by astro 9 years ago
Investigation – PJ believes that the McCann couple altered the crime scene in order to simulate the abduction
Maddie’s parents accused of changing the disposition of the furniture and of washing the sofa
The Polícia Judiciária has no doubts that Maddie’s parents changed the disposition of furniture and objects in the apartment where Maddie disappeared from on the evening of May 3, 2007, in the Algarve, thus manipulating the crime scene in order to better justify the abduction theory that they always defended.
According to the Polícia Judiciária’s investigation, which from today onwards is public, the coincidence between the marking of cadaver odour and blood which was given by the sniffer dogs behind the sofa “indubitably” proves that the sofa was pushed against the wall after the little girl’s death. On the other hand, given the few indicia that was collected from this piece of furniture, which was located on the same spot where the dogs gave a signal, the Judiciária admits the possibility that it was “subject to washing” in order to eliminate eventual traces.
Soft toy placed on the bed
“There are strong indicia that they altered the crime scene, moving some of the furniture. The changes are indicators of simulation”, one of the PJ’s reports reads, also revealing that Maddie’s soft toy, which was found at the top of the bed where Maddie slept, was placed there at a posterior moment, given the fact that contrary to the soft toy, the bed failed to reveal cadaver odour.
“There was an intentional modification, in an attempt to take advantage for the simulation of the picture of abduction”, one can read in the process, where the investigators recall that the procedures from the family were in such manner as to conduct the investigation into the direction of the abduction thesis. The Polícia Judiciária believes that the false abduction was “worked by the group”, which made the investigators “waste time”.
McCanns mentioned death to the PJ
The possibility that Madeleine is dead was raised to the PJ by the McCanns themselves, who suggested contacting a person to indicate the spot where the cadaver could be found. “This fact became unexplainable for the elements of the investigation”, the PJ writes, remembering that in front of the journalists, the parents continued to manifest the hope that they would find their daughter alive.
The dogs never failed in 200 searches
In over two hundred searches, ‘Eddie’ and ‘Keela’, the sniffer dogs of the springel spaniel breed that were used in the investigation into the disappearance of Maddie, did not give a single “false positive result”.
The guarantee is given by English expert Martin Grime, who in the report about the search guarantees that the behaviour of the dog that is trained to detect cadaver odour “changed immediately after opening the front door of the apartment” where Madeleine McCann disappeared from.
“He went into the apartment with above average interest”, the document reads, explaining that the dog signaled inside the couple’s bedroom, in the living room, behind the sofa and next to the side window. The same signs were given by the dog that is trained to detect blood residues. The dogs signaled the same spots and objects that are related to the McCanns – house, car and clothes – which was decisive for being made arguidos.
Notes
No credibility
The deposition by Jane Tanner, who said she saw someone crossing the street carrying a child, was not considered credible by the PJ, which does not understand how the McCanns’ friend, upon seeing someone walking away from Madeleine’s apartment “did not act or speak out immediately”.
Everyone lies
The PJ says that the information that was collected from the McCanns and their friends was “worked upon” in order to strengthen the abduction theory. But it rapidly perceived that “everyone lies” in the issue of checking the children, further explaining that the family information, which in these cases is “fundamental”, was always “distorted”.
Files Process is public – From today onwards, the files of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine can be consulted at the Court of Portimão by lawyers, witnesses and journalists.
Brown Political pressures – Kate’s notebooks reveal that Maddie’s parents called the English prime minister, Gordon Brown, requesting for political pressure to be placed on Portugal.
Book Amaral recounts death – The former coordinator of the Maddie case recounts in his book ‘Truth of the Lie’, his thesis about the case and defends that the little girl was killed in the apartment and her body frozen.
source: Correio da Manhã, 04.08.2008, paper edition
by Joana Morais---9 years ago
One of the dogs used by the PJ signalled Kate and Gerry car among ten vehicles parked in an underground parking triggered by the cadaver odour
The vehicle used by Kate and Gerry McCann, a Renault Scénic, travelled, in a little over a month, between the 27th of May and 3rd of July, 2750 kilometres, at a time when the McCanns were globetrotting. This was one of the leads followed by the investigators of the Maddie case. The PJ tried to clarify who drove the car and which were the routes done by the vehicle where traces [body fluids, DNA] presumed to belong to Madeleine were found.
