The 48 questions Kate McCann refused to answer

The questions put to Kate McCann


The questions listed below form a record of the interrogation of Kate McCann conducted by Portuguese detectives investigating the disappearance of her three-year-old daughter Madeleine during a family holiday.

The questioning came after Mrs McCann was declared an arguido, or suspect, in September 2007.

Mrs McCann used her right to remain silent and only answered one question.

Her arguido status was lifted on 21 July this year. She and her husband have always denied any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

The police inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance was wound up last month due to a lack of evidence.

7 SEPTEMBER QUESTIONS TO KATE McCANN



1   On 3 May 2007 at around 2200, when you entered the apartment what did you see and do, where did you look, and what did you touch?  
 2   Did you look inside the wardrobe in the bedroom? She said she wouldn't answer.  
 3   (Shown two photographs of the wardrobe) Can you describe its contents?  
 4   Why had the curtain behind the sofa in front of the side window (a photograph of which was shown to her), been disturbed? Had someone passed behind this sofa?  
 5   How much time did you spend searching in the apartment after realising that your daughter Madeleine had disappeared?  
 6   Why did you say from the start that Madeleine had been abducted?  
 7   Assuming that Madeleine had been abducted, why did you leave the twins alone at home to go to the Tapas to raise the alarm, not least because the supposed abductor could still be in the apartment?  
 8   Why did you not ask the twins at that moment what had happened to their sister, or why did you not ask them later?  
 9   When you raised the alarm in the Tapas what specific words were used?  
 10   What happened after raising the alarm at the Tapas?  
 11   Did you have a mobile phone with you at that moment?  
 12   Why did you go to warn your friends instead of shouting from the balcony?  
 13   Who contacted the authorities?  
 14   Who took part in the searches?  
 15   Did someone outside the group learn, in the moments that followed, of Madeleine's disappearance?  
 16   Did any neighbour offer you help after the alarm was raised about the disappearance?  
 17   What did the expression "we let her down" mean?  
 18   Did Jane tell you that she had seen a man carrying a child that night?  
 19   How were the authorities contacted and which police force was alerted?  
 20   During the searches after police arrived, in which places were Madeleine searched for, and in what way?  
 21   Why did the twins not wake up during the search or when they went upstairs?  
 22   Whom did you telephone after the discovery?  
 23   Did you call Sky News?  
 24   Did you know of any danger of calling the media alerting them of the abduction, since this could influence the abductor?  
 25   Did you request the presence of a priest?  
 26   In what way was the face of Madeleine, in photographs or by other means, released?  
 27   Is it true that during the search you remained seated on Madeleine's bed in your room without moving?  
 28   What was your behaviour like during that night?  
 29   Did you manage to sleep?  
 30   Before the trip to Portugal did you make a comment about a bad feeling or premonition about it?  
 31   What was Madeleine's behaviour like?  
 32   Did Madeleine suffer from any infirmity or take medication?  
 33   What was Madeleine's relationship like with her brother and sister, friends and fellow pupils?  
 34   Regarding your professional life, in how many hospitals and in which ones did you work?  
 35   What was your speciality as a doctor?  
 36   Do you work shifts in emergency wards or other departments?  
 37   Do you work in the daytime?  
 38   Why did you stop working at a certain point?  
 39   Is it true or not that the twins have difficulty falling asleep, that they are restless and that this upsets you?  
 40   Is it true or not that at certain times you felt desperate at your children's attitude and that this upsets you a lot?  
 41   Is it true or not that in England you went so far as thinking about handing over Madeleine to a relative to look after?  
 42   At home (in England) did you give medication to your children and what kind of medication?  
 43   (Various films had been shown to her of the inspection by forensic dogs, where one can see their signalling indications of the scent of a human corpse and traces of human blood as well as the comments by the expert overseeing the exercise.) Having seen the film and after the scent of a corpse was signalled in her bedroom near the wardrobe, and behind the sofa by the window in the sitting room, Kate McCann said she could not explain anything more than she already had.  
 44   She was asked about the sniffer dog that signalled human blood behind the above-mentioned sofa. She said she could not explain anything more than she already had.  
 45   She was asked about the scent of corpse which was signalled in the vehicle she hired about a month after the disappearance, with number plate 59-DA-27. She said she could not explain anything more than she already had.  
 46   When the presence of human blood was signalled in the boot of the same vehicle Kate McCann said she could not explain anything more than she already had.  
 47   Confronted with the result of the sample of Madeleine's DNA, whose analysis was carried out by a British laboratory, found behind the sofa and in the boot of the vehicle, as previously described, Kate McCann said she could not explain anything more than she already had.  
 48   Did you have any responsibility or involvement in the disappearance of your daughter Madeleine?  
 49   Are you aware that the fact of your not answering the questions put to you jeopardise the investigation that was aimed at finding out what happened to your daughter, she answered: "Yes, if the investigation thinks that."  
 50   Do you have anything to add? She said: "No."  
 51   Her lawyer was asked to comment. He said he had nothing to state or request.

