pages 1 and 2

Ministry Of Justice
Judiciary Police
Investigative Criminal Department of Portimão
NUIPC-201/07.0 GALGS
4th Brigade
Inspector João Carlos

Denouncer/Offended – Judiciary Police

Denunciated/Arguidos - Robert James Queriol Evelegh Murat, identified and questioned at fls. 1170, 1947 and 1959.

*Gerald Patrick McCann, identified and questioned at fls. 2569.

*Kate Marie Healy, identified and questioned at fls. 2557.

Witnesses/Persons inquired – see Index

Type of Crime – Unknown

Time and Place – Between 21H05 and 22H00 of the day 3 May of 2007, at the G5A apartment, located at the touristic resort ‘Ocean Club’, Vila da Luz, Lagos.

Apprehended Objects – see Index (all the apprehended objects were given back to the owners by means of term)

Examinations done – see Index

Final Report

Introduction
These documents relate to an occurrence which describes the disappearance of a minor of British nationality, MADELEINE BETH MCCANN daughter of GERALD PATRICK MCCANN and KATE MARIE HEALY, on the date with three (almost four) years old.

According to the Time and Place, the facts occurred on the day 3 of May of 2007, in a temporal hiatus, understood to be between 21H05 and 22H00 (being certain that after 17H30, only GERALD and KATE had contact with MADELEINE) at the resort named ‘Ocean Club’, located in Vila da Luz, Lagos, place, where the minor’s family, along with seven other persons, with whom they had a friendship relationship, where enjoying some holidays, with the duration of one week.

The arrival of the group from England, at national territory, via Faro’s airport, took place on the 28 of April 2007.

They traveled in two separate groups, since they live in different locations. The trip from the airport to the place of Luz was done in a mini bus, provided by the resort management company ‘Mark Warner’.

pages 3 and 4

Upon check-in, they were placed into several apartments, all located in block G5, next to each other, which was an imposition, or at least a suggestion, made by the entire group.

They were all lodged in the ground floor, except the PAYNE family (David, Fiona and Diane Webster), which was lodged in the first floor.

The MCCANN family was given apartment G5A, which is located on the left end of the residential block (seen from the front) and therefore, it can be said, the most accessible one and with facilitated visibility from the outside.

This is a group where seven of the elements are medics, from various specialties, which adds to the fact that all of them have under-age children, which accompanied them. The MCCANN family was composed of the parents, as well as MADELEINE and the twins SEAN and AMELIE, these being two years old, at the date of the facts.

This trip was organized by the PAYNE family, namely by the male element of the couple, DAVID ANTHONY PAYNE, who had knowledge, as a user, of the tourist resorts that belong to the “Mark Warner” company.

The group shared among themselves a friendship that existed before this trip, based on professional relationships and other holiday trips.

It is pointed out that this was the first time that the elements of the group were on holidays at this resort on national territory for the first time, and that the group’s will to carry out the trip was planned approximately one month before it took place.

On the other hand, nothing indicates that any of the participants had any previous connection to Vila da Luz or that there resided or stayed any person related to them.

The group’s daily routine implied their movement, for dinner, to the Tapas Restaurant, which is located at the resort (although outside of the specific area of the apartments and without permitting a complete visual control of the latter), while their underage children remained alone – supposedly asleep – in their apartments while the dinner was under way.

According to the group’s common version, the checking of the children was done through regular visits by the adults to the apartments, with an – approximate – spacing of half an hour, with the exception of the children of the PAYNE couple, that possessed a technological system of self control, via intercommunication (“baby listening”).

Constitution of the group:

DAVID ANTHONY PAYNE – apartment 5H (first floor)
FIONA ELAINE PAYNE
DIANNE WEBSTER

RUSSEL JAMES O’BRIEN – apartment 5D
JANE MICHELLE TANNER

pages 5 and 6

MATTHEW DAVID OLDFIELD – apartment 5B
RACHAEL MARIAMMA (sic) JEAN MANPILLY

GERALD PATRICK McCANN – apartment 5A
KATE MARIE HEALY

The aforementioned persons were interviewed carefully and in great detail, on various occasions (see index), with the intention to collect all the relevant elements that could help the investigation to uncover the truth regarding the facts.

The analysis of the grouping of these inquiries emphasized the existence of important details which were not entirely understood and integrated, which needed to be, from our viewpoint, tested and compared together [concatenated] in the actual location.

As such, a concrete understanding of the lack of synergy of some aspects of elevated relevance should be attempted through a processed diligence via the reconstitution of the facts, which, due to a lack of collaboration of several relevant witnesses, was not able to be accomplished, in spite of all the force brought by the authorities.

Further ahead, in this report, the necessity of this diligence will be better analysed.

The investigation, during more than 13 months, followed all the credible indices related to different hypotheses and, in an impartial manner, continued to analyse, correlate and synthesize them, looking for an explanation for the happenings of the night of 3 May 2007.

Assuming that the minor’s disappearance was due to the acts of third parties, the PJ explored various lines of investigation, not excluding any hypothesis considered plausible or hypothetically acceptable.

From the documentation, you will observe that during the investigation various possibilities were contemplated.

As such, consider:

1. abduction, for sexual exploration or other (e.g, later adoption, child trafficking, organ trafficking), without homicide;

2. abduction, followed by homicide with (or without) hiding of the corpse;

3. accidental death, with later hiding of the corpse;

pages 7 and 8

The Hypothesis 1 and 2 were considered in the double notion of the illicit of abduction (if that happened) that could have had occurred due to feelings of revenge by the
Kidnapper(s) towards the parents (intended abduction) or by taking merely the opportunity of the child being at a vulnerable situation (opportunity abduction).

As a remote hypothesis, the possibility of the minor leaving the apartment by her own means was explored – that would be highly unlikely physically – and after, because of an accident or by a third person intervention, she would have disappeared.

***
As to the present report, and for a better understanding, it will be divided in to 5 major areas, to know:

- Generic diligences for the localization of the minor, entwined in the main body of the Inquest, done by the Judiciary Police, the Maritime Police and the G.N.R.;

- Thematic Appendixes, in a total of nine (sub-divided into 55 volumes) referred to the fls. 3528-a, whose creation allows to complement the main body of the processes and to follow up all the information received and treated;

- The suspicions about ROBERT MURAT, and his status of arguido;

- The Cadaver Dogs Units searches and the subsequent establishment of the parents of the British minor, GERALD MCCANN and KATE HEALY as arguidos;

- The forensic and laboratorial exams, done at the Forensic Science Service and at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, from now on designated as the FSS and INML, correspondingly;

Even though there is this division in to sub groups, the present report will be done by order of occurrence or information, without the obstacle of joining by themes, when the chronological order it is not sufficient.

***
As stated before, it was done a presentation of the intervenients in the process and a brief introduction of the facts. Following, we will do a more detailed explanation, where, likewise, the various intervenients will match and the actions done by them will take on a procedural relevance.

***
Relative to the appendixes, in a total of nine, where divided thematically as stated:

Appendix I – Forensic Exams – where all the exams and forensics that were carried out by scientific and technical entities, specifically those who are destined to the detection, collection and traces analyses that could lead to the understanding of what happened and to the discovery of the culprits in the disappearance of the minor.

pages 9 and 10

Appendix II – Analysis of communications – where all the inventory, analysis and pertinent correlations, which were possible and eventually relevant about the communications and movements that were made before, during and after the facts, were made;

Appendix III – Inspections, canine, maritime and air searches – where the specific diligences that were carried out in an attempt to physically locate the minor, especially in the surrounding areas, are described;

Appendix IV – Searches/apprehensions, direct exams, delivery/deposit of goods – where the set of diligences that were directed on goods or items that could eventually be connected to the disappearance are listed;

Appendix V – Supposed sightings and localizations – where the news that had some credibility and signalled the alleged presence of the child in various locations worldwide, as well as the hundreds of diligences that were carried out to confirm or dismiss them, are listed.

As it is known, the disappearance of the British minor, under the circumstances that were described, implied the action of diverse entities, with special relevance for the intervention of the Polícia Judiciária, which was joined by other forces of criminal police. In parallel, this disappearance concentrated an unmatched dynamics from the media, both national and foreign, namely and with more emphasis in the United Kingdom, which filled, for days in a row, their news at prime time with live transmissions from Praia da Luz, and special programmes that were dedicated to the issue.

pages 11 and 12

Some of the information did not merit, due to the circumstances surrounding it, the least credibility, leaving those, at the other extreme, which required a more solid and effective systemization and treatment. Those which, by their geography and time-space relevance, seemed credible were thoroughly explored and included in the documentation and this appendix.

