The known facts and the speculations featuring Brueckner, the prime suspect

[Eleanor]

Then of course there is this opinion from the highly respected sceptic hero Colin Sutton

6Forensic examinations of the McCann apartment were poor and no DNA tests were carried out on Madeleine’s toy Cuddle Cat

“In a case like this, you start by looking where Madeleine was when she was taken.

“She was in her bed, probably clutching her fluffy toy Cuddle Cat. So that’s where the forensics begins. The abductor would have had to pull back the duvet, probably physically remove Cuddle Cat from Madeleine’s arms.


"If the reports are true that no DNA tests were carried out on Cuddle Cat before Kate washed it, that’s astonishing.

“There were photographs of officers in their normal clothes, not even wearing gloves, doing fingerprints. It looks like they just didn’t do a good job.”

It looks like they didn't know how.  Or perhaps they didn't care.  Who needs evidence to convict someone.  Just make it up as you go along.

[Vertigo Swirl]

Then there is this reported by the BBC in a timeline of events (not sure which police chief there are referring to)

In June, a Portuguese police chief admits vital forensic clues may have been destroyed as the scene was not protected properly.

eta

17 June: Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa admits vital forensic clues may have been destroyed in the hours after Madeleine's disappearance as the scene was not protected properly.

[Eleanor]

Hi Eleanor, I posted this yesterday.
The latest:

‘A documentary by the broadcaster Sat.1 provided new details in the Maddie McCann case. Now the suspect, who is currently in prison, has filed a complaint against one of the journalists’.

https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/panorama/kriminalitaet/id_91606732/maddie-mccann-verdaechtiger-entfuehrer-klagt-gegen-tv-journalistin.html

Thank you.  It's the language I was having a problem with.

[G-Unit]

The article is full of direct quotes, what are you on about?

Your example wasn't a direct quote.

Direct quote, despite the clueless scattering of quotation marks;

One told the Mirror: "When we arrived it was chaos. Everyone had walked through that place.

"I lifted my arms up, rolled my eyes, put my head down and just got on with it. There was nothing we could do. "The damage had already been done. It's so frustrating."

Not a direct quote;

It has been revealed that detectives failed to seal off the apartment and even contaminated forensic clues with cigarette ash.

[Vertigo Swirl]

Your example wasn't a direct quote.

Direct quote, despite the clueless scattering of quotation marks;

One told the Mirror: "When we arrived it was chaos. Everyone had walked through that place.

"I lifted my arms up, rolled my eyes, put my head down and just got on with it. There was nothing we could do. "The damage had already been done. It's so frustrating."

Not a direct quote;

It has been revealed that detectives failed to seal off the apartment and even contaminated forensic clues with cigarette ash.

The crime scene was not properly preserved and the PJ admitted it, that’s the most important point here, despite your best pedantic efforts to deflect from that fact.

[G-Unit]

The crime scene was not properly preserved and the PJ admitted it, that’s the most important point here, despite your best pedantic efforts to deflect from that fact.

The PJ admitted it? Not in the article you quoted, that was all by and about the GNR;

Two police officers called to the McCanns' apartment the night Madeleine vanished claimed yesterday their bosses "mucked up big".

The other said: "To find a circus walking in and out of a possible crime scene - well, it's ridiculous.

"Family, friends, neighbours, staff, people off the street - everyone was in and out of that place.

The first officer added: "When we see our superiors on scene we expect the situation to be under control. It was like they weren't even there."

"They know they mucked up. They should have secured the scene and waited for the Policia Judiciaria"
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/cops-reveal-shambles-of-maddy-crime-518854

[Vertigo Swirl]

The PJ admitted it? Not in the article you quoted, that was all by and about the GNR;

Two police officers called to the McCanns' apartment the night Madeleine vanished claimed yesterday their bosses "mucked up big".

The other said: "To find a circus walking in and out of a possible crime scene - well, it's ridiculous.

"Family, friends, neighbours, staff, people off the street - everyone was in and out of that place.

The first officer added: "When we see our superiors on scene we expect the situation to be under control. It was like they weren't even there."

"They know they mucked up. They should have secured the scene and waited for the Policia Judiciaria"
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/cops-reveal-shambles-of-maddy-crime-518854

You’re right.  The Portuguese investigation was and always should be utterly above reproach.  It was perfect.  They never put a foot wrong from the moment Kate raised the alarm.  It was probably the single most impressive criminal investigation ever held on Portuguese soil, if not anywhere on Earth.  Everyone from Colin Sutton to those who actually witnessed the unfolding investigation who had the temerity to be anything less than utterly impressed should hang their heads in shame.  Bravo, and well done the PT police, just terrible bad luck that they ran out of time and patience with the whole ghastly affair and never managed to solve it by themselves, preferring to leave it to other less competent police forces in Germany and England to try and pick up the reins. 

