Friday 14 August 2015

ACCIDENT OR MURDER





Sadly I think Madeleine was a huge problem for Kate - not so much Gerry, because I doubt he helped very much with kids, but for Kate she was dealing with 3 toddlers on her own.  At home she may have had help, but on this holiday all the childcare was down to her.  Gerry was having up to 3 tennis lessons a day and enjoying 'lads' time with his friends.  Fiona had the help of her mother and Jane and Rachel had partners who were hands on in the care of their children.  By comparison, Kate had a very raw deal, she was wary of going on the holiday, and the sulky Gerry, sitting apart from his wife and children on the bus, said 'he wasn't there to enjoy himself' - had there been a row?


Kate is no earth mother, she passes the care of her children to others at every opportunity.  The priority for this 'family' holiday was to offload the kids so the parents could play tennis and enjoy adult time with their friends. By all accounts, Madeleine was a handful, a wilful child and a 'screamer', she 'prevented' Kate from being the woman she wanted to be and the woman she wanted to be seen as.  It is hard to shine as the centre of attention when you are constantly having to deal with the temper tantrums and demands of a hyperactive 3/4 year old.  I think the 'perfect' holiday they sold us, was far from perfect.

I am not without sympathy.  When my own kids were small, I spent many nights sat at home crying whilst my childfree friends and those with family support, were out whooping it up to their heart's content.  But, like most mums and dads, I accepted it because in the whole scheme of things kids are little for such a short time and their cute smiles and loving hugs more than compensate for the 'good times' you miss. 

Gerry and Kate however are a different kettle of fish.  They are used to getting what they want.  This may well stem from Gerry being the doted on youngest sibling and Kate being an only child, but their oversized egos drive them.  If they want to do something they will find a way in which to do it, regardless.  It is the secret of their success. 

I believe Kate was jealous of Madeleine's relationship with Gerry (Gerry belongs to her) and resentful towards her daughter for dragging her away from the 'adult' things she wanted to do.  And by adult, I don't mean in the textusa sense, but in the sense of 'it was their holiday too'. 

With the demanding Madeleine out of the way, the parents relationship blossomed. Kate had Gerry all to herself and the twins had 24/7 care from all the friends and relatives who flew out to join them on their holiday.  In the summer of 2007, the parents looked totally relaxed and stress free, almost like a honeymoon couple.  Without nappies to change and demanding toddlers to deal with, they could spend all the time they wanted running, playing tennis and enjoying adult company without criticism.  They were doing it for Maddie. 

For me it is very hard to make the transition from violent rage to premeditated murder.  The 'plan', if there was one, was far too complicated and there was no way of knowing how events would unfold once the disappearance of Madeleine was reported. 

However, I don't rule it out, I respect the opinion of Dr. Ludke and if others higher up the Madeleine food chain were involved, it is a possibility.  The speed with which the cherubic Madeleine became the face of massive child finding conglomerates is more than a little suspicious and the dodgy entry
on the Wayback site would support this theory.  

From a logical perspective however, it is more likely that a crisis management and clean up operation took place. There are too many holes in the abduction story for it to have been pre-planned and the sloppy way in which the body was moved leaving the smell of cadaver in their own hire car suggests panic.  Had they wanted to get rid of Madeleine there were far simpler and more effective ways in which to do it without drawing suspicion onto themselves. 
 
I'm not sure anyone could have predicted that the disappearance of Madeleine would have caused such a media sensation.  Gerry and Kate could not hide their surprise (and joy) at the way in which the Madeleine Fund took off.  They went from 'We didn't know we needed a Fund' (Gerry) to a full blown fundraising campaign and plans for a 'Madeleine Day' for the whole world involving superstars from the music, sports and arts industries. 

Whilst some of the armchair detectives are convinced Madeleine died earlier in the week and have come up with all sorts of theories to account for the parents actions (swinging, paedophile gangs etc), they are using nothing other than speculation. 

Goncalo Amaral and the PJ were on the scene, they know more than we do, as do the officers on Operation Grange.  The only facts we onlookers have are those released in the original police files which are now 8 years old and there has been a lot of water under the bridge since. 

The highly trained and efficient EVRD (Enhanced Victim Recovery) dogs reacted to the McCanns belongings, the apartment they stayed in and the car they hired, no-where else.  Any theory that discards those findings is worthless.  So too any armchair theories involving others - when the PJ shelved the case through lack of evidence, they were not looking for anyone else. 

Those who claim none of us know how we would act in such circumstances, need to wake up and smell the (Expresso) coffee - genuine parents grieving the loss of their child shun publicity and do not care what they look like.  They do not do glamorous magazine photoshoots and go on world tours. 

8 comments:

  1. Great blog as always Cristobel. I’m a big fan of Textusa so I don’t dismiss the S theory and she has provided a lot of evidence to support it. Nonetheless I think there is nobody, commenting on this case, who has profiled those 2s personalities better than yourself. I particularly liked your observation on “they were doing it for Maddie”. I appears you have like me have come across people like that who have found good reasons to dump their kids on you. Like one of my relatives whose good cause was her “ill Mum”. I would end up trooping mine and her lot shopping, schooling and everything else for hours and days on end only to find out she had been lunching all afternoon. You can’t really complain because it’s all in a good cause and any complaints would be met with but she has an “ill Mum”. I could see those personality traits in K right from the beginning. Not in him as you said he had the personality that the day to day care of the children wasn’t his responsibility. Keep up the good work.

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    1. Textusa hasn't provided any evidence whatsoever that swinging is the reason for the events of early May 2007 in the Ocean Club. None. Nada. Ziltch.

