News & Politics - Madeleine McCann abducted from holiday apartment. - Page 12

-Kelly- · 11-25-2007, 06:30 AM

Sorry for d.p but this is more and more looking like Robert and his girlfriend that kidnapped Maddie

Quote:

Did they want my girl?
EXCLUSIVE SEARCH FOR MADELEINE DAY 206
By Lori Campbell And David Hudson 25/11/2007

A British mum has told how a woman resembling Robert Murat's girlfriend tried to enter the apartment where her daughter was - just a month before Madeleine McCann was abducted.

Karen Sixsmith says the woman looked like Murat's lover Michaela Walczuch, who is a Jehovah's Witness.

She knocked at her door in the same Portuguese holiday complex where Madeleine was taken and claimed to be a Jehovah's Witness.

Accompanied by a man, the mystery woman was anxious to get into the apartment where Karen's own daughter Kate was. She said she wanted to discuss her faith.

Deeply unsettled by the incident, Karen called Leicester police - the McCanns' local force - after Madeleine disappeared to report her concerns. But she heard nothing back.

Now, after studying pictures of German-born Walczuch, 34, who has been linked to two alleged sightings of Madeleine, Karen has come forward again. And she believes it was Walczuch who called at her door - "I just can't get it out of my head that it may have been Murat and his girlfriend on my doorstep."

Her testimony - given to the Sunday Mirror so we could pass it on to the McCanns' private investigators Metodo 3 in Barcelona - comes after Walczuch's alibi for the night Madeleine vanished from Praia da Luz was contradicted. She had claimed to have been at a Jehovah's Witness meeting. For their holiday, Karen and husband Graham had rented an apartment at the Ocean Club complex opposite the one later occupied by the McCanns.

Two days after they arrived, the family decided to stay in because it was raining.

But at 12.30pm, they were surprised to hear a knock on the door, especially as the apartment block was deserted as it was out of season at the end of March.

Karen said: "It was a blonde woman, 35 to 40 years old, English-speaking. She had a pamphlet and I knew straight away that she was a Jehovah's Witness. She asked if she could come into the apartment to talk about her faith. I took the pamphlet from her and closed the door. I now think it may have been Murat and his girlfriend."

The couple, from Bowden, Cheshire, believe the visit could have been a distraction while a third person checked out the access to the apartment. Electrician Graham, 50, said: "It's a bit scary, looking back." Karen added: "I have thought ever since Madeleine disappeared that Kate could have been a target - and that is terrifying."

Kate is strikingly similar to Madeleine. Her mum said: "Kate would have stood out a mile with her blonde hair and blue eyes - just like Madeleine."

Karen told how, having seen Walczuch's photo in newspapers, she now believes it was her knocking at their door. "I remember her features very clearly," she said. And when photographer Karen read Walczuch had claimed in her alibi to be a Jehovah's Witness, she felt sure it was her who had knocked at the door.

Her testimony is made even more significant by yesterday's revelation that Walczuch was booted out of the Jehovah's Witnesses a year ago - a direct contradiction to the alibi she gave police. She told them she was at a Jehovah's meeting in Lagos, four miles from Praia da Luz, on the night of May 3. But church elder Brother Teofilo Castila said: "She was thrown out of the church a year ago."

Last week a lorry driver contacted investigators to say he saw a girl he believes was Madeleine in a car with Walczuch on May 5 at Silves, 25 miles from Praia da Luz. And Spanish tourist Isabel Gonzalez, 60, alleges she saw Madeleine with Walczuch in Morocco on June 15.

In a separate development, a nanny has come forward to say she saw Murat, 34, trying to open the window of apartment 5A six months before Madeleine was snatched as she slept.

The Ocean Club worker contacted Metodo 3 to say she found him outside the flat where she was babysitting a boy of six.

She said it was a Thursday night - the same night Madeleine vanished - because it was "tennis night" at the resort and the boy's parents had gone to play.

When she saw the man trying to lift the shutters, she shouted and he ran off. The nanny identified him to Metodo 3 as Murat.

Meanwhile, another witness has said he found porn on Murat's laptop when he went to see web expert Sergey Malinka, a pal of Murat's, four years ago. He was told it belonged to Murat, but had been with Malinka to be repaired. His statement contradicts claims by Malinka and Murat - who deny any involvement - that they had not known each other for long before Madeleine vanished.

The McCanns faced new slurs in Portuguese paper 24 Horas that they were investigated for selling Madeleine to a criminal gang "because of financial difficulties". But detectives found the couple had no money problems.

'She claimed to be Jehovah's Witness'

Source

jerkstore · 11-27-2007, 03:05 PM

I still figure the parents accidentally killed the kid. There is no evidence whatsoever that she was kidnapped and the parents' behavior is suspicious. I can't think of an innocent explanation for the cadaver dogs to get a hit off of the McCann's rental car, Maddie's toys and Kate's clothes.

welshgirlyUK · 11-28-2007, 07:06 AM

Police from Portugal looking into the case have come to Britain to work with British detectives on the case. I'll post an article when i can find one.

