McCann’s – Saints or sinners? October 16, 2013 It seems everyone has a view on the McCann’s case. By voluntarily involving the media within moments of their daughter’s disappearance; they have become public property, a dystopian pair of celebrities. Over the last six years they have rarely been out of the public eye. I can’t imagine what it is like to lose a child. I have no idea what it feels like to go through the physical and emotional trauma of IVF. I always feel a terrible common empathy for any tragedies involving kids, from the April Jones case, to Milly Dowler, James Bulger and those sweet little girls that were murdered in Soham. But this time, I’m finding it really hard. I’m struggling to feel empathy for the parents. This uncomfortable feeling isn’t new. I felt uneasy from the first time I saw them on TV. The first newspaper reports I’d read. I’d discuss it at work, with friends and many of us felt there was something not quite right. In some quarters, that makes me a crazy, envious (!), foil hat wearing, nutter, conspiracy theorist. That’s the McCann’s Are Saintly Camp. At the other extreme, are the McCann Are Sinners Camp, who vehemently believe the pair murdered their daughter, or even worse, disposed of her via a global paedophile network. There has also been a lot of discussion about whether they were right to leave such young children alone in the apartment. The Saints camp are likely to claim it was a one off, the Sinners will cite it as terrible parenting. I tend to agree about bad parenting because they did it for SIX NIGHTS, even though Madeleine had told them the twins were crying and Madeleine had been heard crying for 95 minutes by a neighbour, but worst of all is that there was a FREE night crèche at the resort until 11pm, staffed by trained UK nannies! I am an uncomfortable, sceptical, observer, who feels that the accepted version of events publicised in the MSM feels “Off”. Here’s why: 1. The way the McCann’s behave This is highly subjective. It’s linked to a primitive and personal gut feel, but from the media coverage I have seen, the McCann’s come across as cold, detached and peculiar. They make me shudder. I feel that Kate is subduing an unusual neuroticism that doesn’t come from a place called grief and I find Gerry unbearably controlling and smug. He smirks and seems arrogant. Calling Sky News in the immediate hours following the disappearance was odd behaviour and then the global trip to see various celebrity luminaries and linking in politicians was just plain weird. An abuse of power. I couldn’t see how it would help their daughter. I cannot recall any other parents of missing or murdered children soaking up the limelight in this way. They are normally too prostate with grief to deal with the media, never mind court it. There is usually a dignified and limited response from a close friend or relative and this is kept to a minimum, while the police and other services do their job. Apart from the carefully stage managed personal appeal. Then the vitriolic attack on the Portuguese Police, before the investigation even got under way (to UK contacts via mobile), talking of which, 14 mobile calls/messages were mysteriously deleted, again, a bit odd? Now that the Met have full records, perhaps they’ll clear that one up. Then the assumption of abduction. The assumption of paedophile gangs. The fact the parents didn’t look for her, not even once. When they were made suspects, the media that they had courted, duly turned against them. The people in high places distanced themselves. But, by then, they had a professional team of spinners and PR people and an enormous fund growing from public donations. Rather than cooperate with the Police, they refused to and stepped up the racism and personal vindictiveness against the Portuguese. I am sure that ALL parents or families of missing children have to be considered as potential perpetrators. The reason is that, statistically, this is most often the case. But rather than handle this with dignity and ensure that they could be ruled out of the investigation, they skipped off back to the UK. 2. The evidence I have looked beyond what was reported in the MSM by reading the available statements and police records on the case. There is a lot of official material out there and I recommend looking into it, if you have an interest, just so you can make up your own mind. The crime scene – not one of the party thought to preserve the crime scene or to remove the twins from the centre of it. I’m sure the McCann’s had other things on their minds, but their friends didn’t keep their heads either, so the apartment became as busy as Piccadilly Circus on a Saturday night before the Police arrived. And the twins slept through it all, even when eventually moved elsewhere. Any normal crime scene evidence was contaminated from the off, although, interestingly,the only fingerprints on the window were Kate’s and the shutters were NOT forced as was claimed over and over in testimony. When the FBI dogs were brought in to find a ‘trail’, the McCann’s immediately sought the advice of a US lawyer who had disproved ‘evidence’ from dogs in the case of a man who murdered his wife. Was this paranoia, or did Gerry really think that independent dog evidence (with a UK cop overseeing it) would somehow be used to frame them? Seems like an odd proactive action to me. In the end, this backfired, because although the US