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    2. Whatever this is cristobels blog and I wouldn't be getting into the what's and wherefores of Textusa blogs besides I wouldn't have Textusas intelligence to argue her case the way she could do herself. And if the best response you come up with to a genuine opinion is none nada ziltch I don't think your level of intelligence is up to hers either

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  2. We know the PJ and Gonçalo Amaral worked tirelessly to bring a solution to the mystery of Madeleine and have paid the penalty but can we honestly believe that of OG.

    Do we seriously believe OG found crecheman/tannerman in months when the PJ and Dr Amaral couldn't find him in years.

    OG's main purpose seems to be to destroy the reputation of Dr Amaral and the PJ.
    I am sure we will hear from OG when Dr Amaral returns to court.

    As always food for thought but I would think an accident covered up with the help of the Leicestershire Police.
    Why were they hiding their presence in PDL from Dr Amaral?

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  3. I'm not so sure JJ. I think OG wanted crecheman/tannerman off the scene as he was causing too much distraction (deliberately so of course) from the genuine sighting on the night. The only way to do this without calling Jane Tanner a liar and throwing more suspicion on the McCanns, was to create a 'genuine' error scenario. The world was looking for Tannerman, not Smithman, he had to be eliminated.

    Scotland Yard I believe, are trying to keep suspicion away from the McCanns for obvious reasons. Once the truth is out there, it may be difficult to protect the McCanns and their friends from the more hysterical 'justice seekers' - mob justice is ugly whatever the circumstances.

    The investigation by Operation Grange is painfully and woefully slow, but they seem to be following the same lines as the PJ. For example, the PJ knew Tannerman was a complete fabrication - they did not even bother wasting their time on him. Scotland Yard have been a little more diplomatic. They also understood the importance of the reconstruction, which, no matter how it was done, showed how ridiculous and unbelievable, the abduction story was. It is significant that none of the main players took part in it. The Crimewatch 'revelation' did the McCanns and the abduction theory no favours whatsoever.

    Support for the parents is now reduced to a trickle, a handful of diehards who have pledged allegiance and who may in fact be defending themselves as much as the parents. If the investigation runs as it should, there will be a number of people facing charges of perverting the course of justice and the seriousness of their crimes must involve prison sentences. I think the sheer number of people involved, each of whom will have to be charged separately, is a factor in the delay.

    I also think OG face the same problems as the Boulder police in the Jonbenet case - they have to present a case that will convince a jury beyond reasonable doubt, or the defendants will walk.

    In digging up the area in PDL surrounding Apartment 5A, it was clear OG were looking for a body. Martin Brunt suggested Smithman may have stopped to dig a hole whilst making his escape, but that particular theory is just too silly for words. Once the alarm was raised the area was filled with police, volunteers and sniffer dogs. Whoever buried Madeleine in PDL was staying in PDL and did not have the means (at that time) to transport the body elsewhere.

    Scotland Yard are in fact pointing the finger at Gerry and Kate, albeit they are not doing directly, they are merely following the evidence. If it was their intention to clear the McCanns, they would have backed their 'Kate and Gerry are not involved' with statements and evidence. As it is, they have said nothing that assists the parents, other than their opening statement 4 years ago.

    In addition, the snail's pace of the investigation suggests they are not looking for a live child. Nor are they looking for a predator or a paedophile gang, if they were, the investigation would be a Code Red (or whatever). It would be unforgiveable of them to sit reading files for 4 years while young children were in clear and present danger.

    As for Leicestershire Police. I am not so sure. They vigorously opposed the McCanns demands to hand over their confidential files, citing neither of the parents have been cleared. Goncalo discusses the British police in his book The Truth of the Lie. Apparently they arrived in PDL wearing Find Madeleine wristbands, but within days their opinions had changed.

    We assume that 'everyone' is helping the McCanns, but I really don't think that is the case. As it stands, there are very few people outside of Team McCann who still believe them. It has been a long time since they have appeared on the breakfast sofas and even the tabloids have given up on splashing 'suspects' on their front pages. There are no 'suspects' left, every paedophile and weirdo has been accounted for - only two (former) suspects remain.

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    1. Could I offer another point of view.

      The PJ and G Amaral investigated the witness testimony of JT and found it had no merit.

      They did not believe her tale and on examining the scene realised it was impossible, in the street light conditions, for her statement to stand up to scrutiny.

      In other words, she lied.

      Along come OG, the UK's "elite"detectives. They take everything back to zero, fly to PDL, examine the scene and light conditions for themselves, as you know, you cannot trust the Portuguese and that Amaral.

      They quickly establish JT is a wholly creditable witness of unimpeachable character with an astounding eye for detail.

      It is just unfortunate that OG discovered JT saw a totally innocent man carrying his child home from the creche.

      This clearly shows the British public how good our British detectives are and how poor the Portuguese investigation under Amaral was.

      To emphasise this fact, OG makes, along with the BBC, Crimewatch where they state they have found the innocent man, still wearing his clothes of 6 years ago.
      DCI Redwood emphasises OG had to check the creche records implying the failure of the PJ and Amaral to do a simple basic police task.

      This is in essence the purpose of OG, to disparage Dr Amaral and the PJ at every opportunity to the general British public and it certainly is working.

      I am sure OG will return to our screens once Dr Amaral's appeal starts with more amazing relevations.

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    2. I agree JJ, it all seems very patronising and what are Scotland Yard doing investigating a crime that occurred in Portugal?

      However, if their plan was to humiliate the Portuguese police and Goncalo Amaral they have failed dismally. It has taken them 4 years to reach the stage the PJ reached within 3 months. Tis Scotland Yard who have egg on their faces not the Portuguese.

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