Madeleine McCann: German prisoner identified as suspect - #20

[Victoria Chambers]

There was a letter, left in front of the apartment with mm name on, think found by the gardener or maintenance person, it was handed in to police I believe

These hand written notes were found in the garden of apartment 4a. It was written on Police paper but no officer ever accepted responsibility for it. It seems nobody knows where it came from and there doesn't seem to be any follow-notes about it X

 

[Denis R Tandib]

I've dismissed the Smith sighting in the past but it would certainly support your @Denis R Tandib post and Dlk's theory and after re-reading the witness statement some of the sentences take on a very different meaning.

"he was Caucasian, around 175 to 180m in height. He appeared to be about 35/40 years old. He had an average build, a bit on the thin side. His hair was short, in a basic male cut, brown in colour.

The child has blonde medium-hued hair, without being very light. Her skin was very white, typical of a Brit. He did not notice her eyes as she was asleep and her eyelids were closed

He adds that he did not hold the child in a comfortable position, suggesting [the carrying] not being habitual

Questioned, says that the individual did not speak nor did the child as she was in a deep sleep.

P.J. POLICE FILES: MARTIN SMITH & FAMILY STATEMENTS

I agree and just a couple of points to add. The Smith family didn’t think the man was a tourist. In the revised statement from MS in September 2007 he added that the man was wearing a blazer. These things, to me indicate it could have been CB.

The photo fits of the man suggest an abnormal jaw line. Again a potential match for CB.

Finally, in the Malaga footage, one month before MM’s abduction, CB has brown hair.

Put these things together with dark environment and relatively quick sighting and I think it’s a fairly strong possibility.

 

[tedtink]

DBM

 

[tedtink]

There was a letter, left in front of the apartment with mm name on, think found by the gardener or maintenance person, it was handed in to police I believe

I believe this is an article regarding the letter.

Maddie cops 'ignored letter which claimed she was dumped in lake'

 

[tedtink]

It’s really excellent to see the checking traffic listed like that - thank you.

Whether planned or unplanned, I do think that all this back and forth supports my point about CB staying in 5A for an extended period.

And the longest quiet period is 9:45-9:55. I’ve mentioned it before but this supports the Smithman sighting. If all true, the exit on foot ... and for such a long distance doesn’t support planned abduction,

The open window and shutters have always perplexed me.
Not only would it have served as a lookout for someone trying to get away, but it would have been very easy to have dumped a dead body through the window onto the path below behind the wall, then have climbed through it.
I think he raised the shutters from the outside after reaching through the open window, once inside the shutters were closed again, to conceal his movements. This could be why nobody saw the shutters open on their checks.
Then the shutters were raised again from the inside ready for the escape.
It would have been near impossible to get through the window carrying a child.
Why didn't the perp exit through a door? Because there's more of a chance of bumping into someone exiting through a solid wooden front door than through a window that provided a view on who was outside at the time.
If he had exited through the door the shutters would have remained closed.
JMO

 

[Dlk79]

Not only would it have served as a lookout for someone trying to get away, but it would have been very easy to have dumped a dead body through the window onto the path below behind the wall, then have climbed through it.

Thought a similar thing. And could even have put the corpse into a bin liner or something, so on the off chance he crosses path with someone, it raises no immediate suspicions. Just someone taking their trash out, the Portuguese use communal bins. If nobody happens to see him, even better for him. Just a thought.

 

[snowpea666]

I agree and just a couple of points to add. The Smith family didn’t think the man was a tourist. In the revised statement from MS in September 2007 he added that the man was wearing a blazer. These things, to me indicate it could have been CB.

The photo fits of the man suggest an abnormal jaw line. Again a potential match for CB.

Finally, in the Malaga footage, one month before MM’s abduction, CB has brown hair.

Put these things together with dark environment and relatively quick sighting and I think it’s a fairly strong possibility.

Or maybe not !? Madeleine McCann case: Key Irish witness in investigation 'doesn't recognise' new suspect

 

[Dlk79]

Or maybe not !? Madeleine McCann case: Key Irish witness in investigation 'doesn't recognise' new suspect

Maybe not indeed. He says he "does not recognise" CB but the question is would he recognise the person again anyway?

I mean, he was 80% sure it was GM previously, and that was mostly based on how GM was carrying one of the twins out of an aeroplane. So that in itself says he cannot really be sure of the physical characteristics of the man he saw for that fleeting second on the 3rd. He would have surely seen GM on the news loads of times before that video of GM coming down the plane steps, and yet only then does he decide he thinks that was the guy he saw!?

I'm not yet convinced the man they saw that night was the person who took MM, but I also don't have much faith in MS to be able to accurately identify the man he saw either.

 

[tedtink]

Or maybe not !? Madeleine McCann case: Key Irish witness in investigation 'doesn't recognise' new suspect

Says the guy who was adamant the person he saw was GM
MS said in his May 2007 interview that he wouldn't be able to recognise the man in person or photograph.
If he couldn't recognise him then, I guess he would not recognise him in 2020.
Although there maybe genuine reasons for the person not to want to come forward - 'Smithman' has not yet been ID'd.

 

[redplanet]

Thought a similar thing. And could even have put the corpse into a bin liner or something, so on the off chance he crosses path with someone, it raises no immediate suspicions. Just someone taking their trash out, the Portuguese use communal bins. If nobody happens to see him, even better for him. Just a thought.

