Secret DNA Examination Confirmed Accused Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, Reports Officer
A suspected stalker who claimed to be the abducted child was ruled out after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.
Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.
The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and appeared at their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.
Police Testimony
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on Operation Grange, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.
The senior officer said 13 people 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 became known in the media I had taken DNA off an individual quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I truly possess major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”
Forensic Analysis
He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on stalking charges, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He stated: “Analysis occurred. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”
Court Proceedings
Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he replied: “Yes.”
He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Emotional Distress
During previous hearings, the court heard how the McCanns were left frightened and traumatized by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.
The jury were told how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.
The accused women both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.
