New German suspect in Madeleine McCann mystery disappearance.

[kizzy]

Madeleine McCann police 'have enough evidence to charge suspect with abduction and murder'
Christian Hoppe, director of Germany's National Crime Agency, said police think they have enough evidence to charge the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance with murdering her

By Jeremy Armstrong & Martin Fricker
21:49, 3 JUN 2020 UPDATED 22:11, 3 JUN 2020

Prosecutors in Germany have already begun building a strong case against the main suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, a drifter with a record of burglary and offences against young girls.

The man, now 43, had been living a “transient” life in a camper van, and working in and around Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance from a holiday flat in the Algarve resort on May 3, 2007.

In the documentary Case Files XY Unsolved on German TV tonight, Christian Hoppe, director of the National Crime Agency, said German police believed they had almost enough evidence to charge him with Madeleine’s abduction and murder.

Herr Hoppe said that there may be some people associated with the suspect who were aware of his ­movements on the night Madeleine disappeared, and he appealed to them to come forward and “clear their conscience” now.

Police appealed to anyone in the resort at the time to fill “the final gaps” in the case, releasing photos of the man’s camper van and Jaguar car and details of a phone call he made on the night the three-year-old vanished.

Police had been aware of his ­presence in the resort and had been building up a case against him since parents Kate and Gerry McCann made an appeal for information on German TV in October, 2013.

The suspect had faced sexual and drug-dealing charges in Germany before he arrived in Portugal.

He had also been involved in theft and burglary in the country, where he lived from 1995 to 2007, when he returned to Germany.

Police are unclear if the suspected motive was a simple burglary and he had found Madeleine in the flat after he had broken in, or if he went with the intention to abduct her.

Police revealed the man’s Portuguese-registered phone was in the resort the night Madeleine vanished.

He received a half-hour phone call from another Portuguese number an hour before Madeleine was last seen.

His number, +351 912730680, and the caller’s number, +351 916510683, were released. The caller is not a suspect but is a “crucial witness” police now want to trace.

The programme revealed details of properties the suspect used in the area, one an apartment between Praia da Luz and Lagos, the other an empty property around 15km from Lagos.

Viewers were asked to send police any holiday snaps or video which could help their inquiries. In a reconstruction, Kate and Gerry McCann relived the moment they realised Madeleine was gone.

Kate told the programme, a version of Crimewatch, how they had returned from a tapas restaurant to find ­Madeleine’s bed empty.

She said: “It just seemed a very calm and peaceful place when we arrived there. When I went into her bedroom, I could not see her.

“I thought she was in our bedroom but she was not there either. The curtain went ‘pssh’ and I just remember seeing that the window had been opened.”

Gerry said from that moment they knew the “worst thing imaginable” had happened.

Scotland Yard Detective Chief Insp Mark Cranwell said the suspect had lived a “transient lifestyle” living in his camper van for “days on end”.

Police released photos of the man’s 1980s VW camper and Jaguar XJR-6, both were in Praia da Luz in 2007.

The Jaguar was re-registered in Germany to another person the day after Madeleine disappeared.

 The vehicles have since been seized in Germany and checked for forensic clues linking them to Madeleine.

The suspect had rented a ramshackle farm building from a British man two miles from the resort and had made money selling cars.

Former neighbours told Sky News he “disappeared without a word” from the Algarve farmhouse in 2006.

One said: “He arrived in the mid-90s and rented the place from the English owner.

"He went back to Germany at one stage and moved another German guy in to look after it, then came back and threw him out on the street.

“He was always a bit angry, driving fast up and down the lane. And then one day, around 2006, he just disappeared without a word.

"I think he left some rent unpaid. About six months later I was asked to help clean up the place and it was disgusting, ­absolutely vile.

“We found a bin bag and inside were wigs and exotic clothing.”

German authorities are treating their investigation as a murder inquiry, while Scotland Yard say it is still a missing person case.

Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said: “It’s now 13 years since Madeleine went missing. Today is a significant point in time for the Met’s investigation.”

Kate and Gerry welcomed the breakthrough, saying: “All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. We need to find peace.”

Scotland Yard said they were “aware” of the man before getting a tip-off in May 2017, but he had never previously been a suspect.

They worked alone on the tip for four months before agreeing to liaise with German colleagues.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cundy said since then “a huge amount of work” had been done by the Met and German police.

“The outcome of that is that he is a suspect in the Met’s investigation.

"We will not be giving the name or the identity of this man, but I do recognise that some people will know this suspect.

"Somebody called his phone. We don’t know who that caller was.”

Det Chief Insp Mark Cranwell, who is leading Operation Grange, issued a description of the suspect.

He said: “He is white, has short blond hair, possibly fair, about six foot in height with a slim build. In 2007 he was 30 and may have looked somewhere between 25 and early 30s.”

Appealing to anyone who personally knows the man, he added: “This individual is in prison and we are conscious that some people may have been concerned about contacting police in the past.

“Now is the time to come forward.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-police-have-enough-22135055

So why didnt they wait till they have charged him - why are they appealing for witnesses now from 13 years ago.

Was the place where he lived searched - the grounds ect.

If this is not a scapegoat - searching the land where he lived... you would expect to have been already done.

As the obvious place where Maddie could be

But bet it hasn't - have they got the next month 6 month funding yet.


This was predicted several months ago by GA - dont hold your breath it is going to be him. imo

[kizzy]

Half an hour is a long time to chat on a mobile to someone who knows how to enter properties.  In my opinion it might be an indication that Madeleine was targeted for someone else and the reason why SY hold on to the hope she may still be alive.

Or it could have been a chat line - judging by his character it would be obvious what sort of chatline it would be.

could be nothing to do with Maddie.

[Mr Gray]

So why didnt they wait till they have charged him - why are they appealing for witnesses now from 13 years ago.

Was the place where he lived searched - the grounds ect.

If this is not a scapegoat - searching the land where he lived... you would expect to have been already done.

As the obvious place where Maddie could be

But bet it hasn't - have they got the next month 6 month funding yet.


This was predicted several months ago by GA - dont hold your breath it is going to be him. imo

It wasn't predicted by amaral....more like leaked that they were on this suspects trail. Hopefully SY have solved it where amaral and the PJ failed...we wil soon see.

[Brietta]

The recipient is the suspect.

It is the sender ... who is not a suspect ... who they are interested in tracing.  I am more than a little curious about who that is too.

[Mr Gray]

Or it could have been a chat line - judging by his character it would be obvious what sort of chatline it would be

if you read the article it was an incoming call so not a chatline

[mrswah]

Well there you go, Love.  You can all get back to the aberration of The Bamber Forum.  I am not having anything to do with that.

I wouldn't Moderate that Forum if you paid me.

I will stick with what little there still is for Madeleine .

And I've been wondering why the Bamber forum is quieter than usual!  I only heard about the new development in the Madeleine case this morning.

Well, I believe the media less and less these days, but I hope the police are getting somewhere with this case.  Like most people, I have always hoped Madeleine would be found alive, but never really believed she would be. IF this man turns out to be the "perp", at least the McCann family would have answers, and hopefully, people would stop blaming them for their child's disappearance. The police deserve to have this case solved too---IMO, they have worked very hard.

[Carana]

Further details here - you can download the English pdf to read. He had several previous sexual convictions.
https://www.bka.de/DE/IhreSicherheit/Fahndungen/Personen/BekanntePersonen/43_Jaehriger_Deutscher_TV/Sachverhalt.html?nn=26874#detailinformationen132470

He had to be extradited from Italy before he was convicted in Braunschweig last year. The case against him was based on DNA results which were only verified at the end of 2018.
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/braunschweig_harz_goettingen/Vergewaltigung-in-Portugal-Mann-vor-Gericht,aktuellbraunschweig3482.html&prev=search

Good find, Misty.

