The suspicious Polish couple, their apartment in Burgau and DNA connection.

[Carana]

Did Amaral ever send an ILOR about anything?

[Brietta]

The Polish couple had left Portugal. They had the camera. Did Amaral neglect to ask Interpol to locate the camera?

I have been under the impression that Mr Amaral had requested the contents of the camera since that was the whole point of the witness statement.

There are more ways to be involved in an abduction than actually carrying off and being in possession of the child.

The fuss being made reminds one of the hotel CCTV footage being scrubbed in Praia da Luz for which Mr Amaral claimed full responsibility for his officers' failure to follow his instructions.

As far as Scotland Yard and the Policia Judicairia not following through on the photographer ... who is kidding on that one??  Should he have had illicit photographic material encrypted at any time prior to or after Madeleine's disappearance ... what are the chances of him hanging onto it?

It is patently obvious whatever steps which could and should have been taken at the time were ignored ... and I think the man himself gives the major clue as to why he didn't bother ...


**Snip
Could you have gone further with this couple?

GA: We could. And if they were here in Portugal we could have done even more. But then the route of the investigation takes us elsewhere.

[ShiningInLuz]

So who asked the Polish police to search the home? No ILOR?

I have pondered this question on a number of occasions, and this is where I have reached, whether correct or not.

ILORs seem to be required in this case mainly because a prosecution would take place in Portugal under Portuguese laws.  Therefore every request from OG has to be ILORed in order to make sure that it can be proved the request has been scrutinised, and as such the resulting evidence can be used in a prosecution.

It does not seem to work quite the same way in terms of requests coming from Portugal and going to other countries.

The other countries need to show they have acted legally, no more and no less.  So an ILOR would be required only where something unreasonable was being requested under the receiving countries law e.g. get DNA from person X whether they wish to provide it or not.

In terms of the house search, it looks like the Polish bloke was happy that his house was searched, therefore not even a search warrant was required, let alone an ILOR.

As to the photos, unless the reporting is particularly skewed, we know the woman had previous convictions, but there is nothing to suggest the man did.

He does not appear to have been known as a paedophile.  He does not appear to have been known in connection with child trafficking.

He got off the plane in Berlin(?)  If he was involved in paedophile or child snatching activities, would he still have the evidence at that time?  And if he did, would he have had it when he got back to Poland?

At this point in time, it looks like a bit of finger-pointing at 'incompetent Polish police', a variation of 'incompetent Portuguese police', but perhaps I am being cynical.

Finally, does anyone believe for a second that he held on to incriminating evidence for over 8 years?  Or that when the Mirror turned up he handed over self-incriminating evidence to them, to pass it to OG?

Now OG has one more strand of donkey work - to prove that dozens or hundreds of photos taken supposedly in the region between Burgau and Sagres have nothing to do with Madeleine.

I don't know how major police operations prioritise 'leads', but whatever the lowest priority is, my money is on that.

[Montclair]

Did Amaral ever send an ILOR about anything?

It wasn't up to Gonçalo Amaral to send any ILORs since that is the responsibility of the Ministério Público.

[Carana]

It wasn't up to Gonçalo Amaral to send any ILORs since that is the responsibility of the Ministério Público.

My understanding is that a request is prepared by the PJ (they know what information they're seeking), then it gets passed to the prosecutor for approval and sending it to the foreign authority. If you examine the Rebelo team's rog requests, they are on PJ-headed paper with the prosecutor's name at the bottom.

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/RESPONSE-ROGATORY.htm


Looking through them, someone (TdeA?) in Amaral's team did actually get close to preparing one, but the prosecutor didn't seem too impressed with it - and I can't find any follow-up addendum.


10-Processo 10 Page 2609
10VOLUME_Xa_Page_2609

MoPo assessment regarding deficiency of rogatory request Conclusion dated 4 September 2007.
The preceding information relating to the request for having rogatory letters drawn up is manifestly insufficient and it does not state the identity of the people in the group of McCann friends whose clothing should be authorised for inspection by the dogs, nor does it identify the PJ officers who intend to conduct [collaborate in the doing of] the work, hence I have already contacted the Investigation Coordinator who is going to arrange for the submission of an addendum.
Therefore the file awaits for 8 days if, in the meantime, nothing [else] is advised or added.

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/RESPONSE-ROGATORY.htm#p10p2609


What on earth they thought they'd achieve by sending the dogs to sniff out the T7's clothes four months after the events is beyond my comprehension skills. As it doesn't appear to have been taken any further, I assume that the idea was quietly dropped.

ETA: I can't find any ILOR concerning the Polish situation, and if one had been sent with that level of vagueness, I'm not surprised that the Polish authorities were confused as to what they were being asked to do.

