Madeleine McCann - new suspect

[KatherineJaneway]

A 43-year-old German prisoner who travelled around Portugal in a camper van is now the focus of Scotland Yard's investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52914016]

Tbh I am more surprised that anyone would believe she isn’t dead.

But the claim of knowing how she died is also interesting given they don’t actually have a body. Especially given the met aren’t echoing those beliefs. It’s actually quite common for police to consider something to be a murder enquiry, and the met currently aren’t which makes me wonder whether they have less faith in this German lead than the general public and the press seem to have.

When Ben Needham was confirmed dead by someone, the police took that as credible even though they never actually found the body.

Here police seem to have very little concrete other than a mobile phone number (which let’s be honest nobody is going to remember after thirteen years, and which has now led to a teenager being harassed because they now have said number,) and the belief that someone must have known something.

The man is clearly a piece of lowlife irrespective of this, but I’m not convinced this will come to anything. I’m more inclined to believe that his being in prison finally gave the police the ability to put out more details than they otherwise would.

If he hadn’t been in jail would he have been arrested I wonder? It’s very convenient that he was only jailed a couple of months ago and now this significant lead has been published which they say has been a lead for several years, and still with very little credible information.

And the publishing of the phone number does show they appear to be seem more interested in putting their name to solving this case than actually proving anything. Any idiot could have told them that publishing the number would lead to people ringing it. So IMO they’ve cocked up spectacularly there which would make me question how capable they really are.

if the 'I would never do that' comments make them think twice and therefore potentially save a child, that can only be a good thing.

I've read some daft things on here, but that may just take the . @Homebirdafterall, if someone isn't put off leaving their child in similar circumstances by knowing about the awful consequences in this case, do you seriously think that reading some smug person's comment 13 years after the event that "I would never do that" is going to be what tips the balance?

No it wasn't 'common' 13 years ago.

In this sort of resort, yes it was. The very fact that they provided a baby listening service confirms that.

Sorry for being a bit thick, but when you say he talked about MM on chat rooms, I'm assuming it's on the dark web and not a general every day forum? If so there must have been some damming info on there.

@Caelano

As I said many pages back, the ‘evidence’ the police seem to have is purely circumstantial. Unfortunately there were probably dozens of paedophiles within a small radius at the time. Both ones with convictions and ones without.

The fact that some other person (presumably a convict or ex con too) has said somebody told him that some guy in a pub said he knew something about what happened is fuck all in terms of proof beyond reasonable doubt. Unless there’s forensics I doubt this will go anywhere

Not true. This is usually how a lot of criminals get collared. They blab to their other criminal friends and one of them rats them out in exchange for a lesser sentence on some other crime. It’s a typical bargaining technique employed on both sides of the police questioning table.

A lot of crimes of solved this way, even decades old ones. Serial killers and rapists are discovered this way as well. Just like this German suspect, he blabbed to multiple people both outside and inside prison. If enough people (even though they’re criminals) can corroborate different parts of the timeline and his character make up, then that will help police triangulate a case against him.

I hope it will give them closure.

This latest theory is going nowhere IMO. No concrete evidence just speculation.

We have no idea what they know and don't know. They'll only release certain facts and hold others back.

@katherineJaneway agree, the police will only release details once they have a case to proceed with. The fact they have even commented with a currently substantiated theory indicates further knowledge. It is ridiculous the individuals on this thread taking basic news at face value, the police are hardly going to tell "Karen from swansea" the critical evidence.

The papers seem to be focusing on some abandoned wells at the property he lived in. They have also identified he had a Kosovan girlfriend and are looking for her.

I hope to god it is him and there can be closure. I have visited the area many times and it strikes me as quite easy to hide a body if you know where to
go.

I noticed he could be out after only a few years into his rape conviction. This causes me absolute rage. Also that he could freely wander between Italy, Germany and Portugal despite his criminal record. There is free movement of people and then there is a ludicrous lack of accountability.

It’s very common for the police to release certain details though in the hopes it will spark some memory. It’s not indicative they have a significant lead at all.

If no-one comes forward this will go nowhere, but e.g. there have been numerous similar cases where police have believed they have evidence to tie certain criminals into certain other crimes which have gone nowhere.

But if you remember crimewatch, the releasing of details was common, including things like car registration numbers. In fact I’m surprised they’ve released a phone number (which has now been tracked to a fifteen year old and potentially put him at risk) and not a car reg.

They sound completely inept

Surely there is some way to identify that number, even if pay as you go. Mine is PAYG but it's still my number for years and on all forms, applications etc.. surely it's 'registered' somewhere alongside her name. And I agree with a pp, if enough people give the same relayed information, it should carry some weight. Horrendous to think the perpetrator themselves so aware of who she was and has said it but couldn't somehow have anonymously put family out of misery, cannot get my head around that

@Chillipeanuts, this thread is about following the current news on the the case of MM.

