Disclaimers
The ebook starts with a 400 plus word
Disclaimer which includes the statement:-
Quote:
| “It is also important to note that determinations made in this profile do not assign guilt or innocence to any party nor are these determinations to be misinterpreted as ‘facts’ as opposed to opinions.” |
More disclaimers are then given in
Part One: Introduction: Basic Rules for Profiling Crimes and People when Pat Brown admits:-
Quote:
- That a “proper interpretation” would require an in-depth analysis of behaviour and personality traits over time
- That she doesn’t have access to all the records
- That she didn’t have a long time to review information and evidence
- That she didn’t conduct any interviews and then further investigate all of the facts
|
In
Part Six: Development of a Theory, Brown reminds the reader that her theory :-
Quote:
| “...is only one imagined scenario…” |
Pat Brown's Theory
A Precis
That Gerry McCann found Madeleine dead behind the sofa when he returned to check the children at 9.05pm and that twenty minutes later, with the help of Matt Oldfield and possibly also Russell O’Brien, he conspired to get rid of her body and make it look like she had been abducted. When an unsuspecting Kate McCann raised the alarm that Madeleine was missing at 10pm, Brown believes that Gerry McCann rejoined the group at the apartment and told his wife and friends what really happened. She suggests that they quickly agreed to go along with the plan because they feared getting into trouble for leaving their children unattended whilst they ate at the nearby restaurant.
Time of "Death" (Important)
Pat brown admits that the McCanns could not have gone out to dinner and acted normally if their young daughter had just died suddenly. As there are witnessed who describe them as haviing been in high spirits and acting normally all evening, this narrows Pat Brown's "accidental death" scenario down to a very small window of time. Jez Wilkins described Gerry McCann as acting "normal" when they chatted outside the restaurant arond 9.15pm. A waiter described the group as being in high spirits all evening. No witness reported any odd behaviour at all.
Quote:
| Due to the very real emotions exhibited around and after 10 pm, I do not believe the McCanns could have had something happen to Madeleine before they left for the restaurant, done something with her body, and then gone out for the evening, pretending all was well, and at 10 pm have Kate feign shock at finding Madeleine gone. To recap, I believe the evidence, especially the behavioral evidence, points to Madeline going missing on the evening of May 3rd and during the time the McCanns and their friends were dining at the Tapas restaurant. |
Cause of Death
Brown offers two suggestions as to Madeleine’s supposed cause of death
- Over-medication. She theorises that Madeleine’s parents, who are both medical doctors, gave their children “Calpol tablets” to “sedate” them, but that they over-medicated Madeleine with rapid and fatal consequences.
- Fatal fall. That Madeleine had risen from her bed and gone looking for her parents. In doing so, she climbed on a sofa to look out of the window and had fallen, fatally injuring herself in the process.
The Cover-up
Brown suggests that Gerry McCann carried his dead three year old through the streets of Praia da Luz and that he was spotted by the Smith family half a mile from the holiday apartment at 10pm (the same time as Kate McCann was raising the alarm about her missing daughter). From the location of the Smith sighting, she believes he then proceeded to the beach where he hid the body before making the half mile journey back to the apartment in time to break the news to Kate and their friends. Brown believes that Gerry quickly obtained their full co-operation to support him in a cover-up and that the group agreed their abduction and alibi stories before the police arrived at approximately 10.40pm.
Brown also proposes that the McCanns later retrieved Madeleine’s decomposing body from the beach and hid it further up the cliffs. Then, several weeks later, she believes they retrieved Madeleine’s (by now putrifying) body from the cliffs and either took it to Spain or brought it back to the UK to bury it – possibly in a co-operative relative’s garden.
"As a profiler..."
In her professional opinion, Pat Brown tells us:-
Quote:
| ... as a profiler I can tell you that a predator spends a lot of time hunting and going home without his prey, simply because he never got that moment in time to commit his crime. He may hunt for days, weeks, months before he gets lucky, but, obsessed over the thrill he will get when he achieves his goal, he will keep on trolling for his victims. Some creep could have been looking for a child at the resort for a while, saw Madeleine, and then got a lucky moment in time to go after her. So if Kate found an open window in the apartment, it is possible, if fairly improbable, that someone could have come in and kidnapped Madeleine. |
Yet she goes on to tell us WHY she believes it is improbable that such a predator took Madeleine McCann and she supports it with what she claims to be facts gleaned from "available public information".
Basic Misinformation in Brown’s Profile
- That the apartment is “about seventy meters” from the Tapas Bar as the crow flies
The actual distance is approximately 50 metres
- That the apartment is 120 metres walking distance from the Tapas Bar
The actual distance is approximately 70 metres
- That Matt Oldfield performed a check on the McCann children at 8.35pm
False. He did an outside listening check at approx 9.00pm and an inside listening check at approximately 9.30pm.
- That the McCanns changed their stories regarding the apartment doors being locked and unlocked
False - see section on locks below
- That the sniffer dogs indicated that "Madeleine McCann’s body" had lain in the McCann's apartment and been transported in their rental car
It is false to claim that the dogs alerted to "Madeleine McCann's body". These sniffer dogs cannot differentiate between individuals. In the Shannon Matthews case, sniffer dogs "indicated" at second hand furniture whose previous owner had died. The fact that Shannon was subsequently found alive substantiates the reason why dog alerts on their own are not considered "evidence". See this article on the dogs for a more detailed description of how they work.
