The book by the lead Portuguese investigator, Gonçalo Amaral has been translated into English by AnnaEsse. I have read every word of the translation of his detailed account. His summary and conclusions, which I will present in bold blue italics, are as follows:
A DISAPPEARANCE, A WINDOW AND A BODY
It is now important to present a summary of this case, based on our deductions: reject what is false, throw out what we can’t show with sufficient certainty and validate that which can be proven.
1. The theory of abduction was defended from the start by Maddie’s parents.
2. In their group, only the McCanns state that they saw the bedroom window open. The others cannot confirm it since they arrived at the apartment after the alert was raised.
3. The only person to have seen that window open with the shutters raised is Amy, one of the play workers from the children’s centre of the Ocean Club. She made that observation at around 10.20/1030pm, which means well after the alert – which doesn’t exclude that the window could have been closed at the time of the criminal act.
4. The witness statements raise a great number of inaccuracies, inconsistencies and contradictions. Jane Tanner’s witness statement in favour of the theory of abduction is probably false: little by little it has lost all credibility because of successive modifications introduced by Jane, modifications that have ended up invalidating it.
5. The body, the existence of which has been confirmed by the EVRD and CSI dogs but also by the results of the preliminary laboratory analyses, cannot be found.
The conclusions my team and I have arrived at are the following:
1. The minor, Madeleine McCann died inside apartment 5A of the Ocean Club in Vila da Luz, on the night of May 3rd 2007;
2. There was simulation of abduction.
3. Kate Healy and Gerald McCann were probably involved in the concealment of their daughter’s body.
4. The death may have occurred as a result of a tragic accident;
5. The evidence proves the parents’ negligence concerning the care and safety of the children.
I was initially loath to write about this matter. Those who have done so have been instructed to delete their WordPress blogs. However Kate and Gerry McCann lost an appeal in Portugal’s highest court over damaging allegations in a book on the case by Gonçalo Amaral, who initially led the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance ten years ago.
The couple initially successfully sued Amaral for libel over the book, The Truth of the Lie, but the decision was overturned by another court in 2015.In the latest round of their legal battle the couple have failed to have the original decision reinstated.
After winning the appeal hearing in April 2015, Amaral’s lawyer Miguel Cruz Rodriguez warned the McCanns:
“We are going to advance with a compensation claim against the McCanns. My client has suffered years of prejudice and losses.”
In Amaral’s narrative he highlights the fact that donations to the FindMadeleine appeal raised upwards of three million Euros. My interest in this matter was piqued by Brian Kennedy’s involvement. He is on record as stating that the fund has supported all the legal proceedings that have been instigated by the McCanns. They have gone to great lengths to suppress the information presented by a police investigator with 27 years experience. They have also adeptly manipulated Gordon Brown to put pressure on Amaral via the Foreign Office.
When I set out to write any blog I attempt to arrive at the truth and present my findings with clarity. Not everyone would devote the time that I set aside to read Mr. Amaral’s book. Even less would have spent time printing out the text and using a yellow marker to highlight key passages. Regular readers will know that I approach matters with a forensic eye. This is a consequence of my training which I’m not at libery to disclose. There are those who want me to be silenced by any means, including my murder. After writing this article I would anticipate that the McCanns will join the burgeoning group who wish to suppress my narratives.
Mr. Amaral contends that Madeleine met her demise in the holiday apartment she shared with her parents. There were reports of her screaming in apartment 5A, where she implored her father Gerry McCann, to stop a course of action with “Daddy, Daddy.” This is why I’m writing this blog. I want Madeleine’s pleas to be indelibly printed in your memory as much as they are burned into mine.
Madeleine met her demise sometime between May 1 and May 3. The fund that the McCanns set up to look for Madeleine would be fraudulent if any person involved in the case knew that Madeleine was dead at the time it was set up. A group has been established to solicit details about donations and litigate against the McCanns. It is called: Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited.
Great Britain has at its disposal the world’s biggest data bank on homicide of children under five years old. Since 1960, the count is 1528. Mark Harrison, who is a specialist in this field and has assisted police in the most challenging investigations, is well acquainted with its contents. He often draws information from there which helps him to resolve similar cases. Valuable information can be found there on on various criminal modus operandi, places where bodies are hidden, techniques used to get rid of a body. He relates that on one occasion, thanks to the data, he was able to deduce the maximum distance a body might be found in relation to where the crime had been committed.
The crimes, including those of a sexual nature, are committed by the parents in 84% of cases; if one includes friends and relatives this figure rises to 96%. In only 4% of them is the murderer or abductor a total stranger to the victim.
