Missing UK Girl's Parents Named Suspects
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sep 7, 11:03 PM EDT
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Missing UK Girl's Parents Named Suspects*
By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press Writer
PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal (AP) -- In a shocking twist, the British parents
who have run an international campaign to find their missing toddler
were declared suspects in the case Friday, their lawyer said, after
traces of blood were found in their rental car.
Kate McCann was named a suspect in the morning when she went to a police
station in southern Portugal for her second straight day of
interrogation, lawyer Carlos Pinto Abreu said. Her husband Gerry, who
later spent more than seven hours at the same police station, was also
declared a suspect, Pinto Abreu told reporters.
"They have not been charged, and the investigation continues," he said
without elaborating.
The girl's aunt said police suggested Madeleine McCann might have been
killed accidentally and offered the mother a plea deal if she confessed.
"They tried to get her to confess to having accidentally killed
Madeleine by offering her a deal through her lawyer - 'If you say you
killed Madeleine by accident and then hid her and disposed of the body,
then we can guarantee you a two-year jail sentence or even less,'" Gerry
McCann's sister, Philomena, told ITV news.
Gerry McCann followed his wife into the police station surrounded by
journalists and watched by dozens of onlookers.
A police spokesman, Olegario Sousa, confirmed to The Associated Press
that police had named a new suspect, but would not say it was Mrs.
McCann. He cited privacy laws in declining to comment further. He could
not be reached for comment later on Gerry McCann.
The couple strenuously professed their innocence Friday.
The day's developments marked a dramatic turn in a case that has pulled
at the world's heartstrings for months, ever since Mrs. McCann ran
screaming from a hotel room saying her daughter had disappeared. The
McCanns, both doctors from central England, said they were dining at the
time in a hotel restaurant, but returned frequently to check on
Madeleine and her twin 2-year-old siblings.
Since then, the McCanns have toured Europe with photos of Madeleine and
the child's stuffed animals and clothing, even meeting with Pope
Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Celebrities including J.K. Rowling and
David Beckham made public appeals that helped the family raise more than
$2 million.
The money, controlled by an independent auditor, is meant for charities
that aid in missing children cases.
Until Friday, suspicion had focused on a British man who lived near the
hotel from which Madeleine disappeared and who was the only formal
suspect. But police said new forensic tests done on evidence gathered
months after the girl vanished found traces of blood in the couple's
car, according to Justine McGuinness, a spokeswoman for the family.
The new evidence - including the traces of blood missed in earlier
forensic tests - was uncovered by sniffer dogs brought from Britain.
McGuinness said the police allegations against Mrs. McCann didn't add
up, since the rental car had not been acquired until 25 days after
Madeleine's May 3 disappearance. Gerry McCann called the allegations
against his wife "ludicrous."
"We will fight this all the way, and we will not stop looking for
Madeleine," he wrote on the couple's Web site on Friday.
Even as public opinion reeled from the new allegations, there was fresh
criticism of police for taking so long to build their case.
John Corner, a McCann family friend, told the British Broadcasting Corp.
that the listing of Mrs. McCann as a suspect gave him "an uncomfortable
feeling that the police are not looking outward" for Madeleine's abductor.
But Sonya Sceats, an international law analyst at London's Chatham House
think tank, said police were allowing the evidence to lead their
investigation.
"It's all turned on the DNA evidence. It only became available very
recently, and they are moving in response to that," Sceats said by phone.
Under Portuguese law, formal suspects gain certain legal protections,
but police also have more latitude to question them. Police also have to
show suspects any evidence against them.
Clarence Mitchell, a family friend and former spokesman for the McCanns,
said Friday after speaking with Mrs. McCann that she found the police
questioning - which included an 11-hour session Thursday - "grueling."
"It's very intense, but she's remaining strong and determined to prove
that they had nothing to do with their daughter's disappearance and they
are innocent victims of the crime," he told the AP.
Asked about a plead deal, Mitchell said: "It is my understanding that
during the police interview with Kate McCann, senior police officers
told her lawyer that that if she were to confess to killing Madeleine
accidentally it would help her case when she came before the judges for
sentencing and that they would probably consider a relatively short
sentence of three to four years - in other words, a plea bargain."
The McCanns' cause, and the couple's apparent strength in the face of
adversity, has hit a nerve among millions, who have followed their lives
as they cared for their two other children and went to church in Praia
da Luz, the seaside town where Madeleine disappeared, and where they
have stayed ever since. Photographs of the bright-eyed, fair-haired girl
have been posted throughout the world.
The publicity has helped lead to numerous reported sightings of the
girl, from as far away as northern Europe and Morocco, amid speculation
she might have been taken by an international pedophile ring.
Just after Mrs. McCann entered the police station Thursday, another
family representative read out a statement from her appealing to what
she called Madeleine's abductors to "do the right thing."
"It is not too late. Please let her go or call the police," she said.
The only formal suspect until now has been Robert Murat, who lives with
his mother near the hotel from which the girl disappeared. He has always
maintained his innocence. Sousa said Murat's status as a suspect had not
changed.
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Associated Press reporters Barry Hatton in Praia da Luz, and Jill
Lawless and Raphael G. Satter in London contributed to this report.