- That the police were called at 10.40.
False. The police arrived around this time. According to the witness statements of the Ocean Club receptionist (see below), the police were called immediately following a phonecall from restaurant staff. When the police had not arrived by around 10.30pm, they were called a second time at the request of Gerry McCann. By this time, there were many guests and staff searching the complex and surrounding streets for Madeleine.
- That it was necessary to stand on a bed in the children's room in order to climb in or out of the window
False. Click to read more.
- That the McCanns “insist” that the Smith sighting of a man carrying a child at the Rua da Escola Primaria “had nothing to do with her disappearance” something which she states “further supports a cover-up rather than a real abduction”.
Totally false. The opposite is true. Click to read more.
- That Jane Tanner didn’t tell the McCanns about her sighting of a man carrying a child “in the days to come” following Madeleine’s abduction.
Misleading. Jane Tanner did not discuss this with the McCanns as she did not wish to add to their torment. She did however quickly report her sighting to the police, who informed Gerry McCann on the same night Madeleine disappeared.
- That the McCanns have not “properly accounted” for the Madeleine Fund.
False. In fact, it is a fundamental requirement under UK law that they provide such accounts annually.
- Brown says "and concerning answers and behaviors on the part of the McCanns and their friends. Gerry did one interview as an arguido, but Kate refused to answer questions. "
Kate McCann was interviewed for 11 hours on the day preceeding Arguida status. She answered all questions. When she was made arguida, she exercised her arguido right to remain silent on the advice of her Portuguese lawyer. The right to remain silent is in place for the protection of arguidos.
- Brown says "At the request of the PJ, the McCann's friends were interviewed in Britain by British law enforcement but the McCanns did not submit to any more interviews with the police of either country."
Misleading. The McCanns have not been asked to submit interviews with the any law enforcement in either country at that moment or later. After it was established from the rogatory interviews with the friends and others, new information or new evidence did not occur form these interviews, there was no need to interview the McCanns, so they were never asked.
- Brown says "Madeleine is still missing, and Kate McCann has just published a book called Madeleine. She now is requesting a fuller investigation by Scotland Yard but it is not clear if she and Gerry are willing to be reinterviewed by the Yard or by anyone else at this point."
Misleading. The McCanns want the case in Portugal to be re-opened. Portuguese law demands new evidence to re-open the case. To gain new evidence McCann have campaigned relentlessly for the British Government to help them to review the case and all the information gathered by their own detectives. To date, over 64,000 people have signed the McCanns' petition for this endeavour. Scotland Yard have just started with their investigation and if new evidence develops McCanns will ask the magistrates in Portugal to re-open the case.
There is absolutely no indication that the McCanns would refuse to be reinterviewed by detectives investigating their daughter's abduction.
Case Evidence and facts which Brown’s Theory requires us to dismiss
A.
The (independent) witness statement of fellow holidaymaker Jez Wilkins. In his statement, Jez WIlkins claims to have chatted for several minutes with Gerry McCann who was “acting completely normal”:-
Quote:
| We returned to our apartment. We decided to spend the evening-in, watching television. Our son was awake and unable to sleep. I decided to take him for a walk in his pram. I left about 8.15 pm – 8.30 pm. I was pushing the pram around the complex and went to the toilet near the bar. I couldn't see inside the restaurant. As I got the baby to sleep, I was on my way back to the apartment. I came out of the top road. I met him near some stairs and a ground floor flat. There was a gate leading up to some stairs. I was pretty certain that he had left the apartment. We spoke for a few minutes. He said 'you're on walking duty'. I said I was staying in and the pro's and con's and what to do with the children. He said that if he was staying two (2) weeks, he may stay in one night. I don't remember anyone else walk past with a child. The conversation lasted for about three (3) to five (5) minutes. He was acting completely normal from what I know of him so far. |
B. The McCanns’ consistent claims that they left their patio door unlocked whilst they were at the restaurant.
C. The witness statements of the McCanns’ friends which corroborate the McCanns’ claim that they left their patio door unlocked.
D. The witness statements of several of the McCanns’ friends which corroborate Gerry McCann’s claim to have returned to the restaurant after his 9.05pm check.
E. The witness statements of the McCanns’ friends which corroborate that Matt Oldfield offered to perform a check on the McCann children at 9.30pm
F. Jane Tanner’s witness statement where she claims to have seen Gerry McCann talking to Jez Wilkins at approximately 9.15 pm
G. Jane Tanner’s sighting of a man walking away from the apartments carrying a bare-footed child at approximately 9.15pm
H. The witness statements of Kate McCann where she claims to have found the window open at 10pm
I. The witness statements of Gerry McCann where he claims to have seen Madeleine alive and well at 9.05pm
J. The witness statements of Matt Oldfield where he claims to have checked the McCann children at 9.30pm
K. Pat Brown believes that an abductor would only open a window in order to “crawl” through it. She dismisses the following as “ridiculous":
- That an abductor might open a window as an emergency exit lest he be disturbed – i.e. “cornered”
- That an abductor might open a window but then decide not to use it
- That an abductor might open a window to pass a child out to an accomplice
- That an abductor might open a window to check if the coast was clear since the front door was recessed by several feet and did not offer a view of the escape route.
