PeteBrant

Agreed
Main reasons, sure, but not the only reasons and we have no idea whether either applied to her or not. Like I said, there are 101 reaosns why she didn;t answer.

Lik I keep saying, we don't know the intrccies of this case, you can't possibly make any form of judgement because you don;t have enough information.

Exercising a right to silence does not equate to guilt.

She was in a foreign country, she was made an arguido, she had recently lost her daughter. The police had made no inroads at all into finding her.

If someone can point me to the instruction manual as to how to behave under such circumstances I'll be happy to tell you what she should have done.

Devildog

Sorry Pete, don't buy that.

Does sitting on the fence all the time not give you a sore ****

GC8

Whenever you are a suspect, then I believe that you have little to gain by answering questions. In those circumstances the police are looking only for evidence to use against you. There are few Inspector Morses out there, unfortunately.

PeteBrant

Don't buy what?

And what are you basing your decision "not to buy" on?


I'm not sitting on the fence, I think she's innocent. Which she absolutely is until proven otherwise.

Felix.

The police were searching night and day for her - but they need as much help and information as possible from the people who saw her last and knew her best.

The investigation seeks to find the truth about what happened - and not jump to conclusions or apportion blame.

They have to look at every possibility and if persons in the investigation are covering things up and have changed their accounts - the police have to ask 'why' and investigate further. Such things as the dog indicating the presence of a corpse in the flat and in the car must surely be ‘suspicious’ in this case and needs investigating further.

The basic instruction manual states that you should help those searching for your daughter and be as open and truthful as you possibly can

PeteBrant

That's a well constructed response. And one that makes a lot of sense.

I can't help thinking that the portuguese system of officially announcing someone as a suspect before they can ask certain questions hinders rather than helps.

As soon as Kate McCann was declared a suspect, I think she felt that the Portuguese police were looking for a scapegoat for not being able to progress that case one step. And I think that is why she possibly clammed up - Speculation of course.

TelBoy

Thing is, Pete, if you know the police are going to close the file and effectively stop helping you look for your kid, wouldn't you at that point forget any rulebook and just answer anything and everything in the hope that some piece of information gives new direction? Why doesn't she go back today and agree to answer all those questions? What has she got to lose, especially now that she isn't a suspect any more? I've always said i think she's innocent, but by Christ she makes it difficult to keep the faith.

PeteBrant

I don't know mate, I really don't. And that's the problem, I don't think any of us have been in a situation remotely like the one she was in. It's easy to say "you should do X Y and Z" but who knows what is going on in your head at that point in time?

Spoon

Not sure if its been said but maybe she doesn't speak Portugese and hadn't got a friggin clue what they were on about?

OK, it was just a thought.

TelBoy

Sure, but what about here and now, today. The dust has settled, the police still have unanswered questions, why not go back and answer them, one by one, just in case it helps? You've got to admit the only rational conclusion is that she's scared of what might come out of it, surely?

Devildog

Agreed.

And general common sence suggests there are only two things that would scare her.

1) Maddie is dead

2) The McCann's are implicated in her death and get caught

Felix.

I can imagine the fact that they were named as 'arguidos' (sp) in their law is much the same as being arrested on suspicion of an offence over here. It doesn't mean you’re guilty or not. It’s simply a case that there is evidence pointing to their involvement in a crime - and this needs to be address by interviewing under caution.

boxst

They have amazing publicists to be able to keep getting front page headlines over a year later.

If any missing person was going to be found you think it would be this one (Assuming she isn't sadly dead of course).

Steve

TelBoy

Steve, that's more to do with the cuteness of the kid and the good looks of the mother, in my opinion...

Devildog

Legally, yes.

However, if I murder someone and no one can prove it, that doesn't make me innocent.

It just means I got away with it.

Spoon

Mother good looking? Christ, Tel. That's too much.