Hey - it's not my fault - amaral - don't believe a word I say

[John]

Can anyone give a proper specification for his post?

He must have been involved directly in cases if he was able to influence the Leonor Cipriano case and ended up with a criminal conviction for his trouble?

[amaraltheofficeboy]

Yes - to give a perspective as to the exact role that Amaral had.

He did not have a leading role.

He had a backroom job in the investigation.

[Eleanor]

Amaral was actually the face of The PJ in the beginning, although I am not entirely sure why I got this impression, but it was him that The Media were following.
And it was him who cocked it up and got the sack.

[amaraltheofficeboy]

I have no idea of his role in Leonor Cipriano case (apart from his court conviction)

[amaraltheofficeboy]

I don't recall amaral at all - he was not a press spokesperson or anything.

Until he published his book.

[amaraltheofficeboy]

I don't remember him doing any interviews or being the voice of the PJ

[John]

Gonçalo Amaral




For those of you who don’t know who he is, he was the senior Portuguese Police detective on duty when Dr Gerald McCann and Dr Kate McCann reported Madeleine missing at around 10.00pm on Thursday 3 May 2007.

After he and his team investigated the case for four months, they were driven to the conclusion that Madeleine had died in the McCanns’ apartment, and that the parents must have hidden her body. His men took both Dr Gerald McCann and Dr Kate McCann in for questioning on 7 and 8 September 2007. They were not, however, arrested. Two days later, on 10 September, the McCanns returned to England.

http://goncaloamaral.webs.com/

[amaraltheofficeboy]

his role was co-ordinator - not senior detective

[amaraltheofficeboy]

(he may have been a senior detective) but that was not his role

[Eleanor]

It was Amaral's job to decide what should be followed up and how Officers under him should be deployed.  He was also in charge of all of the information collected. 
He was a Detective Inspector, not unlike a Leading Detective in a UK Case, so one presumers that he learned to detect somewhere on his way up.
It is foolish to presume that he was of no great importance, and this was a Myth put about by McCann detractors to explain why he never even so much met The McCanns.
I think he couldn't face them because he knew he was trying to fit them up.  But that last bit is just my opinion.

[John]

He was also apparently head of the regional Polícia Judiciária, not exactly an office boy.

[amaraltheofficeboy]

call him what you want - he didn't enter the matter until after he was removed from the case and wrote a book of his opinions.

[Eleanor]

call him what you want - he didn't enter the matter until after he was removed from the case and wrote a book of his opinions.

I knew who he was before he was sacked.  And what he looked like.

[amaraltheofficeboy]

It would be an interesting exercise to find quotes from amaral before he was taken off the case and wrote his book.

If he was so important in the investigation there must be plenty. 

[amaraltheofficeboy]

Wasn't he in the papers or on TV at all before he wrote his book?