My Own Two Cents On Madeleine...Part V!

In "Part IV", I mentioned about British press shooting their own foot...seems like it is what happened!

The results of the biological evidence found in the apartment and in the car used by the McCann have now arrived in Portugal. The British press states that the results show with no doubt that Madeleine was carried in the trunk of the car the McCann were using. Her DNA is spread all over the car which contradicts the theory of DNA transfer from clothing. Need be to remind that the car was rented 22 days after Madeleine's disappearance?

Sources contacted by Portuguese newspapers, are careful in their statements regarding the results of the DNA testing and sampling. However, they do not exclude that former theories are now confirmed but they assure that work still needs to be done on it for doubtless certainty. The contacted sources, reinstate that the priority is to find the child's body, as only when Maddie is found, it will be possible to understand the mechanism that led to her death and to eventually formally accuse her parents of homicide.

One should remember that the first results given to the Portuguese authorities already seemed to agree with the theory that Maddie was dead. That is why her parents were considered "arguidos" last September.

However, back then, the police did not have much to work with to have absolute belief in their guilt. Although Maddie's parents had been confronted with evidence available and with the homicide theory, they stated over and over again that the DNA was in the car because of DNA transfer since Maddie's clothes were carried in the trunk of the car.

The results now available for the Portuguese police show that such could not be possible. Some British press stated that the evidence formally guarantees that the evidence available points to a body being carried in the car and not a live person (the McCann had stated that the DNA could come from their twin children. Needless to point out that although we have similar DNA within family, we have our own chart...like our own finger prints!).

So shooting their own foot? Yes, so much that the British press is now reverting the tide and accusing the McCann. The same press that protected, "shielded" the McCann and had fun with their smear campaign of Portugal and its police. How easy now...

If the above is confirmed...one thing is for sure...the McCann will have damaged forever the image of those who really suffer the loss of a child in dramatic circumstances and need as much help as possible. How to make any campaign credible from now on? We now take the risk that each time a child will disappear, a public outcry will be overlooked, will be insignificant. Won't we think each time it will happen "what if it is another McCann case"?

My own two cents on Madeleine...Part IV

Booker Prize winner Anne Enright ran into controversy after writing an extraordinary article describing how much she disliked Gerry and Kate McCann. The piece, which was published in the London Review of Books before the Irish novelist won the 2007 award for “The Gathering”, is a provocative 2,000-word analysis of her own reactions to the plight of the McCanns.

She writes how at one stage her family suspected that the McCanns were responsible for missing Madeleine's death, and tells how she disliked the McCanns "earlier than most people" - particularly Gerry.

Enright, who has two children, aged four and seven, also talks about the "narcissism" of Kate McCann and compares remarks they have made to exchanges between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

In the article Enright wrote: "In August, the sudden conviction that the McCanns 'did it' swept over our own family holiday in a peculiar hallelujah. Of course they had. It made a lot more sense to me than their leaving the children to sleep alone."

Describing disliking the McCanns as "an international sport" she wrote: "I disliked the McCanns earlier than most people (I'm not proud of it). I thought I was angry with them for leaving their children alone. "In fact, I was angry at their failure to accept that their daughter was probably dead. I wanted them to grieve, which is to go away. In this, I am as bad as people who complain that 'she does not cry'."

While most of the animosity against the McCanns was centred on "Madeleine's beautiful mother", she said she reacted worse to Gerry and the way he speaks. "I find Gerry McCann's need to ' influence the investigation' more provoking than her flat sadness, or the very occasional glimpse of a wounded narcissism that flecks her public appearances.
"I have never objected to good-looking women. My personal jury is out on the issue of narcissism in general; her daughter's strong relationship with the camera lens causes us a number of emotions, but the last of them is always sorrow and pain."