Outrageous! She was desperate to find her wasn't she?
Nothing to stop her answering those questions now, or six odd years ago!
IMO

I agree, JFMM, Outrageous. Of all of the things they have done to me this is one of the worst. How do the public square this one away and how did they get through so many interviews when they claimed nobody was looking for Madeleine and they were never asked once about their lack of cooperation? I don't understand. 

Surely the biggest red flag apart from the dogs.

The questions have been in the news again recently. I never really looked at them closely before but if you scrutinise them there is a wealth of information there. The McCanns were made arguidos in September 2007. Madeleine disappeared in early May of that year. That gave the police four months approximately to investigate the case. Every single question will have been carefully drafted. The police by then had built a case against the McCanns. You can guess by the nature of the questions what the case might be.

While it is on record that Kate refused to answer the questions, do we know what questions Gerry was asked? And whether he answered them all?

Guest wrote:I agree, JFMM, Outrageous. Of all of the things they have done to me this is one of the worst. How do the public square this one away and how did they get through so many interviews when they claimed nobody was looking for Madeleine and they were never asked once about their lack of cooperation? I don't understand. 

Surely the biggest red flag apart from the dogs.

Plus the tapas 7 refusing to do the reconstruction, which in turn stopped the process and the McCanns could not do one.... mainly due to them not participating of course the case was shelved.

While there is so much there of interest, I do like question 16 about whether any neighbour offered to help. It surely did not escape the attention of the police that neighbour Mrs Fenn had offered her phone to call police but GM told her it had already been done. I think this happened before police were called but would have to check. Kate in her book describes how she and Fiona were rude to Mrs Fenn because apparently she did not react to their news in a way they felt was appropriate. Given that Mrs Fenn's offer of help had been refused no doubt she was non-plussed by what was going on. I would imagine that, like many rational people, she was wondering how the parents knew that their daughter had been abducted. It is also on record that Mrs Fenn was surprised that Gerry spoke of a child being abducted but didn't state it was his child. This is indeed odd and is very distancing and impersonal. Mrs Fenn always was a thorn in the TM side, imo! If you look at the very thorough police questioning of her niece, Carol Tranmer, you will see she had a large and quite well- connected family. Not necessarily someone who could be easily silenced.

Imo only.

Could it just be that she could not answer the questions, because SHE DID NOT KNOW the answers. Just maybe all of this happened on Gerry's check or even on the one checking before Gerry? Just maybe Gerry was told by the friend because the timeframe of the so call "checkers" are also mostly lies. Gerry is dominant and heartless if you ask me. The moment of Madeleine's ABDUCTION/DEATH was discovered BEFOR KATE TOOK HER WATCH. She must have been scared sh&tless. And just maybe the shutters were left open for her to discover. Maybe she was little bit tipsy aswell. It still doesn't matter.

How shocked was Kate really? Another thing that really bothers is the fact there was no CCTV tapes. Can a large and busy place like the Ocean Club be without these important footage. Have anyone heard of any such footage? Read about it somewhere? If that was available there could have been more specific times. Also yes, why did she run to the Tapas and not just screamed for help? Was she really in shock? Did Maddie meet her fate on a previous day? That is why I think it was before the 3rd.

If it was the 3rd Kate could have been in real shock. If any day before the 3rd, the whole thing was probably planned. If then on the 3rd, MAYBE SHE WAS REALLY KEPT IN THE DARK AND COULD NOT ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS. If you can remember everything else in detail (shutters etc) why not answer when she was asked plain simple standard questions. Read the questions again. They are just normal questions to which she should have had some answer - at least here and there. I think there was a few flaws in the abduction theory which had to be "smoothed" out a bit. She was probably warned against answering.

The only other time I can think that Maddie met her fate, was the time Gerry played tennis and David had to go and see Kate. Between the bathtime and bedtime. The pajamas story pure nonsense I would say. WHAT IF...AND THIS IS JUST AN IF...SHE WAS NOT EVEN BATHED OR DRESSED IN PYJAMAS. So if she was dressed in her pyjamas (remember the guy carrying the child SHOWS EVEN THE FRILLS AT THE END OF THE LEGS) then why would the twin sister say it is Maddie jammies! BECAUSE SHE WAS NOT YET DRESSED IN IT. The sister was clever enough to know that she wore her own and then why the spare set? She knew the spare set belonged to Maddie. Then...what was the poor thing wearing whilst being abducted so late in the evening It was not the night of the 3rd. I would say the night Mrs Fenn heard the crying. The questions asked during the interview could have been so direct and spot on that she refused to answer because surely she would have given the story away. THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY IF IT WAS MY CHILD. Unless I am guilty of something. If I am innocent I would not care who will be going to jail or not. Everyone was looking for a living girl dressed in the Eeyore jammies while she was maybe just wrapped in a towel or even still dressed in the clothes she wore the day. I CAN ALSO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE TWINS DID NOT SEE ANYTHING - If so then they were already sleeping and that changes the whole story.

