The confusion over the doors didn't help the investigation?

[pegasus]

With a little research, yes I can read it, I will post the text soon
P.S. Here it is : the exact same sticker in a flat in block 6 (photo by Jeanne D'Arc)
and 5A forensics photo

[AnneGuedes]

With a little research, yes I can read it, I will post the text soon
P.S. Here it is : the exact same sticker in a flat in block 6 (photo by Jeanne D'Arc)
and 5A forensics photo

This warning didn't help on the third of May. The French window was open (according to Mrs McCann and Mr Payne), Mrs McCann was having a shower and the three kids were on their own.

[slartibartfast]

Are you sure Anne?  I have been in many hotels where the door can be locked from the inside but not from the outside.

Usually on upper floor balconies....

[Benice]

Here's a different area of confusion in Gerry's first statement.

At about 21.30 his friend Matt (member of the group) went to the apartment, where his children were and on his way went to the witness' apartment, entering by means of a glass sliding door that was always unlocked and was located laterally to the building.

(...)

The side door leading to the living room was closed, which as previously stated, was never left locked.

Since when was the French window lateral to the building? Access to the French window was via the gate and that was lateral to the building.

I agree, in fact anyone reading that who didn't know would probably think there was door on the side of the property.

IMO If there had been a verbatim record of that first interview I think readers - with their  benefit of hindsight, would have had no difficulty in spotting how a misunderstanding first arose. 

Another example of how translating and retranslating can produce errors is mentioned in Kate's book about her diary which was translated from English to Portuguese and then back to English.

Quote

''I was really upset'' had become ''I was fed up''

''I never felt that relaxed''  had become  'I'd never felt so relaxed''
Unquote

In that last example by changing just two  little words i.e.

''that'' to ''so'' 

and

''I'' to ''I'd''

the opposite meaning of what she had really said was wrongly conveyed to the reader.

[AnneGuedes]

I agree, in fact anyone reading that who didn't know would probably think there was door on the side of the property.

IMO If there had been a verbatim record of that first interview I think readers - with their  benefit of hindsight, would have had no difficulty in spotting how a misunderstanding first arose. 

Another example of how translating and retranslating can produce errors is mentioned in Kate's book about her diary which was translated from English to Portuguese and then back to English.

Quote

''I was really upset'' had become ''I was fed up''

''I never felt that relaxed''  had become  'I'd never felt so relaxed''
Unquote

In that last example by changing just two  little words i.e.

''that'' to ''so'' 

and

''I'' to ''I'd''

the opposite meaning of what she had really said was wrongly conveyed to the reader.

The translator (may be Google robot) didn't treat it like literature !
A key in a statement is different matter, whether you like or not.

[Carana]

Does perpendicular, adjacent, lateral etc matter? Gerry said he used  A KEY...thats all that matters and there was Only ONE DOOR he could have used it on...end of

It may do, Red. If there is one mistake concerning what was said in relation to entrances to the apartment in a single statement, I find it legitimate to question whether there was also a mistake concerning which door was used.

[Redblossom]

It may do, Red. If there is one mistake concerning what was said in relation to entrances to the apartment in a single statement, I find it legitimate to question whether there was also a mistake concerning which door was used.

Not unless the translator put words into gerrys mouth  ie he used his KEY

an issue people are avoiding like the  plague on ths thread!

[Carana]

Not unless the translator put words into gerrys mouth  ie he used his KEY

an issue people are avoiding like the  plague on ths thread!

As I've said umpteen times, we don't know what Gerry actually said as opposed to what the PJ officer assumed he'd understood concerning which door was which and which required a key to enter.

And, yet again, a verbatim statement would have clarified this point.

[icabodcrane]

In the first witness statements to the Portuguese police it is recorded that Gerry entered the apartment through the door, using his key and that Kate found the curtains in the children's room open when she entered

We know that the McCanns have since said differently

In her book Kate makes reference to those first statements and speaks of her concern that some parts of them might have been  'lost in translation'  (  unfortunately,  she does not take the opportunity to mention  which  parts she is refering to   ) 

Kate,  here,  is speaking of a meeting she and Gerry had with the first private investigators on the scene  ( Control Risks )  The meeting took place on Sunday,  the 13th of May,  three days after Gerry had made his second statement to the police   ( on the 10th of May  )  ...    Kate,  herself,  had been scheduled to make her second statement on the 11th of May but Alan Pike had asked for it to be postponed due to his concerns for her wellbeing 

"By the Sunday evening, we found ourselves giving our statements again, this time to a couple of investigators fron Control Risks. We were concerned that parts of the  statements we had made to the Portuguese police, especially on that first day, might have been lost in translation. We also felt that these accounts were not sufficiently thorough and wanted to have every detail we could remember registered properly.  Ufortunately, in our haste to pass the new statements on to the PJ, we made the mistake of assuming that the transcripts would be correct and discovered only many months later that these,  too, contained inaccuracies. And they had been given and recorded in English !"   