The vehicle was handed over to the McCanns with 3114 kilometres, on the 27th of May of last year, just a few days before one of the most mediatic travels done by the parents of the disappeared child in Praia da Luz on the 3rd of May of 2007: the audience with the Pope Benedict XVI. On the 3rd of July, the car's kilometer counter registered 5864 kilometres.
TRACES
The vehicle driven by the McCanns turned out to be one of the most important means of proof for the PJ, after traces of the child had been found by the English dogs, namely odour to human cadaver and to blood.
In one of the cino-techniques [Human Remains detection by expert dogs] done on 6th of August by the dog ‘Eddie’, of the English Springer Spaniel race, who detects odour of cadaver, the animal signalled the car of the McCanns between ten vehicles that were in an underground parking. There were traces of blood in the key and at the car boot. The key still had odour to corpse.
Identical traces were found by the animals in the Ocean Club’s apartment, in a flowerbed in the back yard, in two of Kate's clothes and in one of Maddie’s and in the 'plush toy' of the child, which the mother carried everywhere.
In the apartment there were evidences, specifically in the couple’s room (in a corner, near the wardrobe) and in the living room (behind of the sofa, next to the side window of the apartment).
NOTES
ARCHIVED
The investigation to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was archived by the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) on the 21st of July.
REOPENING
The process can be reopened if new elements of proof appear.
30 THOUSAND PAGES
The process made available to the media on Tuesday was recorded in a DVD. The process has more than 30 thousand pages, which correspond to 47 volumes of investigation.
Source: Correio da Manhã 09.08.2008
Extracts on the Cadaver dogs from the PJ Final Report (click here to read the full report)
pages 35 and 36
(...) 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
1 - Apartment 5A, of the resort ‘Ocean Club’, place from where the child disappeared.
- cadaver odour dog:
*in the couple’s bedroom, in a corner, close to the wardrobe;
*in the living room, behind the sofa, close to the lateral window of the apartment;
- blood dog:
* in the living room, behind the sofa, close to the lateral window of the apartment (exactly as it was signalled by the cadaver odour dog);
2 – Area of the backyard, close to the apartment 5A:
- cadaver odour dog:
* in a flowerbed, commented by the dog handler the lightness of the scent detected;
3 – Apartments where the rest of the elements of the group stayed
* NOTHING was detected by any of the dogs;
4 – House of the MCCANNs at the date of the inspection [second apartment]
* NOTHING at the house, was detected by any of the dogs;
5 - In the area of Vila da Luz
* NOTHING was detected by any of the dogs;
6 – In the clothes and belongings of the Family MCCANN
- cadaver odour dog:
* in two pieces of clothing belonging to KATE HEALY
* in a piece of clothing of the minor MADELEINE
* in the plush toy, possibly belonging to MADELEINE (it was detected cadaver odour, when the plush was inside the residence – at the date occupied by the family)
7 – In the vehicle used by the MCCANN family
- cadaver odour dog:
* signalled the key of the vehicle;
- blood dog:
* signalled the key of the vehicle;
* signalled the interior of the vehicle’s boot;
8 – In the vehicle used by a friend of the family, who stayed in the same resort, matching some of the holiday days.
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 inquisition, 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.(....)
Related:
The dogs’ work as described by their own handler - Jornal de Notícias
7 Aug 2008
The cadaver detection dog “Eddie” and the blood detection dog “Keela” showed themselves as “very excited” when they entered apartment 5A of the Ocean Club, the one that had been occupied by the McCann couple during their holidays...
"Madeleine died in the apartment" - Correio da Manhã
23 Jul 2008
We talk about blood residues because the CSI dog is trained to detect only that bodily fluid. The reports that were used to based the decision on, which were written by experts Mark Harrison and Martin Grime, are clear: the CSI dog was...
English defended the use of the dogs - Correio da Manhã
20 Jul 2008
Mark Harrison, the English police who was designated to help the Polícia Judiciária in the search for Madeleine McCann, wrote a report last summer, in which he defended the usage of the dogs that are experts in the detection of cadaver...
