EXCLUSIVE: Murat lover ‘was not at church as she claimed’

By Victoria Ward 24/11/07

An alibi by Robert Murat’s lover for the night Madeleine McCann vanished is a LIE, it was claimed yesterday.

Michaela Walczuch claims she was at a Jehovah’s Witness meeting four miles away when the four-year-old was snatched.

But church elder Brother Teofilo Castela said: “She was thrown out of the church more than a year ago and doesn’t attend.”

Another witness, who did not want to be named, also claimed she had not seen Walczuch all year. Portuguese detectives are probing claims that expat Murat and Walczuch, both 34, were involved in Madeleine’s abduction.

Earlier this week a friend said Germanborn Walczuch was at a Witness meeting in her home town of Lagos between 8.30 and 10.15pm on May 3.

Madeleine, four, went missing that night from her holiday apartment in nearby Praia Luz between 9pm and 10pm.

The friend said Walczuch’s alibi was confirmed by police. Mr Castela confirmed Walczuch had once been an active member of the 100-strong congregation.

But he said: “There was some problem with the rules and she was cast aside. It was before this year.

“I haven’t been interviewed by police and the police haven’t been here.”

Murat’s lawyer Francisco Pagarate denied claims Walczuch had been ejected from the church. He said: “Michaela says she was at the Jehovah Witnesses in Lagos on May 3. She remembers being there.”

Asked about discrepancies in the alibi, Walczuch’s estranged husband, Luis Antonio, 47, said: “You’ll have to ask her.”

Mum Walczuch and Antonio were first quizzed by police on May 14, the day Murat was made an official suspect. They were questioned again on May 21. It was later alleged that Walczuch was seen with a blonde child in Silves, 25 miles from Praia da Luz on May 5, and in Morocco on June 15.

Walczuch has rubbished the claims. Yesterday she was unavailable for comment. With Antonio and Murat she denies any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.

Walczuch still lives with Antonio and their eight-year-old daughter though she has been seeing Murat for almost two years. Jehovah’s Witnesses condemn adultery.