We are being asked to discuss why the McCanns would suppress the e fits if there had been no abduction ( that the abduction had, in fact, been 'staged' by them in order to cover up their daughter's death ? )
It's a good question
You'd think, wouldn't you, that if that was the case, the McCanns would want as many 'abductor sightings' as possible
So what could the motive be for keeping the information hidden for so long ?
Well, I suppose we need to look at what the McCanns did not keep quiet about ... The Tanner sighting
That sighting was not only heavily and consistantly pushed by the McCanns, it was, in fact, the entire basis of their abduction theory
Jane Tanner saw the abductor making off with Madeleine at 9.10pm we have relentlessly been told ... and, as an aside, we were advised that the man the Smiths saw was almost certainly the same man
Assuming that there was no abduction ( and assuming that the McCanns had staged the crime ) I would say that there would be a very good reason for the Tanner sighting being pushed so hard ... quite simply, it gave Gerry an airtight alibi
Which brings us to the Smith sighting. Henri Exton advised the McCanns that this evidence was more credible than Tanner's. He obtained the e fits and suggested they be released immediatly
The McCanns rejected his advice and took legal action to ensure Exton's confidentiality on the matter
Again, assuming that there was no abduction ( and assuming that the McCanns had staged the crime ) I would say that there would be a very good reason for the Smith sighting not being pushed hard ... quite simply, Gerry had no alibi
It's something we have discussed frequently on the forum, and, despite many attempts to confuse the issue, the simple truth is that no-one, other than his chums, claimed to have seen Gerry at the time the Smiths made their sighting ... not a single independent witness
Not only that, there has always been some doubt about the time the alarm was actually raised, with a couple of witnesses claiming the alert was given considerably earlier than the 10.05pm claimed by the McCanns ( one witness saying the party had already left the table by 9.45pm )
Assuming that there was no abduction ( and assuming the McCanns had staged the crime ) it might be said that they tried, very hard, to have the police ( and everyone else ) concentrate on the 8.30pm/9.15pm time period ( when Gerry was visible to independent witneses ) ... whilst determindly distracting from the 9.45pm/10.30pm time period ( to the extent of hiding e fits that would have had that time period as the most crucial of all )
Thanks for your very clear post, icabod. Focusses us all on the heart(s) of the matter, as ever.
One or two complaints, though.
Firstly, the Tanner sighting was not ' the entire basis for the abduction theory'. The 'basis' (if you can go as far as to call it that) for the abduction theory was Kate finding Madeleine's bed empty and Madeleine gone. The words 'they've taken her' were uttered even before anyone else was in earshot.
The Tanner sighting was unknown to the McCanns at that point. As is well-known, Jane chose to give her information directly to police, and did not at that point discuss it with the McCanns.
As far as the idea of bundleman being a concocted alibi for Gerry goes, it would seem odd that Gerry would cast doubt on his own alibi by denying any knowledge of Jane being in Rua Martins. Why would he undermine his own witness?
Secondly, as far as the Smith sighting is concerned, it is true that this always seemed to play second place after the bundleman theory, but according to Kate, it was not viewed as a contradiction to or problem for the bundleman theory (as many others have viewed it). On the contrary, it was Kate's stated opinion that the Smith sighting actually corroborated Tanners, and reinforced the abduction theory. Kate states several times that it is too much of a co-incidence for two similar-looking men to be walking around with young, barefooted girls at around the same time of night, and that she assumes they are the same man or in some way connected.
As for Gerry's being witnessed at the table at the time the alarm was being raised, and when the Smith sighting took place - whether or not all the exact times have been established - even if there are no witnesses to this outside T7, there are clearly many witnesses to the fact that Gerry was in and around the complex between 10 and 11. There is no way Gerry could have hidden Madeleine and returned to the complex in a short enough space of time for his presence not have been missed by several people involved in the ensuing situation. This has been discussed at length as well.
