Covert DNA Examination Confirmed Accused Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, Says Officer
An accused stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not the long-lost child, authorities disclosed in court.
Targeted Behavior Targeting McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the parents of Madeleine, who vanished from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.
The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, 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.
Police Testimony
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.
DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.
“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from someone probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I sincerely hold major concerns about contacting the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”
Forensic Analysis
He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He stated: “Analysis occurred. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”
Legal Testimony
The court heard that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt in custody and informed her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
The court heard that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”
He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “There existed a chance she would never accept she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Psychological Toll
During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the family were left frightened and distressed by their “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.
Jurors heard how both women made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in.
Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.
