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GERALD PATRICK
MCCANN ' STATEMENT AS AN ARGUIDO
(from DVD)
September 7/2007 16.05 to 20.50 at Portimao
When asked if he wished to reply to the facts which he is being
imputed with, he replied:
He is of British nationality, he cannot speak or write
Portuguese; therefore an interpreter is present taken from a
list provided by the Consulate: ADSR.
Also present Carlos Pinto de Abreu, attorney.
He is present in his capacity as an arguido, and the rights and
duties thereof have been explained to him; he is obliged to
comply with TIR (Terms of Identity and Residence).
He confirms all of what was stated previously to the Police on
two occasions, and has nothing further to add.
After being made aware of the facts attributable to him, he says
that he wishes to make a statement.
When asked if he had any responsibility or participation in the
disappearance of his daughter Madeleine, he peremptorily denies
this.
When asked if on the night of May 1, 2007 he went to have dinner
at the Tapas with Kate, he says yes. As customary they would
come and check on the children every half hour, usually
alternating. They arrived at the Tapas around 20:30, and then
went to the apartment every half hour, until they arrived back,
at around 23:00, plus or minus 10 minutes. Occasionally one of
the others in the group made the check, he does not remember if
this happened on the 1st. It is not true that Madeleine had
been crying that night for an hour and 15 minutes, because she
was not alone all that time.
When questioned, he said that on the day they arrived, April 28,
they removed two cribs that were in their room, and placed them
in Madeleine's room. He is unable to confirm, but it could be
possible, that there were 3 cribs, and they asked them to remove
one.
It is not true that on a certain day they placed one crib in
their room, leaving the other in Madeleine's room.
He did not remember what days were scheduled for cleaning the
apartment.
He now states that he also joined the two single beds in his
room, which had been separated by a night table. He transformed
the two beds into a double bed.
Regarding the windows, he says they were normally closed, he
does not know if they were locked *** blinds also closed.
Regarding Madeleine's window he says that he made sure the
blinds worked so as to darken the room for the children.
--- On the day of arrival, he does not know if the blinds in
Madeleine's room were open or closed. He did not open them
again, and does not know if somebody else did. When confronted
with a testimony that states having seen the blinds on this
window open after their arrival, he says that it was not him who
opened them. When asked about the window behind one of the sofas
in the living room, he says that yes, he remembers the window
but does not remember if the blinds were also closed.
--- Regarding this sofa, he remembers it was next to the window.
He is not sure, but thinks that this sofa was probably a bit
closer as his children threw objects behind it, mainly playing
cards. When asked, he does not know if any of the children was
behind the sofa or passed behind this sofa.
--- When asked, he says that on one night, he cannot say which,
Madeleine slept in his room in his bed. He thinks it might have
been shortly after their arrival at the apartment. Madeleine
came to his room saying that Amelie was crying and she couldn't
sleep. He thinks that he hadn't heard crying before, and was
alerted to this by Madeleine. He does not know if he or his wife
comforted Amelie. That night Madeleine slept in his bed.
--- With respect to his wife, he says that on the Wednesday she
slept in the children's room in the bed next to the window. He
doesn't know why, but thinks it could have been because of his
snoring. Also on that day, and after dinner, he returned to the
apartment sooner than Kate.
-- Regarding the episode where he spoke to David on the 3rd of
May, he says that he was playing tennis at 18:30 when David
appeared near the tennis court and asked him if he was going to
continue playing. G. said he didn't know because Kate might be
needing help to look after the three children, because they
intended to bring them to the recreation area after their
showers. He thinks that David offered to check if Kate needed
help, which he did, and returned minutes later. Regarding his
previous statement where he states that David returned half an
hour later around 19:00, he says that he returned to the tennis
court after half an hour, as this time frame refers to the
second time he returned to the tennis court after getting ready
for the game.
-- When questioned, he says that Madeleine usually sleeps well
at night. During the first months of her life she had some
difficulties sleeping due to feeding problems. After moving to
their house in Rothley in April 2006, twice a week Madeleine
wakened, left her bed and went into their room; this
sometimes happened between 23:00 ' 24:00 for no apparent reason,
maybe because she was used to sleeping with (*** blank ****).
--- When asked about a chart highlighting the characteristics of
the children at the house in Rothley, he says that he does in
fact have such an object, where several stars show the nights
when Madeleine did not get up, as she was rewarded this way.