lawyer tried to disprove the dog evidence, the husband confessed! The dogs DID find plenty to think about. A trail that went a different way to the “Tanner sighting” (since ruled out), traces of blood behind the sofa, traces of dead body odour in the parent’s wardrobe. Then the hire car (hired two weeks AFTER Maddy disappeared) also had traces of blood and dead body odour and 15 out of 19 markers of Madeleine’s DNA. The car key was hidden in a car park and marked by the corpse identifying dog immediately. It also marked Madeleine’s cuddle cat (which Kate had WASHED, for some reason) and some of Kate’s clothes. This was enough for the Police to make the McCann’s official suspects. If this had been a US Police Drama, they would have been charged then and there and Dexter would have had both of them on the slab. But truth is stranger than fiction and Kate (perhaps through dodgy legal advice) refused to cooperate during 11 hours of questioning (some doing), even though it hindered attempts to find her daughter. So far, so strange. Then came the excuses. Not to the Police but “leaked” by various friends and family by the media. Kate was a GP and had been in contact with dead bodies prior to the holiday (she hadn’t), they had carried dirty nappies, meat, fish and other rubbish in the car that might have caused the smell (the dogs are trained to recognise human cadaver aromas, or human blood nothing else). Maddy may, or maybe not, have had a nosebleed or cut her knee (behind the sofa?). I don’t think any of this made things clearer. So, when the heat was on, the McCanns skipped back to the UK. Given that leaving the children alone is an offence that can carry a 10 year prison sentence in Portugal, I am surprised that the Police didn’t use that to keep them under arrest; but, by then, there was serious political and media interference at top levels and the leading detective on the case was sacked. In between all of this was the Murat ‘red herring’, the usual ‘loner man’ who lives with his mum, suspect. There was, at one point, a suggestion of digging up his drive by some strange SA man the McCann’s had hired, but once again it was a non lead. The media circus contined, the abduction theory was based around Tanner’s sighting (she also identified Murat) and tellingly, she didn’t think to mention the ‘creepy man’ until the day after the disappearance. All very peculiar and now, as we know, just wrong. 3. The money We’ve had the fund, the merchandise, the book, a rumoured film and a £1m libel trial against Amaral, the sacked Detective. I am not aware of any fees paid to appear on various chat shows around the world, but I am sure the TV networks must have donated generously to the fund. I think there’s something ugly about all of this. It looks bad. I’ve never known grieving parents to be so commercial. 4. The ‘new’ investigation The “new” investigation is costing around £5m, Crimewatch filming etc est at £1m – and six years later the only ‘new’ evidence is: - Everyone was wrong about the timeline (note that police originally found timeline notes by Gerry to get ducks in a row prior to their arrival). - The Tanner sighting (which Kate’s book and the appeal was based around for years) was an innocent passer by (when did HE pipe up?) - The Smith family sighting and the E fit(s) - Burglaries - Charity Workers Actually, apart from the first two points, nothing is very new. See the original files. (Search ‘McCann files’ online). The killer point that has really made me think is the following. 5. The Smith Sighting An Irish family from Drogheda saw a man carrying a female child, matching Madeleine’s description, at around 10pm walking towards the beach. That’s what the current E Fits are based on. They were a large group and various witness statements have been taken officially as they contacted the Police when they found out that Madeleine was missing. The family have shunned publicity and made their statements quietly and returned to Portugal to do so. The ‘Tanner’ sighting confused the matter, because that suspect was walking in the opposite direction. Now the Tanner sighting is discounted, the Smith family’s one is now looked on as highly important. You’ve seen the pictures and the description, there are two e fits. One more fat faced and square jawed than the other. It was a dimly lit street. The family noticed the man because he was holding the kid in an awkward way. Remember that point. 6. Smith sighting 2 When the Smith family were watching News at 10, back in Ireland. Mr Smith got very upset and phoned the local Police. The man he had seen in that dimly lit road, carrying the child in an awkward way came back to him like an action replay as he saw Gerry McCann take one of the twins off the plane and walk across the Tarmac. Mr Smith felt sick and checked with his wife and family before calling the Police and making another sworn statement in which he said he was now up to 80% sure the man he saw WAS Gerry McCann. (All the Police statements are available to view on line) Make of that what you will. But do look at one of the E Fits and Gerry McCann. It looks like the abductor bears a resemblance. Maybe that’s why I feel so uneasy? I wonder if we will ever have this case resolved? scarletwilde.wordpress/2013/10/16/mccanns-saints-or-sinners/
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 17:11:12 +0000
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