Mark Harrison and the searches he recommended and took part in.

[ferryman]

Amaral was right to state nobody talked of murder.  If Maddie died in 5a it was accidental.  If she was run over in the street outside 5a it was accidental.

Amaral headed up an enquiry that investigated that Madeleine had been murdered.

The wash-up of a murder enquiry was that the McCanns were constituted arguidos, accused of murdering their eldest daughter.

Amaral lied when he said no-one talked about murder.

[slartibartfast]

Harrison formed no pre-conceived ideas (of his own).  Good detectives don't.  They analyse the facts and draw their own conclusions.

Harrison's hands were tied by a brief (handed to him by the PJ) to investigate that Madeleine had been murdered and did so.

Amaral either lied or was incompetent when he said no one talked about murder.

And certainly (by English libel law) he libelled the McCanns with that reference.

No clue about Portuguese libel law.

Can you cite the word murder in Harrison's or Amral's statements?

[ferryman]

Can you cite the word murder in Harrison's or Amral's statements?

This report considers solely the possibility that Madeleine McCann has been murdered and her body is concealed within the areas previously searched by Police in Zone 1 around Praia Da Luz. Other scenarios or possibilities may on request be considered and be subject of a further report.

(Mark Harrison).

[Brietta]

This report considers solely the possibility that Madeleine McCann has been murdered and her body is concealed within the areas previously searched by Police in Zone 1 around Praia Da Luz. Other scenarios or possibilities may on request be considered and be subject of a further report.
(Mark Harrison).

That would tend to confirm the 'M' word was in Harrison's brief.

[Angelo222]

That would tend to confirm the 'M' word was in Harrison's brief.

Murder could only have been considered in the context of an intruder abduction. Had that occurred she would not have died in 5a so putting the CSI and Cadaver dogs into block 5 had no relevance to intruder abduction/murder. That leaves only one conclusion and that points directly at the parents.

Maddie last seen in public around 5pm, disappearance announced after 10pm.

[G-Unit]

Harrison formed no pre-conceived ideas (of his own).  Good detectives don't.  They analyse the facts and draw their own conclusions.

Harrison's hands were tied by a brief (handed to him by the PJ) to investigate that Madeleine had been murdered and did so.

Amaral either lied or was incompetent when he said no one talked about murder.

And certainly (by English libel law) he libelled the McCanns with that reference.

No clue about Portuguese libel law.

I would like to know if you have a cite for the bolded bit? I can't find it in his book.

The request for Harrison's help was made to the NPIA on 20th July by Encarnacao. Harrison says the request mentioned murder. There is no copy of that request in the files, so it can't be checked.

Harrison would have talked about murder because that was his brief; to look for a murder victim. If Amaral hadn't seen Encarnacao's request he may well have concluded that murder was being suggested by Harrison.
 
It seems that Encarnacao was operating outside the files, as he did with the unrecorded interview with the McCanns on 8th August.

Amaral has been subjected to unrelenting criticism but Encarnacao and Neves seem to have been following an unrecorded agenda of their own which didn't help the investigation at all. Neves played down his contact with the McCanns, but he and Encarnacao met with them on a regular basis at the British Consulate. Had this arrangement not been in place then Amaral may have met and spoken to them at some point, but he was excluded by his superiors.

The final meeting took place at the Police Station, was unrecorded and should not have happened without arguido status for the McCanns. Not only that, if the parents were involved they were given advance warning about the direction of the investigation and another month to prepare themselves before the officially recorded investigation, following procedure, did make them arguidos.

[Brietta]

Murder could only have been considered in the context of an intruder abduction. Had that occurred she would not have died in 5a so putting the CSI and Cadaver dogs into block 5 had no relevance to intruder abduction/murder. That leaves only one conclusion and that relates squarely with the parents.

Maddie last seen in public around 5pm, disappearance announced after 10pm.

It is a perplexing one isn't it.  Harrison's brief was to investigate if Madeleine had been murdered.  The obvious starting point for an investigation was where she had last been seen.
The rest is history.

[ferryman]

That would tend to confirm the 'M' word was in Harrison's brief.

As does this (with a countering quote to follow to avoid the trap of libel)

In considering the two scenarios that Madeleine McCann has been murdered and her body disposed of by a person on foot or in a vehicle, I have reflected on the areas within zone 1 that have been previously searched or subject to forensic examination.

