Confidential DNA Analysis Proved Accused Stalker Could Not Be Madeleine McCann, Reports Detective
An alleged stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a confidential DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, authorities disclosed in court.
Targeted Behavior Against McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.
The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.
Investigation Details
Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Operation Grange, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had in the past insisted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.
“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from someone quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I genuinely have major concerns about contacting the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and hard for the family.”
Genetic Testing
He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after learning Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.
He said: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”
Court Proceedings
Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”
He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “It was possible she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Psychological Toll
Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the relatives were left frightened and distressed by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.
Jurors heard how both women made ever more strange plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.
Wandelt and Spragg both contest one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.