There remains a large, diffuse stain of supposed sightings and localizations – some receiving notable emphasis, such as those in Belgium and Morocco – which had few, vague, discordant, incompatible or incongruent elements, which deserved a treatment with a view towards their infirmação or set aside for the future, should solid elements arise, which all are herein included;

Appendix VI 1 – Information/Lists of Suspects of Sexual Crimes – where you will find a detailed reviews, from the perspective of the possibility of encountering correlations with suspects with sexual motives;

Appendix VI 2 – Diligences and Exploration of Information related to the aforementioned – in which, in conformity with that already expressed and in order to provide a better consultation, were gathered the information collected about residents in the surrounding areas – temporary and permanent – as well as a listing of local crime (break-ins and others) and crimes of a sexual nature. The information provided came to this Police by individual knowledge, through British authorities or by other sources;

Appendix VII – Letters Rogatory – outlining the diligences performed, at the request of the Portuguese judiciary, in foreign countries;

Appendix VIII – Transportation, Movement and Location of Sightings – in this appendix are collected and analyzed the information related to possible means of transportation/flight, by land means (road—trains), sea and air. Also explored were information related to the delivery of photographs from individuals in the area for holidays and obtained by the Police, along with various hotel chains, whose examinations yielded nothing useful;

Appendix IX – Juridic Actions

In addition, and in spite of its irrelevance, there were meanwhile added 22 “dossiers” with notifications of a speculative or clearly incredible nature, such as psychic visions or divinations, which will not be included with the documentation, but which you will find carefully organized, in the eventuality that they may need to be consulted in the future.

* * *

DEVELOPMENT

The present documentation originated from a process elaborated by this Police, having received notice of the disappearance of a minor of British nationality of three years of age. The occurrence was communicated by the GNR at 00h10 on 4 May 2007.

pages 13 and 14

According to that police force, the disappearance would have occurred at 22H40 (later on it was verified that the detection and the subsequent alarm of the same, in reality happened, between 22H00 and 22H10 of the day 3 of May of 2007, in one of the apartments of the tourist resort ‘Ocean Club’, located at Vila da Luz, Lagos, where a family composed by a couple and 3 children under aged were staying.

Topologically, the apartment is composed by two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom, with easy access to the street, from the both the front and the back, where there is a small balcony and a sliding door.

At the time of the disappearance, the children were alone in the apartment. However the couple, during dinner, went two times to the same, one of those times being the one where the mother (KATE) noticed that her oldest daughter was no longer there alerting all for that fact.

Aware of this fact, the police squad went to the place, to initiate the relevant investigative steps, at that moment.

Immediately they proceeded with the identifications of the progenitors, GERALD MCCANN and KATE HEALY, as well as of the disappeared minor, MADELEINE BETH MCCANN, born on the 12 of May of 2003, in the United Kingdom. Besides MADELEINE the couple has two more children, twins, with two years old, at the time of the facts, who were also staying in the same bedroom from where the child disappeared.

Informally, GERALD MCCANN said that he was on the resort since the 28 of April 2007, on vacation, for a period of time corresponding to a week. The day after their arrival, 29/05/07, they started doing their meals at the ‘Ocean Club’ restaurant, which is distanced a few meters away from the apartment, with the company of three other couples, who had also travelled with them.

Specifically to what is relative to the day 3, he alleged that:

- they woke up around 07H30, had breakfast in the apartment, going out at around 09H00;

- soon after, they left their children at the nursery, until 12H30;

- around 14H30, after lunch, they put their children back at the nursery, this time until 17H00;

- at 17H30 they did the children’s hygiene, and settle them in their respective beds by 19H30, all in the same bedroom;

- at 20H30, the couple went out to the restaurant;

- at 21H05/21H15 the father went to check the children, noticing that all was normal, the window and the blinds were closed, however the door to the room seemed more opened than when he had left;

pages 15 and 16

- at around 9.20 p.m., a friend from the group, JANE TANNER, when heading for her apartment, noticed an individual who carried a child in his arms, walking down the road. She described him as aged 30 to 40, with dark hair and wearing light coloured trousers;

- at 9.30 p.m., it was the time for another friend, MATTHEW OLDFIELD, to go to the MCCANNS’ apartment to check on the children, but he only saw the twins, given the fact that he did not enter the room. In order to see MADELEINE’S bed, he would have to go inside. He detected nothing out of the ordinary;

- at around 10 p.m., when KATE went to the apartment she verified that MADELEINE had disappeared, and that the window and shutters of the bedroom were open.

Apart from that, and according to what was established within the investigation in the meantime, the witness MATTHEW OLDFIELD assumes that, at around 8.55 p.m., he went near the outside of the window of the bedroom where MADELEINE was sleeping – a window that was closed – in order to verify if there was any noise in the inside that might indicate that the child was not asleep. He heard nothing, therefore concluding that everything was well.

Due to its relevance, on that very night the Maintenance Director, SILVIA BAPTISTA, was asked for a list of the resort’s guests and the check outs on the 3rd, as well as the identification of the crèche workers, where the children stayed during the day.

It should be emphasized that the entire apartment had been searched and rummaged by an undetermined number of people, with the contamination that it brings and the difficulty that it raises for the collection of residues.

On that very night, the surroundings of the apartment, and Vila da Luz itself, were intensely searched through, both by the GNR members and by members of the public.

Concerning that and other searches on subsequent days, the proof is given by the report that was written by the GNR from pages 3491-a to 3525-a, with the latter being a cartographic remission. The same procedure was made by the Maritime Police, according to the report from pages 3867 until 3885.

On page 06 the air registration of the luggage pertaining to the MCCANN family was appended, as well as the passport that belongs to the missing minor.

From pages 12 to 23, we can observe the photographic coverage of the location of the facts, which were collected on that night, as well as a layout of the apartment.

On page 26 the report that was written by the GNR can be found, on page 30 the photograph of the minor that was given by the parents, taken from a memory card and revealed on a printer that belongs to one of the nannies, as will be seen further on, and the press communication, on pages 33-B.

It should be pointed out, in terms of the media knowledge and divulgation, that witness RACHEL MAMPILLY, at around 2 a.m. on the morning of the 4th, assumes to have contacted the official British television BBC, through someone that she knew, reporting the disappearance and asking for it to be broadcast.

pages 17 and 18

First thing in the morning on 4 May, and already within the framework of heavy media coverage, an interview of the entire group took place, pages 34-83, interrogations which were repeated later.

From pages 86 to 118, there are included details relative to the identity of the nannies (CATRIONA BAKER and STACEY PORTZ) and all the officials of the establishment, with the two that dealt with the MCCANN children being heard informally; nothing unusual having been reported by them, they were formally interviewed again later.

In subsequent days, with the participation of over a hundred researchers from the PJ, the enormous collection of diverse notifications about the disappearance was reviewed, having been already completed innumerable contacts resulting from the ongoing processing of information.

The collection of notifications was transmitted by a wide variety of sources, coming to the PJ by various means, requiring the installation of a permanent police post within the Luz village.

The result of such efforts is found in the documentation and the various appendices, having been spent thousands of hours of work in its completion.

It should be noted, also, the receipt of an enormous quantity of fantastical notifications, devoid of any credibility, which forced the research into constant and considerable clarification efforts, all the more important as it was known that time was of the utmost importance in the fundamental goal of finding the missing girl.

* * *

Resuming the factual description, it is noteworthy that from pages 119 and forward, the witness JEREMY WILKINS, affirmed that he saw an individual with a strange appearance and behaviour. This was eventually confirmed to be a guest, who participated in the searches, page 124.

From pages 127 and following, relates the the sighting of a child, with a face similar to MADELEINE’s, in a gas station. When the images from the gas station were shown to the parents, they peremptorily affirmed that they did not represent their daughter.

On page 134, is reported a situation, once again resulting from physical similarities with MADELEINE, later verified as not being the child. In addition, an attempt was made to locate an individual referred for sexual abuse of minors, later coming to verify that at the relevant time period, he was no longer in Portugal.

pages 19 and 20

There was a inquest to DENISE BERYL ASHTON, fls. 136, which reported the presence of two individuals, who she could not identify or recognize, which, alleged that they were conducting a petitioning in behalf of a children’s institution, which would be fraudulent. Despite that this situation took place on the day 03 May, we could not relate it with the disappearance of the British minor, nor the description corresponds to the sketch widespread in the media by the press officer of the MCCANN couple, issue that will be addressed next .

From the Fls. 140 to 144, it was reported an alleged sighting of the minor, which, after several diligences, was proved, again, to be another child.

A witness, DEREK FLACK, heard at page 200, reported the presence of a suspect, who was allegedly looking at the target apartment, near a white truck, pages 145 and following pages. It was not possible to identify this person, despite having been made a portrait-robot, page 205. However, we believe there are very strong possibilities of being construction workers – who were there making small works – a gardener (fls. 973), or BARRINGTON NORTON (fls 833), inquired at page 704. The latter is a regular of Praia da Luz, engaged in the activity of musician on the streets of the town. Nothing was found relevant to the investigation.

From the page 161 to 197, NUNO JESUS, reported a situation connected with his daughter, with clear similarities with Madeleine, which was the victim of an alleged attempt to kidnap (qualified by himself) by a Polish couple, whose registration of the hire car and used in national territory, he provided to the police. They were approached when going back to their native country, nothing was detected that could incriminate them, pages 214 to 216. The car and the place where they had enjoyed their holidays was analysed in a laboratory, but once again without incriminating results

It was near the report at page 148, where it’s described the approach door-to door taken in 443 houses, all of them in Praia da Luz, which is demonstrative of the gigantic work that would be carried out. Such approach included the physical entrance, with the agreement of the inhabitants, in many just to verify completely the eventual presence of traces of the minor disappeared.

LANCE PURSE, inquired at page 208, did equally a sketch of an individual, page 210, which possessed similar characteristics similar to the one related by another witness, who also didn’t identify himself.

