14th September to 31st December 2007

14  September 2007:  Solicitors Kingsley Napley meet with Dr Gerald McCann, Dr Kate McCann. Solicitor Angus McBride drove to Rothley to collect the McCanns. Also present were top Solicitor Michael Caplan QC (an expert in extradition proceedings) and at least two members of security company Control Risks, also said to be present is Brian Kennedy.

A sighting in Morocco near the end of the month is probably set up by Metodo3.

Near the end of September Gerry gives an interview to Vanity Fair  - incriminating answers and statements are of interest here. The article was published in the February  2008 issue and can be found on mccannfiles.com  

02/10/2007

Amaral is moved to other duties.

08/10/ 2007

Paulo Rebelo, a senior criminal investigation coordinator in national police headquarters in Lisbon, is appointed as the new head detective in the Madeleine investigation.

Newspapers report that British scientists have reportedly discovered new DNA evidence possibly linking Kate and Gerry McCann to Madeleine's disappearance.

Reports suggest the results, from the Forensic Science Service Laboratory in Birmingham support previous forensics that were sent to Portugal by British scientists and resulted in the McCanns being named as official suspects.

The new results are said to have come from analysis of further material taken from the McCanns' apartment in Praia da Luz, their hire car and other parts of the Mark Warner holiday complex.

 It is revealed that Kate and Gerry have hired their own forensic team. (If this is the case, it would be pointless as they would already know that the DNA evidence would not play a part in a court case in Portugal, since the law there requires a 100% match – the match initially said to have been made by the FSS was however more than sufficient to be presented in a UK court.)

12/10/2007

Channel 4 Dispatches broadcast their documentary 'Searching For Madeleine' in which the idea that an abductor broke into the apartment through the shutter is dismissed as 'almost impossible'.
24/10/2007
The McCanns launch a new 24 hour hotline manned by private detectives.
25/10/2007
The McCanns release an artists’ impression of the person it is alleged Jane Tanner saw on the night Madeleine disappeared. The man has no face and is carrying what appears to be a lifeless body.
Metodo 3, the Spanish 'detective' agency employed by the McCanns, say they are convinced Madeleine is being held in Morocco.
30/10/2007
News breaks that Madeleine's Fund has been used to make two mortgage payments on the McCann's family home in Rothley, Leicestershire.

November 2007

1/11/2007

CM says no indication that Tapas 7 will be made arguidos.

NoTW reports carrier bag found with DNA links to Maddie.

Blue fleece jacket, adult jeans, shower curtain, green child’s t-shirt are reported to have been found in the bag.

8/11/2007 Newspaper headline that two Tapas  are seeking to provide fresh statements.

9/11/2007  A statement from FSS  is inconclusive regarding DNA.

13/11/2007  Brian Kennedy meets with PJ and shortly afterwards has a meeting with Murat in Burgau .The PJ inspectors Ferreira and Paiva submitted an account of their meeting at a later date. (It is of course illegal to approach witnesses on behalf of the accused  but Brian Kennedy also approaches the Smiths in Ireland at a later date. Other witnesses complain in their rogatory interviews of pressure put upon them by the McCanns or by others representing them.)

The Portuguese paper Jornal de Notícias appeared to have some additional information about this meeting. Their report, early in 2008, said: “The meeting - a dinner that Brian Kennedy asked to be discreet and far away from the eyes of the press - took place in the end of last year at a house of Murat's relatives in Burgau (Vila do Bispo). At the dinner were Robert Murat and Kennedy, their respective lawyers, Jennifer Murat and the aunt and uncle of Murat” [NOTE: This appears in fact to have been Ralph Eveleigh, Murat’s uncle, and Sally Eveleigh, his cousin].

If Murat and Kennedy each had one lawyer with them - Pagarete and Smethurst - that makes seven people present at that dinner in Burgau:  Murat and his mother, his uncle Ralph and cousin Sally Eveleigh, who ran the 8-room guest house at Vila do Bispo, two lawyers and Brian Kennedy.

This evening meeting was either on the same day, or very close to, the meeting that Brian Kennedy had with the Portuguese Police on 13 November 2007 that we referred to above. The two Portuguese Police Inspectors, Ferreira and Paiva, later submitted an account of their strange meeting with Brian Kennedy.

The report, which is amongst the documents contained in the police files,  indicates that right at the start of the meeting, Brian Kennedy was keen to stress that his intentions were ‘purely charitable’, because he felt ‘concerned about cases of child neglect and child abduction’. The Director of Metodo 3, Francisco Marco, presented information to the PJ about three situations, allegedly received via their ‘hotline’.

14/1/2007  Newspapers report that Rebelo and his detectives have a list of 100 questions to ask the Tapas 9.

