McCanna.....the lost half hour?

Question

from the news of the world today

PORTUGUESE police are concentrating on what they claim is a missing half hour in accounts of the night Madeleine disappeared.

The McCanns told detectives they believed they arrived at the Tapas restaurant at 8.30pm.

But months into the investigation, Portuguese detectives now allege they did not turn up until almost 30 minutes later.

Friends' statements show there may be differences of opinion over what time Kate and Gerry arrived with some of the pals stating it was just before 9pm.

Police want to quiz the couple again over what they call the "missing half hour".



A police source said: "We believe the timetable of events that evening is crucial to the inquiry. We want to know how they could make such a mistake over the time they arrived."

Early on in the investigation the McCanns said they got to the restaurant at 8.30pm.

Based on arrival timings given by their dining companions, that would mean the tragic couple arrived first before their friends.

But police sources say statements given by those pals show the McCanns arrived just before 9pm—and that by then all of their friends were already there.

Checked

The statements claim that Russell O'Brien, Jane Tanner, Matthew and Rachel Oldfield were first to arrive at around 8.45pm.

At 8.55 David and Fiona Payne were said to have turned up with Fiona's mum, Diane Webster.

Some statements indicate that the McCanns turned up two or three minutes after the Paynes.

If these new timings are accurate police are questioning why Gerry would go back and check the children just 5 minutes later.

He is reported as saying he checked the apartment and all three children were sleeping at 9.05pm.

This was confirmed when on his way back he stopped to speak to Jeremy Wilkins, another guest at the resort he had met playing tennis earlier in the week.

At 9.10pm Jane Tanner said she crossed Gerry's path on her way to check her own children.

Around that time she says she saw a man carrying away a child she now believes was Madeleine.

She describes the man as aged 35, dark-haired. wearing beige trousers and black shoes. She said the girl, who appeared to be sleeping, was toddler age, bare-footed and wearing pink pyjamas like Madeleine's.

No one else out that night reported seeing this man.

Portuguese cops have piled on the agony for the McCanns by retracing their steps and naming them both as official suspects. They believe the couple may have been involved in the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine. And they think one may be covering up for the other.

Officers are probing a "three-hour window of opportunity" on the theory that during this time Madeleine was killed in the apartment and her body hidden somewhere nearby.

It starts the last time the children were seen alive by anyone but their parents and ends when Kate and Gerry were seen in public.

The last time Madeleine was seen alive was by staff at the Ocean Club creche at 6pm.

The McCanns were then alone with their children for almost three hours at the most if they did arrive at the Tapas restaurant at 9pm.A police source said: "The couple are being monitored to see how they react to every new piece of information they receive.

"The pressure has slowly been mounting on the McCanns over the last month as new information has been fed into the inquiry." Sources say the couple have been kept under surveillance following the discovery by a dog of the smell of death in their apartment on August 1.

Police now claim they have detected blood in a Renault Scenic car hired by the McCanns 24 days after Maddie's disappearance.

During questioning, GP Kate was asked why she had washed Madeleine's favourite toy "Cuddle Cat". Cops believe she has was trying to hide forensic evidence of her daughter's death.

Washed

The police claim the smell of a corpse was found on Kate's T-shirt, jeans and on Cuddle Cat.

Kate says she washed the toy on August 5—four days after police dogs picked up "the scent of death".

She insists she washed the toy simply because it was covered in dirt and sun tan lotion.

Portuguese police are relying heavily on a Cracker-style profiler who has been studying the McCanns' behaviour. The profiler has reportedly claimed that he suspects that the couple, from Rothley, Leics, could be "distracting" themselves from the horror of what they might have done by getting involved in the massive media campaign.

Doubts have also been cast over the lack of emotion and the controlled composure of the couple since their daughter disappeared.

The profiler has told cops that this matches that of a couple who are united and focused in a bid to cover up a tragedy.

But former Chief Inspector Albert Kirby, who led the hunt to trap the killers of toddler James Bulger, said: "There is very little time for the McCanns to have murdered their daughter and disposed of her body.

"And they would have had to carry her body a short distance away and concealed it without anyone spotting them. The body would have also had to remain concealed and unfound for a long time despite the police search.

"The Portuguese police must believe that one of them managed to conceal the body in a flat or a bush."

