Could an intruder have opened the shutter and climbed in the window?

[Carana]

Matt thought that were was some light coming from outside. Could it be that the shutters weren't fully down and light came in through slats?

[John]

Matt thought that were was some light coming from outside. Could it be that the shutters weren't fully down and light came in through slats?

Off course, they could have been fully down but with the slats fully open as in pegasus post below.

[pegasus]

Off course, they could have been fully down but with the slats fully open.

Yes the shutters may be left fully closed, either with no gaps between the slats,  or with small gaps between the slats to let some light in, as seen in the photos you uploaded.



Typical window assembly at Ocean Club resort.

[pegasus]

A real thorn in the side of truth-deniers is Heri.
Bless him!

I think as soon as the burglar discovered someone was in he scarpered.

[sadie]

Yes the shutters may be left fully closed, either with no gaps between the slats,  or with small gaps between the slats to let some light in, as seen in the photos you uploaded.



Typical window assembly at Ocean Club resort.

Typical, yes showing small gaps.  However, with light refraction making the holes look bigger.  Only about 10% of the shutter allows light thru.

[pegasus]

... about 10% of the shutter allows light thru.

Yes 10% is a good estimate.

[Carana]

"We know that the window was cleaned the previous day -. However, Kate says she never opened the window. And most importantly, there were no signs of breaking in." (Amaral)

So the cleaner on WED left it open after cleaning it? I doubt it because nobody used it  8-)(--) All evidence points to the window/shutters being opened from the inside.

The cleaning lady's statement makes no reference to having cleaned the windows the previous day.

Where did he get that idea from?

[sadie]

This can only be done if the shutters are not fully closed all the way down and it seems that the shutters were tightly closed with no light coming through. Even so, pushing them up makes a lot of noise.

Where do you get the shutters being tightly closed from Montclair?

[pegasus]

It is a question of whether the fully closed window was locked or not.
If you press the top button, it's locked.
If you don't press the top button, it's not locked

[sadie]

Yes 10% is a good estimate.

Actually it is a generous estimate.  Bur it looks very different on the photo cos of light refraction.

[pegasus]

As I said, unless the top button is pressed in, the window is not locked, it can be opened from outside.

"... we hadn’t checked whether the windows were locked ... it wasn’t until Madeleine disappeared that we actually checked that the windows were locked ...  ...we .. kind of assumed that they were cos the shutters were down ..."
http://www.mccannfiles.com/id253.html

"... Regarding the windows ... he does not know if they were locked ..."
http://www.mccannfiles.com/id192.html#sta3

"... as far as windows are concerned, she said they were closed but she doesn’t know if they were locked ..."
http://www.mccannfiles.com/id192.html#sta5

[pegasus]

The shutter operating strap is only about 50mm from the window opening.
Normal arm length is more than sufficient.

[pegasus]

(Sorry I removed post because video was taking too long to load)

[stephen25000]

Possibly.

Shutters would never seal 100%.

[slartibartfast]

Shutters would never seal 100%.

More likely the curtains weren't fully closed.