Welcome to Pamalam's Guestbook

Agents from the Scotland Yard and from the Spanish National Police

ENGLAND UK

Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson

A team of up to 20 Leicestershire police officers are said to be looking into the McCanns' private lives on behalf of their Portuguese colleagues.

MATT BAGGOTT (Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police)
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has also spoken to the Chief Constable of Leicestershire, Matt Baggott, twice in the past fortnight (as at 16th September) about developments in the case. A police incident room is now in place in Leicester where up to 20 officers are said to be following up on requests from their Portuguese counterparts.

STUART PRIOR (Detective Superintendent - Leicestershire Police)
Detective Superintendent Stuart Prior from the special operations unit of Leicestershire Police was involved in the meeting on 30th November 2007 with five members of the FSS and four forensic personnel from the PJ. He then returned from the Algarve on 6th March after three days of meetings with counterparts in Portugal about how fresh interviews would be conducted. Leicestershire Police said Det Supt Prior flew to Portugal to discuss the issue of mutual legal assistance, the process whereby evidence is gathered in one country to help an investigation in another.

Chris Eyre

CHRIS EYRE (Assistant Chief Constable - Leiecestershire Police)
Chris Eyre is the Assistant Chief Constable (Crime) in Leicestershire Constabulary and is currently the officer resonsible for coordinating the UK support to the Portuguese investigation into Madeleine's disappearance. Chris Eyre became Assistant Chief Constable at Leicestershire Constabulary in March 2005. He previously served in Kent Police as the Area Commander for Dover and Folkestone between 1997 and 2001.

TONY CONNELL (Crown Prosecution Service)
Tony Connell, a member of the Crown Prosecution Service’s special casework unit, has been advising the “Gold Group” of senior detectives at Leicestershire Police, which is investigating the Madeleine case. Mr Connell led the review which led to the conviction of Damilola Taylor’s killers

Assistant Specialist

LUIS NEVES
Luis Neves, head of the DCCB, the Portuguese equivalent of the serious organised crime agency, SOCA. Credited with solving a high-profile kidnap case involving the ex-president of Sporting Lisboa football club.

Direccao Central  Combate  Bandistimo ( DCCB )

JUDGE NORONHA DO NASCIMENTO (Chairman of the Supreme Magistrates Council)

JOSE CUNHA DE MAGALHAES
José Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses, a district attorney, who was charged with sifting through 10 boxes of evidence. Police handed their files to the Algarve-based prosecutor, José Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses, for him to decide whether to bring charges against Kate and Gerry McCann. He has the authority to move someone from arguido to formal suspect.

JOSE ANES (62) Year 2007 (Former-Director of Lisbon’s police laboratory)
Jose Anes, 62, blasted police procedures and said: “Mistakes in the early hours demolished the entire case.” The ex-director of Lisbon’s police lab highlighted the failure to seal off the McCanns’ holiday apartment after Maddie was reported missing on May 3. A series of blunders meant crucial evidence was lost forever. Remaining evidence was contaminated and made worthless. Mr Anes said: “If the scene is not preserved in the first hours, all the hours of effort that follow are useless. “I am utterly convinced — unless some new, concrete evidence suddenly emerges — the case will never reach trial.” He warned that even if it did go to court, a defence lawyer could easily get it thrown out because of doubts over contaminated evidence. Jose Anes is on the speaker's circuit for freemasons as a well-published author on the subject e.g. speaking at the "London Freeman' s Conclave ", of which he is a member, belonging to the Order of the "Holy Royal Arch Knights Tempar Priest/Order of Holy Wisdom.

ALBERTO BERNARDES COSTA (Minister of Justice)
Portugal Justice Minister, Alberto Costa, had to step in publicly to assure all parties that the relationship between the Portuguese and British police forces working on the Madeleine McCann case was still strong and of "beneficial co-operation."
Alberto Costa claimed that "it is important that all teams are focused on the investigation work and not on the comments" and was reacting to comments made by Gonçalo Amaral to a daily newspaper where he criticised British police action. Gonçalo Amaral, who has said he thought his statements were being made "off the record", had accused British police of "working exclusively on the information wanted by the McCanns and that suits them better.".