RKO
So can you explain then why when the mccanns were asked three months ago when they reached the tapas bar they said they were there before anyone else. but when their friends were interviewed they all said they arrived last. then recently they change their story. even if you cant remember the exact time....you can still tell if you arrived there before your friends or not.

Answer 1

Get a grip. There are signs in the mc canns behaviour. The lack of emotion is not normal here. Their blogging about runs on the coast and going to dinners etc. Come on, do you really think if your child was abducted that you would be blogging about normal everyday things and posting the daily happeneings of their other children on the net, when there is supposedly a psyhco out there that has abducted one of their children.NO. you would be keeping as much to yourself as possible, only emerging to give any neccessary public appeals. this is an obvious attempt to portray themselves as mr and mrs normal and endear the public to them. A common tactic of liars; CHARMING people into thinking they are 'wonderful, lovely people'. I have seen red flags in their behaviuor and i'm not a so called 'truth wizard'. sorry but your so called talent will be exposed as a load of junk. It would not be a surprise if a narcissistic, selfish married couple, more interested in their social life than their kids, who may of accidently killed their own daughter, who have reputations in society to 'protect' as a GP and Heart doctor, would go to extreme lengths to cover this up. It's happened before. Remember Jon Benet? Rest in peace. sorry, i know this is harsh, but it is not a impossibilty that they have concocted this abduction story, it is actually quite plausible.


It all sounds very sus.

Answer 2

JonBenet's parents were suspected, harassed and vilified by law enforcement, the media, and the public but were never ultimately charged with any wrongdoing.

I can't tell you right now what time it is within a half-hour.....
is it so impossible to believe that the McCanns simply can't be certain as to what time they arrived for dinner?

How can blood found in a car rented almost a month after Maddie's disappearance be connected to this crime?

Why does everyone always suspect those who don't show emotion, or seem to be controlled under duress? I can't believe that I would allow myself to be hysterical or highly emotional in public under the worst of circumstances.

What would be the parents' motive?

Unless these are cool, collected, professional killers, how did they manage to dispose of the body in such a fashion that the police haven't yet found it...or any evidence of a disposed body?

'Smell of death' detected by a dog? A dead mouse would project a 'smell of death'.

Is there any DNA evidence that points to the McCanns' guilt (or innocence)?

Sometimes people are wrongly suspected, accused and convicted. Sometimes the 'real killer' is never found (as in the case of Jack the Ripper; O.J. Simpson; Natalie Holloway and JonBenet Ramsey). This might be another one of those "unsolved mysteries" that never gets resolved. Or, maybe the parents did have something to do with it, but it just seems unimaginable to me.

All that being said, I also can't imagine why parents would leave three small children alone while they are dining and drinking with friends (even if it was only a short distance away, and even if they did check on the children periodically). Such neglect is inexcusable (JonBenet's killer apparently entered the house and carried the victim to a basement; was that neglect, too? An assumption of safety in one's own home might be considered different than an assumption of safety in a public resort).

Just my thoughts to complement yours....-RKO- 09/09/07

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Interesting reading for sure. We will need more yet though I feel. Equally interesting is the comment "At 9.10pm Jane Tanner said she crossed Gerry's path on her way to check her own children. "
So the McCanns weren't the only people to leave their children unattended that night then.

Answer 5

Afraid the News of the World as usual is behind the times there is no new info here its all been on the news in the past week and most of it has been discussed here since the start.

It is interesting to see how different papers are handling the story.

Answer 6

Maybe the other guests were caught in a time warp. I'm sorry.. I just can't help it at this point. I hear what you're saying though, it all needs to be ironed out with the parents.

RKO, the dogs are trained to smell dead human, not animals.

Answer 7

and its took the Portuguese police all this time to ponder about it before asking questions!! the whole investigation is a farce and its Maddy and her parents who have suffered the consequences of an incompetent police force. i believe there would have been closure by now if this had happened in the UK!

Answer 8

Thank you. Are sooooooooooooo
happy you are feeling better. Clearly
Yahoo Answers is helpful. It's still a
private family matter. Portuguese, too.
Know what I'm talking about?

Answer 9

Its good that you seem to have found some un-biased media, all I can get is the BBC and companies pro McCann klan propaganda

Answer 10

The police interviewed Kate for 11 hours and they forgot to mention a "missing half hour"? Come on. Are you one of the lynch mob who want to hang this couple?