L. Also, in order to accept the validity of Pat Brown's theory, we are also required to dismiss the witness statements of all the staff at the Ocean Club which place Gerry McCann raising the alarm and searching for his daughter shortly after 10pm when Pat Brown suggests he was disposing of his daughter and making the half mile journey back to the apartment before breaking the news of Madeleine’s death to his wife and friends.
These include the witness statements of:-
- Amy Tierney, Creche Worker
"Witness also affirms that the child's father went to the reception to call Police, shortly after hearing about the disappearance, and that 20 minutes had passed;"
- Charlotte Pennington, Childcare worker
"On the 3rd of May 2007, around 22H15, the witness was working during “dinner hour”, together with her colleagues Jackie and Amy, when an unknown woman came to them indicating that she was a tourist lodged at the complex and asked them if they had heard about a disappearance of a child, whose name she referred to as “Maggie” or “Maddy”;"
- Jacqueleine Mary Williams, Childcare worker
"That on 3rd May at about 22.05 she was working at the Mini Club, at the “dinner time period” together with colleagues Charlotte and Amy, when a female individual arrived, whose name she does not know, just that she was the mother of a child there (belonging to Toddlers 2), being a guest who was staying at the resort and who left at the end of the week, who told her that a girl called “Maddie” has disappeared, and that the girl’s parents needed help in looking for her."
- Lyndsey Jayne Johnson, Creche Supervisor
"On 3rd May at about 22.20 she was informed by her colleague Amy Tierney that Madeleine had disappeared, a fact which led to the initiation of the “Missing Child” procedure which consists of dividing various areas of the resort up between different employees in order to proceed in the search for the missing child."
- John Hill, Warner Manager"With regard to the facts of the investigation. Statements show that he knew of these facts by means of a phone call from Lindsay, head of the child care service, who told him about a female child staying at the resort who had disappeared. This phone call was made to the deponent’s mobile phone at about 22.28 on 03-05-2007. About 5 minutes later the deponent presented himself at the resort, because Lindsay had told him that she had initiated the procedure for missing children used by the company and the child had not been found. Upon arriving at the scene he saw about 100 people, employees, guests and residents searching the grounds, the beach and adjoining areas calling out the child’s name."
- George Crossland, Ocean Club manager
"That at around 22h15 of 03 May 2007, he was alone in his residence, situated in Lagos, and was contacted by John Hill, Mark Warner manager who works in the Ocean Club establishment and who informed him that a child, a minor, of the feminine sex, who was staying with her family in that resort, had disappeared and that he was going to initiate the “procedure for missing child” (sic);"
- Sarah Elizabeth Williamson, childcare worker
"Stated that on the 03 of may, 2007, around 22H30, after leaving the apartment where she lived, close to work, together with two friends, Leanne and Kristy, she came across Amy who informed her that Madeleine had gone missing and that they were looking for her. She joined in the search with the aforementioned colleagues and others;"
- Mónica Azevedo Coutinho Marques , receptionist
"A few minutes later she went to a friend’s house in P da L, where she stayed until about 22.30. When she was getting ready to go home, she passed some guests who asked her to stop her car. She did this and was asked if she had seen a small girl who had disappeared some moments before, near to that place. Given the situation, she began to search, without success."
- Helder Jorge Samaio Luis, receptionist
"He knows about the situation that happened at the Ocean Club concerning the disappearance of a little given that on the day in question (03/05/2007) he was on duty and was contacted by a member of staff from the Tapas Restaurant between 09.30 and 22.00 who informed him that the daughter of some guests who were dining there had disappeared. That he immediately contacted the GNR in Lagos, shortly after this the child’s father and John Hill arrived at the reception and he phoned the GNR again."
- Emma Louise Knight, Hotel Manager
"On the night of 3rd May, after having finished work, I planned to meet a group of colleagues at 22.30 to go out. At about 22.17 I received a call from Lyndsey Johnson, the Crèche Manager, informing me that the girl had gone missing."
- Jeronimo Tomas Rodigues Salcedo, a Tapas bar waiter (who saw Gerry McCann searching the children’s play area at the point whilst Dianne Webster was still sitting at the restaurant table)
"On the night Madeleine disappeared, everything appeared normal. I remember that when I took notice of the disappearance, I had been in the restaurant speaking with my two colleagues?Ze and Ricardo who were on break. I returned to the restaurant and noticed that the table of nine was empty with the exception of the older woman. I went over to the table and joked with her: ?They've left you alone?? She responded more of less with these words: ?No, they went to see if the little girl was there.? I responded that I hoped they would find her somewhere in the apartment. At saying this, I saw the man. Who I knew later to be Madeleines father, running to the pool and to the childrens play area in the Tapas zone as if looking for someone. It immediately hit me that after talking to the older woman, that the little girl had not been found. I offered to alert the workers at the Milenium Restaurant and the man agreed. He then left again running to continue searching. I believe that this was between 21H30 and 22H00 but do not remember with certainty."