McCanns Case: How can a dog sniff through concrete?
26 Feb 2008
The McCanns previously tried to dismiss the cadaver dogs findings, stating that the Cadaver dogs were manipulated to react to the Renault Scenic therefore implying that the South Yorkshire police special team handling the dogs was...
External and Interesting sources:
Cadaver Dog Handbook (Forensic Training & Tactics) - PDF File
Cadaver dogs are canines, Canis familiaris, which are specially trained to find human decomposition scent and alert their handlers to its location. They are used in a variety of forensic contexts, including search and discovery of human cadavers, body parts, or body fluids....
CSI: DOG SQUAD
At the former children's home at Haut de la Garenne in Jersey, a sensational discovery was made in February; a fragment of what might have been human bone. It was unearthed by a dog trained to detect human remains...
Joana Morais
MOROCCO
Thursday, 13 August 2015
7th June
Kate and Gerry fly back to PDL early evening, then drive to Lagos to attend concert in aid of Madeleine.
8th Jun 07
Gerry's blog: "Sean, in particular has acquired a taste for sea-bass"
9th June DATE: 9/6/2007 (from Pamalan)
DATE GERRY USED
Day 37 - 11/06/2007
Kate and I had a slightly busier day on the media front than expected. We did a short press interview for the Irish Sunday papers, mainly to thank the Irish for their fantastic level of support. [..]
After this we headed down to Sagres which is the very most southwestern tip of Portugal. There is a very nice beach and we had lunch with the family. [..]
After returning from the beach we did the Irish version of Crimewatch-‘Crimecall’. [..] we want the Irish public to come forward with photographs of people who they do not know who were in and around Praia da Luz in the 2 weeks leading up to the 3rd May.
The Sagres trip does seem rather strange and - considering that some of the family apparently flew in for this junket - rather short. Surely it would make more sense to make it a full day with the twins (there is no mention of them in the blog) and have a day out with all the family. I
t looks more like a few hours with the family although it is possible that if the twins came Sean could have been treated to fresh sea-bass, his liking for this food having already been announced to the world the previous day.
Why in particular are Irish people asked to send their photographs. I particularly love the phrase ‘photographs of people who they do not know’ and why is Gerry two days out? The 11th would make it day 39.
This Sagres trip isn’t mentioned at all in the book for some reason.
There is no previous mention of Sagres in the blog yet Gerry talks about ‘heading down to Sagres’ as if he knows it.
His blog religiously mentions the ‘family day’ which is always a Saturday - the only day in the week the creche is closed and they have to entertain the twins.
10th June (Sunday)
Mobile phone call is tracked between Gerry and O'Brien on this day. Tracking shows the two were possibly 28km apart at the time of the call.
The McCanns attend mass in the morning in PdL.
Late afternoon they drive to Lisbon airport to fly to Rabat.
Clarence Mitchell travels with them on the flight.
From ‘madeleine’ - chapter 12:
We were lucky we managed to get on a plane to Rabat at all. I use the word ‘lucky’ loosely. The jet had broken down and a pre-war propeller plane was drafted to help out. It was too small to carry all the passengers and had to make a return trip to get everyone to Morocco. Flying was hard enough for me now as it was, and this was scary. The plane, a bare metal tube, was basic. It had about twenty seats and no separate cockpit, no overhead lockers or storage racks, no in-flight service [..] .
Miss Biddy Brett-Rooks, the consul general for Casablanca, was there to meet us when we landed. She looked and sounded exactly as I’d imagined from her name: very sweet and very English. We went first to a hotel where we had arranged to meet
an ITN crew from the UK. They wanted to show us an interview they’d recorded with a Norwegian lady called Mari Olli. [..] On 9 May, she’d seen a little girl who looked like Madeleine at a petrol station on the outskirts of Marrakesh. [..]
From what we could infer, this lead simply hadn’t been adequately followed up. Indeed, a month later, Mari still hadn’t been formally interviewed. It was intolerable.
unquote
The McCanns spent the night at the British Ambassador’s residence:
‘It was pretty late by the time we arrived at the ambassador's residence, where we would be spending the night.’
