Madeleine McCann

[erobitha]

Hi Darryl,

Thanks for sharing this extra information. It's interesting (and quite disturbing).


I hope the case will be coming to a close very soon and it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out that you're right about how it happened; Brückner seems a very promising suspect, as this documentary shows. Among other things it reveals that a USB stick was found under Brückner's burried dog containing loads of disturbing vidieos and photos.

Best regards,
Frank

I had not seen that documentary before.

Seems what I was told might not have been garbled nonsense after all.

[cobalt]

'It is not only the abductor who has made their lives hell, but an incompetent detective-in-charge, aided by a vindictive mass media and public.'

We don't know that there was an abductor. All we know is that the girl has not been seen since the night she was reported missing.
The detective in charge may have been incompetent- he failed to establish exactly what happened. However the MSM in the UK were mostly very supportive of the McCanns and the amount of assistance they were offered from a high political level was unprecedented. It would be fair to say that the support for the McCanns in UK media far exceeds that on social media.

'The suffering of the McCanns outweighs any wrong they have done by a long way.'

I don't think anyone could argue with that, even those who believe the McCanns have misled the public over the circumstances of their daughter's disappearance.

[John Wheat]

I really don't want to argue with you, JW, because I don't think the McCann parents were completely blameless - and neither do they.

The real argument is about the size of the blame and how they have been victimised.

It is not only the abductor who has made their lives hell, but an incompetent detective-in-charge, aided by a vindictive mass media and public.

The suffering of the McCanns outweighs any wrong they have done by a long way.

Fair enough.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

But they were not innocent. They were guilty of being negligent. The only innocent in the crime is poor Maddie McCann.

I really don't want to argue with you, JW, because I don't think the McCann parents were completely blameless - and neither do they.

The real argument is about the size of the blame and how they have been victimised.

It is not only the abductor who has made their lives hell, but an incompetent detective-in-charge, aided by a vindictive mass media and public.

The suffering of the McCanns outweighs any wrong they have done by a long way.

[John Wheat]

I know.

I thought of that, but it is difficult to make a point by qualifying it.

The parents were secondary victims.

But they were not innocent. They were guilty of being negligent. The only innocent in the crime is poor Maddie McCann.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

But Kate and Jerry weren't strictly victims. Strictly speaking Maddie McCann was the victim.

I know.

I thought of that, but it is difficult to make a point by qualifying it.

The parents were secondary victims.

[John Wheat]

That brings to mind the notorious case of a British judge who declared that the scantily-clad character of a certain young woman constituted contributory negligence on her part - in other words, an invitation to rape her, which is what duly happened.

Perhaps it reflected the judge's conviction that had he encountered the woman in similar circumstances, he would have been similarly unable to restrain himself.

The criminal - and not the victim - is the guilty party in every case.

But Kate and Jerry weren't strictly victims. Strictly speaking Maddie McCann was the victim.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

The McCann's wouldn't have been "unlucky" had they not left their children alone though.

That brings to mind the notorious case of a British judge who declared that the scantily-clad character of a certain young woman constituted contributory negligence on her part - in other words, an invitation to rape her, which is what duly happened.

Perhaps it reflected the judge's conviction that had he encountered the woman in similar circumstances, he would have been similarly unable to restrain himself.

The criminal - and not the victim - is the guilty party in every case.

[Sunny Delight]

The McCann's wouldn't have been "unlucky" had they not left their children alone though.

Yeah so that just went over your head then.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

This is a somewhat generous appraisal though, isn't it? Yes, they 'drew a blank,' but only after first naming a complete stranger (Robert Murat) as a formal suspect, grilling him down at the nick, trying to get a confession out of him, and ransacking both his house and his cousin's restaurant, which sent the UK press on a feeding frenzy that ended in several successful libel suits. It ended up being a wild goose chase. Not a good look if the PJ later wants to convince the world that the intruder theory had been utterly untenable from the outset. Or am I being unfair?

The case against the McCanns was always farfetched, like that against the Chamberlains, Luard and Wallace.

The McCanns pretend to find their daughter is missing from their apartment, the Chamberlains pretend their daughter has been abducted from their tent by a dingo, Luard pretends to find his wife dead at a summer house on someone else's land, and Wallace pretends to find his wife dead at home after trying to keep an appointment at a fake address.

No-one ever produced any evidence that the McCanns stored Madeleine's body anywhere or disposed of it.

The McCanns were accused of concocting an alibi and the Chamberlains did not even need one, as their friends pursued the dingo tracks themselves.

