Secret DNA Analysis Verified Suspected Stalker Could Not Be Madeleine McCann, Says Officer
A suspected stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was excluded after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.
Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.
The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home insisting on a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.
Official Statements
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.
The senior officer said over a dozen persons had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.
“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried 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 aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been very traumatic and difficult for the family.”
Genetic Testing
He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.
He declared: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”
Legal Testimony
The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell saw Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”
He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “It was possible she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”
Emotional Distress
Earlier in the trial, testimony revealed how the relatives were left frightened and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.
The court learned how the defendants made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in.
Both defendants both refute one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.