As the biggest and most exhaustive search in Potuguese history did not yield any suspected abductors, and the scrutiny of all known paedophiles in the area also drew a blank, Harrison suggested that the investigative team deployed the skills of two totally remarkable dogs: the first an EVRD (Enhanced Victim Recovery Dog), achieves outstanding performance in the detection of human cadaver odour; the second, a CSI dog (Crime Scene Investigation) is capable of smelling the tiniest trace of blood, knowing how to recognise its human origin.
The inspection of apartment 5A, then those occupied by the McCanns’ friends. were subjected to thorough examination. In addition, all the vehicles used by all of them were sniffed by the dogs.
On the 30th July 2007, two Springer Spaniels, Eddie and Keela, disembarked from a British Airways plane, accompanied by their trainer, Martin Grime. An air-conditioned vehicle is waiting to take them to their accommodation. A vet, who will be on hand during their stay, has been brought in to intervene in case of illness or if the dogs get bitten by a snake. Their mission is to find Madeleine’s body and expose those responsible.
Eddie has been involved in a great number of cases, helping the police to resolve a good many riddles, thanks to his sense of smell. Even if the body has been moved, objects the body has touched have been contaminated by its odour, especially porous materials, fabrics, the upholstery in cars, etc. And that odour, Eddie knows how to recognise out of a thousand.
Keela, a scenes of crime specialist, is capable of locating particles of blood even after a place has been cleaned with chemical products or bleach. Sometimes, the residues are so microscopic they are missed by the instruments of the forensic police, as sophicticated as they are, and it’s impossible to harvest them without taking all of what they are on.
Eddie is always the first to be brought onto a site. Once he has discerned the odour that he knows so well, it’s Keela’s turn to go into action, on the lookout for the slightest whiff of blood. The simultaneous presence of the two elements in a given place – blood and cavaver odours – is taken to indicate that a body has been there and that it’s probably there that the death occurred.
The dogs’ CV is impressive. Besides collaborating in hundreds of investigations, they passed the practical tests brilliantly at the FBI’s “Body Farm,” the only place in the world where human cadavers are used to simulate homicide scenarios and concealment of bodies.
Amongst the most media-covered cases, which they contributed to resolving, is that of the disappearance in Northern Ireland of Attracta Harron, who was last seen when she was returning home on foot, after having been to church. All searches carried out by the police were unsuccessful. The main suspect’s car having been totally burnt out in a mysterious fire, couldn’t be examined. They called in Eddie, who examined the charred remains of the vehicle and immediately picked out the characteristic odour. Human tissue was found amongst the debris, the DNA of which corresponded to the missing woman. Later, the dog indicated the place – close to a river – where the victim’s body had been abandoned. At the home of the suspect, where the police were searching for incriminating evidence, Eddie identified cadaver odour in one of the bedrooms. The man confessed to having killed the woman then moving her body to the banks of the river.
The case of Amanda Edwards, reported missing, is also very impressive. The police, who conducted a search of her ex-partner’s home, found small bloodstains there, but no trace of a body. The dog, who was brought in for the examination of the man’s vehicle, alerted to cadaver odour on the tools stored in the boot (a shovel, a level and a compactor). The police went to the building site where the suspect had worked a few days before and discovered the body, buried in a garage. The murderer had made efficient use of his tools to carry out his task.
It’s also thanks to the help of the dogs that the case of Charlotte Pinkley, a missing British woman, who had been imprisoned by her ex-partner, was resolved. The police requested the help of the specialist dog team to try to find the young woman’s body. Eddie picked out a place where the abductor had provisionally left his victim. In the surrounding area, the investigators found the button from a dress that had belonged to Charlotte. That clue exposed the murderer, who ended up showing the police the place where he had hidden the body.
More recently, it’s Eddie who helps to find a body buried under a flagstone at the former orphanage, Haut-de-la-Garenne, in Jersey, the setting for a terrible case of paedophilia and child murder.
The achievements of the dog detectives are the result of a very long apprenticeship. It all starts with the selection of the best puppies when they are only a few months old. The most talented breed for this unusual profession, is the Springer Spaniel. The trainer, Martin Grime, and his pupils undergo aptitude tests every year in order to obtain certificates proving their capability. In Great Britain, the police have no hesitation in calling in the specialist dog teams to assist in certain criminal investigations. Their skills are increasingly recognised by journalists, police and courts all over the world.