I don't think the statements made  by Kate and Gerry  to Control Risks appear anywhere in the files  (  although,  Kate says they were passed to the PJ  )  but the point is,  even those statements,  made and recorded in English,  contained what Kate refers to as  'inaccuracies' 

She does not specify what  the inaccuracies were but there must surely come a time when it seems more likely that the McCanns were,  quite simply,  changing their story  rather than everyone else getting it wrong

[Redblossom]

In the first witness statements to the Portuguese police it is recorded that Gerry entered the apartment through the door, using his key and that Kate found the curtains in the children's room open when she entered

We know that the McCanns have since said differently

In her book Kate makes reference to those first statements and speaks of her concern that some parts of them might have been  'lost in translation'  (  unfortunately,  she does not take the opportunity to mention  which  parts she is refering to   )

Kate,  here,  is speaking of a meeting she and Gerry had with the first private investigators on the scene  ( Control Risks )  The meeting took place on Sunday,  the 13th of May,  three days after Gerry had made his second statement to the police   ( on the 10th of May  )  ...    Kate,  herself,  had been scheduled to make her second statement on the 11th of May but Alan Pike had asked for it to be postponed due to his concerns for her wellbeing 

"By the Sunday evening, we found ourselves giving our statements again, this time to a couple of investigators fron Control Risks. We were concerned that parts of the  statements we had made to the Portuguese police, especially on that first day, might have been lost in translation. We also felt that these accounts were not sufficiently thorough and wanted to have every detail we could remember registered properly.  Ufortunately, in our haste to pass the new statements on to the PJ, we made the mistake of assuming that the transcripts would be correct and discovered only many months later that these,  too, contained inaccuracies. And they had been given and recorded in English !"   

I don't think the statements made  by Kate and Gerry  to Control Risks appear anywhere in the files  (  although,  Kate says they were passed to the PJ  )  but the point is,  even those statements,  made and recorded in English,  contained what Kate refers to as  'inaccuracies' 

She does not specify what  the inaccuracies were but there must surely come a time when it seems more likely that the McCanns were,  quite simply,  changing their story  rather than everyone else getting it wrong

Obviously! It smacks of "protesting too much" and "covering all bases"

IMO

ETA It is bizarre and unfathomable why Kate Mccann was NEVER interviewd again until months later being the actual person that found  her kid missing

[AnneGuedes]

In the first witness statements to the Portuguese police it is recorded that Gerry entered the apartment through the door, using his key and that Kate found the curtains in the children's room open when she entered

We know that the McCanns have since said differently

In her book Kate makes reference to those first statements and speaks of her concern that some parts of them might have been  'lost in translation'  (  unfortunately,  she does not take the opportunity to mention  which  parts she is refering to   ) 

Kate,  here,  is speaking of a meeting she and Gerry had with the first private investigators on the scene  ( Control Risks )  The meeting took place on Sunday,  the 13th of May,  three days after Gerry had made his second statement to the police   ( on the 10th of May  )  ...    Kate,  herself,  had been scheduled to make her second statement on the 11th of May but Alan Pike had asked for it to be postponed due to his concerns for her wellbeing 

"By the Sunday evening, we found ourselves giving our statements again, this time to a couple of investigators fron Control Risks. We were concerned that parts of the  statements we had made to the Portuguese police, especially on that first day, might have been lost in translation. We also felt that these accounts were not sufficiently thorough and wanted to have every detail we could remember registered properly.  Ufortunately, in our haste to pass the new statements on to the PJ, we made the mistake of assuming that the transcripts would be correct and discovered only many months later that these,  too, contained inaccuracies. And they had been given and recorded in English !"   

I don't think the statements made  by Kate and Gerry  to Control Risks appear anywhere in the files  (  although,  Kate says they were passed to the PJ  )  but the point is,  even those statements,  made and recorded in English,  contained what Kate refers to as  'inaccuracies' 

She does not specify what  the inaccuracies were but there must surely come a time when it seems more likely that the McCanns were,  quite simply,  changing their story  rather than everyone else getting it wrong

Excellent observations, Icabodcrane !
How they noticed inaccuracies many months after is a mystery.
These statements aren't in the files and there's no mention of their existence there. Control Risk is described in the files as having asked access to the vila for "cleaning" it on the documents topic.