She added: "The sad fact is that this man cannot speak properly about what is happening to himself and his wife, and about what he wants. The language he uses is more appropriate to a corporate executive than to a desperate father. This may be just the way he is made. This may be all he has of himself to give the world, just now. "But we are all used to the idea of corporations lying to us, one way or another - it's part of our mass paranoia, as indeed are the couple we see on the screen. No wonder, I think, they will not speak about that night. Then I go to bed and wake up the next day, human again, liking the McCanns."

Family is the subject of Enright's novel which took the £50,000 prize at the Guildhall ceremony last night.

Now, my own cents...Is looks and public behaviour really important in this story? The British press seems to be asking this question to itself as well as all those that are following the “world campaign” organized by the McCann to find Madeleine.

“If I looked more like the typical middle-aged mum, people would look at me with more sympathy” recently declared Kate McCann. Who is right, who is wrong? The mother who does not shed a single tear or the author (that dares expressing out loud what most of us are thinking) that does not forgive the tough stance showed by Kate McCann?

My own two cents on Madeleine...Part III

The DNA results have still not arrived in Portugal, but the elements already available seem to indicate that Madeleine McCann was in the car the parents had rented. The Portuguese police believes that the new evidence will be crucial for the continuing of the investigation, which can now regain momentum.

The data which has been provided to the Portuguese police seem to lead to the conclusion that the evidence material collected in the car and in the apartment of the McCann, belonged Madeleine McCann. The Portuguese authorities are supposed to be having the full report by the end of the week, but all points to a confirmation of the information released by the press i.e. that the McCann may have been "active" participants in Madeleine's disappearance.

However, several details still need to be confirmed. Namely, if the hair found in the car and in the apartment is Madeleine's and if it was ante or post-mortem. Also still to be confirmed, is if the analyses will show traces of sedatives, as implied by the police.

The police is also awaiting for other confirmations such as the analysis of the evidence material found in the Renault Scenic, rented one month after Maddie disappeared. The current available reports lead to a confirmation of the theory that Maddie was carried in the car and that it was not just a mere transfer of DNA through a piece of cloth as the McCann have declared. The other answer provided by the McCann, namely that the DNA found in the car could belong to any of Maddie's twin sister or brother was dismissed as not possible by the British laboratory in charge of examining the DNA material.

According to the Portuguese newspaper "Correio da Manhã", the arrival of these new reports, gives new momentum to the investigation. All this will be communicated to the British police as any further questioning of the McCann from the Portuguese will have to be done through their British counterparts (British law does not allow extradition of its citizens) - will they be going back to Portugal, if the Portuguese authorities request it, as they always said they would???? In case they will be formally charged of having a participation in Madeleine's disappearance/death, they will have to be judged in England (unless they decide to go back to Portugal).

Now guess what? To counter the laboratory results (may I remind that it is a BRITISH lab), the law firm Kingsley Napley, hired their own team for new testing - this after the Birmingham lab itself suggested that the Portuguese police may be right! Also, may I remind everyone that the choice of the Birmingham laboratory was a well-thought decision? After all, that is where the best and most modern technology for this kind of tests can be found. Aren't the British shooting their own foot?

What???? Are they thinking their results will be any different? Gosh, the results presented so far were presented by the Forensic Science Service. How far are the British willing to go just to keep on their smear campaign against the Portuguese police and their work?

My own two cents on Madeleine...Part II

Daniel Krugel, a South African private detective who last July searched for Maddie in Praia da Luz (and who had been invited by the McCann) claims to know where Maddie is buried.

Daniel Krugel declared to the “Sunday Mirror”: “I am convinced that Madeleine’s body is in Praia da Luz”. He added that “the chances that she is alive are very slim”.According to the Portuguese newspapers, a source close to the investigation says that the place is the area where Maddie’s father used to jog.

According to the newspaper “Correio da Manhã”, the Portuguese authorities believe that the body may have been buried on the beach a few hours after her death. Daniel Kruger confirmed that he arrived in Portugal with his team on 17 July and during 4 days he used a machine of his own invention which can detect people based on their DNA. The targeted areas were the Ocean Club apartment as well as the surroundings and main exits from Praia da Luz.