The PJ is also frustrated at the length of time to get final test results from FSS.

15/11/2007  A solicitor, reportedly acting for one of the two Tapas who wants to change their story claims that the McCanns have received ‘far beyond normal ‘ help from UK Government.

17/11/2007  Tapas 9 have a meeting in a hotel nr. Rothley. TVstation Antena3 claims it was set up by Metodo3 team and lasted from 10 to 4.

They claim that none of the 9 will change their statements and that 3 of the Tapas will indicate that Murat was in the area before and after the alarm.

The McCanns also arrange for one of the nannies - Cat Baker who was the principal nanny who looked after Maddy in PdL,  to stay in a hotel and are later photographed (probably on the 18th) going to church with the nanny and the twins.

http://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t5512p25-the-rothley-meeting-a-turning-point?highlight=the+turning+point

Another day - another summative overview...

19/1/2007 Panorama programme is screened 58 mins. Jane Tanner states that she believes she saw Madeleine being carried away.

21/11/2007  PJ will travel to UK to interview the Tapas 7. 

28/11/2007  Two forensic science experts arrive in UK to review evidence, meeting at a secret location with the FSS and LP.

29/11/2007  All day discussion by the above. CM state that there is nothing to incriminate the McCanns because they are innocent.  The FSS says tests are ongoing.

30/11/2007  PJ investigators return to Faro. They meet with the British ambassador, and the consular official.  PJ are finally granted permission to re-interview the Tapas 9.

1/12/2007

It is revealed that Portuguese police are investigating a mobile phone call from Russell O'Brien to Gerry McCann that was made on 10 June 2007. A team of telephone surveillance officers highlighted the call as it is understood to have contained key words that aroused police suspicions.

Investigators are concentrating on the exact whereabouts of Dr O'Brien when the call was made. It is understood Gerry McCann told detectives the call was made within a 4km radius of Praia da Luz but technicians working on the mobile phone network have dismissed this after examining records. It is believed the call took place 28km from Praia da Luz.

2/12/2007

It is reported that Portuguese police are investigating a disused barn in the south-east of Praia da Luz following the discovery of a blood stained towel which police believe may turn out to be Madeleine's blood.

Fibres on the towel allegedly match fibres from the Renault Scenic hire car the McCanns' hired 25 days after Madeleine's disappearance.

It is understood Portuguese detectives discussed the breakthrough when they met British police and a Crown Prosecution Service official last week at a police station in Leicester.

The fresh information is believed to have come from mobile phone surveillance police who tracked a signal to the remote and deserted barn. There they found a towel with an Aztec design, which revealed three sites of blood deposits on the edge of the towel. Tests showed there was 'moderate' support to suggest the blood deposits matched Madeleine's blood.

The results were not conclusive and are not regarded as being strong enough to be presented as evidence in a court case. However, close analysis of the towel revealed fibres which were not made of the towel material. The fibre fragments were microscopically examined against fibres found in the boot of the McCanns' Renault Scenic hire car.

Portuguese police sources say there was 'strong support' that the fibres found on the towel matched fibres found from the boot of the car. 6/12

Kate and Gerry will find out within 48 hours if the British Government will let them face a new grilling over their daughter’s disappearance.

The prosecutor in charge of the case was last night set to send a letter asking for formal permission to re-interview them and their holiday dinner pals - the so-called Tapas Seven - to the Home Office. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, 44, will then decide whether or not to allow the further questioning to take place.

9/12/2007

It is reported that police questioning of the McCanns and their group of friends could be delayed until after Christmas. Portuguese detectives are ready to fly to the UK and have prepared letters with questions the couple and their seven holiday friends must answer. It had been thought the interviews by British police with Portuguese officers sitting in could begin this week.

But the questions must be approved by the Portuguese public prosecutor, who will spend a week considering possible changes. They will then go to the investigating judge for authorisation before being translated.

Finally, the questions must be approved by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

10/12/2007

It is revealed that the McCanns and other members of the tapas group have met for the first time since May 3rd. This was actually reported as an 'exclusive' in November, by Spanish TV station Antena3 but has only just been picked up by the British press.

It is said the 'Tapas Nine' had a highly emotional and "deeply sad" reunion at a hotel near Kate and Gerry's home in Rothley, Leicestershire. It is believed to have taken place on Saturday 17 November, the week after news broke that two members of the tapas group wanted to change their statements.

A source close to the McCanns said the meeting was kept secret because of the huge interest it would have generated. "It was a show of solidarity under police claims that one or two had wanted to change their stories," said a source.

16/12/2007

The Times runs an article by David James Smith, which gives details of the events of May 3rd.