At pages 211 and 212, it is reported another occurrence relative to an individual referenced for sexual abuse of minors, who, after the approach of the same, nothing of relevance was brought to the present investigation.

“Mutatis mutandis”, [literally "changes changed", from Latin, in this instance someone who changes constantly of mood], relative to a guest from the female gender, who revealed a odd behaviour, but with no vector of correlation to the disappearance of MADELEINE MCCANN.

At page 220 the hearings of the resort employees started, from there nothing resulted as being relevant or useful for the investigation at course. From the hearings there were no elements collected which allowed to follow any line of investigation.

Inquired employees: —–

A huge list of names which I will not write here for the right to privacy of these people.

The baby sitters that talked to the media in previous interviews are on the list.

CATRIONA T. S. BAKER
STACEY PORTZ
CHARLOTTE E. A. PENNINGTON

Also several G.N.R. Military, belonging to various areas, patrols and binomials (sic) were heard in declarations – list of names

***

end of page 26 : In the path of the diligences of localization, it was requested the entry registrar of the Marina de Lagos, place who does not have a system to collect images, usually called by CCTV, page 290.

pages 27 and 28

Information was also collected that the road known as A22, usually known as “Via Infante de Sagres”, does not have images available either, to match the period of time that would be of interest.

Diligences were carried out to try to locate and discover the routines of individuals that are related to criminal practices of a sexual nature, pages 293 to 300, 448 to 451, 452 and 453; nothing was discovered that could be characterized as relevant.

From pages 309 to 311, and because it could be important, we mentioned the only register of a repair that was carried out in the apartment that was used by the MCCANN family, without major relevance.

* * *

The situation concerning the first suspect, ROBERT MURAT, will now be approached, thus following a line of the succession of the facts, without prejudice of returning to the description of occurrences further ahead.

A few days after the facts took place, suspicions were raised concerning an individual that resides approximately 100/150 metres away from apartment 5A, identified as ROBERT JAMES QUERIOL EVELEIGH MURAT.

These suspicions arose initially due to the formulation by a British journalist, who found the special commitment and curiosity of MURAT in this case to be strange, which had reminded her of another [case] that had taken place in the United Kingdom with similar outlines and where the guilty persons had actively participated in searches.

The reasons for said suspicion are duly listed within the information that is contained in the process, on pages 308, 328, 442, 461, 957, 960, 961 and 986 to 1000, being certain that they ended up being reinforced, some time later, by elements of the holiday group that asserted, contrary to what MURAT said, that he had participated in the searches on the evening of the disappearance.

In an initial phase, before the investigation was deepened, this individual gathered the conditions to be pointed out as a suspect. The conditions that are intrinsical to his suspect status, can be analysed, as stated before, on the routine reports that were mentioned above.

In order to confirm or dismiss the suspicions about ROBERT MURAT, searches and telephone surveillance were requested, pages 995 to 1013, both on the suspect and on the individuals with whom he directly or indirectly interacted, namely with who he met almost daily and maintained telephone contacts.

Despite the exhaustive and methodical investigation into MURAT and the persons close to him, no elements whatsoever were collected to relate him to the crime that was under investigation, and it should be noted that contrary to what witnesses within the group stated concerning his hypothetical participation in the searches on the night of the disappearance, other witnesses (like SILVIA BAPTISTA and elements of the GNR) asserted that they had not seen him during those diligences.

pages 29 and 30

Beyond the communication interceptions and forensic exams of the computers belonging to them, which pointed to nothing useful, several searches were also performed in the suspect’s home, as mentioned earlier, with cino-technical assistance and exploration of the subsoil, both physically and by technological detection means, which also did not allow for the collection of exact evidence.

Be aware that, in relation to the utilization of very advanced technological means, in the area of the detection of strange bodies in the subsoil or enclosed [walled in], these were performed specifically by technicians from Aveiro University, using equipment that allowed a detailed search of the area.

This [research] continued in the same way in relationship to all the vehicles of the group, with no results.

The homes and vehicles were examined in great detail by the Scientific Police Laboratory, without finding any relevant vestiges.

The analyses of the telephone and electronic communications (reports in appendix II) and the resultant correlation, had the same results.

In the interrogation headquarters, the suspect denied any involvement with the process. The interviews with all the elements, with personal and professional relationships with ROBERT MURAT, also did not deliver anything of value as evidence.

In truth, in the unfolding of the searches, several objects were apprehended, for later analysis, without having obtained any incriminating evidence, which you can better observe in Volume V of the documentation, where the processual pieces related to the searches are found.

* * *

Returning to the sequence of information which has some relevance related to finding the minor, there came forth information about the presence of a sack [bag] near a cliff in Ponta da Piedade, Lagos, pages 316 to 327, whose contents revealed nothing of importance.

Page 463, reveals information related to an individual who spoke in Castellean, whose involvement was not able to be discovered.

Pages 524 to 531, 740 to 749, provide information about supposed sightings of the minor, all of them disparate amongst themselves.

On page 800, the interview with TASMIN MILBURN SILENCE is presented, who saw on two occasions and on several other days, an individual observing the apartment from which MADELEINE disappeared. A photo-fit was created based on the witness’ indications . . . diligences were performed which led to the identification of MICHAEL ANTHONY GREEN, who was the target of diverse diligences without incriminatory results, pages 632 to 726 of Volume III, Appendix VI. Beyond this individual, there were other diligences performed at this level, also without useful results for the investigation, as is explained throughout Appendix VI.

pages 31 and 32 – to follow

pages 33 and 34

On pages 886 and following, a typed report can be observed, which was elaborated by the holidaying group after a detailed joint meeting, that recalls that steps that were made on that evening, describing the facts both in time and space.

On page 993, there is a report listing the apartments that were subject to searches, with special attention on blocks 4 and 5.

On pages 983 and 984, the preservation, for visualization purposes, of images from several petrol stations was requested, but nothing out of the ordinary was observed, page 3191.

On pages 1101 and following, several pieces of information from Interpol are listed, alerting towards supposed sightings of the minor, in several European countries, but absolutely nothing was found.

Diverse information concerning other suspects of crimes of sexual abuse of minors and paedophilia, page 1246 and following, which, after due analysis, did not contribute with anything of interest for the investigation.

On page 1398 there is an answer to the question from page 1400, informing that there are no other images from the GALP station, apart from those that were already delivered.

On page 1592, a divulgation, appealing to the person who on the 3rd of May 2007, at around 9.30 p.m., in Praia da Luz, transported a child in his arms, to identify himself, in order to dismiss the situation that was narrated by witness JANE TANNER.

Further on this issue, the testimony of MARTIN SMITH was considered, pages 1606 and following, reporting the sighting of an individual carrying a child, in one of the streets that lead to the beach. It was said that the child could be MADELEINE McCANN, although it was never peremptorily stated. Some time later, the witness alleged that, by its stance, the individual who carried the child could be GERALD McCANN, which was concluded when he saw him descending the stairs from an airplane, pages 2871, 3991 and following and 4135 and following. It was established that at the time that was being mentioned, GERALD McCANN was sitting at the table, in the Tapas Restaurant.

The workers that carried out construction works in Vila da Luz were heard, pages 1650 and 1651, who did not detect anything strange, during their works of excavation and placement of plumbing (also see pages 3983 to 3987), although they carefully verified, on the day that followed the disappearance and before they started the works, if there was a body hidden next to said works.

From pages 1811 to 1827 we appended two lab tests and the corresponding reports, which turned out to have no evidential interest for the process.

On pages 1846 and following, a situation of fraud was reported, concerning misleading and fraudulent information relating to the whereabouts of MADELEINE McCANN. This individual, who was the author of the fraud, was detained, and confessed to know nothing about the facts, after detailed and pertinent diligences were carried out by the authorities of the Netherlands, within the frame of a Rogatory Letter. The main report, which comprises the diligences that were requested and carried out by the Dutch Police can be found in the corresponding appendix.

pages 35 and 36

On page 1897, a Spanish journalist was heard, who was to have information about the alleged abductor. Once again, nothing was supplied that allowed for the substantiation of such suspicions.

An attempt was made to obtain identification elements from users of computer equipment in two establishments in Luz, which was not possible, as explained on page 1900.

On page 2006 and forward, is found the report of an identical occurance to one that had happened in Holland, coming to be found to pertain to, once again, untrue information about the child. With the prestigious collaboration of the Spanish authorities, Grupo de Sequestros de Madrid, it was possible to identify the couple responsible for the false information, with only the male being detained under the auspices of an outstanding detention mandate.

* * *

Now the question related to the performance of the British dogs will be covered, along with the consequent quality assumed by the parents of MADELEINE, once again with the ability to revisit the description later in the report.

In this way, from pages 1989 and following, one can read the full report by MARK HARRISON, whose specialty is the search for missing people or homicide victims, including catastrophe scenarios. He provided the use of canines, specialized in the detection of vestiges of human blood and human cadaver odor.

This is an inspection technique commonly used in the United Kingdom, frequently with positive results, consisting of the utilization of two especially trained dogs.

One of the dogs is trained to detect cadaver odor and the other to detect vestiges of human blood, with existing knowledge that their prior usage had resulted in significant results, principally in the detection of vestiges, which had then been, later, confirmed in the laboratory.