Mr Amaral's comments were made in relation to a report in the British media about an anonymous email sent to the official website of Prince Charles.
The email accused a former employee of the Ocean Club of being responsible for the abduction of Madeleine McCann in a revenge action to destroy the resort's credibility. But the PJ investigator said this information "had no credibility for the Portuguese police" and therefore "it was completely excluded" from the investigation.

TAVARES ALMEIDA
A senior police officer in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has asked for an extended leave of absence. Chief Inspector Tavares Almeida's request, reported in the Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas, emerged after his boss, Goncalo Amaral, was taken off the case. It is reported that Mr Almeida has asked for a "licenga sem vencimento" - an extended period of absence, lasting between one month and a year, usually used for studying or training.

OLEGARIO SOUSA
The best-known face in the case is that of chief inspector Olegario Sousa who acted as police spokesman until he stood down on September 16. Officially his role was no longer required, but it has been reported he resigned over leaks by his colleagues to the Portuguese media.

PINTO MONTEIRO (Head of the Public Prosecution Service)
On 23rd November, Attorney General Fernando Jose Pinto Monteiro said the publicity would have turned Madeleine into a “liability’’ for her snatcher.

Fernando Jose Pinto Monteiro was born in 1942 in the village of Porto de Ovelha, council of Almeida, district of Guarda. He has a degree in Law from the Law Faculty of Coimbra University, he was a delegate for the Public Ministry in Idanha-a-Nova, Anadia, Oporto and Lisbon and a Law judge in Ponta do Sol, Alcacer do Sal, Loures, Torres Vedras and Lisbon. He was a at the Appeals Court of Lisbon and since 1998 he is a counselling judge at the Supreme Court of Justice. In October 2006 he was nominated Attorney General of the Republic by Cavaco Silva and Jose Sócrates. (Thanks to Astro for profile)

Goncalo Amaral photos

GONCALO AMARAL
Goncalo Amaral is head of Policia Judiciaria in Portimao. He stands accused of concealing evidence supporting allegations that his colleagues beat a confession out of Leonor Cipriano, the mother of another missing girl, in 2004. Amaral was removed from his post on October 2 following comments he made to a Portuguese paper the same day. He accused the British police of only following leads and information 'created' by the McCanns.

Francisco Moita Flores

left to right, (1)Pinto Nogueira, (2)Luis Armando, Bilro Summer (Bilro Verao) ( 3) Francisca Van Dunen,  (4)Braga Feared

 LUIS BILRO VERAO
Luis Bilro Verao, the public prosecutor. It was Verao who announced on September 20 that no new evidence had emerged to justify further interrogation of the McCanns at this stage

GUILHERMINO ENCARNACAO (59) Year 2007
Guilhermino Encarnacao is head of the Policia Judiciaria for the Algarve, Portugal's CID. Described as a 'desk strategist', he is the detective leading the enquiry into Madeleine's disappearance. He held an impromptu press conference on Saturday 5th May, in Portimao - and admitted his men were working on the assumption the case was an abduction with motives that could be sexual or to secure a ransom - which was unprecedented.

ALIPIO RIBEIRO
Hovering in the background has been Alipio Ribeiro, Portugal's most senior police officer and the national director of the Policia Judiciaria.
On 21/10/07 he was interviewed by El Pais:
Asked about the leaks from the Portuguese police:
"There has been, without doubt, but less than it would appear. The imagination of journalists has also worked hard. What is certain is that the police must have serenity to separate history, fantasy, as police. We can not get carried away with emotion, we must keep open all scenarios and walk step by step."
He confirms that the paedophile abduction theory came from the McCanns.
Asked about the McCanns' publicity campaign:
"First, we have never had insufficient means in this case, although it is true that excessive international concern has multiplied alleged sightings of the girl and red herrings to a level that would have been too high for any police of the world. Secondly, we still do not know the truth, so I could not make moral judgments on that campaign. I have no results yet, I do not know what happened that night."
Asked about the British press coverage:
"And it must be understood that the British press works that way. They said unjust things, but we could not react to this day, get to play ping pong, the Judicial Police against the British press. That game does not interest us."