It seems that the baby monitor may have been one of the points on the agenda at the Rothley meeting:

http://unterdenteppichgekehrt.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/conversation-with-press.html

Message: Dear Mr. Smith,

In your article "Kate and Gerry McCann: Beyond the smears", from 16th December 2007, you mention this fact: "Russell O’Brien and Jane Tanner had brought a monitor too, but theirs wasn’t getting much of a signal from the Tapas restaurant 50 yards away."

The couple never mentioned to the PJ that they brought a monitor as well, in all their statements they claim that the Paynes were the only ones with a baby monitor. Only in April 2008, in the rogatory interviews conducted by Leicestershire Police, this piece of information appeared. It might seem a small omission, but in the light of possible neglect charges, would have been important. Jane Tanner claims in the rogatory interview that she brought it with her in the evenings and positioned it on a ledge/wall behind her. This was NEVER mentioned to Portuguese Police as the released statements show. The question I have is, how did you get this info before the rogatory interviews even took place? I know you have to protect sources, but this seems a very strange inside knowledge.

Thank you in advance.

Kind regards

-----------------------------------------------------

Who are you and what is your interest in this case?

David

-----------------------------------------------------

I am sorry if I have upset you... Well I gave my name, I am from Germany and I am interested in the case. Since the files have been released I have been trying to build myself an opinion based solely on facts and no spin. I am in the possession of the

DVD with the released case files and have spent a lot of time with their analysis. That is why I came upon this rather curious discrepancy regarding the baby monitor. There was a meeting of the McCanns and their friends in Rothley in November, and in December your article was published with this "new" fact. I am just curious where it suddenly came from.

Regards

--------------------------------------------------

No I am not upset. I just don't to fuel the web ghouls (I have no idea whether you are one of them or not...) who seem obsessed with what i consider to be the grotesque idea that the mccanns or their friends did away with madeleine. In addition to the

further distress it must cause the mccanns and their friends on top of the devastating event that started it, I just feel it is a complete waste of time and energy. That said, however, I had a long briefing with Gerry McCann before I wrote my article and

I guess the baby monitor info came from him. I am aware that many discrepancies arose in the portuguese statements through misunderstandings of language. And you ought to be aware that there will always be minor discrepancies of fact in statements

- failings of memory, interpretation and so on - which are not in themselves sinister or suspicious.

Unquote

The rogatories are a long long way off  - Jaqui Smith was instrumental in blocking requests with counter requests or simply delaying her replies as can be seen in the next post. The rogatories which were expected to take place soon after Christmas finally took place at the beginning of April. 

The baby monitor belonged to the very two people who appear to have wanted to change their statements. But the most important fact we glean from the above correspondence is that David Smith was ‘briefed’, that is informed  by someone who was still a suspect in a case - not exactly impartial or investigative journalist. Just someone who is told what to write. Both David Jones of the Daily Mail (see blog post..///////) and David Smith wrote prose worthy of Mills and Boone at the time. Sea sickness pills may be needed. refs link article  http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/article76941.ece

12/12/2007

El Mundo claims a Foreign Office document, dated May 17, justified the order because of "the specific nature of the case" and because British diplomats "were already helping Madeleine McCann's parents.
The paper reported: "An internal document, sent by the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom, orders British diplomats 'to avoid offering support' to Robert Murat, one of the suspects in the Maddie case, unless charges are presented against him.
23/12/2007
It is revealed that police want to trace a blue tennis bag allegedly taken from Kate and Gerry McCann's apartment on the night Madeleine went missing. Detectives think the hold-all could have been used to carry Madeleine as she was taken away, or even to transport the three-year-old's body. It belonged to the girl's father but has not been seen since the night of May 3, according to a Sky News documentary due to be broadcast on Christmas Eve.[..]
But McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell flatly denied that Mr McCann had lost a bag during the family's holiday. He said: "As far as Kate and Gerry are concerned, there is no missing tennis bag. They came back from holiday with everything except of course, tragically, Madeleine."
Mr McCann told friends yesterday that he did not take any tennis equipment to Praia da Luz, and did not own a blue tennis bag. But Sky News stood by its story, which it said came from sources who had travelled to the resort after Madeleine's disappearance.
Portuguese newspaper Diaria de Noticas reports that the Policiaria Judiciaria have been searching for months for a blue tennis bag, with sufficient size to carry a small child, which belonged to Gerry McCann. The story, advanced by Sky News, adds that Gerry McCann assured PJ investigators at the time that the bag had been "stolen". 
24/12/2007
Sky TV airs Martin Brunt's documentary 'The Mystery of Madeleine McCann' in which he reviews the case and reveals details of the missing sports bag, as reported yesterday.

O happy days....