Claims which Pat Brown proposes which are not corroborated by verifiable facts and/or evidence
- That Madeleine McCann is dead.
- That Gerry McCann did not return to the table after his 9.05pm check
- That Matt Oldfield did not offer to check the McCann children en route to checking his own at 9.30pm, but that he was dispatched to find Gerry McCann.
- That the McCann apartment was completely locked up on the night Madeleine disappeared
- That Russell O'Brien was not attending to his own sick child’s laundry at approximately 9.30, but rather cleaning up the McCann apartment
- That the McCanns either went for a walk or sat drinking on their verandah between 7.00pm and 8.30pm.
- That the sniffer dogs alerted to the scent of "Madeleine McCann’s body". These particular sniffer dogs cannot distinguish between different individuals. An issue in the case of Shannon Matthews was that they were alerting to the “scent of death” from second hand furniture whose previous owners had died.
- That the McCanns have moved Madeleine’s body three times:
- From the apartment to the beach
- From the beach to the cliffs
- From the cliffs to either Spain or England
Contradictions in Pat Brown’s Profile
- That the abductor wouldn't have opened Madeleine’s bedroom window because the noisy shutters would draw attention to this. However, she proposes that Kate McCann did just that.
- Pat Brown has Gerry in two places at 10pm – being spotted by the Smith family just under a mile from the McCann apartment and being overheard saying “She can’t be gone!” by Dianne Webster in the Tapas Bar. She uses the latter to strengthen her argument that (Gerry knew) their apartment had no unlocked access points.
- She proposes that as part of the group cover-up, Jane Tanner conspired with Gerry McCann to provide him with an alibi when she claims to have seen him chatting with Jez Wilkins in the street, yet uses the fact that Gerry McCann and Jez Wilkins both claim not to have noticed Jane Tanner to support her suggestion that Jane Tanner is lying.
- She states that of Jane Tanner “Even in the days to come, she doesn’t talk to the McCanns about seeing a man going off with a child she is now certain was their child.” Yet she goes on to acknowledge that the information was passed on to the Police after Tanner told Fiona Payne about her concerns and that the police told Gerry McCann about the sighting that same night. Kate McCann was not told until the following day because of the “condition” she was in.
- Pat Brown questions that the McCanns weren’t emotional enough “in their appeal to the kidnapper”. This is in direct contradiction to her blog where she criticizes the McCanns for NOT appealing directly to the kidnapper. In fact, at the point of her publication of this particularly scathing blog article, the McCanns appealed directly to Madeleine's captor on no fewer than FOUR occasions – all having widespread press coverage and one of which became an iconic video clip.
- Brown tells us that child predators often spend a great deal of time hunting and that it is perfectly feasible for such a predator to have been watching the McCann apartment. If he had, he would have seen a pattern of checks taking place with the adults entering via an unlocked patio door. Since these checks were taking place approximately every half hour, the safest time for an abductor to strike would be immediately after the first check which took place after all of the group had assembled in the restaurant. This would safeguard against any member of the McCann group doing a cursory check en route to the restaurant (we we know Matt Oldfield had done). The first such check was Gerry McCann's 9.05pm check. If the abductor struck as soon as Gerry left to return to the restaurant, then it ties in nicely with Jane Tanner's sighting. Yet having told us this is how predators work, Pat brown dismisses the possibility that it happened in the McCann case as "improbable" preferring instead to believe that nine people unflinchingly conspired to cover up a child's death for a motive with no basis in fact.
- Brown says that Kate "dressing up with earrings" is a red flag which directly contradicts previous statements which she makes both in her profle and in a post from Anorak on October 25th 2007 where she said:-
"I don’t think what parents wear to interviews about their missing child is important in and of itself. What would be important is if suddenly their style changed. For example, if Kate McCann has always been very properly dressed and looks put together and, then, after reading how odd it is for a parent of a missing child to even be thinking clearly enough to pay attention to fashion and grooming, changes to looking unkempt, then this is a red flag. One would have to wonder if she just is falling apart suddenly or if she has been told or come to believe that her attention to wardrobe and hair and such makes her look guilty of a crime."
From her profile: she was at pains to emphasise a basic rule of profiling is to remember "people behave in a manner which makes sense to them, even if it doesn’t make sense to us. We need to learn as much as possible about their personalities, their behavior pre- and post-crime, and the facts as to what actually occurred."Similarly with jogging - she criticises the McCanns for going out jogging after Madeleine's disappearance but does not appear to consider that this is normal behaviour for them. In her book, Kate McCann describes how jogging helped her to work through the pain she was feeling and how she pushed herself to physical limits whilst clutching a photo of Madeleine,
Factors which Pat Brown does not consider
- The fact that the earliest statements given by the McCanns to Portuguese police are paraphrased and translated accounts of their responses to questions which are not included in the reports.
- The fact that it would be humanly impossible for Gerry McCann to do all that she suggests he did between the hours of 10pm and a few minutes after 10pm.
- Why the "unwitting" Kate McCann proceeded to do her check at 10pm as normal if her husband had not yet returned to the table from his 9.05pm check.