The investigation starts in apartment 5A. The grey jeep transporting the dogs pulls into the car park in front of the building. Martin Grime gets out of the car, holding Eddie on a tight leash. He takes it off and orders Eddie to sit down. Instead of obeying as would be expected of such a well-trained dog, Eddie immediately rushes into the building. He then goes to and fro between the lounge and the bedroom in an agitated manner. Martin wonders what could be making his animal so nervous and calls him back to give precise orders. An investigator is filming the entire scene. A little later, Eddie is examining the floor in the parents’ bedroom, near the wardrobe, when he lets out a strident howl, indicating that he has detected a cadaver odour. The investigators have hardly recovered from their amazement, when another, equally impressive, howl startles them. This time, Eddie has picked out that same odour under the window, just behind the sofa, on one of the walls in the lounge. That evening, in apartment 5A, the investigators begin to glimpse what might have happened.
At around 10pm, police officers see Gerry McCann, going past the apartment at the wheel of his hire car, a Renault Mégane Scenic, an impenetrable look on his face.
Then it’s Keela’s turn to intervene. She points her muzzle at the same place where Eddie gave the alert: traces of blood are found on the tiling between the window and the sofa. From the indications provided by Eddie, one can pinpoint the places where the body was moved around. Apartments 5B, 5D and 5H, where the McCanns’ friends stayed, are examined that same night. Eddie does not show the slightest reaction. Therefore, Keela does not get involved.
From then on, the investigators were certain that, at a given moment, there was a body in apartment 5A. This necessitated the interview of firemen, medical services personnel, previous tenants and employees of the Ocean Club to make sure that no death had taken place in this accommodation, which they confirmed.
One can conclude that the odour discovered is certainly that of Madeleine Beth McCann.
Searches with Eddie then proceed in and around the village. Eddie runs his nose over kilometres of waste ground, ruins, buildings abandoned or under construction, waterways, pipework, along the beach and under every bush. There was no evidence of the presence of a body. There was no cadaver odour to be found.
The next stage in the investigation is to examine the McCann’s rented accommodation
They have occupied this house, 27 Rue das Flores, since May 3rd, which they have been able to rent thanks to money collected by the Madeleine Fund.
On August 2nd, at 6pm, the inspectors arrive at the McCanns’ residence and present the search warrant. The principle of the examination by the specialist dogs is explained. Kate and Gerry are in the swimming pool in the garden with the twins. Contrary to all expectations, they allow the investigating team access to their house in a very natural way.
Eddie goes immediately to the lounge. He comes to a stop in front of a wicker armchair on which is lying Madeleine’s small pink soft toy, which Kate was never without in the early days of the investigation. Eddie barks to inform the team that he has detected an odour: the soft toy has been in contact with a body.
The soft toy and all the clothes from the house are placed into boxes specially made to preserve evidence. These objects are then conveyed to a decontaminated new sports hall. The objects are laid out on the ground and the dogs proceed to inspect them. Eddie’s barking alerts the investigators to a strong cadaver odour on some of Kate’s clothes. Did she hold Madeleine’s dead body in her arms?
On September 7th, 2007, at 11am, Kate Healy is declared an arguida (defendant) on the basis of a strong presumptions of the crime of concealing a body and simulating an abduction. She states her name and gives her address as her home in Great Britain. Taking advantage of the right accorded to her by her status, she remains silent and does not answer questions concerning the circumstances of her daughter’s death, on May 3rd 2007, in the Ocean Club apartment.
At 4pm, it’s Gerald’s turn to be officially declared an arguido, for the same reasons. In contrast to his wife, he seems disposed to answer questions. He begins by vehemently denying any responsibility whatsoever in his daughter’s disappearance.
Questioned about the twins, who on the night of the tragedy, stayed deeply asleep in spite of the comings and goings, the shouts and the arrival of the police, Gerald admits having been astonished himself that they did not wake up in the middle of such a racket. To begin with, he even thought that the children had been drugged – by the abductor, you understand – but he only spoke to the police about it later.
Prior to Gerald McCann’s interrogation, in a very large car park, Martin commands Eddie to begin the examination. When he gets close to the McCanns’ Renault, he becomes agitated, raises his nose while running around, as if he is trying to locate the source of the odour he has detected. Martin tells him to stop running around and concentrate on the search. Finally, he starts to growl, bark and wanting to bite the bottom of the driver’s door and the boot. The odour is coming from inside. The forensic experts examine the vehicle for hours with the help of Keela. At dawn, traces of human blood are found in places indicated by the female dog: the key and the boot. The harvested samples are packed, then sent to a forensic laboratory in Birmingham, Great Britain.
In the witness statement of a neighbour the McCanns left their car boot open all the time. For Gerry’s brother-in-law, the bad smell was explained by the fact that the McCanns transported their bins in it. As for the blood, it had been purportedly left by a piece of meat fallen out of a shopping bag. Kate’s cousin offered that the unpleasant smells were due to the little ones’ dirty nappies.