PAULO REBELO (45)
Paulo Rebelo, an assistant national director of the Policia Judiciária (PJ), has been appointed as the head of the Madeleine McCann investigation. Officially his new role is the chief of the PJ criminal investigation department based in Portimao, which covers Praia da Luz. Rebelo made his career at the Central Directory for the Investigation of Drug Trafficking before being appointed one of four associate directors last year. He was head of the criminal investigation department in Lisbon which uncovered the notorious “Casa Pia” paedophile ring in 2002. Other high profile cases include the “Mea-Culpa” investigation into the death of 13 people in an arson attack. He headed the “Freeport case” in which a PJ officer was convicted of leaking details of a corruption investigation on the eve of the last parliamentary elections. Rebelo is said to be highly regarded. Colleagues say he is nice and a good communicator. He is close to the PJ’s national director, Alipio Ribeiro, who demoted the the previous head of the inquiry, Goncalo Amaral.

On 29th November four members of the Portuguese investigation team met five experts from the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in Birmingham at Leicestershire Police headquarters to review and interpret the DNA results. The FSS had been conducting the tests for the Portuguese authorities for the last four months. Tests are said to have been conducted on blood samples, bodily fluids and hair found inthe Mrs McCanns' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz and in the car the couple hired 25 days after Madeleine disappeared on May 3. Leicestershire Police and the FSS both described the meeting as routine. A spokeswoman for the East Midlands force said: "Throughout the investigation there has been really good dialogue between the teams in Portugal and the UK but they felt it was a good time to sit down and talk face to face. They are not going to be interviewing anyone else. It is a routine meeting and then they will be going home." It is reported that Mark Williams-Thomas (a British ex-detective) also attended the meeting.

RICARDO PAIVA
At the meeting, the PJ relied on Ricardo Paiva, one of the investigation's main officers. He is not head of the inquiry, but the inspector from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Portimao who is one of those who has been working closest with all the diligences. "He is, probably, the person who knows the process best", several sources with the investigation explained to Jornal de Noticias. This was not the first time that he had travelled to England for this case, as he worked with the British officers when they were in the Algarve supporting the investigation.

FERNANDO VIEGAS
Fernando Viegas is a technician from the Scientific Police Laboratory. He and Luis Viriato collected the residues that were found in the apartment and sent for testing at the Birmingham forensics laboratory last August.

LUIS VIRIATO
Luis Viriato is a technician from the Scientific Police Laboratory. He and Fernando Viegas collected the residues that were found in the apartment and sent for testing at the Birmingham forensics laboratory last August

FRANCISCO CORTE-REAL
Francisco Corte-Real, the vice-president of the National Institute of Legal Medicine, who in May coordinated the vast team at the Institute which performed tests on over three hundred bilogical traces that were found inside the apartment at Praia da Luz. His team performed the DNA tests on samples that were collected from the relatives and friends of the English couple and also from Robert Murat and his family. Corte-Real still follows the Maddie case, and he is often consulted by the investigators.