Krugel told the “Sunday Mirror” that he is about to return to Portugal at the McCann request. In a report he surrendered to the Portuguese police, Krugel mentions a 500 square metre area as the probable place where Maddie was buried. However, the authorities did not proceed to any dig on the area.

Krugel says that his work started with one of Maddie’s hair which had been provided by Gerry McCann. “The aim was to have a chart of the DNA”. He then used the machine of his own invention (called matter orientation system) which, based on quantum physics and GPS, can reveal the location of a body.

Of his work done in Algarve he states that: “I did an extensive search in Praia da Luz with the help of the machine and of some friends. We were there 16 hours a day. No place was forgotten”. Mr Krugel is forbidden to reveal the location he mentioned in his report to the police as per Portuguese law.

He stated to the “News of the World” that he is not mentioning it to “avoid people going there out of curiosity and therefore destroying evidence”. He however stressed that “everyday the trail was clearer”. “The machine was always providing the same bearings which made me always come back to the same location. This made me believe that Madeleine is there”.

Daniel Krugel a former colonel of the South African police is known as “The Locator” name given after his discovery of several bodies. He guarantees a success of 90% in all the cases he investigated.

It was following Daniel Krugel’s work that the request for the British dogs (which can smell dead bodies) was made. This lead to the collection of evidence which in its turn lead to the belief that the McCann were guilty.

My opinion???? What to believe? So many incredible stories about Madeleine’s disappearance have been around that one does not know what to believe anymore…besides this one seems to be a little bit “tirée par les cheveux” as we would say in French!!!

Quantum physics and GPS to locate DNA? I’ll let the scientists answer…

My own two cents...on Madeleine

Getting sick and tired of the “smear” campaign that has Portugal and its police as a target lately, I thought of giving my own two cents on the Madeleine McCann disappearance.

Ok, so let’s see…don’t you think it is interesting to see how the PR campaign is shifting (or trying to shift the attention) from the McCann’s and the possibility that they are suspected only now? Let’s consider one thing: during all the time the McCann’s were not suspects, they spent their days launching balloons, visiting the Pope, going to the US as awareness about "missing children" or going to shopping sprees as stated in their blog BUT it is NOW that they are going to seriously make an ad campaign to find Madeleine?

Let’s go fact by fact:

1. Why do parents leave children of small age alone knowing that there is the risk that they will wake up and might leave the room?
2. Did the McCann’s sedate their children? They said no. However, on 9 September they told the Sunday Times that gave to their children Calpol (paracetamol) which does not have a sedating effect.
3. Why (according to a witness) does Kate McCann call Sky News about her missing child even BEFORE calling the police? Quite interesting don’t you think? Police reports (after studying the list of calls made from the McCann’s apartment) say that the call to Sky News was done at 22:00 while the call to the police was done at 22:40!
4. Why does Kate McCann remain in the room when everyone is out looking for Madeleine? If my child had disappeared from where she was supposed to be, the first thing I would do (and having witnessed those events several times, I know that is what usually happens) would be to go out to see if the child wouldn’t be wandering somewhere. Kate McCann chose to stay in the apartment.
5. One witness testified that Kate never cried, the neighbours only discovered it was her child that was missing when they saw the papers she gave to the police.
6. Why, if kidnapping, only Madeleine was kidnapped when there was 3 small children in the same room? Let’s be honest, that is not logical.
7. Does the blood found in the car belong to Maddie? The parents explained that Maddie had a cut in a leg when they were flying to Portugal, traces of blood could therefore be on her clothes which would have been in the car after she disappeared. Professor Antonio Amorim, Vice-Director of the Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia da Universidade do Porto (Institute of Pathology and Immunology of Porto University) says that the DNA transfer from a piece of clothing to the safe of the car is “virtually impossible”. According to him, the chance that happens is merely an “academic” one (forget the CSI series you’re watching!). The McCann’s guarantee to have innocent explanations for the blood in the car they rented 3 weeks after Maddie’s disappearance. All her things were transported in that car and therefore there was a transfer of DNA. Prof. Amorim says “in theory yes, that can happen, in the real world? No, it is virtually impossible since the quality of the DNA would have to be acceptable" (the DNA found had only 15 of the 20 required markers). Prof. Amorim continues saying that there should have been "perfect conditions of humidity for the transfer". And that the blood could have been from her twin brother and sister? Prof. Amorim’s answer: "when you try to reconstruct a DNA, you look for target areas. A person’s DNA has great diversity; it is something that is different even between brothers and sisters. It’s like a lottery result that is transmitted to us by our parents and it would be the most serious mistake a lab could do to confuse one DNA with another"! May I please remind that all DNA testing was done in England?
8. At a request of British police, Portuguese police had sniffer dogs come from England, sniffer dogs which can smell “dead bodies”. The dogs found traces of that smell in the car and in the apartment. Explanation from the McCann’s: Kate being a doctor and having handled corps in the morgue before her holidays, the smell stayed in her clothes. Say what? Three weeks later the smell would linger on? Even after having washed the clothing. Because let’s see, 3 weeks before her holidays and 4 weeks after Maddie disappeared i.e. 7 weeks later, the dogs would still be able to smell it? She doesn’t wash her clothes?