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This sighting was on the 9th of May, reported in Spain on the 10th. Meanwhile quite a few other sightings were being followed up - some by Leicester Police for some reason.
The pre-war plane must have been quite a change from the private jet which had already whisked them to Rome, Madrid, Berlin and Amsterdam.
Interesting information is that obviously more than 18 and less than or exactly 38 people expected to travel with the McCanns as the plane had to return to pick up the rest of the group.
Apparently the Consul-general has her H.Q. in Casablanca and not in Rabat.
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11th June:
The McCanns met several ‘important and powerful figures’ The Chief of Police and two government Ministers among them according to Chapter 12:
In the morning, at a meeting with the consular staff, we heard from a British Metropolitan Police attaché, a counter-terrorism liaison and cooperation officer, that Morocco was a police state with excellent networks and intelligence-gathering systems. If Madeleine was here, she was sure to be found. It was something we’d be told several times during our visit.
We talked to the president of the Ligue Marocaine pour la Protection de l’Enfance, the Moroccan equivalent of the NSPCC, and visited Touche Pas à Mon Enfant. [..]
That day several senior and powerful figures spent time with us, including the minister of the interior, Mr Benmoussa, and the director general of the police, Charki Draiss. The police attaché had told us earlier that for these meetings to take place, permission must have been granted by the King himself. Both Mr Benmoussa and Mr Draiss reiterated the message of the day: ‘We will help you. If Madeleine’s here, we will find her.’
unquote
Lucky timing to launch a new computer system or just a button?
En route to our visit to the Observatoire Nationale des Droits de l’Enfant, a Palace-sponsored child-welfare watchdog, [...] From the Observatoire Nationale des Droits de l’Enfant, we learned that the heart of each Moroccan community is not the town hall or police station but the health centre. Accordingly, a new computer network system linking all the health centres in Morocco [..] ready to be launched from their headquarters.
A special webpage about Madeleine had also been created to coincide with our visit to Rabat. Gerry and I were completely blown away to be invited to press the ‘go live’ button, activating not only Morocco’s new network but with it the ‘Madeleine page’, thereby alerting all the health centres across the country to her disappearance and our need to find her.
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The western press published photographs of hundreds of children holding up Maddie posters (remember that box of posters Gerry schlepped through customs?). The book devotes a paragraph to the event.
Royalty has been mentioned twice, senior and important people have ‘spent time with them’. But it doesn’t look as if the great and good of Morocco were falling over themselves to host the McCanns. These sideways allusions to royalty and important people do not add up to the image which is projected in the press. In fact the meeting on the last morning seems to have been arranged by the translator and was facilitated by the fact that it was her father-in-law.
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Paolo Reis (Portuguese journalist)
At the press conference held in Rabat at the Hilton Hotel, the English couple was accompanied by a very ‘British’ gentleman who is presented to us as a British diplomat from the Foreign Office. John Kayne accompanies the English couple on his journey for two weeks. [..]
The British diplomat told us a few minutes before the press conference: ‘Maddie’s parents are ordinary people [..] they are not accustomed to the press’. [..]
The morning of June 11, the English couple had a meeting with the members ‘Matkich waldi’. (do not touch my son). The parents had previously met with the Executive Director of the National Observatory for Children’s rights (ONDE), Said Raji.
unquote
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Presumably the press conference - not mentioned at all in the book - was later in the day. This time not only Clarence Mitchell, but a translator provided by the British Embassy shared the platform - respectively a question and language filter possibly preventing unwanted questions.
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June 12th
On our final morning, the lady who’d been interpreting for us arranged for us to meet the minister of Islamic affairs, who happened to be her father-in-law. I was keen to talk to an Islamic religious leader to seek the support and prayers of the Muslim community.
The minister was an academic, senior cleric and an adviser to the King, and he seemed kind, genuine and receptive.[..] I asked if he would urge the Muslim people here to pray for her, too, and for all missing children. He promised us that he would, adding that he was certain we would be reunited with our daughter.