CARLOS ANJOS
Carlos Anjos, the head of the Portuguese police federation, stepped into the fray, saying that Kate and Gerry McCann "do not help the investigation" and that the McCanns were using PR as "diversion tactics". On 19th November (Panorama programme) he was shown as saying: "We have uncooperative witnesses that don’t collaborate, the McCanns, the friends, the people that were there are not collaborating with the investigation"

 NOEL HOGAN
Kate and Gerry McCann have hired a former Met Police officer to carry out a "cold case" review into Madeleine's disappearance. Noel Hogan, a former CID detective, has spent hundreds of hours interviewing British witnesses in the case. He has also gone through each witness's existing statements line by line. Among those he has interviewed include the so called "Tapas seven" who were on holiday with the McCanns in Praia da Luz last May. He is also thought to have taken Kate and Gerry McCann through their own statements in minute detail. Mr Hogan spent eight years in the Met where he reached the rank of detective superintendent. Since 1986 he has run his own detective agency in Surrey, Hogan International, which claims to have extensive experience dealing with missing-person cases.

DANIEL KRUGEL
In July 2007 the McCann’s called in Daniel Krugel, a former South African detective, with a record for finding missing children. He spent 4 days searching in and around Praia da Luz. He believes that he has followed the route taken by Madeleine from the apartment, through paths and roads leading to a nearby beach. He then drew a map and handed this to investigators who searched the area on two occasions, but found no tangible evidence of any kind and has said that there is a slight possibility that she could be alive. Kate and Gerry McCann believe that Krugel’s findings show that Madeleine was abducted and placed on a boat, whereas the Portuguese media see this as her body being placed on a boat and then dumped at sea. The Portuguese police were aware of Krugel’s search at the time and followed up his findings.

ANTONIO TOSCANO
Antonio Toscano is a Spanish investigative journalist who claimed to know the name of Madeleine's abductor. In several interviews with Spanish newspapers and TV companies he introduced himself as an expert in satanic cults. Antonio Toscano is certain the four-year-old girl was snatched by a French paedophile on orders from wealthy organisers of a European child sex network. It was reported that he handed his file of evidence to the PJ on 27th June.

FRANCISO MARCO (35)  Year 2007- METODO3
Francisco Marco is the head of Metodo 3, a Private Investigative agency based in Barcelona, Spain. Mr Marco's mother, Marita Fernandez Lado, founded the agency 23 years ago. The agency was given the job of finding Madeleine in September. and have a six-month agreement with the McCanns. They have pursued what they have publicised as "strong leads" in Morroco (and American child); Bosnia (Tea Dadic) and Portugal. In 1995, five senior members of the family-run firm Metodo 3 – including Director-general Francisco Marco, were held amid claims of industrial and political espionage. Marita Lado was pictured in handcuffs after being arrested as she handed a client a cassette allegedly containing a phone-tapped conversation. Also held were her husband Francisco Marco Poyuelo, 60, Francisco Marco, 35, his brother Francisco Gabriel Fernandez Lado, 36, and employee Oscar Trujillo, 40.

 MARITA FERNANDEZ LADO (57) Year 2007- METODO3
Francisco Marco is the head of Metodo 3, a Private Investigative agency based in Barcelona, Spain. Mr Marco's mother, Marita Fernandez Lado, founded the agency 23 years ago. The agency was given the job of finding Madeleine in September. and have a six-month agreement with the McCanns. They have pursued what they have publicised as "strong leads" in Morroco (and American child); Bosnia (Tea Dadic) and Portugal. In 1995, five senior members of the family-run firm Metodo 3 – including Director-general Francisco Marco, were held amid claims of industrial and political espionage. Marita Lado was pictured in handcuffs after being arrested as she handed a client a cassette allegedly containing a phone-tapped conversation. Also held were her husband Francisco Marco Poyuelo, 60, Francisco Marco, 35, his brother Francisco Gabriel Fernandez Lado, 36, and employee Oscar Trujillo, 40.