It IS not about repeatedly rehashing what you think the parents did and didn't do, please start a separate thread about that as we want this thread to stay until there is a conclusion, one way or the other, in this current breaking news.

Seems the girlfriend was underage at the time, it does sounds like it is her they are trying to locate and appeal to, especially with the comment 'your loyalties may have changed'.

Surely then she in turn would have confided in someone since also? Or maybe not. I wonder if they have her name or could get it out of him. If they got 300 calls hopefully even give have given something new. I suppose next few days will tell a lot.

On a separate note I'm delighted to hear the twins are living life to the full. Though I can't understand the 'nobody is allowed mention Madeleine' bit.

It’s very common for the police to release certain details though in the hopes it will spark some memory. It’s not indicative they have a significant lead at all.

In this case I completely disagree. It is too high profile a case to have scant details and make such a major announcement just to stir the pot. Sounds like they have a strong understanding of what they think happened and now need some final elements of proof to convict him. Especially saying they think she is dead and are treating this investigation as a murder. You wouldn't say that word on a world stage without good grounding to.

Some of the reporting on this is so shoddy.

He is in jail for the rape of an American tourist 18 months before MM disappeared. He has only just been tried and convicted of this crime and not been in prison long, around a year I understand.

He was sentenced to 7 years. But apparently could be put on parole "within days" having served 2/3 of his sentence. Since when does 1 year in prison add up to 2/3 of 7 years?

Bouledeneige Fri 05-Jun-20 01:07:45
I'm not sure why anyone is surprised that German police have asserted that she is dead. It has seemed the most likely conclusion since 48 hours after her abduction. The poor, poor child. I hope she didn't suffer too much. For the parents it will be forever a living hell. No one deserved that. The only person to blame is the perpetrator.

There are many other children who have gone missing to a similar likely fate. And we should spare a thought for them and their families. This case has commanded disproportionate publicity.
..
Not at all. Other cases perhaps have not received enough publicity. If any of ours had been abducted, most of us would have called on everyone to help and done all we could to keep our child's name in the public domain, even after the police had virtually given up and it had become a cold case. This was different and more difficult because it happened in another country while the family was on holiday and, frankly, with the best will in the world the Portugese police don't appear to have been particularly thorough.

There have been similar cases in American where families have used their initiatives, employed various independent resources and it has paid off. Unfortunately that didn't happen with little Madeline though now, if this man is the perpetrator, at least the family will have closure.

It amazes me how long it took the Germans to extradite Christian B from Portugal and why the Portugese allowed him to stay there when he not only had a record but committed crimes there. He slipped through the net somehow.

The whole thing is quite horrific.

Yes your legit PAYG phone is traceable to you but not as easily as a contract phone when one call to the provider identifies you, the police would need to know where to look to find a link to you. A criminals "burner phone" isn't going to be linked to their nectar points! Add in that it was 13 years ago, that a heck of a lot less was done on line then and GDPR means after 13 years no-one should be holding records of that type of thing and it is far from straight forward.

‘A lot of crimes of solved this way, even decades old ones. ‘

^ such as?^

I don’t think people are so naive as to think the police always reveal all their knowledge to the public.

But it’s pretty damn clear from what has been reported that this is not much more than clutching at straws. This guy has been on their radar for years. He will have been investigated multiple times, he already has numerous convictions, the police will have a level of intelligence already on who he hangs out with, former cell mates etc.

It’s pretty clear that aside from some circumstantial evidence such as being in the area at the time (which applies to, sadly, many other sex criminals) there clearly isn’t enough evidence to charge him with anything relating to this case. Weren’t there about 600 people in the area at the time who came under initial scrutiny- this guy included? So the Met police will also have read dozens of documents about him.
As for the German police saying they ‘know how she was killed’ frankly that’s bizarre. How, without tangible evidence? Anyone can say anything to a mate, a fellow prisoner, randoms in a chat room etc

There is a huge desire to solve the riddle of whatever happened, it’s one of the great mysteries of the century. But sadly it doesn’t feel the police are any nearer to actually having a reasonable chance of bringing anyone to justice

I agree op re saying it's murder is a significant thing. Hoping the family will have some closure soon.

Very very scary that he’s eligible for parole in a few days there are so many cases where these monsters get out and reoffend. It disgusts me that you can rape someone and get out within a year

"It was reported tonight that he was questioned at the time but the Portuguese police had already decided it was the parents and didn't consider him"

Didn't the Met also look into him & the investigators that the McCanns hired?

Much as I think that the Portuguese were over focused on the McCanns-and for a time Robert Murat, Iwould like to think that they didn't just let anyone/everyone else go for no good reason!

"But it’s pretty damn clear from what has been reported that this is not much more than clutching at straws. This guy has been on their radar for years."

Wasn't he only convicted of the rape he is currently serving time for because his place was burgled & a recording of it found?