--- When questioned if it was therefore safe to leave Madeleine
in the apartment if she woke and got up at night, he says that
this rarely happened, and then only after her parents were in
bed.
--- When questioned about whether the couple's and the
childrens' lives were peaceful, namely regarding the work that
three children can give a couple as well as the stress this can
cause, he replies that in fact since the birth of the twins
their life has been very busy, and that especially during the
twins' first year life was difficult. He states that since the
twins were born, he and Kate have gone out at night only once,
leaving the children with relatives. He adds that in spite of
this he never saw Kate depressed as a result of too much work.
He denies that Kate had changed her work habits for reasons
related to depressions. He affirms that his wife never gave him
to understand that at some time she had the intention of giving
Madeleine into the care of a family member.
When questioned, he says that he works at the Emergency Room of
the hospital where he works every 15 days, however he is not
usually called out at night, and if this happens then it is once
for 4 days prevention. Kate's specialty is general medicine, and
works two days a week. After the birth of the twins, Kate did
not work for a year, on maternity leave, and currently works
part-time as above.
--- When questioned, he states that none of his children takes
any kind of medication regularly in England.
--- When they travelled on holiday to Portugal they brought
several medicines, namely Calpol, Nurofen, for fevers
and pains, both for adults and children, Losec for
gastric problems that he occasionally suffers from, and an
anti-histamine called Terfenadine for hay fever. He did
not give any of these medicines or any others to the children
while on holiday in Portugal.
---- When asked about the time he went to check the children on
the night of Madeleine's disappearance, he states remembering
that he did it, according to his watch, around 21:04. He
remembers that once inside the apartment he thought strange only
the fact of the door to the children's room being slightly more
open than how the defendant had left it when he and Kate left
for dinner. However, he puts the hypothesis of
[proposes;
suggests]
it having been Madeleine opening that door after having woken
and having got up, possibly to go to her parents' room. On this
occasion the three children were lying in their beds and asleep,
he is sure of that. Moreover, he says that with respect to
Madeleine she was in the same position in which he had left her
at the beginning of the night. Madeleine was lying down on her
left side, she was completely uncovered, that is, lying on top
of the covers, with the soft toy and the blanket, both pink,
next to her head, not knowing if they were placed in the
position in which one can see them in the photograph attached to
the files.
--- The second person to go and check on the children should
have been Kate, but Matt offered to go as he was going to check
on his own daughter. When Matt returned to the restaurant G.
asked him if all was well; Matt replied that all was quiet. G.
is not absolutely sure, but he is under the impression that he
asked Matt if he entered their apartment, to which Matt replied
yes.
--- The third check was made by Kate at around 22:00. He does
not know how long it was before Kate returned, but he does
remember that shortly before she returned he was thinking of
going to see what was going on, as it seemed a long time and he
thought that one of children might have woken up.
--- He does not remember if he had taken his mobile phone to the
restaurant. He is under the impression that he did not take
anything with him, except maybe his wallet. He was wearing
tennis shoes (trainers), blue jeans and a light brown polar top.
He does not remember what Kate was wearing that night. The
arguido did not take a camera and does not remember if Kate did.
He does not remember if anybody in the group took photographs
that night.
--- He remembers that after it was known that Madeleine had
disappeared he looked for her all over the apartment. He
particularly remembers having looked under all the beds, inside
the wardrobes in all the rooms at the same time that Kate told
him she had looked everywhere.
--- He remembers that at one time the lady who lived in the
apartment above theirs, went onto her veranda and asked what was
going on. He does not remember specifically who replied to this
lady, but he remembers that somebody spoke to her, assuming it
was himself who did so.
When questioned, he states that from the first moment, after the
first fruitless searches, he thought that Madeleine had been
abducted and it was this information that he gave to everyone to
whom he spoke. He reached such a conclusion because he did not
think it possible that she had gone out on her own or opened the
blinds and window in the room.
--- When questioned, he says that on that night he made several
phone calls, including calls to two sisters, a couple of Kate's
uncles, his brother or certainly sent him a message, father P.
S. who baptized Madeleine and married G. and K. When questioned
he says he did not get in touch with any media and does not know
if anyone did. In the morning his family did contact the press.
G. spoke of contacting the press, however he never did so.
--- When questioned he says that he did not request a priest,
but to Kate to seek spiritual help.
--- Regarding the disclosure of Madeleine's photograph, he says
that he gave the authorities a photograph from a digital camera,
and he thinks it was Russell who printed it at the main 24-hour
reception of the complex. He made the delivery thereof, or of
these pictures on A4 paper to the Police, and he is sure he
never delivered any of these photographs to GNR.