- That any inconsistencies in the paraphrased/translated/retranslated statements might be attributable to error rather than McCann duplicity.
- That since Gerry McCann had gotten into the habit of entering and exiting via the front door so that he could lock the apartment up when the family went out, that this might explain his erroneous claim to have done so in the statement which he gave to police just hours after discovering his daughter missing - i.e. that it had been an automatic response based upon his habit given during a period of extreme distress.
- That the case of missing Madeleine McCann is international. Brown compares the McCanns’ actions with those of the parents of children who have disappeared in their homeland and who have been dealing in their own language with their own native police force and media. Madeleine’s case is almost unique – a child going missing in a foreign country who is not the centre of a custody dispute and who was suspected of having been removed from that country with subsequent sightings all over the world. The only case which is similar to Madeleine McCann’s is that of Ben Needham which took place in the days before digital communication.
- Pat Brown talks of “normal” and “average” behaviour of the parents of missing children when the case of Madeleine McCann (including the types of obstacles they encountered in judicial process) is virtually unique.
- The unliklihood of eight people immediately agreeing to cover up a child's accidental death and dumping of her body for reasons which have no basis in fact.
- The fact that not all members of the McCann group were close friends of the McCanns.
- The fact that none of the group has wavered in their accounts of what happened that evening.
Things which Pat Brown appears to misunderstand
Central to her theory is her belief that the McCanns were lying about leaving their patio door unlocked. This is a crucial factor in proving her theory that the McCanns must have been involved because an abductor could not possibly have had access to the apartment.
To support her claim that the McCann apartment was completely locked up, she offers the following arguments:-
- That the McCann friends did not also leave their patio doors open
- That the group claimed only to check their own children
- That the McCanns were “inconsistent” or that they "changed their stories" when giving their accounts of locking their doors
However, it is clear from reading Pat Brown’s profile that in saying that McCanns "changed their stories" she actually fails to understand how the apartment door mechanisms worked.
Double-locked, Single locked or Unlocked?
The Patio Door
The patio door (i.e. back doors) can only be locked from inside the apartments – If the occupants wanted to leave the apartment with the patio doors locked then they would have to leave by the front door. This is corroborated by several witness statements - including those of people who had stayed in the Ocean Club apartments previously and who had no connection with the McCanns (see below).
The Front Door
The front doors have a “double” locking mechanism.
- Bolt #1 is a spring-bolt (sometimes called a latch-bolt). When pulled shut, the tapered bolt springs into place and requires a key to re-open from the outside. It can however be opened without a key on the inside by pulling on a lever.
- Bolt #2 is a deadbolt and can only be slid in and out of the locked position with a key. Hence references in the statement to locking the door “with a key” (as opposed to pulling it shut and relying only upon bolt #1
In her profile, Brown questions several of the McCanns' statements and suggests that they are false because they do not make sense (to her).
It should be noted at this point that there is no mention of the comings and going on previous days of the vacation in the first statements. As we do not see the questions which were asked, it is reasonable to assume that at the first interview, the McCanns were not asked about how they entered and exited the apartment on previous days.
Pat Brown discusses locking "Red Flags"
Statements which Pat Brown makes about the McCanns' comings and goings:
- That until the night Madeleine disappeared all parents entered the apartments via the front doors.
False. In their statements, the McCanns describe leaving by the patio doors on a number of occasions previously. In his rogatory statement, Russell O'Brien also states that he entered via the unlocked patio door on the Sunday evening.
- That in his first interview, Gerry McCann claimed to have entered the apartment to do his check via the front door which was locked.
True - but he amended this. (See #5 in "Factors which Pat Brown does not consider" above)
- That Kate claims Madeleine was not capable of opening and shutting the patio doors herself.
In fact, what Kate says is that she does not believe that the three year old would have opened the patio doors PLUS two gates then closed all three behind her again!
- That in his first statement, Gerry McCann claimed that when he and Kate checked, they entered the apartment via the locked front door but that his friend Matt Oldfield entered via the patio doors which were "always unlocked". Pat Brown queries the fact that Gerry & Kate have chosen to go the long way round.
Repeat of 2) above. Gerry McCann amended his statement.
- Kate McCann says that both she and Matt Oldfield entered via the unlocked sliding patio doors when they did their checks.
Correct.
- Police reports record that Matthew later states that he went into the house through the sliding doors
Correct - with several witnesses testifying to this consistently and from the very start. This has never been a matter for dispute until Pat Brown's profile.
- That Gerry McCann claims to have entered and left the apartment via the front door on previous days and evenings, and that he recalls locking the door on some of these occasions.
If you read the statements, it becomes clear that at the beginning of the week, the family tended to lock the apartment conscientiously - especially when they were vacating it for a period of time. As the patio doors were closest to amenities, Kate often took the three toddlers out this way. However, as the patio door could only be locked from inside, Gerry would remain in the apartment to lock it then leave by the front door which he usually (double) locked. However, they apparently became more relaxed about leaving the patio door unlocked for ease of access - something which according to resort Manager Paula Jones, they were apparently not alone in doing.
In his rogatory interview, Russell Oldfield describes entering the unlocked patio doors on the Sunday to check the McCann children.
