A suspected stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.
Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.
The Polish citizen flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.
Investigation Details
Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on the missing person’s case, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.
“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person probably not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I truly possess major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”
Forensic Analysis
He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after learning Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.
He declared: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”
Court Proceedings
Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt while detained and informed her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”
He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “It was possible she would never accept she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”
Emotional Distress
During previous hearings, the court heard how the family were left scared and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.
The jury were told how both women made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.
Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.