After a positive joint meeting with the British police, it was decided to use this capability and a large number of objects and locations were examined, with these diligences being recorded in films which are included in the documentation (appendix III).

In some of these locations and objects, the animals exhibited the behaviour of identification and “signaling”, including:

pages 37 and 38 – to follow

pages 39 and 40

* NOTHING was detected by either dog;

9. In all the vehicles that were used by arguido ROBERT MURAT and persons that are close to him;

* NOTHING was detected by either dog.

(in a total of ten vehicles, the cadaver odour dog and the blood odour dog only signaled the vehicle that belonged to the MCCANN family, which was rented on the 27th of May)

On the locations and the pieces that were marked and signaled by the blood dog, forensics tests were performed, especially at a reputed British laboratory (Forensic Science Service – check Appendixes I and VII – FSS Final Report) but also, some of them at the reputed National Institute of Forensics Medicine (check Appendix I), whose final results did not corroborate the canine markings, which is to say, cellular material was collected that was not identified as pertaining to anyone specific, and it was not even possible to determine the quality of that material (v.g. whether it could be blood or another type of bodily fluid).

But during a first scientific approach (pages 2617 and following), the possibility of a match between the DNA profile of MADELEINE and some of the collected residues (among which those that existed in the Renault Scenic that had been rented by the McCANN couple were abundant) was raised; a match which, as can be verified in the aforementioned final report from the FSS, failed to be verified, after the execution of long and complex testing.

On pages 2461 and following, the translation of the comments that were made by the dog handler, during the inspection actions, was appended.

Based on the action of the canine team and the aforementioned initial scientific approach, which revealed the possibility of the existence of a cadaver inside the apartment and in the vehicle that was used by the MCCANN family, and in order to allow for GERALD McCANN and KATE HEALY to see their position within the process safeguarded, they were made arguidos, in face of the mere possibility of their involvement with the possible cadaver. During the questioning as arguidos, they denied any responsibility in the disappearance of their daughter.

It may be questioned that KATE HEALY was not immediately made an arguida, but rather inquired, as a witness, and only afterwards, following said inquirition, did she assume that quality.

Therefore, the constitution of KATE HEALY as an arguida was made when she was confronted with concrete elements that might lead to her incrimination, a fact that, within the terms of the penal process law, would officiously force that constitution.

Returning to the description of the pieces of the process, on page 2294, there is a note of the delivery of four (04) photographs, which were printed by an employee of the resort, AMY TIERNEY.

pages 41 and 42

Page 4193, she clarified that the photographs were made on her own printer, which allowed her to use photographic paper and cut to size (10×15), which in this way, reduced any suspicion related to her possession, on the part of the parents.

Nonetheless, before her interview, the photographs were examined, as related on pages 4155 and following, and pages 4197, in which it is alleged to not be possible to determine with complete confidence if the printer is compatible with the photographs, but it seems to us, by the laboratory results (merely indicative) that these photographs were printed there.

On pages 2305, 3195 and 3212 is the detailed report, relative to the laboratory exams done on the apartment from where the disappearance occurred, which took place on 4 May 2007.

On page 2327, is the report of the exams of the home and some of the vehicles of ROBERT MURAT and, on page 2348, the report of the exam of the car belonging to SERGEY MALINKA, an individual of interest given his relationship with ROBERT MURAT, not having been uncovered, however, anything of a criminal nature.

On pages 2360 to 2371, is the report of the vehicles belonging to LUÌS ANTÒNIO, with whom, also, ROBERT MURAT had an acquaintance. Nothing suspicious was found.

On page 2383, is the report of the exam done in the apartment retained by the Polish couple and, on page 3230, the detailed report of the exams done on the vehicle rented by the McCANN couple.

All of these exams, for now, allowed nothing to be inferred relative to the exact understanding of the facts.

On page 2396, is a file, which was attributed an inquiry number, which alludes to a supposed sighting. This occurrence was duly discarded, after several diligences, outlined from pages 2739 to 2762.

On page 2412, is the interview with PAMELA FENN, who relates several details, of which, though not clarifying the facts, are elucidating. PAMELA FENN lives on the first floor of the residential block, above the apartment occupied by the McCANN family. She related that, on 1 May 2007, two days before the disappearance, at about 22h30, she heard a child crying, which by the sound was MADELEINE. The child continued weeping for one hour and 15 minutes, until the parent’s arrival (she heard the door sounds), at about 23h45. This witness places in cause the allegation (by the parents) of the daily routine of visits every 30 minutes to check the children who had been left on their own.

She also added to the files, that her niece, CAROLE, on the morning of 3 May 2007, had seen an individual observing the child’s apartment. This individual was not identified, but could have been a gardener. An interview with CAROLE was requested in the Letter Rogatory submitted to the UK authorities, with nothing relevant having been discovered.

Document in PDF – PJ Report in Portuguese

57 Pages - all pages were translated in pairs hence the number above each part of the article
Note: fls. is the shorten way to write folhas – pages, sometimes it will be translated as pages other times we left it as in the original.

Translations by Astro, Debk and Xk.

Updated : more will be added soon

previous note: The original document came from Expresso Newspaper, it’s on-line. Apparently it is the true thing: the real PJ’s Final Report. – (a very small part of the full process which consists in 19 volumes, around 200 thousand documents)

57 pages scanned in to a PDF file. All being translated.

Astro, Debk, are almost done with their part – I’m a bit delayed but trying to do my bit as fast as I can and carefully.

Pages are being translated in pairs, each does a pair – it’s easier that way.

In the morning the full Report with the 57 pages will be here.

I don’t think Martin was referring to the blog, but to the Expresso Site.

Link for the scanned PDF document and Expresso site Story.

thank you for your patience.

Today, the process is most likely to be archived. Ten months ago, the PJ asked for the reconstitution of the crime and a new questioning of the couple

Pinto Monteiro promised a solution for the Maddie case for today. The archiving of the process is most likely to be announced on the General Attorney’s Office’s website, after more than a year of an investigation that was made of breakthroughs and retreats.

The Judiciária lost some battles and diligences that were not carried out may have compromised the discovery of the truth. That is the understanding of Gonçalo Amaral, who launches the book ‘The Truth about the Lie’ next week, in which he promises to explain the reason why he believed in the child’s death and in the involvement of the parents in concealing the cadaver.

CM knows that Gonçalo Amaral was not alone in this fight. Only days after Kate and Gerry were questioned and after they returned to England, the PJ inspector who was in charge of the process defended that he wanted to hear the couple again and that they should be subject to a more serious coercion measure. He also requested the reconstitution of the facts.

In a dispatch that is dated September 19, Magalhães Menezes, a prosecutor of the Republic, manifested himself against it. He said it was an unnecessary diligence, because Kate had refused to answer and Gerry had clarified little or nothing.

Concerning the change in the coercion measures, he said there was no legal basis for any modification. The couple had given their English address when they were made arguidos, and remained available to be contacted at that residence.

Later on, when the PJ made the requests again, the magistrate ended up admitting to the new questioning. But he postponed the decision for a later moment in time, because he understood that hearing the friends and the numerous persons that the PJ had requested might raise new questions.

It should also be noted that the judge kept some reservations about the requests that were made by the Judiciária’s investigators. Concerning Kate’s diary, for example, the judicial magistrate argued that only later would it be possible to know whether it could be validated, because it revealed facts from Maddie’s mother’s private life.

Judge Pedro Frias refused the Public Ministry to access the text messages that were sent and received by Gerry McCann, alleging that the messages were telephone interceptions and that judicial authorizations could not be given after the occurrence.

Mysteries of the process

Investigating the friends – A strong suspicion, prompted by three testimonies, fell over one of the McCann couple’s friends. But that doctor returned to his country after the disappearance and he did not explain many of the questions for which the PJ had no answers. The Judiciária failed to understand his life story.

Reconstitution – Right after the interrogation of Kate and Gerry, the PJ requested the reconstitution of the facts. The English were asked to return to Portugal for the diligence to be carried out. Kate and Gerry ended up accepting, but the friends denied it. The Polícia Judiciária did not carry out the reconstitution and the archiving of the case, waiting for better evidence, renders the diligence useless.

Irishman not heard – An Irish citizen who stated he saw Gerry carrying a child on the evening of the 3rd of May should have been questioned again through a rogatory letter. But that was not fulfilled, and his deposition ended up not being obtained. What was known was that the witness made himself immediately available for a deposition.

Text message register – The PJ wanted to access the contents of the text messages that were sent and received by Gerry during the hours immediately before and after his daughter’s disappearance. The Public Ministry validated the request, but the judge did not defer the pretention, considering that it would be equal to listening operations. And that at that point in time, there was no judicial permission for them to be carried out.

Clinical records – The Public Ministry decided that the PJ should not access the clinical records of Madeleine and the twins Sean and Amélie. The prosecutor sustained that such would violate the privacy of the children and their parents, and the evidence might be considered null. For the magistrate, the request was not duly sustained, either.

