MCCANNS DEMAND POLICE INTERVIEW "THEIR" WITNESSES

In an interesting report from The Times it would seem that Dr Rebelo and two others are only interested in overseeing the re-interviewing of the TAPAS 7 and will then return to Portugal. Meanwhile British Police will proceed to interview other witnesses who it would seem the McCanns suggest could prove their innocence presumably they number 23. Apparently, it is their right as Arguidos to demand this! All at the taxpayers expense..maybe they should foot the bill out of their "damages"..

It will be very interesting to hear who all these witnesses are that Kate and Gerry have demanded be interviewed and how many of them have been paid by newspapers to "tell their story" etc. I recall the two female tennis playing friends of Gerry's being splashed across the Daily Mail, did they do this for nothing. Clarence Mitchell also admitted Metodo 3 had paid witnesses. Official police witnesses do not get paid for their story, this would hardly serve the interests of justice and a search for the truth.

There is only one comment on The Times article but I would echo was Chris from London says, if these witnesses can prove their innocence why have they not been to the Police before now? He also speaks of all the lies that have been told and no one seems to have a voice for Madeleine. I believe the Police do have a voice for Madeleine and the truth will come out. I wonder how The Times knows TAPAS will not be made arguidos, surely that is a matter for the Portuguese Judge when Dr Rebelo and his team report back to him..

The article is misleading is seeking to suggest all witnesses being interviewed could prove the innocence of Kate and Gerry McCann. This is clearly not the intention of the Police in RE interviewing the TAPAS 7 three of whom have already been re-interviewed in July 2007 when they were recalled to Portugal. Fiona Payne, Rachel Oldfield and Dr O'Brien who claimed they saw Murat hanging around immediately after Madeleine's disappearance. The Police organised a "confrontation" between them and Murat and carefully studied this, no doubt to establish where the truth lay. They clearly remain dissatisfied with these witnesses but have now eliminated Murat as a suspect as The Times confirm at the foot of their article.

I think it is highly unlikely the McCanns will get to see the case against them on 14 April. As this report confirms secrecy of justice could be extended indefinitely, for as long as it takes really, until police can bring charges against them. In UK it is not unheard of for police to suspect murderers for 15 years and hold the case on police files, pending further evidence. I remember one husband who had dumped his wife in the lake, I cannot remember how many years later, somewhere between 15 and 30 they found that body and he got what he deserved.

Clarence can continue to suggest, as he does, that somehow their arguido status is preventing the search for Madeleine. Clearly it is not and the Find Maddie Fund is being heavily dissipated upon this propaganda. Whether they are charged or not in the immediate future, and I still think they will be, I do not believe for one moment the McCanns will ever lose their status as prime suspects. It is a matter of evidence, to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt, but as the police always say in such cases "we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this matter". They know where the evidence has taken them.

Mr Mitchell said: "We would hope that the police will do the decent and proper thing and open up the files.
"I would go further than that, and say once they have completed the interviews with the the friends, they should go back to Portugal and assess the evidence and eliminate Kate and Gerry and allow everyone once again to concentrate on the search for Madeleine."

It is not the decent thing to open up the files to a couple who have already had far more of an unfair advantage than the average homicide suspects. No one is stopping them looking for Madeleine. Why should the police pursue a futile exercise, because Clarence Mitchell says so? I think they ahve better things to do and in any missing person case, the police could not commit the resources to searching so long after the event.



From The Times
April 3, 2008
British police ready to question 'Tapas Seven' over Madeleine disappearance
David Brown
British police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are to interview more than 30 people who could help to prove that her parents were not involved in her abduction.
The interviews will begin next Tuesday with the first of the seven British friends who were on holiday with the McCanns when Madeleine was reported missing in Portugal. A different couple will be interviewed each day in the presence of Portuguese detectives at the headquarters of Leicestershire Police.
The officers will concentrate on alleged inconsistencies in the timelines of events on May 3. None of the witnesses will be made arguidos (official suspects under Portuguese law) and detectives will not seize evidence or search homes.
Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, both doctors from Rothley, Leicestershire, have offered to be reinterviewed but will not be questioned.
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British officers will then begin interviews with more than two dozen other people who were at the Ocean Club resort in Praia Da Luz on May 3 last year or who were later connected to the case.
The witnesses include other holidaymakers, nannies at the Ocean Club, people who claim to have seen Madeleine being abducted, the psychologist who comforted Kate McCann and the McCanns' official spokesmen, Clarence Mitchell and Justine McGuinness.
The list of people to be interviewed has been provided by Kate and Gerry McCann as part of their rights as arguidos to demand that police speak to people who could prove their innocence.
Paulo Rebelo, the chief investigator in the Polícia Judiciária investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, will fly to Britain with two other detectives on Monday. They will stay until Friday to watch the interviews with the so-called “Tapas Seven” who were at a restaurant on the Ocean Club with Mr and Mrs McCann when Madeleine went missing.
Jane Tanner, 36, claimed she saw a man carrying a girl from the McCanns' apartment at about 9.15pm - when another witness says he was outside the flat at the same time but did not see her or the mystery man. Her partner, Dr Russell O'Brien, 36, from Exeter, was away from the group for up to 45 minutes in the period that Madeleine was taken from her bed.
Dr Matthew Oldfield, 37, a hospital consultant from London, and his wife Rachel, 36, a recruitment consultant, were also at the tapas restaurant.
David Payne, 41, a cardiovascular researcher from Leicester, was the last person outside the McCann family to see Madeleine. His wife, Fiona, 34, and her mother, Diane Webster, will also be interviewed.
The McCanns' Portuguese lawyers have requested the police case against them be made made public on the eight-month anniversary of the day they were made official suspects. However, detectives can request a three-month extension, as granted in the case of the other official suspect, Robert Murat, in January.
Because of the change in Portuguese law, the court could rule that the eight-month limit actually started in September last year. And the evidence could remain sealed indefinitely if police rule that the case is a major crime, such as international child trafficking.
Mr Murat, 34, has recently returned to Britain to see his five-year-old daughter, Sofia, for the first time since he was made an official suspect in Madeleine's disappearance. Mr Murat, who lives with his mother in a villa about 100 yards from the McCanns' holiday apartment, has strenuously denied any involvement.
Police last month returned computers and clothing they had seized during the search of his home in an indication that they no longer believed he was a suspect.

Have your say

if the mccanns have all these witnesses who can verify that they are innocent why have not gone to the police before now, to many lies have been told in the dissapearance of madeleine and i find that really sad that there is no one to speak up for her and find out the truth
chris, london,