-Kelly- · 11-28-2007, 07:00 PM

^ Thanks

jerkstore - Robert's girlfriend lied where she was on the night that Maddie was kidnapped, I still say it's them two

jerkstore · 11-29-2007, 10:43 AM

Lied about what? Where did this information come from?

-Kelly- · 11-30-2007, 03:55 AM

Here

Maddie: police ignore claim suspect's girlfriend was seen with missing child
NICHOLAS CHRISTIAN

PORTUGUESE detectives have not contacted the girlfriend of Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat since new allegations emerged that she was seen with the missing child, according to a friend.

Witnesses have identified Michaela Walczuch as a woman sighted with the young girl, first in Portugal two days after she disappeared and then in Morocco 41 days later.
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The reports are being investigated by Spanish private detective agency Metodo 3, which has been hired by Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann to help find their daughter.

Both Anglo-Portuguese expat Mr Murat, 34, and German-born Walczuch, 32, strenuously deny any involvement in the child's disappearance.

Family friend Tuck Price has played down reports questioning Murat's girlfriend's alibi on May 3, the night Madeleine went missing from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.

Walczuch is said to have told police she was at a Jehovah's Witness meeting in nearby Lagos that evening. But Tiofilo Castelo, a member of the Algarve Regional Association of the Jehovah's Witnesses, told reporters yesterday she was "thrown out" of the church more than 12 months ago.

He said: "She used to come to our church but not any more. It was a long time ago, it was before this year."

But Price said: "I know for sure she's been going to her meetings, and I know for sure the police haven't contacted her. If that was true, the police would have been on to her."

Spanish tourist Isabel Gonzalez, 60, believes she saw Madeleine with Walczuch in Morocco on June 15.

The child was apparently being dragged across the street in the north-eastern town of Zaio by an Arab woman, she said.

Another witness claims to have seen the missing girl in a car with a woman, identified from a photograph as Walczuch, around Portugal's central coastal area on May 5.

It is understood that Metodo 3 has passed on its findings to the Portuguese authorities.

Meanwhile, the ex-wife of Murat has said that she did not believe he would ever harm a child. In an interview, Dawn Murat said that, despite their differences, she did not think that he could have had anything to do with the disappearance of the four-year-old girl.

She said: "I have known Robert for 13 years and was married to him for six, and he would never, ever hurt a child.

"He's the parent of a daughter, almost the same age as Madeleine, and he would never put anyone through the misery the McCanns are going through because he couldn't bear to think of something like that happening to Sofia. She is the most important person in his life. No one has ever produced a shred of evidence linking him with Madeleine's disappearance. This has ruined his life and he does not deserve that."

She added that last month, Murat secretly travelled to Britain to see their daughter during half-term and she allowed their daughter to stay with him overnight at the Devon home of Murat's sister, Sam.

She said: "If I had thought for just one second that Robert was involved in Madeleine's disappearance, I wouldn't let Sofia near him, but I trust him with her 100%."

He ended their marriage two years ago after she had struggled to adjust to life in Portugal. She was traumatised by the split and attempted to end her own life. She said: "He was the love of my life and I felt he had destroyed me. I had a nervous breakdown as a result and was on anti-depressants. I couldn't function."

Source

jerkstore · 11-30-2007, 02:52 PM

Then of course, we have this:

Madeleine police find no evidence against Murat's girlfriend | the Daily Mail

Madeleine police find no evidence against Murat's girlfriend
Last updated at 10:41am on 30th November 2007

No evidence: Michaela Walczuch
Police have handed Michaela Walczuch her diary and computers back after finding nothing in them linking her to Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

Detectives had seized the items from the German girlfriend of official suspect Robert Murat after interviewing her as a witness.

But last night it was reported they had returned them all, giving her further ammunition to claim she has been the victim of a dirty tricks campaign.

Read more...

McCanns hope to be cleared by Christmas as Madeleine DNA team flies home
McCanns pay 'irrelevant' detective team £50,000 a month in Madeleine hunt
Portuguese police told to wind up inquiry by January
'I saw Madeleine being dragged towards the marina,' says new witness

Murat's lawyer Francisco Pagarete has claimed expat Murat, 33, and his girlfriend, 34, are being framed by the McCann camp.

Murat's family have also accused Gerry and Kate McCann of trying to push blame for Madeleine's disappearance on to him so they can take the heat off themselves.

The missing four-year-old's parents are official suspects or arguidos along with Murat.

All three deny any involvement in her disappearance which happened on May 3 this year.

Police are believed to have confiscated three PCs from mum-of-one Michaela along with her diary and other personal belongings.

Portuguese daily Correio da Manha reported today: "Chief investigators have given everything back to her after finding no evidence of her implication in any crime."