You are not making sense curious - is that deliberate?

I haven't yet tried to understand the post from Curious!

I have transferred it from a new topic to this existing one.

Curious, please would you look to see if there are earlier topics first before starting new ones.

curious wrote
Could it just be that she could not answer the questions, because SHE DID NOT KNOW the answers.

Curious are you being serious?  A reminder of the questions - how can you 'not know' the answers to most!



These are the questions:

1. On May 3 2007, around 22:00, when you entered the apartment, what did you see? What did you do? Where did you look? What did you touch?
2.  Did you search inside the bedroom wardrobe? (she replied that she wouldn’t answer)
3. (shown 2 photographs of her bedroom wardrobe) Can you describe its contents?
4.  Why had the curtain behind the sofa in front of the side window (whose photo was shown to her) been tampered with? Did somebody go behind that sofa?
5. How long did your search of the apartment take after you detected your daughter Madeleine’s disappearance?
6. Why did you say from the start that Madeleine had been abducted?
7. Assuming Madeleine had been abducted, why did you leave the twins home alone to go to the ‘Tapas’ and raise the alarm? Because the supposed abductor could still be in the apartment.
8. Why didn’t you ask the twins, at that moment, what had happened to their sister or why didn’t you ask them later on?
9. When you raised the alarm at the ‘Tapas’ what exactly did you say and what were your exact words?
10. What happened after you raised the alarm in the ‘Tapas’?
11. Why did you go and warn your friends instead of shouting from the verandah?
12. Who contacted the authorities?
13.  Who took place in the searches?
14.  Did anyone outside of the group learn of Madeleine’s disappearance in those following minutes?
15. Did any neighbour offer you help after the disappearance?
16. What does 'we let her down' mean?
17.  Did Jane tell you that night that she’d seen a man with a child?
18.  How were the authorities contacted and which police force was alerted?
19. During the searches, with the police already there, where did you search for Maddie, how and in what way?
20. Why did the twins not wake up during that search or when they were taken upstairs?
21. Who did you phone after the occurrence?
22. Did you call Sky News?

23. Did you know the danger of calling the media, because it could influence the abductor?
24. Did you ask for a priest?

25. By what means did you divulge Madeleine’s features, by photographs or by any other means?

26. Is it true that during the searches you remained seated on Maddie’s bed without moving?

27. What was your behaviour that night?

28. Did you manage to sleep?

29. Before travelling to Portugal did you make any comment about a foreboding or a bad feeling?

30. What was Madeleine’s behaviour like?

31. Did Maddie suffer from any illness or take any medication?

32. What was Madeleine’s relationship like with her brother and sister?

33. What was Madeleine’s relationship like with her brother and sister, friends and school mates?

34. As for your professional life, in how many and which hospitals have you worked?

35. What is your medical specialty?

36. Have you ever done shift work in any emergency services or other services?

37. Did you work every day?

38. At a certain point you stopped working, why?

39. Are the twins difficult to get to sleep? Are they restless and does that cause you uneasiness?

40.  Is it true that sometimes you despaired with your children’s behaviour and that left you feeling very uneasy?

41. Is it true that in England you even considered handing over Madeleine’s custody to a relative?

42. In England, did you medicate your children? What type of medication?

43.   In the case files you were SHOWN CANINE forensic testing films, where you can see them marking due to detection of the scent of human corpse and blood traces, also human, and only human, as well as all the comments of the technician in charge of them. After watching and after the marking of the scent of corpse in your bedroom beside the wardrobe and behind the sofa, pushed up against the sofa wall, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?

44.   When the sniffer dog also marked human blood behind the sofa, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?

45.  When the sniffer dog marked the scent of corpse coming from the vehicle you hired a month after the disappearance, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?

46.  When human blood was marked in the boot of the vehicle, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?

47.   When confronted with the results of Maddie’s DNA, whose analysis was carried out in a British laboratory, collected from behind the sofa and the boot of the vehicle, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?

48.   Did you have any responsibility or intervention in your daughter’s disappearance?
A QUESTION SHE DID ANSWER

Q.  Are you aware that in not answering the questions you are jeopardising the investigation, which seeks to discover what happened to your daughter?

A.  'Yes, if that’s what the investigation thinks.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1041635/The-48-questions-Kate-McCann-wouldnt-answer--did.html