Although downsides of thin plastic might be the need to support the weight with the arms? Also it might be possible to see the shape of the contents? Perhaps a normal large luggage case or bag would be preferable? Or maybe he had a rucksack with him?

 

[tedtink]

Although downsides of thin plastic might be the need to support the weight with the arms? Also it might be possible to see the shape of the contents? Perhaps a normal large luggage case or bag would be preferable? Or maybe he had a rucksack with him?

Possibly, but I guess that would rule out Smithman as he was not seen to be carrying a bag.
If he had just been going into burgle, he may have been looking for watches, jewellery, small items of value which we knew he took, so maybe his pockets would had been sufficient?

 

[Okapi]

I'm so glad others are thinking along these lines because I've also suspected that the Smithman child was unnaturally incapacitated.

No wonder he fled past. If you were carrying a dead or even unconscious child, there's a risk they could slip down. With no startle reflex to right them, it would be obvious right away to a bypasser that something was wrong.

 

[Victoria Chambers]

Says the guy who was adamant the person he saw was GM
MS said in his May 2007 interview that he wouldn't be able to recognise the man in person or photograph.
If he couldn't recognise him then, I guess he would not recognise him in 2020.
Although there maybe genuine reasons for the person not to want to come forward - 'Smithman' has not yet been ID'd.

The Susan and Richard McCluskey sighting was an interesting 1. It happened at 2am on the Saturday May 5th. They took a vehicle registration and everything. But bizarrely, it ends the same as the Smithman.. with Richard making further statement identifying GM since he saw him carrying a child off the aeroplane -. There is no intervention from any LE to say 'well it could not have been the McCanns you saw because they were with a whole bunch of professional people by that time! It's very odd X

 

[tedtink]

The Susan and Richard McCluskey sighting was an interesting 1. It happened at 2am on the Saturday May 5th. They took a vehicle registration and everything. But bizarrely, it ends the same as the Smithman.. with Richard making further statement identifying GM since he saw him carrying a child off the aeroplane -. There is no intervention from any LE to say 'well it could not have been the McCanns you saw because they were with a whole bunch of professional people by that time! It's very odd X

Why would LE intervene?
Smithman was obviously not GM nor was the McCluskey sighting.
They were identified as Ukrainians from Alvor with a blonde daughter who attended the “A Flor” crèche in Portimao

 

[redplanet]

Possibly, but I guess that would rule out Smithman as he was not seen to be carrying a bag.
If he had just been going into burgle, he may have been looking for watches, jewellery, small items of value which we knew he took, so maybe his pockets would had been sufficient?

If burgling IMO he would use a rucksack or bag big enough to steal and conceal a few laptop computers or video cameras. Example in one of the related intrusions in 2005 in PdL an iPad was stolen.

 

[tedtink]

If burgling IMO he would use a rucksack or bag big enough to steal and conceal a few laptop computers or video cameras. Example in one of the related intrusions in 2005 in PdL an iPad was stolen.

If you mean the 2005 rape then I presume he took a rucksack into the house as it contained his instruments of torture/ goggles etc and not necessarily to steal the ipad which probably was not his priority that evening.
The removal of the ipad could have represented a 'trophy' or 'souvenir' but was also an act of agression imo.

 

[redplanet]

If you mean the 2005 rape then I presume he took a rucksack into the house as it contained his instruments of torture/ goggles etc and not necessarily to steal the ipad which probably was not his priority that evening.
The removal of the ipad could have represented a 'trophy' or 'souvenir' but was also an act of agression imo.

Here are some more thoughts on bags.
At Praia de Gale burglary break-in tools were carried by rucksack.
At Praia da Rocha attack I wonder did he have normal clothes in bag so he can change out of leotard after escaping?
At a burglary near 5A a plasma screen was stolen that might require a big luggage bag?

 

[redplanet]

If you mean the 2005 rape then I presume he took a rucksack into the house as it contained his instruments of torture/ goggles etc and not necessarily to steal the ipad which probably was not his priority that evening.
The removal of the ipad could have represented a 'trophy' or 'souvenir' but was also an act of agression imo.

Also stealing iPad may provide him with preexisting photos of victim does that make sense psychologically???

 

[Denis R Tandib]

Or maybe not !? Madeleine McCann case: Key Irish witness in investigation 'doesn't recognise' new suspect

He doesn’t recognise the strange looking, blonde, confirmed paedo that we’ve seen in the press as the person he saw after a few drinks that night.

AS’s statement is from a woman who was completely sober at the time as she was pregnant. I may be interpreting her statement to fit what I think is a good theory but IMO it sounds like she is describing a man, who could fit CB’s description, carrying a lifeless child ... even to the point of the whiteness of her skin.

Many of the real facts from the case i.e. anomalies in 5A and the Smithman sighting do seem explainable by this theory. Is it possible 13 years on that MS didn’t recognise someone that he claims he wouldn’t have been able to identify via a photograph 13 days after the sighting ... IMO it’s possible.

 

[SuperdadV8]

That's what hit my eye too....

Could be similar to the other white van, that spanish guy ruled out at CB's home before.

But we do not know, when that pic here was taken for google. But to mee it is interesting, why there is a van in the middle of nowhere near an abandoned place...

I just made a precautionary tipp off to the BKA. Maybe it can help.