Walczuch lives a ten minute drive from the Praia da Luz where Madeleine vanished.

Robert Murat: 'McCanns framed us'
She was forced to defend herself after a lorry driver claimed he saw her handing over a child in a blanket to a man in the Algarve town of Silves two days after she went missing.

Spaniard Isabel Gonzalez also claims she saw the middle-aged blonde in the northern Moroccan town of Zaio the same day she insists she saw a girl matching

Madeleine's description being dragged across the street there by an Arab woman.

British mum Karen Sixsmith told last weekend how a woman resembling Murat's girlfriend tried to enter the apartment where her daughter was - just a month before Madeleine was abducted.

Karen, from Bowden in Cheshire, said the woman claimed to be a Jehovah's Witness like Michaela and was anxious to get into the apartment where her own daughter Kate was to discuss her faith.

Michaela, who has lived in Portugal since she was a child, has described suggestions she is involved in Madeleine's disappearance as "ludicrous" and insisted she was at a Jehovah's Witness prayer meeting at the time a witness has claimed she was handing over a child in a blanket.

Scroll down for more...

Missing: Madeleine McCann disappeared from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz

A source close to her said: "Michaela has had her name dragged through the mud.

"She doesn't want to get involved in an ugly war of words with her accusers.

"But she has always insisted from day one she had nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance.

"The fact all her personal items have been handed back to her obviously vindicates everything she has said.

"Now she just wants to be left alone to get on with the rest of her life."

Scroll down for more...

Accusations: Murat's family say Gerry and Kate McCann framed Murat and Walczuch

The four-man Portuguese team sent this week to meet UK forensic experts about crucial DNA tests, reported back to chief police investigator Paulo Rebelo at Policia Judiciaria headquarters in Faro this morning.

Scientists from the Forensics Science Services in Birmingham have tested hairs and blood taken from the McCanns' Algarve holiday apartment and hire car.

The tests are thought to have proved inconclusive - scuppering Portuguese police hopes they would provide them with enough to charge Gerry and Kate, 39.

Detectives say they maintain an open mind about what happened to Madeleine - but their lead theory is that she died by accident and her parents covered up her death and helped to dispose of her body.

Portuguese forensic experts are expected to spend the next week analysing test results UK colleagues have given them before telling bosses whether they think a prosecution is viable.

The McCanns have urged investigators to end their nightmare and clear them.

-Kelly- · 11-30-2007, 11:37 PM

Thanks for that

I thought it was a bit weird that Robert Murat wanted to help them when Maddie first went missing

and the Police searched his home

-Kelly- · 05-21-2009, 08:09 PM

There has been an update on Madeleine case.

Quote:

Pedophile suspect in Madeleine McCann case

By staff writers

NEWS.com.au

May 22, 2009 11:16am

Madeleine McCann suspect
Wanted ... an artist's impression of the man wanted over Madeleine's disappearance / AP

* Man has string of prior offences
* Was near resort at time of crime
* Closely resembles artist impression

INVESTIGATORS probing the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal have identified a British pedophile as a possible suspect, British media and a spokesman for the girl's parents said.

Raymond Hewlett, 64, was reportedly living less than an hour away from the resort of Praia da Luz when three-year-old Madeleine went missing in May 2007, The Sun said.

Hewlett closely resembled an artist's impression of a man seen near the McCanns' holiday apartment.

He was originally given an alibi by a 15-year-old girl at the time of Madeleine's disappearance, but has since "made bizarre comments about the case to his friends and family", according to The Sun.

He allegedly told a British couple holidaying in Praia da Luz that "gypsies" had offered him money to sell one of his own six kids.

Hewlett was jailed for a year after raping a 12-year-old girl in 1972, then got four years for attacking another girl at gunpoint in 1978.

He later served a six-year sentence for a 1988 sex attack on a girl of 14.

He is currently in Germany being treated for cancer.

A spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann, who launched a global media search for their daughter, confirmed that Hewlett was "of interest" to British investigators working for the couple.

"We are aware of Raymond Hewlett and the claims that have been made about him in some newspapers," spokesman Clarence Mitchell said.

"The investigators searching for Madeleine are currently looking into the circumstances surrounding these claims.

"Mr Hewlett is an individual of interest to the Madeleine investigation but I would stress it is just one line of inquiry.

"Beyond that I can't really go into any further operational detail."

Source with a drawing of a man

**sunnykerr** · 05-25-2009, 07:43 PM

Have there been new developments since this came out?

-Kelly- · 05-25-2009, 10:31 PM

I don't know

if he knows something, he should tell.

-Kelly- · 08-07-2009, 09:34 PM

All eyes are on "Australia" now, I just hope it's true this time.

Madeleine McCann suspect 'waited for new daughter' - News.com.au

**sunnykerr** · 08-10-2009, 08:11 PM

What her poor parents must be going through... and for years now...