[G-Unit]

You’re right.  The Portuguese investigation was and always should be utterly above reproach.  It was perfect.  They never put a foot wrong from the moment Kate raised the alarm.  It was probably the single most impressive criminal investigation ever held on Portuguese soil, if not anywhere on Earth.  Everyone from Colin Sutton to those who actually witnessed the unfolding investigation who had the temerity to be anything less than utterly impressed should hang their heads in shame.  Bravo, and well done the PT police, just terrible bad luck that they ran out of time and patience with the whole ghastly affair and never managed to solve it by themselves, preferring to leave it to other less competent police forces in Germany and England to try and pick up the reins.

No need to get over-excited, just because you got things a bit wrong. The PJ weren't perfect, but there's no evidence that they allowed people to flick cigarette ash everywhere contaminating forensic samples. When they did arrive they immediately cleared all the unneccessary people out of the apartment too, which the GNR had failed to do.

[Vertigo Swirl]

No need to get over-excited, just because you got things a bit wrong. The PJ weren't perfect, but there's no evidence that they allowed people to flick cigarette ash everywhere contaminating forensic samples. When they did arrive they immediately cleared all the unneccessary people out of the apartment too, which the GNR had failed to do.

What did I get wrong exactly?  Apart from anecdotal evidence as reported to journalists what other evidence would you expect to discover pertaining to fag ash being flicked around the apartment?  Is cigarette ash routinely collected for forensic examination at crime scenes?

ETA

apparently it is!

Crucial evidence which could nail Madeleine McCann's abductor was contaminated by ash from policemen's cigarettes.

The ash was discovered by Portuguese forensic experts among samples from the McCanns' apartment in Praia da Luz taken soon after Madeleine vanished.

Three Portuguese detectives were seen smoking as they walked in and out of the ground-floor apartment on May 4, the day after Madeleine disappeared.

They were seen by a witness laughing and joking among themselves.

And when a passer-by asked what was happening one replied: "A little girl has wandered off but don't worry, we think she'll turn up."

After the ash was discovered at a police lab in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, tests carried out on it showed it matched the brand of cigarettes smoked by policemen who had been at the apartment.

[The General]

No need to get over-excited, just because you got things a bit wrong. The PJ weren't perfect, but there's no evidence that they allowed people to flick cigarette ash everywhere contaminating forensic samples. When they did arrive they immediately cleared all the unneccessary people out of the apartment too, which the GNR had failed to do.

Ooof. Have some of that. Great post.

[Mr Gray]

No need to get over-excited, just because you got things a bit wrong. The PJ weren't perfect, but there's no evidence that they allowed people to flick cigarette ash everywhere contaminating forensic samples. When they did arrive they immediately cleared all the unneccessary people out of the apartment too, which the GNR had failed to do.

Its an established fact that the PJ did not understand the evidence and took the investigation in the direction based on their ignorance. That is a fact that no one can dispute

[G-Unit]

What did I get wrong exactly?  Apart from anecdotal evidence as reported to journalists what other evidence would you expect to discover pertaining to fag ash being flicked around the apartment?  Is cigarette ash routinely collected for forensic examination at crime scenes?

ETA

apparently it is!

Crucial evidence which could nail Madeleine McCann's abductor was contaminated by ash from policemen's cigarettes.

The ash was discovered by Portuguese forensic experts among samples from the McCanns' apartment in Praia da Luz taken soon after Madeleine vanished.

Three Portuguese detectives were seen smoking as they walked in and out of the ground-floor apartment on May 4, the day after Madeleine disappeared.

They were seen by a witness laughing and joking among themselves.

And when a passer-by asked what was happening one replied: "A little girl has wandered off but don't worry, we think she'll turn up."

After the ash was discovered at a police lab in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, tests carried out on it showed it matched the brand of cigarettes smoked by policemen who had been at the apartment.

No link?
There's no evidence that the Scientific Police Laboratory found or tested any cigarette ash.

[Vertigo Swirl]

No link?
There's no evidence that the Scientific Police Laboratory found or tested any cigarette ash.

Keep your hair on dear, there’s anecdotal evidence even if the lab report never made it to the files released to the media.   In any case it’s now widely accepted (by everyone not in denial)  that the evidence gathering from the apartment was poor and the scene was contaminated, the end.

[Eleanor]

Keep your hair on dear, there’s anecdotal evidence even if the lab report never made it to the files released to the media.   In any case it’s now widely accepted (by everyone not in denial)  that the evidence gathering from the apartment was poor and the scene was contaminated, the end.

Did they test anything found on the floor of Appartment 5a?

Did Brueckner smoke?

[Vertigo Swirl]

Did they test anything found on the floor of Appartment 5a?

Did Brueckner smoke?

There's nothing in the files to suggest they ran tests on cigarette ash, however there are newspaper reports that the ash was analysed and confirmed to be the same brand as that smoked by the police officers who were in the apartment at the time.  Where such analysis ended up is anyone's guess, if it actually ever existed at all - it certainly wouldn't surprise me if such an inconvenient piece of analysis ended up in the bin.  As for Bruckner smoking, I believe he did but I can't confirm that with a hand written statement by him admitting he did, so probably best to say he didn't just to be on the safe side...