- That the McCanns did not always remember whether they had locked the front door behind them.
The front door has two locks - one which is self-locking,. When they are referring to "locking" the door, they are referring to locking the deadbolt with the key as opposed to the springbolt (latchbolt) which was self-locking.
- On the Wednesday evening, Gerry McCann left the back door unlocked to allow other members of the group to check the children and that Gerry McCann ‘clarifies that the main door was always closed but not necessarily locked with the key.’
There is no contradiction here. They have described closing the front door (patio door) but not locking it. The front door (main door) had a double lock (see section on locks above) which required activation with the key
- That Gerry McCann amended his first statement to record that he had not entered and left via the front door but had used the unlocked patio door during his check. Also that he was certain that he had closed the front door, but thought it was unlikely that is was locked since they had left via the back door. Pat Brown questions why they could not have locked the front door just because they left by the back door. She says that it was a strange thing to say and is sure it would have raised detectives' eybrows.
There is no contradiction here. It is not a strange thing to say given that he is referring to whether or not he had double-locked the door - something they were more likely to do when they were vacating the apartment and Gerry was exiting by the front door.
- Brown concludes that neither door was necessarily locked.
False - See section on locks above. Brown evidently does not understand the locking mechanism of the doors!
- Brown questions Kate's comment that the front door was unlocked which meant that it could be opened from the inside but not the outside. Brown says this makes little sense because "even if a door can be opened from the inside, if it cannot be opened from the outside, it is effectively locked"
It is correct that the door is "effectively locked" but also apparent that Pat Brown really does not understand the locking mechanism of these apartment doors. Here Kate McCann is telling the detectives that they had not (double) locked the front door. When held only by the springbolt (latchbolt), the door requires a key to open it from outside, but can be opened from the inside without a key.
- Brown thinks it is important that all the other Tapas members state they never left their doors unlocked, including the sliding doors, and always entered the front doors of the apartments with a key.
There is a photograph here which shows who stayed where at the Ocean Club. From the photo, it is clear to see that the McCann patio could be accessed from a open thoroughfare overlooked by other properties. The Oldfied and Tanner patios however, were accessed from a narrow and secluded alley. The Payne patio had no external access.
- Brown claims that Gerry doesn’t remember how they left the apartment that night.
Gerry McCann does not say that. He did initially say that he had left by the front door but amend this to the patio door. When the family were all leaving the apartment, Kate sometimes took the three children through the patio door because it was closer to the amenities. Gerry however, generally left by the front door in order to lock the patio door behind Kate and the children. If he more frequently left by the front door, it is hardly a sinister error on his part - especially in the immediate aftermath of his daughter's disappearance when he wouldn't have been thinking clearly. Gerry McCann has consistently stated that the patio doors were unlocked that evening - even in the statement where he claimed that he himself had entered and left via the front door. At no time has he changed his story about the patio doors being unlocked.
- Brown claims that Kate doesn't remember how they left the apartment that night.
False. Kate has never claimed that she did not remember how they left the apartment that night. However, Kate does not appear to have been asked how they left the apartment that night - not remotely the same thing.
- Brown claims that Gerry shifts bwtween all the doors being locked down and inaccessible to "every door open and accessible? " She asks "Was there starting to be a problem with the theory someone broke into the house through the window? "
This is false. The McCanns have described occasions when they all left the apartment and locked it down. They described locking the apartment down in the first days of their vacation when they went to the restaurant without the children. They have never ever claimed that they locked the apartment down on the night that Madeleine went missing (or indeed on some of the previous nights) nor have they claimed that every door was open and accessible! This statement is without foundation and can only be attributable to what appears to be Pat Brown's failure to comprehend the locking mechanisms of the doors!
Pat Brown's conclusions based upon her apparent failure to comprehend the door locking mechanism:
Without understanding the door locking mechanisms at the Ocean Club and having explored what she considers to be "red flags" on that basis, Pat Brown then draws the following conclusion:-
Quote:
| The doors were supposedly open so the predator should have come in through them. And, if he came in through them, why would he bother crawling out the window instead of walking out the door? Hmm...you are seeing why this isn’t making sense, aren’t you? Considering the door is right next to the children’s room, it isn’t like crawling out a window is helping you escape detection (like crawling out of an apartment window instead of running down a hall past a set of apartments with a child in hand). |
Conclusions
In Summary, it is evident from reading Pat Brown's comments about the locking situation of the apartment that night that Pat Brown does not understand the locking mechanism of the Ocean Club apartment doors and that using a key to "lock" the front door effectively double-locked it. Pat Brown appears to believe that when anyone says they didn't "lock" (i.e. double-lock) the front door, then it means the door was "open" (as in closed but unlocked).
This amongst other things, knocks a considerable hole in Brown's theory, for if the patio door was indeed unlocked, then not only does Matt Oldfield's claim to have checked the children by going in via this door hold up, but so too does the possibility that the abductor entered this way.