To find out whether Dave saw Madeleine in the apartment

The last time that Maddie was seen by someone outside the group was at around 5.30 p.m. on the 3rd of May. After that, only David Payne asserts to have seen Maddie in the apartment, when he went there to exchange a few words with Kate. The PJ mistrusts that thesis and ends up having doubts about the time span of the disappearance. There are also contradictions about the time that Dave spent inside the apartment. Kate says they only exchanged two or three words, but Gerry guarantees that his friend stayed inside the house where his children were, for half an hour. The fact that three witnesses launch suspicions about Dave made it fundamental to clarify this situation.

Brother-in-law washed the car due to fish smell

Gerry’s brother-in-law was also heard in a rogatory letter. He was the usual driver of the Renault Scénic and he explained to the police that he had washed the car boot because one day he had perceived that fish blood had spilled from the bag that he had just acquired at the supermarket. Alexander also added, in April this year, when he was questioned by the investigators, that one day he had noticed a strange smell in the car. But he guaranteed that was due to the fact that they usually transported waste in the car boot. He also said that the twins’ nappies were usually placed there, and that was the reason for the intense smells.

Trip to London without results

It was the last great hope for the investigation. Already in the possession of the final documents from the English lab, which launched strong doubts and rendered the results from the residues that were found inside the car that was rented by the McCanns 22 days after Maddie disappeared inconclusive, the Polícia Judiciária from Portimão made themselves available to watch the questioning of the McCanns’ friends. Paulo Rebelo, who had substituted Gonçalo Amaral, and two other investigators went to Leicester, but returned empty-handed.

It was in April this year and the hearings were held at the English police’s headquarters, a few kilometers from the couple’s house. But the witnesses added little or nothing and in many moments pointed towards what they had already told the Portuguese authorities after the disappearance. The PJ’s final report, which is most likely to prompt the dispatch for archiving by the Public Ministry today, reinforces just that and it is ultimately accepted that the investigation has reached a dead end.

Many situations remain unclear, namely how it was possible for Jane Tanner to have seen a man carrying a child while Gerry, who was standing two or three metres away, saw nothing; and how an abductor could have carried a child horizontally, through a small window that only half opened.

Notes

Teachers Heard – The PJ heard Madeleine’s teachers through a rogatory letter. They guaranteed that Madeleine was happy with the McCann couple and that there had never been any incident.

Mitchell Guaranteed innocence – Clarence Mitchell, the couple’s spokesman, was questioned on the 28th of April. He guaranteed that he had accepted to work with the McCanns because he had believed in their innocence.

source: Correio da Manhã, 21.07.2008, paper edition

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by astro

Depositions – Doctor friends of the McCanns spoke to the English police

Payne suspected of paedophilia

Twelve days after Maddie disappeared, a couple revealed the strange behaviour of one of the group’s members. Testimonies only reached the Judiciária in January this year

David Payne, one of the McCanns’ friends that were on holidays in the Algarve on the 3rd of May last year, when Madeleine disappeared, was suspected of paedophile behaviours.

The accusations were brought by a couple of friends that spent their holidays with part of the group in the summer of 2005 – themselves also English doctors. Twelve days after the British girl disappeared, Katherina and Arul could no longer keep the secret that had bothered them for two years and went to the police to make a statement. They revealed two conversations between Dave and Gerry, during which both revealed suspicious behaviour and indiciated sex with minors.

According to what CM was able to establish, the depositions were given on the 16th of May. But they only entered the process in January 2008 and are included in the 13th volume of the process files. At that point in time, Kate and Gerry were already arguidos, the rogatory letters had already been issued and the English, including Dave, showed their reluctance in returning to Portugal.

Touching the nipple

Katherina made a statement that was eight pages long. She reported holidays in Mallorca with several English [people], including the McCanns and the Paynes. Two incidents left her with serious doubts about the friends’ behaviour and lead her to create suspicions that were never confirmed.

The first one happened on a night when Gerry and Dave were talking about Maddie. Katherina does not know what they were saying but she remembers that Dave sucked on his fingers, pushing them into the mouth and pulling them out again, while his other hand traced a circle around the nipple, with a circular movement over the clothes. “That was done in a provocative manner”, recalls Katherina, who says that it stuck to her memory.

Days later, the scene repeated itself. The doctor saw Dave making the same gestures again, while he talked about his own daughter. Scared, Katherina said nothing about the incident. But she took special caution, asking her husband never to let the doctor come close to the bathroom when her daughter was having a bath.

Arul went to the police to tell the same story. Katherina’s companion confirmed the gestures that were made by Dave during the conversation with Gerry but asserted that he wasn’t aware that they were talking about Maddie. He did find the behaviour in extremely bad taste, but didn’t see it being repeated.

The incident ended up forgotten in his memory and it was only the disappearance of Madeleine, who had also been with them on the Mallorca vacation, that revived it.

During the deposition, Katherina went even further and said she had associated the gestures to someone who likes to watch child pornography. “I remember thinking whether he looked at the girls in a different manner”, she concluded.

Friends from school days

Arul and Kate were friends from their school days. They have known each other for approximately 20 years and that was the motive that led the couple to accompany the McCanns on their holidays to Mallorca. Arul and Katherina did not know Fiona and Dave and they only met again once, during a dinner that gathered several couples. When Maddie disappeared from the Ocean Club, Katherina remembered the incident in Mallorca. And she immediately tried to verify whether Dave had again been accompanying the McCann couple, as the suspicions about his behaviour still stood. In the deposition that was made to the English police, Katherina says she decided to give a statement when she saw the tv images. Dave was among the same holiday group.

Doubts in the case

Irishman not heard – An Irishman who was spending holidays in Praia da Luz also went to the English police to report that on the night of the 3rd of May he saw Gerry carrying Madeleine towards the beach. He was never heard through a rogatory letter.

Sending delayed – The difference between the date when the deposition was obtained and the time when it was sent is not explained in the process.CM knows that the English authorities did not provide an explanation, either.

Bank account info – The PJ tried to know the bank account situation of every element of the group, in order to search for possible motives for the crime. But the English answers were laconic and did not help the investigation.

Life stories – The life stories of Gerry and Kate McCann remain unknown. The PJ tried to verify whether Maddie’s mother suffered from depression but never received her clinical records, because the judge did not allow it.

Kate accused of conditioning the case

An intercalary report from the Polícia Judiciária, which was produced immediately before Kate and Gerry were made arguidos, accuses Madeleine’s parents of having conditioned the investigation. The document is signed by an inspector and was directed to Gonçalo Amaral, who was then coordinating the process.

The investigator then stated that the information that had been collected initially, was worked by the group in order to sustain the abduction theory. He guarantees that they all lied to protect themselves and even suggests that some could have been covering the crime up.

The testimony from Janne Turner [sic], who guarantees that she saw a man crossing the street with a child in his arms, is also questioned. The policeman said that Janne [sic] was only two or three metres away from Gerry but he failed to see the man. And that, by stating that the man was headed towards Murat’s house, she ended up orienting the investigation into a false direction, which led to an unnecessary waste of time.

The same report exposes other contradictions in the English’s depositions. Kate and Gerry say that they picked up their children from the crèche at 5.30 p.m., but while the former guarantees that they went for a half-hour run on the beach and only then returned to the apartment, her husband states that they went to play tennis during that period.

After that, at around 8 p.m., one of the elements of the group reportedly went to the apartment that had been rented by the couple. Kate says that he was there only for 30 seconds and then left. Gerry speaks about half an hour. The policeman remembers that the time difference is what is needed between asking whether everything is well, or advancing in case a crime has to be concealed.

Another situation that the authorities found strange was the fact that Kate, upon realizing that Maddie had disappeared, remained inside the apartment for ten minutes. Only then did she ask for help, leaving the twins asleep in their cots while she returned to the restaurant. The policeman who wrote the report asks how it is possible that a mother facilitates the safety of her other children when it is certain that by that time she was already screaming that her daughter had been abducted.

They could not see the apartment

Another contradiction was pointed out by the inspector who was in charge of the Maddie case. The policeman remembered that the McCanns asserted that their position inside the restaurant was a strategic one, so they could see the apartment where their children were sleeping. But according to several testimonies, Kate and Gerry had their backs turned to the apartment.

from the same page:

PJ admitted a simulation of the scenario

The arrival of the dogs that detected cadaver odours and blood traces led the PJ to admit that some of the details where Maddie had been sleeping had been staged to sustain the abduction theory. One of the examples that were pointed out in one of the many reports that were written by the investigators was the fact that the soft toy was on the bed where Maddie slept, a bed that was partially undone. The animals detected odours on the child’s toy, but they did not mark her death on that spot. Which led the PJ to admit that Maddie had died in another area of the house, and then the toy was taken to the bed because it was the most likely spot in case of an abduction. Other details were analysed, like the fact that the furniture was too well positioned and the sofa was completely pushed against the wall.

Details

• Investigated leads – The final report is clear. All the leads were investigated, the abduction theory was verified into detail. But the investigation’s main conclusions pointed towards the death of the child in the apartment, on the 3rd of May.
• 300 policemen were looking for Madeleine McCann during the first days. The PJ stresses that many among them spent several weeks sleeping only a few hours.
• 2000 diligences were made by the Judiciária during their search for Madeleine. International cooperation was requested on several moments, to exclude several cases of false sightings.
• High costs – The PJ spared no costs throughout this investigation. Millions of euros were spent on the investigation into the disappearance, namely on the high payments that were made to the labs that collected the genetic profiles.
• Suspicions – Dave’s involvement is considered again

Parents refused technical help

Works with endangered children and approached the McCanns in the Algarve. Found the behaviour strange

Yvone, who earned credentials from the English government to work in situations that involve endangered children, was in the Algarve when Maddie disappeared but the McCanns refused her help. The specialist told the PJ, during two depositions that were made one month apart from each other, that she approached the couple after the first few hours and that the behaviour from both left her with suspicions about their involvement in the disappearance.