None of this stands up to scrutiny faced with the reactions of these dogs, who are thoroughly trained to detect only blood and cadaver odours.
So that the items of evidence might constitute admissible proof, the harvesting and packing must conform to the rules avoiding all risk of deterioration and contamination. It is experts from our police forensic laboratory who carry out the harvesting. The minuscule traces cannot be gathered in situ, so the tiling is gently lifted out before being transferred to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Birmingham. Photos bear witness to every stage of the operation. For added security, it is the expert responsible for the collection who takes them to FSS on the morning of August 7th. The choice of this laboratory is not insignificant. Apart from their use of cutting-edge technologies – LCN (Low Copy Number) a DNA identification test, used particularly when only microscopic samples are available -, the results, whatever they might be will not be able to be contested by the British since it’s one of their most reliable laboratories. All other items of evidence gathered – the keys to the McCanns’ car, hair and traces of blood found in the boot – are also sent to England.
English and Portuguese police got together to analyse the results of Eddie and Keela’s searches:
– What we can deduce at this stage is that only the McCanns are implicated. The dogs did not detect blood or cadaver odour other than with them.
– From now on we have the certainty that there was a body behind the sofa before being taken into the parents’ bedroom.
– If the blood found behind the sofa is that of the little girl, we can assume that she died there.
– That could explain why the sofa was pushed up against the curtains.
– In Madeleine’s bedroom and on her bed, there was no cadaver odour.
– On the other hand, the odour on the soft toy indicates that she was holding it when she died….
These conclusions do not, for the moment, constitute proof. If the laboratory results are positive, and only in that case, we will have our proof.
The laboratory results are, to cut a long story short, not 100% conclusive. There 15 from 19 matches. On the balance of probability, which is not sufficient in criminal trials, they are guilty.
So why did Madeleine scream on the eve of her demise. An episode in Mallorca in 2005 raises suspicions about a friend of the couple. I have reproduced Kate Gaspar’s deposition verbatim:
“Madeleine Beth McCann, aged two and a half, and her twin siblings, at that time only a few months old, go away on holidays in the company of their parents, on the island of Mallorca. Three other couples of doctors and their children go along with them. Savio Gaspo attended the university in Dundee, between 1987 and 1992, where he met the future mother of Madeleine. Kate Gaspar only met Gerry McCann on his wedding with Kate Healy, around 1998, in Liverpool. After that event, the couple Savio and Kate become intimate friends with Madeleine’s parents, meeting often, spending weekends together, keeping in touch over the phone.On the third or fourth night in Mallorca, after dinner, eating and drinking, while sitting around a table on the patio outside the house, Kate watches a scene that makes her fear for her daughter’s wellbeing, and that of the other children. She was sitting between Gerry McCann and David Payne, when she heard the latter ask whether she, referring to Madeleine, would do ‘this’, then starting to suck on one of his fingers, which he pushed in and out of his mouth, insinuating a phallic object, while at the same time, with the fingers of his other hand, he traced circles around his nipple, in a provocative and sexual manner. At the moment when Kate looked at Gerry McCann and David Payne with stupefaction, a nervous silence took place. Then everyone continued to chat as if nothing had happened. This episode left Kate Gaspar with serious doubts about David Payne’s relationship with children. On another occasion, Kate would once again see David Payne making the same gestures, this time while speaking about his own daughter. During that holiday period, it was the fathers who usually bathed the children, but from that moment on, Kate never allowed David Payne to come close to her daughter. After those holidays in Mallorca, Kate only met David and Fiona Payne on one occasion, and has not spoken to them since.”
This deposition was given to English police on the 16th of May 2007, only thirteen days after the disappearance of Madeleine, by the couple Savio Gaspar. and Kate Gaspar. It was information that was important and pertinent to the investigation. Yet, nothing was transmitted to the Portuguese police.
Why did the English police conceal and this testimony for six months? When did they find out that David Payne, who had organized the trip to Mallorca, and who had been signaled with anomalous behaviour towards children, was the same who organized the trip to Portugal, that he was part of the holiday group in the village of Luz where Madeleine had been integrated, that he was the first family friend who could be seen at Kate McCann’s side after the child’s disappearance and that on the date of the deposition he was still in Portugal, and could be confronted with these statements?
Is it possible that Madeleine was given too much of a drug that she had been given before and that things went terribly wrong this time? A former police officer in Portugal has alleged that Madeleine died during an act of paedophilia in apartment 5A.
The more I read about Madeleine’s demise, the more troubling it becomes.