Was the extradition from Italy from a different source? I didn't find it in the links.

[kizzy]

It wasn't predicted by amaral....more like leaked that they were on this suspects trail. Hopefully SY have solved it where amaral and the PJ failed...we wil soon see.

Well they are taking there time.


Police said the suspect was one of 600 people that detectives on the inquiry, known as Operation Grange, originally looked at, though he had not been a suspect.

After an appeal in 2017, "significant" fresh information about him was provided.

Since then, Met detectives have carried out "extensive inquiries" in Portugal and Germany in order to gather more details about him.

Scotland Yard said they were trying to "prove or disprove" his involvement in the case and retained an "open mind".

[Mr Gray]

Well they are taking there time.


Police said the suspect was one of 600 people that detectives on the inquiry, known as Operation Grange, originally looked at, though he had not been a suspect.

After an appeal in 2017, "significant" fresh information about him was provided.

Since then, Met detectives have carried out "extensive inquiries" in Portugal and Germany in order to gather more details about him.

Scotland Yard said they were trying to "prove or disprove" his involvement in the case and retained an "open mind".

I realise thsi news must be very upsetting for you, it could also prove amaral wrong....we need to just wait and see.

[Brietta]

So why didnt they wait till they have charged him - why are they appealing for witnesses now from 13 years ago.

Was the place where he lived searched - the grounds ect.

If this is not a scapegoat - searching the land where he lived... you would expect to have been already done.

As the obvious place where Maddie could be

But bet it hasn't - have they got the next month 6 month funding yet.


This was predicted several months ago by GA - dont hold your breath it is going to be him. imo

We are talking the GERMAN police here.
In case you missed it ... the investigation involves German - Portuguese and English cops and the German suspect in the German prison has quite a record which includes burglary.

Amaral made an idiot of himself when he immediately ruled out illicit entry to the McCann apartment and tried his level best to make liars of Madeleine's parents as a result.
The pigeons have come home to roost on that one ... but you know that already.

[kizzy]

I realise thsi news must be very upsetting for you, it could also prove amaral wrong....we need to just wait and see.

What a silly childish reply - why should it be upsetting for me.

What is upsetting if true is what would have been done to her.

All because she did not get the protection she deserved and how obvious the leaving of the children was to others.

[misty]

Good find, Misty.

Was the extradition from Italy from a different source? I didn't find it in the links.

Details of extradition at this link, Carana.
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.braunschweiger-zeitung.de/braunschweig/article227939701/Sieben-Jahre-Haft-wegen-brutaler-Vergewaltigung-in-Portugal.html&prev=search

[kizzy]

We are talking the GERMAN police here.
In case you missed it ... the investigation involves German - Portuguese and English cops and the German suspect in the German prison has quite a record which includes burglary.

Amaral made an idiot of himself when he immediately ruled out illicit entry to the McCann apartment and tried his level best to make liars of Madeleine's parents as a result.
The pigeons have come home to roost on that one ... but you know that already.

Know what then.

Apart from you being judge and jury - bear in mind B it's over when the fat lady sings.

This could all go the same way as the other suspects have IMO -  we have been here before so has the pigeons.

[Mr Gray]

What a silly childish reply - why should it be upsetting for me.

What is upsetting if true is what would have been done to her.

All because she did not get the protection she deserved and how obvious the leaving of the children was to others.

i totally agree she shouldnt have been left. the point i'm making it must be very upsetting for you that if this is true then you have been wrong all along

[faithlilly]

Allow me to refresh your memory with a quote from Faithlilly in 2013.

Quote
For me Smithman and Innocentman's clothing are too similar for one to be ruled out on that alone. There is something else that has ruled Innocentman out and IMO it could only have come from Tanner.
http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=2645.msg91650#msg91650

7 YEARS AGO ! No wonder I didn’t remember it.

From reading back it would appear Innocentman ( coined by Icabod I think ) was Tannerman.