The behaviour of David Payne, who was accused by a couple of doctors that spent holidays with him in 2005, of having attitudes that indiciated paedophile practices, also left Yvone intrigued. The McCanns’ friend had called them aside and advised them not to speak to the technician.

Yvone found another detail strange. David’s face was not unfamiliar to her, and the technician believes he might have been inquired before, within some case of sexual abuse. She tried to remember when but failed to locate moment and the circumstances under which she had met him.

The days went by and Yvone continued to think about the issue. She then sent a letter to the English police, where she pointed out the details that she had perceived. Namely, that the bedroom window had not been forced open, that it was not normal for a couple of doctors to leave their children alone and that Kate had reacted in an aggressive manner when she had approached her. She also alerted to the official statistics, that point towards the majority of these cases to involve a cover-up from the families.

Gonçalo Amaral’s book upsets the English

A delegation from the British justice left for London yesterday after having tried, in Portimão, to keep some details of the process under secrecy.

The English, who according to what CM was able to establish, are upset about possible revelations that the book from the former coordinator of the PJ in Portimão may make, tried to request the instruction judge to maintain the secrecy on the forensics reports about the blood traces and cadaver odour that were collected from the apartment at the Ocean Club, but also other parts from the process.

As far as CM was able to establish, the pretentions from the English delegation were denied, except in the case of the identity of persons that have condemnations or a police record of paedophilia which reside in the Algarve or were spending holidays in the region when the facts took place.

The British that were in Portimão are policeman Stuart Prior, one of the senior liaison officers with the Portuguese police, a magistrate and a jurist from SOCA, the British agency that specializes in investigation organized crime.

It is not known whether the trip was made under a rogatory letter or politically negotiated between the governments of both countries.

“In defense of my good name”

The book by Gonçalo Amaral is written in defense of his honour. “I felt the need to reinstate my good name, which was publicly rubbished while the institution that I belonged to for 26 years, the Polícia Judiciária, didn’t allow me to defend myself, or did so institutionally”, Gonçalo Amaral states in a text that justifies the book. In order to carry out that defense, he requested permission from the national directory but never obtained it. The book, which will be presented by Marques Vidal, a former director of the Judiciária, is launched on the 24th of this month, during a session that is scheduled for El Corte Inglés, in Lisbon.

Loose notes:

Laboratory | Decisive test – The final report ended up being decisive for the foreseeable archiving of the process. In that document, which CM revealed, the possibility of DNA contamination was admitted.

Archived | AG announced – The day after tomorrow, the AG will release a communication that will most likely announce the archiving of the process. The case will remain pending in Portimão’s Public Ministry, waiting for better evidence.

Reconstitution | Stopped – The reconstitution of the evening of the disappearance was a diligence that was seen as essential in the process. It was stopped because some of the McCanns’ friends did not accept to return.

Wardrobe | Odour detected – The English dogs signaled traces of Maddie’s death behind the sofa and in the bedroom wardrobe. On the bed, the animals didn’t detect anything.

Contamination | Traces – The authorities have no doubts that the contamination of the location made the investigation more difficult. During the first few hours, tens of people entered the bedroom.

Removed | By phone – Gonçalo Amaral was the target of various attacks and was removed by Alípio Ribeiro, by phone, after making a statement to a newspaper.

Letter | Paedophile register – Yvone, in the letter that she sent to the English police, wanted the authorities to verify whether Dave had a register of paedophile activities.

source: Correio da Manhã 19.07.2008, paper edition

O prazo do segredo de justiça nas investigações ao caso do desaparecimento da criança inglesa Madeleine McCann no Algarve foi prorrogado por três meses, disse hoje à Agência Lusa fonte da Procuradoria-Geral da República (PGR).

Caso o prazo de segredo de justiça não fosse prorrogado por mais três meses, o mesmo terminaria a 15 de Maio.

13 de Maio de 2008, 18:05

Lisboa, 13 Mai (Lusa) – The deadline for the judicial secrecy over the investigations into the case of the disappearance of the English child, Madeleine McCann, in the Algarve, was extended for three months, a source at the State Prosecutor’s Office told Lusa Agency today.

If this deadline had not been extended for another three months, it would have ended on the 15th of May.

Source Lusa News Agency

An interesting fact from today’s Diário de Notícias (not on-line):

NOTW paid around €40.000 Euros/$61.88 U.S. dollars/£31.77 British pounds to do the pictures inside the McCanns apartment.

The apartment 5A, was registered at a certain time to 4 people. In 2006 after the death of Michael William McCann, Ruth Margaret McCann become the sole owner. The apartment has a T2 Typology, which in architectural terms means a two bedroom flat. Ruth McCann told her conditions to the persons responsible of the tourist’s resort, Ocean Club, that the apartment would only be available to rent for a period of one year and for the minimum amount of 24 thousand Euros.

Several proposals appeared, the majority came from British Tabloids, surpassing the value requested by the owner of the apartment.

Last week, Ruth McCann, who lives in the UK, arrived at Praia da Luz (PdL) and requested the key from the reception at the Ocean Club. Discretely, she entered the apartment with a photographer from the English Tabloid News of The World (NOTW). The photos and the footage taken that day from inside the apartment cost around €40.000 Euros ($61.88 U.S. dollars/£31.77 British Pounds).

The apartment has been closed since July for the Judiciary Police investigations, who awaits for the possibility of a re-enactment of the night of the 3rd of May to be done on that location. That diligence is the one who is conditioning the rental of the apartment.

The McCanns look for answers in Robert Murat, they are convinced of his involvement in the disappearance of their daughter. The multimillionaire that supports the expenses with lawyers and the private detectives of the Spanish agency “Método 3″ went on purpose to Algarve to know the British.

Brian Kennedy offered to help him, although he was unable to explain how. Why? Why does he believe that Robert or his mother Jennifer might have seen someone on the night of 3rd of May in the area of the Ocean Club. He was prepared to pay to the best technicians to draw a photofit of a possible suspect. Saying one thing and then saying another he ended to say that Kate and Gerry believe that he is innocent and they never came publicly to accuse him but he insisted that Murat might remember some important detail to help them find Madeleine.

The JN knows that Murat did not accept the help of the multimillionaire. On the contrary he was upset with the questions that were made and with the insistence of the multimillionaire that wanted him to remember the night of the disappearance, when Murat always said that he spent the night in his mother’s house, Jennifer, in Praia da Luz.

The meeting – a dinner that Brian Kennedy asked to be discreet and far away from the eyes of the press – took place in the end of last year at a house of Murat’s relatives in Burgau (Vila do Bispo). At the dinner were present Murat and Kennedy, the respective lawyers, Jennifer Murat and the aunt and uncle of Murat.

After dinner was Brian Kennedy that finished the conversation. He could not explain why three friends of the couple, belonging to the group “Tapas 7″ came publicly saying that they saw Robert Murat in the area of the Ocean Club in the night of 3 of May and he (Kennedy) ended to enter in contradiction.

Francisco Pagarete does not confirm this meeting but the JN knows that the PJ is aware and that they monitored the steps of Kennedy and the detectives of Método 3 very closely. According to the lawyer one year after the disappearance of Maddie, Murat “still does not understand how his name was involved in the case”. “Everything is very strange” says the lawyer regretting that ” a person was involved in this story without having nothing to do with it”.

(Original Article here)

Mc Cann atrás de Murat

Os McCann procuram respostas em Robert Murat, convencidos que estão do seu envolvimento no desaparecimento da filha. O multimilionário, que suporta as despesas com advogados e detectives privados da empresa espanhola “Método3″, deslocou-se de propósito ao Algarve para conhecer o britânico.

Brian Kennedy ofereceu-se para ajudá-lo, embora não tenha conseguido explicar bem de que forma. Porquê? Porque acredita que Robert ou a mãe, Jennifer, podem ter visto alguém na noite de 3 de Maio a rondar o Ocean Club. Mostrou-se disponível para pagar aos melhores técnicos para desenharem um esboço de um possível suspeito. Dando uma no cravo e outra na ferradura, lá foi dizendo que Kate e Gerry acreditam que está inocente e nunca vieram a público acusá-lo, mas insistiu que pode lembrar-se de algum pormenor relevante para ajudá-los a encontrar Madeleine.

O JN sabe que Robert não aceitou a ajuda do multimilionário. Pelo contrário, ficou incomodado com as perguntas que lhe foram colocadas e com a insistência do multimilionário em querer que recordasse a noite do desaparecimento, quando sempre afirmou que passou a noite em casa da mãe, Jennifer, na praia da Luz.

O encontro – um jantar, que o próprio Brian Kennedy pediu que fosse discreto e longe dos olhares da imprensa – ocorreu no final no ano passado em casa de familiares de Robert, no Burgau (Vila do Bispo). Nele estiveram presentes, além de Murat e de Kennedy, os respectivos advogados, Jennifer Murat, a tia e o tio do britânico.

