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Shattered
Gerry and Kate McCann BOTH declared suspects
Daily
Mail Headline; says: 'Portugese police have declared that
Gerry McCann is a formal suspect in the disappearance of his
missing four-year-old daughter Madeleine. The McCanns'
spokesman David Hughes refused to say whether the McCanns
would now be leaving Portugal. However, friends of the
couple said they were free to do so and could head home in
the next few days as they had planned.
In a day
of extraordinary developments, detectives alleged that Mrs
McCann accidentally gave Madeleine a fatal overdose of
sedative and then engaged with her husband in a monumental
cover-up of her death.
In an
angry confrontation which lasted more than four hours at
police headquarters in Portimao, detectives finally
demanded: "Tell us what you've done with her."
Mrs
McCann had been asked to explain traces of her daughter's
blood allegedly found in the family's hired Renault Scenic
car. A friend revealed that the 39-year-old GP shook with
rage and replied: "How dare you? How dare you use emotional
blackmail to make me confess something I didn't do?"
Asked how
her husband was taking this situation, the friend replied:
"How do you think a red-blooded Scottish male would react
when defending the honour of his wife?"
As she
was speaking Mr McCann was in the police station facing
similar questions. Mr Hughes said he did not know exactly
what questions he had been asked but understood they were
along the same lines as those posed to his wife. Police
apparently believe Mrs McCann, rather than her husband, is
their main suspect because of a "scent of death" allegedly
detected on her clothes by sniffer dogs trained to find a
corpse.
The
McCanns have been under round-the-clock surveillance by
Portuguese police for more than a month, it emerged. The
covert operation was launched after suspicions grew that
they could be linked to the disappearance of their daughter.
Intimate conversations between the pair have been secretly
listened to and their movements tracked by investigators.
A British
source added: "After a slow start, the police inquiry is a
lot more focused and professional. There is a great deal of
co-operation between the Portuguese and British police.
There are likely to be further dramatic developments in the
next few days. A lot of people will be surprised by what
else is going to come out."
Dozens of
British detectives have been drafted into the inquiry in
recent weeks. Sources said 55 officers were now working on
the case. It is believed they are carrying out urgent
inquiries on behalf of the Portuguese police into the
background of the McCanns. Investigators want to learn more
about the state of their marriage, their relationship and
whether either of them are prone to losing their temper. It
can also be revealed that Portuguese police have been
deliberately leaking details of their inquiry to local media
as part of an investigative strategy to put more pressure on
the McCanns in recent weeks |