No-one ever produced any evidence that the Chamberlains stored Azaria's body anywhere or disposed of it.

Luard has been accused of concocting an alibi even though both the police and the coroner declared it to be cast-iron.

Wallace was accused of concocting an alibi, even though he had insufficient time in which to have committed the murder.

The false allegations made against all these people captured the imagination of a receptive public, with all of them being accused of being unemotional by people who had never been in such a situation themselves.

The hatred of the public for the Chamberlains and the McCanns was akin to that of a lynch mob.

The Leicester Mercury had to withdraw a website opinion page "bombarded" with "nasty, spiteful and defamatory" comments.

(Belfast Telegraph, Mon 17 Sep 2007)

More than three-quarters of Australians thought the Chamberlains were guilty in 1984 and thirty per cent are still convinced of their guilt, in spite of proof of their innocence coming to light.

A gigantic 77.5 percent of Portuguese were certain that the McCanns were responsible for Madeleine's disappearance.

Just one more reason not to have faith in the jury system.

In the end, it was the authorities who set Wallace and the Chamberlains free, contrary to the jury's wishes at Wallace's trial, and there is no longer any police force even considering the possibility that the McCanns were involved in Madeleine's disappearance.

[rjpalmer]

Even rarer is a case where the child has been abducted by a stranger from the family home. Nonetheless, the PJ did explore that angle in the McCann case and drew a blank.

This is a somewhat generous appraisal though, isn't it? Yes, they 'drew a blank,' but only after first naming a complete stranger (Robert Murat) as a formal suspect, grilling him down at the nick, trying to get a confession out of him, and ransacking both his house and his cousin's restaurant, which sent the UK press on a feeding frenzy that ended in several successful libel suits. It ended up being a wild goose chase. Not a good look if the PJ later wants to convince the world that the intruder theory had been utterly untenable from the outset. Or am I being unfair?

[John Wheat]

I think we can all accept it was awful for all the parents to leave their children alone. The worst fear I would imagine then would have been a fire or someone waking and getting incredibly upset if their parents weren't nearby. However the thought of abduction I don't think would truly have registered as a real threat. In all of criminology has there ever been a case where a sleeping child has been snatched from their holiday apartment whilst asleep? I think the McCann case is unique. But for the grace of God it could have been any one of the party who were allocated that apartment. It just so happened the McCanns were the unlucky ones.

The McCann's wouldn't have been "unlucky" had they not left their children alone though.

[Sunny Delight]

That just about says it all. If you think parents leaving a three year old girl plus younger twins on their own in an apartment [ an apartment the night before a three year old girl was crying out for her parents ], while they go out enjoying themselves in a bar which did not leave a clear view of an apartment while leaving the patio doors unlocked instead of locking the patio doors and walking the extra yards to the front entrance does not increase the chance of a burglary or worse. Well !!

I think we can all accept it was awful for all the parents to leave their children alone. The worst fear I would imagine then would have been a fire or someone waking and getting incredibly upset if their parents weren't nearby. However the thought of abduction I don't think would truly have registered as a real threat. In all of criminology has there ever been a case where a sleeping child has been snatched from their holiday apartment whilst asleep? I think the McCann case is unique. But for the grace of God it could have been any one of the party who were allocated that apartment. It just so happened the McCanns were the unlucky ones.

[cobalt]

A condescending attitude towards the PJ has been a feature of UK media from the outset of the case, deflecting attention away from the family. This attitude has been embraced by the family themselves on a number of occasions. To offer some context, a high ranking retired metropolitan police officer offered the theory that Madeleine McCann had been abducted by an African family who wanted a white child. Little wonder then, that embedded racism continues to be a problem within that organisation.

No police force is experienced in the area of child abduction by a stranger since it is an extremely rare crime. Even rarer is a case where the child has been abducted by a stranger from the family home. Nonetheless, the PJ did explore that angle in the McCann case and drew a blank.

Unfortunately, young children being victims of their own family's actions is much less rare and is a standard element of police work.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

That just about says it all. If you think parents leaving a three year old girl plus younger twins on their own in an apartment [ an apartment the night before a three year old girl was crying out for her parents ], while they go out enjoying themselves in a bar which did not leave a clear view of an apartment while leaving the patio doors unlocked instead of locking the patio doors and walking the extra yards to the front entrance does not increase the chance of a burglary or worse. Well !!

Of course I do [think it does ...].

My point is that according to the documentary, the police lacked experience in dealing with a case of this kind, which suggests that they, like the McCanns, were very much taken by surprise and did not think it was the kind of environment in which such a crime would be committed.