[pathfinder73]

It's very simple. Eddie should not alert to any clothes with no blood on them. If he does then the police are going to find out why.

[ferryman]

It's very simple. Eddie should not alert to any clothes with no blood on them. If he does then the police are going to find out why.

Eddie only alerted to cuddle-cat after it had been hidden in the cupboard; not while he could see it, sniff it, and pick it up.

Why?

And to deny that that happened is to call Martin Grime a liar ...

And before lady moderator boxes my ears for being off-topic, it wasn't me wot started it ....

[Carana]

Eddie only alerted to cuddle-cat after it had been hidden in the cupboard; not while he could see it, sniff it, and pick it up.

Why?

And to deny that that happened is to call Martin Grime a liar ...

And before lady moderator boxes my ears for being off-topic, it wasn't me wot started it ....

To bring it back to topic, I still can't find any ILORs from Amaral concerning the Polish situation.

[Anna]

To bring it back to topic, I still can't find any ILORs from Amaral concerning the Polish situation.

Could it have come from Leicestershire police?

I believe the Polish police were invited, to search their residence.

[Carana]

Could it have come from Leicestershire police?

I believe the Polish police were invited, to search their residence.

Various police forces seem to have cooperated in the immediate aftermath as an emergency situation, possibly with a very brief court order to search premises.

However, I don't see how confiscating personal belongings such as cameras, laptops or anything else could happen without a duly substantiated ILOR, and I can't find any trace of Amaral's team having done so.

Early on, the UK police did conduct a creditworthiness check on the T9, which Amaral apparently wanted, but who managed to misunderstand the result as meaning that they didn't have bank cards for some reason. His "misunderstanding" was duly leaked to the PT tabloids and still gets repeated today.

[Anna]

Various police forces seem to have cooperated in the immediate aftermath as an emergency situation, possibly with a very brief court order to search premises.

However, I don't see how confiscating personal belongings such as cameras, laptops or anything else could happen without a duly substantiated ILOR, and I can't find any trace of Amaral's team having done so.

Early on, the UK police did conduct a creditworthiness check on the T9, which Amaral apparently wanted, but who managed to misunderstand the result as meaning that they didn't have bank cards for some reason. His "misunderstanding" was duly leaked to the PT tabloids and still gets repeated today.

Thanks Carana.
                  I guess we will never know what was going on behind the scenes.

[kmc]

This couple owned a successful interiors business, yet chose to spend 30 + hours on planes and trains for a 1 week holiday in a fairly grim 1 bedroom apartment without a pool/garden. Apart from the Tannerman e-fit and Lourenco statement,  their apartment had haplotypes of both Robert Murat and Jane Tanner.  (Jane Tanner's daughter spent the last afternoon playing with Madeleine, so there could have easily been transference, but I doubt the hairs were tested against hers).   Interesting that this man is finally in the press after all this time and that they were never properly scrutinised.

[mercury]

This couple owned a successful interiors business, yet chose to spend 30 + hours on planes and trains for a 1 week holiday in a fairly grim 1 bedroom apartment without a pool/garden. Apart from the Tannerman e-fit and Lourenco statement,  their apartment had haplotypes of both Robert Murat and Jane Tanner.  (Jane Tanner's daughter spent the last afternoon playing with Madeleine, so there could have easily been transference, but I doubt the hairs were tested against hers).   Interesting that this man is finally in the press after all this time and that they were never properly scrutinised.

The hapolyte of hundreds and thousands ??? Get yur FACTS right KMC! 

[Anna]

This couple owned a successful interiors business, yet chose to spend 30 + hours on planes and trains for a 1 week holiday in a fairly grim 1 bedroom apartment without a pool/garden. Apart from the Tannerman e-fit and Lourenco statement,  their apartment had haplotypes of both Robert Murat and Jane Tanner.  (Jane Tanner's daughter spent the last afternoon playing with Madeleine, so there could have easily been transference, but I doubt the hairs were tested against hers).   Interesting that this man is finally in the press after all this time and that they were never properly scrutinised.

I believe that he said. they didn't like beach holidays. It will be interesting to see what comes of this. If anything at all.
It is sad that they had no children of their own and his wife could see him taking photos of other people's children. On the other hand, maybe she didn't want children........Who knows?

Maybe the holiday was meant just for a keen photographer and his interests.

[jassi]

I believe that he said. they didn't like beach holidays. It will be interesting to see what comes of this. If anything at all.
It is sad that they had no children of their own and his wife could see him taking photos of other people's children. On the other hand, maybe she didn't want children........Who knows?

Maybe the holiday was meant just for a keen photographer and his interests.

I don't like beach holidays either.  I do enjoy walking along a beach but I wouldn't want to spend any length of  time sitting on one