As Pat Brown claims to have read the police files, it is surprising that she has failed to understand the doors and their locks. It is discussed by several witnesses including:-
Quote:
| The front door had a double lock that was difficult to lock, but we managed to do it. The patio door did not lock from the outside, only from the inside of the apartment and for that reason when the family left [went out] together we always used the front door. |
Quote:
| We were conscious that, that, erm, if you, you only do one lock on the main door then it can be opened from the inside but if you double lock it then, then, then you need the key to get in or out”. |
Quote:
1485: "What is the securing arrangements, if you like, what happens, how do you lock your French doors, how do you lock you?"
Reply: "The French doors were fairly flimsy, I think they were just, as I remember it, just one of these little vertical sort of slots that go up and down and that was it, you couldn't really lock it any more than that. As I say, the shutters that were on the windows, we never really touched. The window in the kitchen, we did open that, just when we were cooking and stuff, but we would close that and lock it, I can't remember what the lock mechanism was on it".
1485: "Yeah".
Reply: "But, and other than that, once we were in, as I say, the front door had the double lock on it and we generally, used the double lock once we were in for the night and when we were going out".
00.14.55
1485: "So single locked it when you went out and double locked it when you was in?"
Reply: "No, we used to double lock when we were going in and out".
1485: "In and out".
Reply: "But, but you were saying, when we were in for the night we just locked it from the inside. |
Strange Comments and Conclusions drawn by Pat Brown
- She uses crude language in her (false) claim that the McCanns regarded the Smith sighting as insignificant.
- She refers to Madeleine McCann as a "little tyke", but does not elaborate as to why Madeleine McCann deserves to be given this rather insulting label.
- She does not understand why Kate McCann isn't "furious" with Jane Tanner for not telling her immediately about the man with the child. Pat Brown says that if she were in Kate McCann's position, she would want “to kill” Tanner. Brown find it “fascinating” that Kate McCann has never expressed such sentiments and that she has even been able to feel compassion towards her friend for carrying the burden of being an unwitting eyewitness to the abduction.
- Brown sees as significant that Jane Tanner "never discussed her sighting in the immediate aftermath of Madeleine’s disappearance with the McCanns" and is scornful of Tanner’s explanation that she felt that raising the subject would compound their suffering.
- Brown finds it “interesting” that Kate McCann has never made up an imagined scenario to explain why tracker dogs led police to a small store near the McCann apartment, but suggests this is because it would not support Jane Tanner’s sighting.
- Brown believes that the sighting of a man carrying a child half a mile from the McCann apartment is more credible than the almost identical sighting of a man carrying a child in the immediate vicinity of the McCann apartment.
- Pat Brown hails Jane Tanner’s sighting of a man carrying a small child away from the McCann apartment as “one of the most bizarre aspects of this case”. She does not attempt to explain away the striking similarities in the descriptions given by Jane Tanner and that given independently by the Smith.
Factors which Pat Brown offers in support of her the theory that the McCanns were “involved in Madeleine’s death”
- She believes that the McCanns’ seven friends would have willingly and apparently unhestitatingly covered up Madeleine McCann’s death and Gerry’s subsequent dumping of her body in order to avoid getting into trouble for leaving their own children unattended. She does not explain why they all immediately admitted it anyway.
- She does not accept that Gerry McCann returned to the restaurant after his 9.05pm check because this is only corroborated by their seven friends (whom she believes to be willingly complicit).
- She can see no reason for an abductor to open the bedroom window without actually “crawling” through it.
- She does not accept the statements of the McCanns and their friends that the patio doors were unlocked. She believes they lied about this to explain how an abductor could have gained access.
- She believes that Jane Tanner made up the sighting of the man carrying a child near the apartments to provide Gerry McCann with an alibi. She does not attempt to explain why the description given by Jane Tanner is so strikingly similar to that which was later given by the Smith family without knowledge of Tanner’s description. The only reason she offers to explain why Jane Tanner’s sighting “doesn’t hold water” is that Tanner chose to pass her sighting on to the police rather than directly to the McCanns.
- The dogs alerted in the apartment behind the sofa and to Kate McCann and the car the McCanns hired three weeks after Madeleine disappeared. She does not attempt to explain why the dogs did not alert to Gerry McCann whom she believed carried Madeleine's body around the streets of Praia da Luz for a period of time before dumping it along a beach half a mile from the apartment. Almost as an afterthought, she does attempt to explain the dogs alerting to Kate (whom Brown believes was unaware of her daughter's death and disposal until later). Brown suggests that Gerry took Kate to pay her last respects to Madeleine at the dumping spot under the guise of "searching" and that Kate may have cradled her daughter's body for a while at the dump spot.
- The post-crime behaviour of the McCanns which include:-
- The McCanns going to see the Pope rather than just praying directly to God
- Being prepared to be separated from their other two children whilst they made trips to raise awareness about missing Madeleine
- Jogging (see contradictions above)
- Not being emotional during their appeal to the kidnapper (see contradictions above)
- Kate wearing earrings (see contradictions above)
- Gerry writing a blog
- Speaking of their guilt at not being there when Madeleine “was taken”
- The McCanns saying that they were 100% confident in each other’s innocence - but not actually specifying what it was they were innocent of. She does not appear to consider that the statement in which this comment was made (being made arguidos in connection with their daughter's disappearance) was enough to put it in context.
- Gerry McCann touching his ear during an interview.