(Mark Harrison)

However, it must be stated any such indications without any physical evidence to support them can not have any evidential value, being unconfirmed indications. Additionally I consider no inference can be drawn as to whether a human cadaver has previously been in any location without other supporting physical evidence.

(Mark Harrison)

[G-Unit]

He obviously did agree with the extra searches or he wouldn't have claimed to have recommended them.   

You have stated an assumption as if fact (with zero corroborating evidence).

Harrison wanted searches confined to the places Madeleine either had been or (conceivably) might have been: the holiday apartments, the Murats' place, areas in and around PdL, (sic) all vehicles owned or driven by Murat.

That was it!

Nothing else.

The extras got introduced (somehow) and Harrison just went with the flow; went as far as (presumably) he dared in registering his protest in the way he worded his record of inspections ....

I'm not the one making assumptions. Harrison said in his final report that in his first report he had recommended searching; All accommodation occupied by the McCann family and their friends as well as any hired vehicles. He said that, it isn't an assumption by me. All I did was suggest why he may have made that mistake.

On the other hand you are assuming he had some hidden reason for describing the searches in the way he did. You have nothing whatsoever to support that assumption except your imagination.

[G-Unit]

That would tend to confirm the 'M' word was in Harrison's brief.

It was indeed, according to Harrison. The brief taken from the request to the NPIA on Friday 20.07.2007 by the Portuguese Judicial Police to the NPIA for search advisory assistance. The request was made by Guillhemino Encamacao the Algarve Regional Director of the Portuguese Judicial Police.

The request is not in the official files released by the Portuguese Authorities, so we don't know what it said. As it's not in the files we can't assume that anyone else involved in the investigation ever saw it or read it.

[ferryman]

I'm not the one making assumptions. Harrison said in his final report that in his first report he had recommended searching; All accommodation occupied by the McCann family and their friends as well as any hired vehicles. He said that, it isn't an assumption by me. All I did was suggest why he may have made that mistake.

On the other hand you are assuming he had some hidden reason for describing the searches in the way he did. You have nothing whatsoever to support that assumption except your imagination.

Sigh ....

Here, again, is what Harrison recommended:

Re Visiting Previously Searched Areas.

In considering the two scenarios that Madeleine McCann has been murdered and her body disposed of by a person on foot or in a vehicle, I have reflected on the areas within zone 1 that have been previously searched or subject to forensic examination.

Mark Warner Creche at Praia Da Luz.

This is the location of the last confirmed sighting by a person independent of family members of Madeleine McCann. Although this location was within the original search area it may well benefit from a further search using enhanced detecting methods for human remains. This will depend on the size of any outside grounds and concealed areas inside the building.

McCann's Apartment.

The apartment in which the McCann's had stayed may present further
opportunities to search. The use of a specialist EVRD (Enhanced Victim
Recovery Dog) and CSI dog (human blood detecting dog) could potentially indicate on whether Madeline's blood is in the property or the scent of a dead body is present. In relation to the dead body scent if such a scent is indicated by the EVRD and no body is located it may suggest that a body has been in the property but removed. This search process could be repeated in all the apartments that were occupied by the friends holidaying with the McCann's.
Murat's House and Garden.

The property has been forensically examined to recover any surface trace evidence however the house and gardens may benefit from a fully invasive specialist search to preclude the presence of Madeleine McCann.
A method previously employed on similar cases has been to use the below assets.
Deploy the EVRD to search the house and garden to ensure Madeleine McCann's remains are not present. The dog may also indicate if a body has been stored in the recent past and then moved off the property, though this is not evidential merely intelligence.
Deploy the CSI dog to search the house to locate any human blood.
This will act in support of the forensic examination already completed.
An inhibiting factor will be on areas where Luminol has been used.


Page 2228 :

Deploy geophysical instruments in the house and garden to detect any burial of a body or concealment in voids.

These specialists should be supported by physical search teams exploring and accessing all areas where concealment of a child's body could be made typically 0.5m.

Murat's Vehicles.

All vehicles Murat has had access to have been forensically examined to recover any surface trace evidence however they may all benefit from a full search by the EVRD and CSI dogs. They may be able to detect whether a dead body has been transported in one of the vehicles for intelligence purposes or detect human blood deposits that can be recovered and
examined in a laboratory for Madeleine McCann's blood.

Open Area to East of Praia Da Luz.

