I thought it might be worth documenting exactly what was said about CB's 'alibi' during the course of the MWT documentary so it's down in black and white for those who haven't watched it or just want to recap. The stories in the Press have been grossly confused and don't reflect what was actually said altogether. Below are some brief transcript extracts, covering the sections of the doc where MWT talks about the alibi. I'll try to keep the sarcasm to an absolute minimum.
So... after failing to impress HCW with the results of his enquiries and just when it seemed like he'd hit a dead end, MWT miraculously receives an out-of-the-blue phonecall from "a source close to Christian B"! Thankfully the cameras were rolling so we got to see MWT taking this 'bombshell' phonecall in real time, against the dramatic backdrop of a city-at-night shot. Nice.
MWT (speaking to someone on phone): "We've got someone saying that night they were with him...? But why hasn't this come out...?"
MWT (to camera following phone call, giddy as a schoolgirl): "I can't quite believe what I've been told, that on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance, Christian B was with a woman, outside of Praia da Luz, and spent the night with her. And if that's true, he can't have been involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann!".
Later:
MWT (piece to camera): "A source close to Christian B has told me that he believes he has an alibi for the night of Madeleine’s disappearance. He says, for a 2 week period he was seeing an 18 year old girl in Carvoeiro, 25 miles away from Praia da Luz. Christian B is saying he was seeing a young girl who was on holiday with her parents in this town, and around 8 o'clock most nights, he would arrive in his campervan, she would come out of the apartment and she would sleep in the campervan with him until the early hours of the morning and then he would leave to go home. That is his alibi!"
MWT (writing on calendar for dramatic effect): "He [CB] is saying, that during the period of 2 weeks prior to the 10th of May, he was with a young girl most evenings... He is saying that on the 10th of May he took this young girl to the airport because she was leaving the country. Whilst she was there, she was stopped for carrying pepper spray. There is a document which puts that date connected to her, with her name at the airport. But Christian B is not mentioned in the police record, so it cannot verify his location. But there's more, on the 9th of May he is saying he got stopped with her, in his campervan at a police checkpoint and they took a photograph of both him and her."
Later:
After MWT fails to find any record of this traffic stop from the Portuguese police, he then supposedly 'tracks down' and speaks to the 'alibi's' partner off camera before returning.
MWT (piece to camera): "I've spoke to her partner who has told me that during May 2007, she was in Portugal. He describes it. I showed him a document that says she was in Portugal, Faro on 10th May 2007 and he said you've got good information. And I said, well thats 7 days after Madeleine disappeared and I asked him, was she with him that night [the 3rd]? And he basically says, she can't be sure, it was 15 years ago, she cannot remember. But he does say, from her account she was there in May 2007.... I'm excited because I'm now filling in those little missing pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that nobody else has got! It's not rubbish, it's not a fabrication, perhaps he is telling the truth!"
Later:
MWT says the prison won't allow him to interview CB in person and so he writes to CB again asking him to write back with verifiable facts about where he was around the time Madeleine disappeared.
MWT then receives a letter from CB [4 whole pages
, MWT will have you know]! Luckily once again, the cameras were rolling to catch this cracking bit of unfolding drama.
MWT (looking at CB's letter and relaying what is written): "So he [CB] says, he goes to jail and comes out in December 2006. And from that point on, he does not return back to Praia da Luz. He says from February 2007, he started dealing drugs to people around the beach [Barranco]... He says I was selling drugs on a large scale, I'd made trips back and forth to Spain, 6 or so times, bringing drugs back, Marijuana, making a good living."
MWT (cotinuing with the letter, addressing the 'alibi'): He [CB] says that the week including the period of time that Madeleine went missing, he met up with a girl, let's call her 'the alibi', and he spent time with her overnight. He would drive up to Carvoeiro, he would park up there, she would come out of the apartment where she was for a week, staying with her parents. They'd spend time together in his campervan. She would go home a few hours later, and he would stay until around 10 o'clock in the morning and then he would drive back to the beach area."
MWT (continued in voiceover segment): "Crucially, Christian B still doesn't remember if he was with his claimed alibi on the evening Madeleine McCann disappeared and his alibi only covers the hours of midnight to 2am when he says they were together. But Madeleine was taken 2 to 3 hours earlier."
Now, is it me or did that 'alibi' seem to change just a little bit over the course of the programme?
![Roll Eyes :rolleyes: :rolleyes:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
To accept the alibi as MWT sells it... CB was seeing this woman for a week-long fortnight, May 3rd to the 10th. The "source close to CB" says the pair were together on the 3rd, except neither CB or the 'alibi' can actually remember it. What they do remember though is CB used to drive to her place in Carvoeiro "most nights" and arrive there in his campervan around 8pm. She must have then left him hanging outside for around 4 hours before popping in to his Campervan for a cuddle around midnight. She then spends the night with him (all the way until 2am) before going home. At which point, CB then leaves to go home too, only now it is 10am in the morning after staying in Carvoeiro all night. Whatever days he was with her, one thing CB is sure about is that this 'alibi' definitely
does not cover him for the time period that Madeleine went missing, so it's not actually any alibi at all... hope that's all cleared up.
Ok, done with the sarcasm now. There was one "absolute" statement CB made there which might be significant though. His claim is that after coming out of prison at the end of 2006, he never once returned to Praia da Luz. If that can be proven to be untrue, it would put a serious dent in the credibility of his account. If the BKA have a witness who believes they saw him hanging around the OC before the crime (as has been reported in the Press) or any other witnesses can place him in PDL, that could become quite significant at any trial. It also implies that his defence probably intend to deny he was using the -680 phone number at 8pm on the 3rd. And since he's currently denying ever going back to PDL after prison, you'd also have to assume the account he gave police back in 2013 also said the same. All of which might partly explain why tracing the -683 caller is seen as so important to the Prosecutors, since placing him on the call would effectively prove CB deliberately lied about his movements when he was officially summoned for questioning 9 years ago.