- Kate McCann saying that after the first five days when she didn’t sleep at all, she was now able to sleep at night.
- Kate McCann describing her darkest thoughts which included images of Madeleine’s genitals being torn by a paedophile in a section of the book where she tried to describe her emotions and physical sensations which she says would be beyond the comprehension of most people.
- The McCann’s high profile in the international search for their daughter.
- Finally, as discussed above, she also thinks the McCanns are lying about the patio doors being unlocked because in her (mis)understanding, they changed their stories about the apartment being completely locked to completely open
Major Flaws and Omissions in Browns Profile
- There is no such product as Calpol tablets for toddlers. Calpol “Fastmelt” tablets are for children aged six and over.
- Either way, Calpol is not a sedative. It is a painkiller. It has no sedative properties whatsoever.
- Death by overdose of Calpol is not instantaneous. It damages the liver and results in a slow and painful death.
"There are often no symptoms in the first 24 hours following overdose, although there may be mild nausea and vomiting. In a large overdose liver function deteriorates leading to jaundice, confusion, and loss of consciousness. Death is rare but when it occurs it is due to liver failure.
Treatment of a serious paracetamol overdose is mainly by administration of an antidote which can prevent the toxic effects of the overdose. This must be done early, ideally within 12 hours of the overdose although it can still be beneficial up to 24 hours or even later.
http://www.pharmweb.net/pwmirror/pwy/paracetamol/pharmwebpic9.html"
- Her theory depends on the believability that eight people (more if you count the relatives in England whom she suggests allowed Gerry to bury Madeleine in their garden) immediately agreeing to cover up a major crime. Especially as her proposed motive (to avoid getting into trouble for leaving their children unattended) is completely without foundation.
- Brown theorises that Matt Oldfield returned to the table after his 9.30pm check and told Kate that all was well. She does not tell us what explanation Oldfield gives to Kate for Gerry’s failure to return to the table at all OR why Kate McCann proceeded to do her own check at 10pm as normal despite Gerry’s failure to return to the table. If she thought all was well and Gerry was still at the apartment, why did she make her check as usual?
- Brown credits Gerry McCann with superhuman powers. She has him being seen by the Smith family at 10pm half a mile from the McCann apartment then doing all of the following within the space of a few minutes before joining in the search and acting the part of the distressed father for the above witnesses! Making a trip to the beach
- Finding a suitable hiding place for his daughter’s body
- Making the half mile trip back to the apartment
- Breaking the news of his daughter’s death to his wife and friends
- Persuading them to cover up for him
- Sorting out their stories
- Brown even suggests that Gerry McCann may have been capable of doing all of the above in less time than it took the McCann’s group of friends to make the 70 metre dash from the restaurant to the apartment!
- Brown starts off her profile by stating that she does not believe that the McCanns could have behaved normally if their young child had just died suddenly. Her theory therefore depends upon Gerry McCann being absent from the table for the majority of the evening and Kate being completely unaware of Madeleine's death until told by Gerry after she had raised the alarm,. There are numerous witnesses who describe the McCanns’ behaviour at the restaurant that evening as absolutely normal.
- Brown says that she believes in the evidence of the sniffer dogs and that they alerted to the area behind the sofa because Madeleine’s body had lain there long enough to emit “scent of death” for them to alert to. However, Pat Brown then has Gerry McCann carrying a dead Madeleine around Praia da Luz for at least 15 minutes before disposing of her body along the beach. She does not attempt to explain why the dogs did not alert to Gerry.
- Brown believes that the McCanns could smuggle a decomposing body through customs. She justifies this on the grounds that the UK has a big meat smuggling problem!
- But perhaps the most major flaw of all in Brown’s theory is the motive she offers for everyone’s agreement to go along with Gerry McCann’s plan – namely to avoid getting into trouble for leaving their children alone. Why is this a flaw? Because without exception, everyone in the group immediately admitted to the police that they had done precisely that.
The Official Verdict on the McCanns as Suspects
Frm the
Legal Summary:-
Quote:
17- Processo 17 Pages 4592 to 4649
17_VOLUME_XVIIa_Page_4592
Therefore, after all seen, analysed and duly pondered, with all that is left exposed, it is determined:
a) The archiving of the Process concerning arguido Robert James Queriol Eveleigh Murat, because there are no indications of the practise of any crime under the dispositions of article 277
number 1 of the Penal Process Code;
b) The archiving of the Process concerning Arguidos Gerald Patrick McCann and Kate Marie Healy, because there are no indications of the practise of any crime under the dispositions of
article 277 number 1 of the Penal Process Code.
Article 277 number 3 of the Penal Process Code is to be fulfilled.
Under article 214 number 1 item a) of the Penal Process Code, the coercion measures that have been imposed on the arguidos are declared extinct.
Portimão, 21.07.08
The Republic's Prosecutor
(José de Magalhaes e Menezes)
The Joint General Prosecutor
(signature)
(Joao Melchior Gomes)
http://madeleinemythsexposed.pbworks.com/w/page/41720163/Analysis-and-Rebuttal-of-Pat-Brown's-ebook-%22Profile-of-the-Disappearance-of-Madeleine-McCann |
