Dot in the Sky (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dotinthesky) wrote2007-09-07 05:29 pm
dotinthesky) wrote2007-09-07 05:29 pm
Entry tags:
Guilty Until Proven Innocent
I find it ludicrous that the Portuguese police wish to turn the parents of Madeleine McCann into suspects [Google News]. Anyone who has been following the case from the start and has an ounce of common sense knows they are innocent.
To me, this is just another notch on the long list of errors and mistakes the Portuguese police have committed. Starting from a crime scene that was not protected (anyone could wander into the room and check out the bed from which Madeleine was kidnapped) to material needed to be flown to the UK for DNA tests because they didn't have adequate facilities, the whole investigation has been a joke and I'm sympathetic towards Madeleine's parents fight to keep the case on the news - it's not like they could rely on the Portuguese.
I can see how seductive it is to believe the McCann's did it (as already seen in most tabloids): it plays into many people wishing the McCann's to be punished for leaving their children asleep while they dined with friends; it plays into our desire to see a Hollywood lining, a conspiracy theory, behind any crime that becomes major news; and it plays into the hands of news addicts who need a twist in the story to keep them interested, or their tabloids selling. But the truth is that if you look at the whole thing objectively, it's impossible the McCann's did it. Remember, they were in a resort with plenty of witnesses that had seen them with Madeleine until dinner time (leading to an initial suspicion that someone had photographed Madeleine at the beach); they were in a foreign country which they didn't speak the local language nor lived there; they were with friends during dinner and had no time to get rid of the body; and as soon as the alarm was raised (during dinner) they were surrounded by the media, the police and their family/friends/lawyers to the extent that they would have to be Houdini to sneak a body out and bury it.
The truth is that Madeleine was taken by a stranger (as witnessed by one of the dinner guests, who only realized the gravity of what she saw afterwards) and is now buried somewhere. Like the thousands of children that disappear each year, we'll probably never know the truth. As for the blood found in the car the McCann's rented 25 days after the disappearance, if you consider that these are parents holding on to any memento they have from their lost child, they could have easily carried into the car a piece of her clothing that had blood (from a nose bruise, from a cut) - the kind of minuscule evidence they were not even aware of as they drove around carrying Madeleine's old stuff - and some of it remainded in the car.
A part of me wonders if this latest turn in the investigation was some cynical arrangement between the McCanns and the police to keep the story in the news. But then I can't imagine the Portuguese police would be so crap as to allow that kind of manipulation to take place. It's more likely that they wanted to pose new questions to the McCanns, the kind they are not allowed to make if they are not suspects, and thus the reason for the whole charade. What a circus.
To me, this is just another notch on the long list of errors and mistakes the Portuguese police have committed. Starting from a crime scene that was not protected (anyone could wander into the room and check out the bed from which Madeleine was kidnapped) to material needed to be flown to the UK for DNA tests because they didn't have adequate facilities, the whole investigation has been a joke and I'm sympathetic towards Madeleine's parents fight to keep the case on the news - it's not like they could rely on the Portuguese.
I can see how seductive it is to believe the McCann's did it (as already seen in most tabloids): it plays into many people wishing the McCann's to be punished for leaving their children asleep while they dined with friends; it plays into our desire to see a Hollywood lining, a conspiracy theory, behind any crime that becomes major news; and it plays into the hands of news addicts who need a twist in the story to keep them interested, or their tabloids selling. But the truth is that if you look at the whole thing objectively, it's impossible the McCann's did it. Remember, they were in a resort with plenty of witnesses that had seen them with Madeleine until dinner time (leading to an initial suspicion that someone had photographed Madeleine at the beach); they were in a foreign country which they didn't speak the local language nor lived there; they were with friends during dinner and had no time to get rid of the body; and as soon as the alarm was raised (during dinner) they were surrounded by the media, the police and their family/friends/lawyers to the extent that they would have to be Houdini to sneak a body out and bury it.
The truth is that Madeleine was taken by a stranger (as witnessed by one of the dinner guests, who only realized the gravity of what she saw afterwards) and is now buried somewhere. Like the thousands of children that disappear each year, we'll probably never know the truth. As for the blood found in the car the McCann's rented 25 days after the disappearance, if you consider that these are parents holding on to any memento they have from their lost child, they could have easily carried into the car a piece of her clothing that had blood (from a nose bruise, from a cut) - the kind of minuscule evidence they were not even aware of as they drove around carrying Madeleine's old stuff - and some of it remainded in the car.
A part of me wonders if this latest turn in the investigation was some cynical arrangement between the McCanns and the police to keep the story in the news. But then I can't imagine the Portuguese police would be so crap as to allow that kind of manipulation to take place. It's more likely that they wanted to pose new questions to the McCanns, the kind they are not allowed to make if they are not suspects, and thus the reason for the whole charade. What a circus.
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They wouldn't have had very long to think of a story, which explains why the one they came up with involved them being negligent, and the "going around the world publicising Maddie's disappearance" could come until the heading of "protesting too much". Do you remember the case of Tracie Andrews, who went on TV emotionally appealing for help to find her boyfriend's killer, and turned out to have done it herself?
I'm not saying this is what I think happened... I think Maddie was almost certainly taken by a paedophile in a planned manner... but you never know!
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There are plenty of examples of mentally disturbed parents that kill their children then bring in the media circus as a form to deflect attention. I remember this woman in America who drowned her children in her car then claimed they had been kidnapped by a black man. But in this case, I find it hard to believe they would a) work togethre to cover it up, including very convoluted behaviour, hiding, cover up, etc b) would both stand the pressure on themselves for so long, even as they bring on the entire world's media on themselves (the story is even followed in Brasil!) The other parents were eventually found out to be guilty because of clear indications that they were mentally unstable; we haven't had any evidence of this kind regarding the McCanns (Brian Adams song on their website not withstanding).
I'll keep my mind open about this one since I agree with you that weirder stuff has happened, but I just think that the evidence points more towards sloppy police behaviour that allowed a pedophile to escape rather than anything else.
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Whatever happened, I just hope they find out what happened to her and she doesn't turn into another Ben Needham. One thing I think everyone can agree on is that she must be dead by now... maybe the body will be found soon.