The Smith Family Evidence
McCann
PJ files www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk
‘A MAN WITH A CHILD IN HIS ARMS’
May 3rd, after 9.27pm, Dolphin restaurant, Vila da Luz…
The
Smiths, from Ireland, are spending their holiday in Praia da Luz. After having
dinner at the restaurant, they go to Kelly's bar, 50 metres away. They leave
there at around 9.55pm to go back to their apartment in Estrela da Luz, west of
the Ocean Club, 300 metres further on. They don't stay late because the next
morning one of them has to go back to Ireland. It's a big family, of four
adults and five children: the father, aged 58, retired, and his wife; their 12
year-old daughter; their two grand-children aged 10 and 4 (their mother stayed
in Ireland); their son accompanied by his wife - who is pregnant - and their
two children aged 13 and 6. They go in a northerly direction, the group
spreading out; the children are never far away from the adults. There's nobody
about. They climb a few steps to reach 25 de Abril street, cross it and turn
left into 1 de Maio street, that runs along the west side of the Ocean Club.
They haven't gone 30 metres when they come across a man walking up the middle
of the road. He is carrying a child in his arms, head resting on his left
shoulder. The Smiths don't see the face of the little girl, whose arms hang by
her sides. She is dressed in pale-coloured, maybe pink, pyjamas; her feet are
bare, she is white and she has blonde hair that covers her neck. The
individual's appearance gives the impression that he is not a tourist. He is
wearing cream-coloured or beige trousers, classic in style, perhaps linen or
cotton. He is a white man, aged around 30 to 35, with no other distinguishing
features: he is between 1.70m and 1.80m tall, is visibly in good physical
condition; his brown hair is cut short, his face is tanned.
At
this time, images of Robert Murat - considered to be the main suspect - begin
to be circulated all over the world. After they return to Ireland, the Smiths
continue to follow the case. They learn that, according to Jane Tanner's
statements, Murat is definitely the man encountered on the night of the
abduction. Mr Smith then gets in touch with the Irish police to relate what he
saw on the night of May 3rd. He insists, categorically, that the man they came
across with the little girl in his arms was not Robert Murat. He is sure of it
because he knows him. With hindsight, he is utterly convinced that the little
girl was definitely Madeleine. We secretly organise for the Smiths to come to
Portugal. On May 26th, in the offices of the Department of Criminal
Investigation in Portimao, we interview the father and his son. What they say
seems credible. However, because of the dim street lighting, they say they
would have a hard time formally recognising the man who was carrying the child.
On the other hand, they describe very clearly how the man was holding the
little girl and how he was walking. That scene is indelibly printed in their
memory. After their interview, they went back to the scene, accompanied by
investigators. They indicate the precise place where they came across the man.
Their
coming to Portugal as well as their statements are kept secret. Within a few
days, they go back to Ireland, but contact is maintained: they undertake to let
us have any further details they remember. We finally have credible witness
statements about that stranger who, on the night of May 3rd, was walking in the
streets of Vila da Luz with a child in his arms.
The McCann couple return to Great Britain after more than four
months spent in the Algarve. It's an almost triumphant return. The media
coverage is such that you'd think you were witnessing the liberation of
hostages held for years in a far-off country. Gerald McCann is shown on
television carrying his son, as he descends from the plane. The child's head is
against Gerald's left shoulder and his arms dangling by his sides. Gerald walks
across the tarmac, still holding his son closely against himself.
In
Ireland, the Smiths are watching the BBC news, which is broadcasting the event.
For them, it's a shock: that person, they recognise him. That way of carrying
his child, that way of walking...It's the man they saw at around 10pm on May 3rd,
with a little girl, who seemed to be deeply asleep, in his arms.
This
image, brings back with a jolt, that of the man they encountered in the streets
of Vila da Luz, on the evening of Madeleine's disappearance. It's as if the
scene is repeating itself ....Mr Smith thinking he's hallucinating, sees the
same report on other channels, ITV and Sky News. From that moment, he is sure:
the man they came across that night was Gerald McCann. Of that there is very
little doubt. Upset by the implications of this discovery, he alerts the police
and waits to be called back by those in charge of the investigation.
When
we receive this information, at the end of September, we think we finally have
the piece that will allow us to complete the puzzle. Because of this, we may be
able to reconstruct the course of events on that cold night of May 3rd in Vila
da Luz. We have a better understanding of why Jane Tanner, "sent,"
the alleged abductor in the opposite direction to that taken by the man seen by
the Smith family. Suspicion had to be diverted from Gerald who - if he was the
guilty party - would have taken this route: leaving apartment 5A, the
individual who was carrying the child, did not go east, towards Murat's house,
but west in the direction of the beach.
We
decide to get the Smiths back to the Algarve, for a formal identification of
Gerry McCann - by means of televised images, certainly - direct confrontation
being impossible - and possibly proceed to a reconstruction of the events of
the night of May 3rd. The National Director of the Judiciary police agrees, the
process is set in motion, all the details are sorted out; all that remains is
to choose the hotel where they will be put up. But the Smiths were never to
come back to Portugal. After my departure, the PJ were to change their minds.
They asked the Irish police to proceed with interviewing the witness. That
decision was to seriously delay the process since the Smiths were not
interviewed until several months later. Meanwhile, rumours were to circulate and
people not involved with the investigation would be made aware of the existence
of this witness; someone allegedly even sought out contact with the family,
without its being known to what end.
