had in the meantime been archived.
José dos Santos, a local
night guard who was working on the evening that Madeleine vanished,
said Praia da Luz ranked “much above average” in terms of safety,
without any violent crime reported on the properties that he has
looked after for decades.
After Madeleine vanished,
“everyone helped” to search for her, he said, but nowadays “it
is more than normal that everyone is fed up with the boomerang effect
every year,” resulting from new and diverging police leads. For a time, the
Portuguese authorities considered Madeleine’s parents, Kate and
Gerry McCann, as suspects, but they were formally cleared. Still, Mr.
dos Santos said many people felt uneasy about special treatment
afforded to the parents, who had an audience with the pope at the
Vatican a few weeks after Madeleine vanished.
“I think everybody
should be treated the same way,” he said. “This case had more
attention and used more resources from the institutions, both
Portuguese and worldwide. Imagine how many parents the pope would
have to receive if he received everyone whose children disappear.”
Paul Mikhelson, the
British owner of a cafe that sits along the town’s cobblestone
promenade, said some of his employees had been questioned this past
week by journalists about a cellphone number reportedly linked to the
German suspect, which turned out to be another red herring. Disappearances had
happened more often elsewhere, so “I don’t understand why this
particular case remains the center of so much attention and we cannot
let sleeping dogs lie,” said Mr. Mikhelson. “I think we all just
want this book to get closed now, no matter how it is done.”
While living in Portugal,
Christian B. held several jobs, including as a hotel waiter, selling
newspaper ads, and working at some point for a swimming pool and
awning maintenance company, according to German court records.
He also imported and sold
cars. The authorities released photos of a Jaguar that he owned, as
well as a Volkswagen van.
In the Algarve, the
authorities said, Christian B. and an unidentified girlfriend rented
a white-and-yellow house that is along a dirt track, off the main
road that leads to Praia da Luz. Surrounded by scrubland and deep
water wells, the house is now vacant.
In another house where
the suspect stayed, at the entrance to the inland village of Monte
Judeu, the current owners recently put up signs warning journalists
against trespassing on private property. A villager said he would
not speak to the media because he did not want to risk “getting my
name in the paper and then on a new police list.”
He added that “600
feels like more than enough,” referring to the 600 people who were
considered persons of interest by the police during the course of the
investigation.
The German police are
also looking at whether Christian B. was involved in a few other
unresolved missing children cases, including that of a 6-year-old
German boy, René Hasee, who disappeared while on a beach in the
Algarve in 1996. Another reopened
investigation concerns Inga Gehricke, who was 5 when she disappeared
in 2015 near a property that he owned on the outskirts of the German
town of Stendhal.
Christian B. has more
than a dozen previous convictions, including for assaulting a child
in Germany when he himself was still a teenager. He has also been
sentenced for child pornography, drugs trafficking and a series of
burglaries, some committed in the Algarve.
According to German court
records, he broke into hotels and stole gas from boats moored in
local marinas. His conviction for the 2005 rape was partly based on
material obtained from his own video camera.
Madeleine and her family
stayed in the Ocean Club, a resort owned at the time by a British
travel operator, Mark Warner.
The Ocean Club opened in
the 1990s, when Praia da Luz was completing its transformation from a
sleepy fishing village into an international tourism destination
particularly popular with families from northern Europe and still
described by the mayor as “our British condominium.”
Praia da Luz was slowly
coming back to life after months of lockdown restrictions linked to
the coronavirus when German authorities announced the arrest of
Christian B.
The German police
announcement came just as Praia da Luz, which has a resident
population of only 3,500 people, was slowly coming back to life after
months of lockdown restrictions because of the coronavirus.
Portugal’s beaches reopened this month.
“The last thing that we
need after being hit by the coronavirus is to have the Madeleine case
now prove detrimental to the return of tourists,” said Mr.
Mikhelson, the cafe owner.
Ana Campino named her
souvenir shop in Praia da Luz “The Thread of History,” because
she herself sews the dolls that are on sale. Now, she said, “it’s
become awful to live in this never-ending story” of the search for
Madeleine.
Ms. Campino said she
still felt plenty of sympathy toward the McCann family because “I
know that I would never have given up the fight if I lost one of my
own children, and it is very clear to me that Madeleine’s parents
must find out the truth.”