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The lady with the McCanns and Clarence Mitchell at the press conference on the 11th was probably Myriam Alami Toufiq - she's on the British Embassy's list of lawyers and translators.
Therefore the minister may have been Ahmed Toufiq, appointed as minister for Islamic affairs in November 2002).
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12th June
The McCanns arrive back in Praia de Luz in the afternoon. At night they go to church for prayers.
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BBC News: Madeleine parents 'to take stock'
Last Updated: Sunday, 10 June 2007, 05:12 GMT 06:12 UK
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann say they will spend the coming week reviewing the campaign to find her and allowing themselves time to grieve.
The couple have travelled across Europe in an effort to find Madeleine, four, who went missing in Portugal on 3 May.
But on their return to the Algarve on Tuesday from Morocco, Gerry and Kate McCann of Rothley, Leicestershire, say they will have a period of reflection. [..] When they return to Portugal, Mrs McCann said it would be time to withdraw from the media attention.
unquote
http://www.mccannfiles.com/id206.html:
11th June:
The McCanns also did a couple of interviews for ITV and Sky focussing on a change in the phase of the campaign. They confirmed that there would be a period of reflection before they decided on the best role for themselves.
(1) Re Sagres:
http://mccannfundfraud.info/2008/12/the-car-hired-5-weeks-after-madeleines-disappearance/
John McCann speaking on radio: ‘ - but some of the, some of the stuff that’s being speculated on just isn’t plausible. Like information appearing about samples in a car which Gerry and Kate only got 5 weeks after Madeleine disappeared. Are you trying to tell me that Madeleine was hidden for 5 weeks and then was suddenly reappeared in this hire car.’ unquote
Why did John mention “5 weeks” when he was talking in September 2007 – months after Madeleine had disappeared?
The facts are that the car had been hired on May 27 – 24 days after Madeleine was reported missing. 24 days is a significantly shorter time than 5 weeks.
So, what could be significant about something happening 5 weeks after Madeleine’s demise?
5 weeks after Madeleine disappeared was the weekend commencing Friday June 8, 2007. When we look closely at that weekend, there are several interesting things to note:
The McCann family flew in to the Algarve or were already there for that weekend. Susan and Brian Healy – Kate’s parents – were there. Trish and Sandy Cameron – Gerry’s sister and his brother in-law were there. Philomena flew in to Lisbon and Kate’s long time friend Anne-Marie Wright and her husband Michael had flown in to Faro.
Michael told the police that he and his wife flew in with the specific job of looking after Sean and Amelie while Kate and Gerry went to Morocco on Sunday June 10. Given the large number of close family relatives in town, Michael’s statement to the police is flawed.
On Saturday June 9, 2007, the entire family is supposed to have spent a day at the southwestern tip of Portugal – a town called Sagres.
On the Sunday afternoon, Kate, Gerry and Clarence Mitchell all went up to Lisbon to catch a small private plane laid on especially for them to go to Casablanca in Morocco. Their ultimate destination was Rabat, where a press conference with Sky’s Martin Brunt was held.
North Africa in June is a very hot place to be. Why then was Martin Brunt wearing a white suit, children were wearing t-shirts, but they chose to wear the worst attire possible – black suits more befitting a funeral?
It is even more remarkable that this BBC news item was apparently written before they left for Morocco.
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A number of questions arise from the above clips:
Why have they given this information even before they left for Morocco?
What ‘role’ are they looking for? Gerry eventually returned to Glenfield Hospital but that’s hardly a ‘role’.
Most of all: the time to grieve - I feel this was a crucial period when a lot of things changed. End of European Tour which from the distance of 8 years looks like a damp squib.
Plus this little item from ‘madeleine’:
Chapter 11:
At the beginning of June, Gerry had a call from the director of communications at the Foreign Office. [..] Whatever the case, it was suggested to Gerry that we should use Madeleine’s Fund to employ someone to replace Clarence once our campaign visits were complete. Reluctantly, Gerry agreed. We honestly hadn’t bargained for having to pay a salary for media liaison out of the fund, which we’d envisaged being used primarily to meet costs related directly to the search for Madeleine.
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Eumenides
For further information: McCanns' European Campaign - Morocco