--- Around 19:00 the interview was stopped for a rest period, to
be recommenced at around 19:40.
--- When questioned if the twins woke while the apartment was
being searched, he replies negatively. When they were taken to
another apartment he does not know if they woke as he did not
take them. When asked, he says that this was not normal, and can
find no reason for it happening. He still thought at this moment
that the twins might have been drugged by the possible abductor,
even if he only mentioned this to the Police several days later.
When questioned, he says he never gave his children anything to
help them sleep, nor did Kate. When asked why he did not ask the
twins what happened to their sister, he says that when the
events took place they still did not speak fluently, which is
now a normal developmental difficulty. At this point he did not
ask them because he thought that they would not have the correct
perception of what had happened, in addition to thinking that
they would have been sleeping.
--- When asked why instead of scouring the land next to the
complex they stayed inside the apartment, he replies that it did
not happen that way.
While the guests and employees of
the resort were searching, he went to the main Reception to
check whether they had called the Police, and told Kate to wait
inside the apartment. After going to the Reception he went back
to the apartment where he stayed in the living room and in their
bedroom.
--- When asked if he had life insurance, he says that he does,
and so does Kate. The children do not have any life insurance,
nor are their parents, Gerry and Kate the beneficiaries of any
insurance regarding the children.
--- When asked about the contents of the wardrobe in his room
that can be seen in the photographs, he says that on top is a
suitcase and below a pile of dirty clothes that he cannot make
out. This wardrobe was opened to look for Madeleine.
--- When asked if in fact they went to the apartment every half
hour, he says it is true, and that this was never created to
justify absences during dinner.
--- When asked what the expression 'we let her down' means, he
says that it has to do with the fact that they were not present
when Madeleine was abducted. It was Kate who first used this
expression.
During this interview several films of a forensic nature showing
sniffer dogs were shown where their signalling can be seen
regarding indication of cadaver odour and traces of blood also
human, and only of a human nature, as well as the comments made
by the expert in charge of the procedure.
-- After viewing the films and after the signalling of cadaver
odour in their room next to the wardrobe and behind the sofa
against the window in the living room, he says that he has no
comments, neither has he any explanation for this fact.
--- Also, the dog that detects human blood signalled human blood
behind the sofa mentioned above, he says that he cannot explain
this fact.
-- Regarding the cadaver odour in the car that was rented at the
end of May, (xx)-DA-27, he says he cannot explain more than what
he already has.
--- Regarding the presence of human blood in the boot of the
same vehicle, he says that he has not explanation for this fact.
-- When confronted with the fact that Madeleine's DNA was
collected from behind the sofa and in the boot of the vehicle
and analyzed by a British laboratory, situations also described
before, he says that he cannot explain.
--- When asked if on any occasion Madeleine was injured, he says
that he has no comments.
-- When questioned, he says he is the usual driver of the car.
In addition to G. the car could also be driven by his wife Kate,
sister in law Sandy and a cousin of Kate's by the name Michael.
-- When asked if he has anything to add he says that he has not
seen any proof that his daughter Madeleine is dead, and
therefore he will continue to search for her in the hopes she is
alive. He knows nothing more than what has been said.
-- The lawyer for the defence says he wishes the arguido to be
asked again if Madeleine bled. To which he said it was common
for Madeleine to have nosebleeds. He says that he doesn't know
if in fact his daughter bled while on holiday in Portugal
because he does not want to be influenced by the news in the
Press, regarding the detection of human blood in the apartment
where his daughter disappeared.
-- During this interview the arguido was informed of his duty to
respect the secrecy of justice as well as the consequences of
not complying with same, stipulated in current law.
--- At around 22:50 the present interview was ended.
--- He says nothing further. After reading the document and
finding it to be satisfactory, he confirms and signs it.-------------------------
Processos Vol X
Page 2577
Policia Judiciaria
Terms of Joining
On this date, due to being considered of interest to the
investigation, joined to the files are two cover sheets of a
children’s book, with handwritten notes on the inside covers,
which were provided to this police force on the night of the
disappearance of Madeleine McCann by one of those who feature in
the case files and a member of the McCann couple group of
friends, named Russell O’Brien.
The present terms of joining was drawn up and will be signed.
Portimão, 9th September 2007.
Signed
Inspector Ricardo Paiva |
