David Payne's
statements were taken the day after Madeleine's
disappearance, May 4th 2007 at 2.45pm. As with all the
others, David Payne was accompanied by a, "sworn,"
interpreter, A. Francisco M. The statement was recorded by
inspector Patricia D.
The words at the beginning of an interview are invariably
the same. They are mandatory type words. They form the legal
basis of the document. Recited often, they are like:
"We, Patricia D., police inspector, in the service of the
PJ, Portimao Section, note:"
On the subject we are recording it is shown:
That the interviewee made this statement voluntarily. That
he has been on holiday in Portugal since April 28th 2007,
staying at the Ocean Club, Praia da Luz. That he plans to
return to England on May 5th 2007 (Saturday). That he has
known Madeleine's parents for around 5 years. That he was on
holiday with Madeleine and her parents. That he came with a
group. That the group is composed of nine adults and eight
children. The adults are: Diane, the interviewee and his
wife (children: ***** and ***), Russell and Jane (children:
**** and ****), Matthew and Rachael (child: ******), Gerry
and Kate (children: Amelie, Sean and Madeleine).
That they came to Portugal via a tour operator. That it was
the interviewee who booked the trip.
Concerning the days spent in Portugal, the interviewee
describes them as being all very much the same. He states
that his family, composed of his mother-in-law Diane, his
wife Fiona and their two children, spent their days more
independently than other members of the group. They were
most often with the couple Russell and Jane.
Concerning the remaining members of the group, normally we
met up with them in the morning and went for breakfast,
together, at the, "Millennium," restaurant, after which they
left their children at their respective mini-clubs and the
adults went to do sports inside the tourist complex or they
went to the beach.
The couple Gerry
and Kate had breakfast in the apartment. It was usual to have
dinner together every night. With the exception of Saturday,
when they all dined at the, "Millennium," restaurant, every
evening the group was to be found at the, "Tapas," restaurant at
around 8.45 for dinner. While the adults were dining, the
children were sleeping in their respective apartments.
In answer to our question, the interviewee states that
during all the meals, he never went to his apartment or to
any of the group's apartments, because he has an,
"intercom," and the signal carries from the apartment to the
restaurant. The other members of the group went, randomly,
every 20 minutes, to their apartments to make sure their
respective children were asleep.
Concerning yesterday evening, he states that he, his wife
and his mother-in-law arrived at the restaurant at around
8.55pm. According to what he remembers, when they arrived,
all the members of the group were present, apart from the
children, who were in bed. During the evening, Gerry, Jane
and Matthew went, alternately, to their children's bedrooms
to check if they were sleeping. He thinks they physically
went into the apartments. He no longer remembers in what
order they went see their children.
Towards 10pm, Kate went to her apartment, and less than 5
minutes later, she came back to the restaurant, breaking
down, reporting that Madeleine had disappeared. Then
everybody went to the apartment occupied by Madeleine's
family. He remembers comments concerning the fact that the
window and the shutters were open, while they had remained
closed throughout the week.
That the apartment occupied by Madeleine's family comprises
two bedrooms, a small kitchen, a lounge and a bathroom. That
the lounge has a door which gives outside access in the
direction of the restaurant. He does not recall any more
details of the apartment but he remembers that the bedroom
occupied by the children has a window that looks onto the
main road. That he never went into the said bedroom occupied
by the children but he could see that there were two beds
and two cots. The cots were placed in the middle of the
bedroom. One of the beds was placed against the window and
the other, the one occupied by Madeleine, was against the
wall facing the one which has a window.
In answer to our question, the interviewee doesn't know how
many times Madeleine left the tourist complex, but he knows
she went, at least once, to the beach. That during the
holiday, he saw nothing abnormal concerning the couple Gerry
and Kate, neither with their children nor, notably, with
Madeleine. In the context of the group, he noticed nothing
abnormal. That during the whole holiday, and particularly
during the day and the night yesterday, nothing unusual
happened in the tourist complex, which attracted his
attention, or which could be correlated with Madeleine's
disappearance.
He describes Madeleine as being a communicative girl, happy,
obedient and very well behaved. Madeleine's parents are very
sociable people, known by lots of people, kind and
affectionate. Madeleine is indeed the daughter of both
elements of the couple. She was wanted and is the result of,
"In Vitro," fertilisation. There was no difference in
treatment between Madeleine and the twins. He doesn't know
if Madeleine suffers from any illness, nor if she is on
medication. He has nothing more to say that could help the
progress of the investigation.