Depois do jantar, foi Brian Kennedy quem deu a conversa por terminada. Não conseguiu explicar porque motivo três amigos do casal, pertencentes ao chamado grupo dos “Tapas 7″, vieram a público dizer que viram Robert a rondar o Ocean Club na noite de 3 de Maio, acabando por entrar em contradição.

Francisco Pagarete não confirma este encontro que o JN sabe ser do conhecimento da Polícia Judiciária (PJ), que vigiou de perto os passos de Kennedy e dos investigadores da Método 3. Segundo o advogado, um ano depois do desaparecimento de Maddie, Murat “ainda não percebeu como o seu nome foi envolvido no caso”. “É tudo ainda muito estranho”, frisa o causídico lamentando que “uma pessoa tenha sido envolvida nesta história sem ter nada a ver com ela”.

From empathy to distrust, several British journalists recognise that excesses were committed in the cover of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann but they deny that the interest for the private life of the family will decrease.

“What we have done to this couple was not our best moment as journalists”, recognises the ex journalist Roy Greenslade in declarations to the Lusa agency, a year after the disappearance of the British child with 3 years old from a flat in Praia da Luz, Algarve.

Esther Addley, sub-editor of The Guardian agrees “it was not edifying, nor admirable” what was written and said in the United Kingdom about the case.

“But when we have so many journalists trying to get the slightest piece of news it is at that time that we risk things getting out of control”, she notes.

Only one day after the 3rd of May of 2007, the issue was opening the news of all channels and front cover of all British newspapers – without speaking of the Portuguese, Spanish and even German or Japanese – and the little village in Algarve was invaded by journalists.

Some of the interest generated in public was due according to Adley to the fact that several persons identify themselves with the situation which led the journalists to show empathy with the case.

“It is a story that affects many people because it is a medium class story, a nightmare to go to a calm touristic resort and a child goes missing”,she justifies.

But Greenslade, actually a teacher in the City University, London, understands that the posture grew, first to a phase of scepticism, “which is the right attitude that should be adopted by journalists and after to distrust when they were treated as suspects”.

In his opinion this is the dominant position now even because the newspapers reflect the doubts and reproach of the readers concerning the McCanns.

“The great majority of people in United Kingdom thinks that they should not have left their children (alone), he says quoting numbers of a poll made in the Internet for the Sunday Times in August of 2007, when around 70% of the British condemned the couple for leaving the children alone.

The tendency is proved by the big number of hostile comments received in the website of Sky News about the issue, that refers to Lusa the journalist Martin Brunt is superior to the messages of support.

But the correspondent of Justice issues of the news channel considers that the British press continues in general to support the McCanns and the criticism was redirected against the Portuguese police due to the idea of facing a “weak police investigation”.

“The difficulty of knowing with exactitude what the police is doing led to the criticism of the press and to the impression that the investigation is not going anywhere”, he says.

An important changing moment in the way how the the case was covered was the action initiated by the McCanns against the Express group, Daily Mirror and Daily Star, that were obliged to apologise and to pay a financial compensation.

Although the defamed content was allegedly taken from news published in Portugal the newspapers were obliged to admit that there are no evidences that the parents are involved in the disappearance of their daughter as they insinuated.

Esther Addley, that reads Portuguese, was scandalized very often with what she read in the Portuguese press and astonished that the Portuguese journalists were not worried with the legal consequences.

“Some of the things were shocking and I thought several times that either the laws (in Portugal) are a lot different or if I wrote the same in United Kingdom I would be in trouble”, she guarantees.

In the McCanns country, the threat of new lawsuits for defamation seems to have decreased the eager of some tabloids for information and the interest become to vanish and only increased with the first anniversary says Brunt.

For example, Sky news that made directs from Portugal in the months following the disappearance and had a section dedicated to the case in the Internet is not going to mark the anniversary in Praia da Luz.

“We are only interested in true developments”, says Brunt foreseeing the “emptiness” of the story.

To mark the anniversary, Kate and Gerry McCann gave interviews to national and international media the days before to try to relaunch the campaign to find their daughter.

But since they were made arguidos in the process, in September, that the news stop being about Madeleine to begin to be about her parents.

“The McCanns will always be in the news till they die. This story was too big for them to be forgotten”, says the sub-editor of the Guardian.

Martin Brunt still believes that the control of their image and their privacy depends on them but Greenslade has no doubts that the McCanns already lost that capacity and that everything they do will be under the scrutiny of public eye through the media.

“They are now a celebrity couple and all the events of their life will be exploited by the media, either when the twins go to school or for domestic problems”, he says.

“This family will be in the media for the rest of their lives”, he adds.

(Click here for the original article in Sol)

Caso Maddie

Família McCann vai estar na comunicação social para o resto da vida Da empatia à desconfiança, vários jornalistas britânicos reconhecem que foram cometidos excessos na cobertura do desaparecimento de Madeleine McCann, mas negam que o interesse pela vida privada da família vai decrescer

«O que fizemos a este casal não foi o nosso melhor momento como jornais», reconhece o ex-jornalista Roy Greenslade, em declarações à agência Lusa, passado um ano desde o desaparecimento da criança britânica, na altura com três anos, de um apartamento turístico na Praia da Luz, no Algarve.

Esther Addley, sub-editora do diário The Guardian, concorda que «não foi sempre edificante, nem admirável» o que foi escrito e dito no Reino Unido sobre o caso.

«Mas quando temos tantos jornalistas a tentar arrancar o mais pequeno pedaço de notícia, é nessa altura que se corre o risco de as coisas se descontrolarem», nota.

Apenas um dia depois do 03 de Maio de 2007, o assunto era abertura de todas as televisões e primeiras páginas de todos os jornais britânicos – para não falar dos portugueses, espanhóis e até de alemães ou japoneses – e a pequena localidade algarvia era invadida de jornalistas.

Parte do interesse gerado no público deveu-se, segundo Addley, ao facto de muitas pessoas se identificarem com a situação, o que levou os jornalistas a também mostrar empatia com o caso.

«É uma história que afecta muita gente porque é uma história de classe média, um pesadelo de ir para um complexo turístico calmo e o filho desaparecer», justifica.

Mas Greenslade, actualmente professor na Universidade City, em Londres, entende que a postura evoluiu, primeiro para uma fase do cepticismo, «que é a atitude certa para os jornalistas adoptarem, e depois para a desconfiança, quando eles foram tratados como suspeitos».

Na sua opinião, é esta posição que agora predomina, até porque os jornais reflectem as dúvidas e a reprovação dos leitores em relação aos McCann.

«A grande maioria das pessoas no Reino Unido pensa que eles não deviam ter deixado as suas crianças [sozinhas]», diz, citando os números de uma sondagem feita por Internet para o Sunday Times em Agosto de 2007, quando cerca de 70 por cento dos britânicos condenavam o casal por ter deixado os filhos sozinhos.

A tendência é comprovada pelo grande número de comentários hostis recebidos na página de Internet sobre o tema na Sky News, que, refere à Lusa o jornalista Martin Brunt, é superior às mensagens de incentivo.

Mas o correspondente em assuntos de Justiça do canal noticioso considera que a imprensa britânica continua, na generalidade, a apoiar os McCann, e que as críticas foram direccionadas contra a polícia portuguesa devido à ideia de se estar perante uma «investigação policial fraca».

«A dificuldade em saber com precisão o que é que a polícia está a fazer levou, em grande parte, às críticas da imprensa e à impressão de que a investigação não vai a lado nenhum», sustenta.

Um momento importante na mudança da forma como a cobertura do caso foi a acção iniciada pelos McCann contra o grupo Express, dos diários Daily Mirror e Daily Star, e que obrigou a um pedido de desculpas e ao pagamento de uma compensação financeira.

Ainda que o conteúdo difamatório fosse, alegadamente, retirado de notícias publicadas em Portugal, os jornais foram obrigados a admitir que não existem provas de que os pais estejam envolvidos no desaparecimento da filha, como chegaram a insinuar.

Esther Addley, que lê português, escandalizou-se muitas vezes com o que viu na imprensa portuguesa e espanta-se que os jornalistas portugueses não se preocupem com as consequências legais.

«Algumas coisas eram muito chocantes e pensei várias vezes que, ou as leis [em Portugal] são muito diferentes, ou se eu escrevesse o mesmo no Reino Unido estaria em sarilhos», assegura.

No país dos McCann, a ameaça de novos processos por difamação parece ter diminuído a saciedade de alguns tablóides por informação e o interesse entrou numa fase decrescente, que só ressurgiu com o primeiro aniversário, observa Brunt.

Por exemplo, a Sky News, que fez directos de Portugal nos meses seguintes ao desaparecimento e chegou a ter uma secção dedicada ao caso na página da Internet, não vai marcar o aniversário na Praia da Luz.

«Só estamos interessados em verdadeiros desenvolvimentos», vinca Brunt, prognosticando o «esvaziamento» da história.

Para marcar o aniversário, Kate e Gerry McCann desdobraram-se em entrevistas à comunicação social nacional e internacional nos dias anteriores para tentar relançar a campanha para encontrar a filha.