As I said above, it was the McCann’s who wanted the “media circus” to be able to search for their daughter. Ok, they got a private jet to go to the Vatican, to the US, to Morocco, all over Europe. All this disturbed the police work who could not work properly as it had to spend half its time avoiding the press!

Many Portuguese now believe that all this media frenzy was a smoke screen. The impression in Portugal is that all that served one purpose, that the McCann’s could not in any case be guilty. Little by little, the McCann’s had convinced the world that it was a kidnapping and that there was not much hope of recovering Maddie. However, they would not go back to England without her. Until…they were declared arguidos and “fled” to England.

("Arguido" is a person who is being formally charged of some crime. The legal status of “arguido” is used in criminal procedures only. If it is what is called a "civil" procedure the person is called "réu". You are an arguido after you are considered a formal suspect and until you are considered guilty or not guilty, or until the other part gives up on the process.

1. What rights does the status of arguido give to a suspect?
The arguido has the right to have a fair trial, to defend himself and he must have a lawyer. An "arguido" has more legal rights than a witness, including right to remain silent and have a lawyer. Some people request to be declared "arguido" to get this protection. Police must declare a witness an "arguido" before asking certain questions or making an arrest. Courts may restrict movements of an "arguido". An arrest or charge does not always follow someone being named an "arguido"

2. What obligations does it place upon a suspect?
The obligations are to be present in court and to respect the instructions of the judge before the trial occurs.

3. How long is it possible to be an arguido?
Can’t remember what the Portuguese law says about this because cases usually take so long...

4. What is the difference between being an arguido and a witness?
A witness is the person who testifies in court, the person who saw something or knows something, or is important to the case. We call it a "testemunha". Arguido is the person who is being charged of some crime)

The conclusion of the police: an accident might have happened in the apartment, Maddie died and the parents and their friends decided to hide the body, pretended there had been a kidnapping and to later dispose of her. In the meantime the media frenzy had got to such an extent that they could not come back on their declarations.

Was it then just a case of protecting a reputation? But who’s reputation, Kate’s or Gerry? After some search, the police discovered that Gerry McCann, a cardiologist, has powerful friends that he was aiming at an important job in the Ministry of Health and was hoping to start a political career. That must have weighted a lot in the few hours after Maddie’s disappearance.

Don’t get me wrong on what I have written, I would prefer that Maddie was kidnapped and that one day she could be found. I really hope this is what happened and that somehow, she is ok.
BUT… the bottom line is that parents left their children unattended and Maddie is still missing. The McCann will have to live with that guilt for the rest of their lives.

By the way, in a poll published by the Sunday Times, 48% of the British people asked to answer believe the McCann’s might be responsible of Maddie’s death.