JOHN STALKER
John Stalker was Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police who came to the fore of public attention during the so-called "shoot-to-kill" scandal in Northern Ireland in the mid-1980s. He was in the Serious Crime Squad, the Bomb Squad and the Drugs Squad. He travelled round the world studying terrorism and crime and on his return worked for 2 years in Northern Ireland. Here, somewhat controversially, he revealed an alleged Royal Ulster Constabulary "shoot-to-kill" policy, much to the embarrassment of the authorities, his superiors and the British Government, and was probably the victim of a 'dirty tricks' campaign to discredit him. On October 28th he was reported to say, "One thing above all worries me: Why have the McCanns and the seven other members of their group – the Tapas Nine – remained so silent? My gut instinct is that some big secret is probably being covered up. Unlike other high-profile cases I have worked on, not one of them has been prepared to break ranks or really come out and support each other. After all this time and pressure, I cannot believe that nobody wants to speak. Their answer has always been no comment but there is surely some division between them. So what are they hiding? I have a real suspicion that we are not being told the whole truth. There is something else there, some issue that members of the party are embarrassed about. While they continue to refuse to talk it is unlikely we will find out what it is for a very long time but one thing is certain – it will eventually come out

MARK WILLIAMS

MARK WILLIAMS-THOMAS
Mark Williams-Thomas owns his own Child Protection and Risk Management Consultancy - WT Associates Ltd. Prior to setting up WT Associates in 2005, Mark was a police Detective specialising in major crime. He worked on or was in charge of some of the largest paedophile and murder investigations in the country, as well as being was one of only 10 specialist Family Liaison officers during his time in the police. Mark is also completing a Masters in Criminology at the University of Central England. It is understood that he attended the meeting between the FFS and the Portuguese forensic team at Leicester police station on 29th November.

DAI DAVIES
Dai Davies, a senior associate of Kingfell Global Crisis, Director and Lead Consultant of Selectamark Consultancy, was responsible for the security of the Royal family and palaces, leading a force of 450 police officers, with an annual budget of £26 million for more than 15 years.

MARK HAINES
Mike Haines is the ex-commander who set up Scotland Yard's paedophilia unit, author of ‘The Dirty Squad’ and also a media consultant on child abuse, paedophilia, murder and high profile abduction cases. Mike Haines is also the author of an opinion column in the Mirror which he has used to express his personal opinion.

JOHN O'CONNOR
Ex-Flying Squad Commander John O’Connor is a former British Policeman that came to Praia da Luz to report for several TV Channels. John O'Connor was a policeman for 30 years and he ran “the Flying Squad at New Scotland Yard dealing with all armed robberies in London until retiring with the rank of Commander”, according to Crimesharetv.

DESMOND THOMAS
In 2001 Des Thomas was a senior investigating officer on the 9/11 investigation dealing with the repatriation of the remains of British victims of the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York. He has lectured at the Police Staff College and at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Portsmouth and Cardiff Law School. Now a forensic management consultant, Desmond Thomas, "believes even if the police do charge the McCanns they will struggle to convict them - because Madeleine's body is still missing and there is no evidence that has been made public to suggest she is even dead...he does not believe anyone will be found guilty unless a body or weapon is discovered." Desmond Thomas, former deputy head of Hampshire CID, came forward, around the middle of September, when his expertise was needed.

CHRIS STEVENSON
Chris Stevenson is a former Detective Chief Superintendent, Cambridgeshire Police. He led the team which contributed to the Dispatches programme on Channel 4, 18th October 2007: "Searching for Madeleine". Among his thirty murder cases he ran the investigation in to the Soham murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

DAVID BARCLAY
David Barclay is Former Head of Physical Evidence UK National Crime and Operations Faculty. He contributed to the Dispatches programme on Channel 4, 18th October 2007: "Searching for Madeleine". Professor Dave Barclay is a leading international forensic scientist. He developed best practice in the UK. As well as the Omagh bombing, he’s advised in 225 cold case murders in the last 6 years. From the photos provided by a local journalist he concluded the McCanns would not have been able to see an intruder from their restaurant tabl

DAVE CANTER
Professor David Canter is the Director, Centre for Investigative Psychology, University of Liverpool. He contributed to the Dispatches programme on Channel 4, 18th October 2007: "Searching for Madeleine". Forensic psychologist, Professor David Canter has compiled offender profiles in 150 serious criminal investigations including abductions and murders.