This open area between the village urban limits and the Boavista golf club to the east and includes a plateau on which sits a trig point and mobile phone mast.
This area has been previously searched by officers and dogs walking through the area to check for Madeleine McCann's visible remains. However considering the new scenario of Homicide and concealed deposition this area affords many opportunities to dispose of a body. Within this area there are old empty properties, wells, thick vegetation, pockets of soft sand and natural fissures in the cliffs. Whilst there is no intelligence she is buried or concealed in this land it would be a natural place an offender may choose dose to the Village using the least effort principle. A proportionate response may therefore be considered to conduct a search of this area using a team of Victim Recovery Dogs (VRD) that are specifically trained to located concealed human remains.
Prior to undertaking this task it would be beneficial to consult with a Forensic Anthropologist with knowledge of this region of Portugal to give opinion as to the likely state of any remains to be found. Further research could also be conducted with regards to the natural scavenging predators in the area.

Harrison also considered 'burial of a body', himself explored that option and, himself, ruled it out.

And yet (Amaral's version!) Harrison said that Madeleine is definitely dead; that her 'concealed remains' were somewhere in close proximity to the apartment; that Madeleine's parents were 'probably responisble' (for Madeleine's 'death')

You know ....

Praia Da Luz Beach.
In simple terms the beach is in a natural inlet and bounded by cliffs.
The winds are generally from the west and create low energy waves of less
than 2m. This is significant regarding any body disposal scenario from the
shore as the wave energy is not sufficient to "take a body" out to sea. Instead
a body would most likely trave1 eastwards in a re circulating motion along the
shoreline until it was trapped by the rock outcrop to the east of the beach or
consumed by marine life. ti the entry point was the rock outcrop itself to the
east of the beach then the body would most likely continue in a re circulating
motion along the shoreline until it again encountered a bamer to its passage,
the most eastward of this would be 5km away at Ponta Da Piedade near
Lagos.


Sub Surface Burial on P D Luz Beach

For Body Disposal Purposes The Beach Can Be Separated And
Discussed Into 6 Areas.

Figure 2.The boulders in the rock falls are too large
to man handle. Vegetative growth suggests rock
falls have been in situ for some time. The low energy
wave action would not move any of the boulders. It
is possible a small child could be secreted amongst
the rocks in natural voids.

Figure 3.The cliff edge at the base of the beach is at
an angle that inhibits soil removal. The shale re fills
any hole dug and is unsuitable to achieve a burial.

Figure4.At the base of the cliff are wave cuts where
the bedrock has been eroded by wave action. Here
sand can be easily dug but after a few centimetres
the digger reaches the bed rock, preventing a
successful burial.

Figure 5.The beach cusps or berms are mounds of
sand made by wind action. These cusps form at the
limit of the tides reach and would only be recovered
in storm conditions. Digging on the cusps is easy but to achieve as
more than a few centimetres depth is very difficult to
the fine sand granules refill the hole


Figure 6.The dark sand in this image shows the
intertidal area. Here digging and burial could
possibly be achieved although it would be through a
mixture of grave1 and water. However any burial
would be quickly exposed by wave action and
ultimately taken into the sea.

(Mark Harrison)

[John]

Amaral gets accused often of not understanding the dog alert's and the DNA evidence.  Could it be that Harrison wasn't all that informed either given the brief provide to Martin Grime.

[ferryman]

Amaral gets accused often of not understanding the dog alert's and the DNA evidence.  Could it be that Harrison wasn't all that informed either given the brief provide to Martin Grime.

The brief provided to Mark Harrison was before Grime had set foot (or either of his dogs had set paw) on Portuguese soil.

[John]

The brief provided to Mark Harrison was before Grime had set foot (or either of his dogs had set paw) on Portuguese soil.

The apartment in which the McCann's had stayed may present further
opportunities to search. The use of a specialist EVRD (Enhanced Victim
Recovery Dog) and CSI dog (human blood detecting dog) could potentially indicate on whether Madeline's blood is in the property or the scent of a dead body is present.

Did Harrison not understand that cadaverine takes time to develop?  An intruder, assuming there ever was one, only had minutes in 5a.

[ferryman]

Did Harrison not understand that cadaverine takes time to develop?  An intruder, assuming there ever was one, only had minutes in 5a.

Cadaver, not cadaverine.  Cadaverine is a (comparatively small) component of the whole 'bouquet' (of cadaver scent).  It is present in urine and semen and therefore can be found in living humans as well as dead.

But that aside, I'm sure Harrison understood that perfectly well.