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

[pegasus]

No not correct
The window once closed shut is locked for all intents and purposes. You cant open it. It does not matter if it is locked with a key after. Same as the double glazed windows you get in the UK. You shut them and they are shut and you cant open them from the outside.

Are you basing your conclusion on photos or video of the mechanism of that exact sliding window in that exact bedroom?
Or on photos/video or experience of some different model of sliding window (in a different apartment) which does autolock?

[Redblossom]

Interesting...how do you know this? If this is true it paints a very different picture.

From observation and logic


There would be no point in having any mechanism on a window if it did not open or shut a window....so what was was the point? Unless I have misunderstood you...

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/P9/09_VOLUME_IXa_Page_2319.jpg

[AnneGuedes]

Interesting...how do you know this? If this is true it paints a very different picture.

They close automatically for security reasons when you slide them completely, it makes a noise and you can also see that the latch's position has moved.

[Redblossom]

They close automatically for security reasons when you slide them completely, it makes a noise and you can also see that the latch's position has moved.

Thank you Anne, sometimes I wonder if we have to explain why the sky is blue when its not raining and how do we know?

[pegasus]

They close automatically for security reasons when you slide them completely, it makes a noise and you can also see that the latch's position has moved.

Are you describing the exact make and model of sliding window in north bedroom of 5A?
Or some other sliding window in some other apartment?

[AnneGuedes]

The McCanns never touched the window/shutters/curtains of the children bedroom. This is what they stated.
The last person to have touched them was the cleaning lady who used to make a serious cleaning once the week, opening the windows for fresh air and light. This lady was interviewed by the PJ. If she had left the window slightly open she would have told it, nobody would blame her for that.
Finally forensics proved nobody passed through that window.
Up to now nobody suggested the abductor used on a flying carpet.

So what ?

[AnneGuedes]

Are you describing the exact make and model of sliding window in north bedroom of 5A?
Or some other sliding window in some other apartment?

I'm describing one of mine that has a tipping black latch.

[Benice]

Your reasoning is perfect, Benice, but it requires 1) believing the McCanns about the state of the window/shutters and 2) forgetting that they were in such a terrible emotional state that they couldn't possibly stage anything.

But how could a couple who were so cold hearted and unmoved by the death of their daughter that they were capable of disposing of her body like a sack of old rubbish, not be able to just as coldly sit down and work out what they were going to say about the shutters/window - which after all was going to be the proof that an abductor had broken in and was in fact the most important part of their plan.

Surely such people would not be panicking at all at the planning stage - why would they be? and they certainly would not have overlooked the fact during that discussion that at least some evidence needed to be present to prove a break in.   So why didn't these cunning criminal masterminds provide some in readiness for the obvious inspection of the window by the PJ which they knew would take place?

Obviously I don't believe for one moment that any of the above happened, which is why I believe Kate told the truth when she said the shutters were up and the window was wide open when she found Madeleine missing and this led her to immediately believe that an abductor had broken in and taken her daughter.   And that is when the nightmare started.

[Redblossom]

Are you describing the exact make and model of sliding window in north bedroom of 5A?
Or some other sliding window in some other apartment?

Does it matter? What is the latch for? It serves to CLOSE the window...it CANNOT be slid open once shut, end of....

[AnneGuedes]

But how could a couple who were so cold hearted and unmoved by the death of their daughter

?
Did you read "they were in such a terrible emotional state that they couldn't possibly stage anything" ?
About your "capable of disposing of her body like a sack of old rubbish"
see in his rog what Mr O'Brien heard on that night.

[pegasus]

Thank you Anne, sometimes I wonder if we have to explain why the sky is blue when its not raining and how do we know?

The excellent video demonstration of the window mechanism by Moita Flores makes it as clear as a rainless blue sky that the window in this bedroom does not autolock when you slide it fully closed. After sliding it fully closed, then to lock it requires an additional conscious action, which is pressing the top "lock" button.
If you slide it fully closed but do not afterwards consciously press that top button, then the window can be slid open from outside easily.
All IMO but based on video of exact window by Moita Flores, he is an expert, please watch his demonstration.

[Redblossom]

The excellent video demonstration of the window mechanism by Moita Flores makes it as clear as a rainless blue sky that the window in this bedroom does not autolock when you slide it fully closed. After sliding it fully closed, then to lock it requires an additional concious action, which is pressing the top "lock" button.
If you slide it fully closed but do not afterwards conciously press that top button, then the window can be slid open from outside easily.
All IMO but based on video of exact window by Moita Flores, he is an expert, please watch his demonstration.

So why would anyone slide it to a close position but not flick the close/lock latch then?

[AnneGuedes]

The excellent video demonstration of the window mechanism by Moita Flores makes it as clear as a rainless blue sky that the window in this bedroom does not autolock when you slide it fully closed. After sliding it fully closed, then to lock it requires an additional conscious action, which is pressing the top "lock" button.
If you slide it fully closed but do not afterwards consciously press that top button, then the window can be slid open from outside easily.
All IMO but based on video of exact window by Moita Flores, he is an expert, please watch his demonstration.

Moita Flores ? Are you sure ?

[Redblossom]

Sorry I was just trying to clarify how easy it would be to open from the outside. If it could not be slid from the outside then it would have to be forced. Quite an important point and why for me it paints a different picture. If it's not forced then it's been opened from the inside.

Benice - If staging and time allowed then I would think to show signs of forced entry but I would not think of making scuff marks.

Thats right buzz

[AnneGuedes]

So why would anyone slide it to a close position but not flick the close/lock latch then?

Of course. What can happen (it happened to another mechanism of mine, more recent and sliding, not a tipping one, but the same principle of automatic lock when pushed completely) is the mechanism stops working properly : you just can't lock. I guess that in that case the cleaning lady would have warned the OC.