GARY LIGG
Gary Ligg is a former Senior Search Adviser, West Yorkshire Police. He contributed to the Dispatches programme on Channel 4, 18th October 2007: "Searching for Madeleine". He has devised search plans for over 100 serious criminal investigations.

MATT TAPP
Matt Tapp is a Police Media Adviser. He contributed to the Dispatches programme on Channel 4, 18th October 2007: "Searching for Madeleine". Matt Tapp handled the press for the Soham case. In the absence of a structured strategy, he knows the media will fill the vacuum with unhelpful speculation that can seriously distract the police.

LORD JOHN STEVENS
Lord John Stevens, former Metropolitan Police chief, believes in the innocence of the McCann. On a opinion column in “News of the World”, he claims he has always based his conclusions on “hard evidence”, during his 30 years as a police detective. Then, he says he is making his judgement about the McCann based in what he read on newspapers: “Again, I don't say this from believing in the McCanns' innocence or their guilt. I simply don't know either way. But from the evidence I have read I don't think they did it. Unless the Portuguese police have something else, it doesn't make sense. The couple don't fit the profile and their opportunity was limited.” Paulo Reis (Gazeta Digital) pointed out that Lord Stevens doesn't even know what evidence the Portuguese police has and believes that the article suggests that Lord Stevens is so sure they are innocent that he doesn't feel the need of the same “hard evidence” he claims he always needed, in his police career.

TONY ROGERS
Tony Rogers is a former Chief Superintendent with Dorset Police and was praised for his role as a homicide consultant to Cambridgeshire police for the Soham murders. The former Weymouth policeman now heads a police consultancy business. He was interviewed by Martin Brunt for the Sky News documentary "The Mystery of Madeleine McCann" which aired on 24th December.

MICK SWINDELLS (Dog Handler - former Police Sergeant)
Mick Swindells is one of Britain's top dog handlers. He is a former police Sergeant, based in Blackpool, Lancashire but was often called upon by other police forces for his expertise. Lancashire Constabulary was a pioneer in the training of dogs to sniff out dead bodies following the Moors Murders case in 1964. Mick is now a member of The Global Rescue Services charity based in Penmaenmawr in Conwy. The ex-Fylde officer was part of the joint operation by international rescue charities CANIS and Rapid UK after the Pakistani earthquake; he worked at the Margala Towers complex in Islamabad. The Global Rescue Services has branched out to help forensic science by training four dogs to find human remains. This specialist team of four handlers and dogs will be on call to help in murder enquiries and other incidents involving human remains. Mick Swindells has been featured in several British and Portuguese documentaries. He explains that what the dogs react to is totally intangible - likening it to a "fragrant soap" to the human nose. However, his greatest emphasis has been on the dog's inability to lie.

THE EX-DETECTIVES (PORTUGAL)

JOSE BARRA DA COSTA
Jose Barra Da Costa is an Ex-PJ detective. He has alleged on TV (Arquivo RTP) that the McCanns are "swingers" . He says that he knows this from someone "in the know" but won’t reveal his source. The police deny this publicly as do the McCann’s. Paulo Reis (Gazeta Digital) claims that he and about 1.2 million Portuguese viewers heard Mr. Barra da Costa saying that “a police dog found traces of Madeleine near the swimming pool of Robert Murat’s house” and that “there is information that the McCanns are ‘swingers’. (“Telejornal”, RTP main news, May 17th). Barra da Costa says that he was misquoted during this interview.

ALBERT KIRBY
Among those assisting police in Portugal is the retired senior Merseyside police officer who led the James Bulger murder inquiry.
Albert Kirby, the former commander of the Liverpool serious crimes squad, flew to the Algarve in the hope that his experience could come in useful.