Mas, desde que foram constituídos arguidos no processo, em Setembro, que a notícia deixou de ser sobre Madeleine para passar a ser os seus pais.

«Os McCann vão estar sempre nas notícias até morrerem. Esta história foi demasiado grande para eles alguma vez serem esquecidos», diagnostica a sub-editora do Guardian.

Martin Brunt ainda acredita que o controlo sobre a sua imagem e privacidade depende deles, mas Greenslade não tem dúvidas de que os McCann já perderam essa capacidade e que tudo o que façam vai estar sob o olhar público através dos media.

«Eles são agora um casal celebrizado e todos os eventos da vida deles vão ser explorados pelos media, seja quando os gémeos forem para a escola ou por problemas domésticos», profetiza.

«Esta família vai estar nos media para o resto da vida deles», reforça.

Lusa/SOL

(Translation courtesy of Li)

In prime time, the three Portuguese television channels transmitted yesterday interviews of the McCanns. Kate and Gerry still believe that their daughter is alive. The couple admits that they “were very upset” when they were made arguidos and that there were failures in the communication between them and the investigators.

How did you react when you were made arguidos?

I confess that I was very upset. I have to be honest for Madeleine. People began to look at me as a suspect and that was devastating.
(Kate McCann to TVI)

What was you worst nightmare since that happened?

The first days were our worst nightmare. To think that she had been taken and killed by someone.
(Gerry to RTP)

How do you face the reenactment of the events of that night?

How can you do a reenactment of something that will be clearly fabricated by the media?
(Gerry to Sky News)

Did you think that you were suspects from that moment on?

We did not know. But we also did not know what the PJ did exactly. We do not know what suspects were eliminated and which were the grounds. We do not know what clues were followed by the PJ and that is sad, because we wanted all stones turned in the search for Maddie and we need to believe that everything that had to be made was made.
(Gerry to TVI)

The PJ says that the testimonies are contradictory. How do you explain that?

I don’t understand what doubts the PJ still have.
(Gerry to TVI)

How do you intend to speak to the twins about Maddie?

They speak about their sister everyday… when they play they include her. If in a way that is difficult in the other hand is loving (tears). They know that she is missing and that we are looking for her. (Gerry interrupts…) Sean is very adorabale because he says: “When we will be in Portugal, Maddie is there”.
(Kate to SIC)

How was the last year of your life?

I think it was the most difficult year of our lives. We have been motivated by the strong possibility of Madeleine being still alive. The love and joy of Sean and Amelie make us continue.
(Gerry to SIC)

How do you spend your days?

Most of the time I am working and most of the nights we work doing research for the campaign.
(Gerry to SIC)
(Kate McCann to TVI)

Do you feel any anxiousness to return to Portugal?

Yes. We never imagined that Portugal would give us so much attention.
(Kate to RTP)

A year later do you still think that Maddie might be alive?

There are hypothesis that she is alive, yes. There are so many children that are only found after several years…
(Kate to RTP)

Why didn’t you take Maddie with you to the Tapas Bar?

Because the children were asleep at 19,30.
(Gerry to RTP)

(Click here for original article)

“Não sei que pistas a PJ seguiu”

FILIPA AMBRÓSIO DE SOUSA e PEDRO VILELA MARQUES

(Translation courtesy of Li from original article here in the Jornal de Notícias)

A year after ,the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, of an apartment in the Ocean Club at Praia da Luz (Lagos) remains unsolved. The investigation continues based on indirect evidence and runs at the taste of bureaucracy, but also of time and willingness of several British authorities who have cooperated with the PJ.

If, in fact, the British girl with green eyes died in the apartment – as the evidence points out – the truth is that it did not appeared yet what the investigators think is the crucial proof, the corpse. The absence of the body has enabled the total clarification of the case by the PJ, and allows the McCanns to continue to feed, as they affirmed yesterday in London to the press, the idea that their daughter is alive and that she was the victim of an abduction.

The investigators continue not to picture what really happened in the Ocean Club between 18 hours – the time when Kate entered the apartment with the three children – and 22 hours, when the alarm of her disappearance was made. The depositions of Kate and Gerry and the seven friends who dined with them in the Tapas restaurant are contradictory. And the McCanns did not yet answered the questions that the PJ considers essential to the progress of the investigation. A silence only broken by the several interviews given by them – the last one was given yesterday to JN – and in that interview nothing was said, again, about what happened the night of 3rd of May of last year.

Steps under way

There are other testimonies and other evidence that will help the inspectors to give small steps, but the resolution of the mystery, for many, seems far away of happening.

The truth is that never before the disappearance of a child caught so much attention in the world, nor was the target of so many political interventions. The English prime minister, Gordon Brown, had conversations about the case with his Portuguese counterpart, José Sócrates.

The last conversation took place a month after Kate and Gerry were made arguidos – on suspicion of concealment of the corpse and simulation of the crime of abduction – and showed the powerful connections of the couple in England. A country where newspapers and journalists were obliged to pay huge compensations and apologize publicly for the news published about couple and their involvement in the case.

One year after the disappearance of Madeleine, the image of the PJ continues to be questioned and subjected to veiled threats from the United Kingdom. The investigators and their personal life began to be scrutinised by the media. The most striking example was the one of the former coordinator of the PJ of Portimão, Gonçalo Amaral, criticized for his personal living habits and involvement in a process of alleged torture of Leonor Cipriano.

The faces of the investigation changed – Paulo Rebelo is the new responsible – the methods too, but in fact few steps were taken. The rogatory letters took five months to be completed and days before the interrogations were made by the police of Leicester the British already knew the steps that the PJ wanted to make. Of the new evidence collected little is known, but if the contradictions continue, the PJ will be once again hostage of the laboratory results that still did not arrive.

A year after, the mystery involves the most famous girl disappeared in the World.

Original Article in Portuguese

MADDIE A desaparecida mais famosa do Mundo

Alexandra Serôdio

Um ano depois, mantém-se o mistério que envolve o desaparecimento de Madeleine McCann, de um apartamento do Ocean Club, na praia da Luz (Lagos). A investigação continua assente em provas indirectas e vai correndo ao sabor da burocracia, mas também do tempo e da vontade de várias entidades ingleses que têm colaborado com a Polícia Judiciária (PJ).

Se, de facto, a menina inglesa de olhos verdes morreu no apartamento – como os indícios apontam -, a verdade é que ainda não surgiu aquilo que os investigadores pensam ser a prova fulcral o cadáver. A ausência do corpo tem impossibilitado o total esclarecimento do caso, por parte da PJ, e permite aos McCann continuar a alimentar, como ontem reafirmaram, em Londres, à Imprensa, a ideia de que a filha está viva e que foi vítima de um sequestro.

Os investigadores, por outro lado, continuam sem conseguir descortinar ao certo o que realmente aconteceu no Ocean Club, entre as 18 horas – ocasião em que Kate entra no apartamento com os três filhos – e as 22 horas, quando é dado o alerta do desaparecimento de Madeleine. Os depoimentos de Kate e Gerry e dos sete amigos que com eles jantaram no restaurante Tapas são contraditórios. E os McCann continuam sem responder a perguntas que a PJ considera essenciais para o avanço da investigação. Um silêncio apenas quebrado pelos inúmeras entrevistas que vão dando – a última foi dada ontem ao JN -, e nas quais nada é dito de novo sobre o que aconteceu na noite de 3 de Maio do ano passado.

Diligências em curso

Há outros testemunhos e outras provas documentais que vão ajudando os inspectores a dar pequenos passos, mas a resolução do mistério, para muitos, parece estar ainda longe de acontecer.

A verdade é que nunca um desaparecimento de uma criança captou tanto a atenção do Mundo, nem foi alvo de tantas intervenções políticas. O primeiro-ministro inglês, Gordon Brown, chega a ter diálogos sobre o caso com o seu homólogo português, José Sócrates.

A última conversa ocorreu um mês depois de Kate e Gerry terem sido constituídos arguidos – por suspeita de ocultação de cadáver e simulação do crime de sequestro – e veio demonstrar as poderosas ligações do casal em Inglaterra. Um país onde jornais e jornalistas se viram obrigados a pagar chorudas indemnizações e a pedir desculpas públicas por notícias sobre o casal e o seu envolvimento no caso.

Um ano depois do desaparecimento de Madeleine, a própria imagem da PJ continua a estar posta em causa, sujeita a ameaças mais ou menos veladas oriundas do Reino Unido. Os investigadores, e a sua vida pessoal, passaram a ser escrutinadas pela Comunicação Social. O exemplo mais flagrante foi o do ex-coordenador da PJ de Portimão, Gonçalo Amaral, criticado pelos seus hábitos de vida pessoal e pelo envolvimento num processo por alegada tortura sobre Leonor Cipriano.

As caras da investigação foram mudando – Paulo Rebelo é o novo responsável -, os métodos também, mas na verdade poucos passos foram dados. As cartas rogatórias demoraram cinco meses a ser cumpridas e a dias do início das inquirições pela Polícia de Leicester já os ingleses sabiam das diligências que a PJ pretendia efectuar. Dos novos depoimentos recolhidos pouco se sabe, mas a manterem-se as contradições, a PJ fica novamente refém de resultados laboratoriais que teimam em não chegar.

Um ano depois, o mistério envolve a menina desaparecida mais famosa do Mundo.