Secret DNA Examination Proved Suspected Stalker Is Not Madeleine McCann, Reports Investigator
An alleged stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not Madeleine McCann, investigators stated in court.
Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is alleged to have conducted a pattern of threatening behavior against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.
The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and visited their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.
Investigation Details
Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.
“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I truly possess major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and difficult for the family.”
Genetic Testing
He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He stated: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”
Jury Hearings
Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt under arrest and informed her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Testimony indicated that during their conversation, Wandelt asked: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”
He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Psychological Toll
In prior court sessions, the court heard how the family were left terrified and traumatized by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.
The jury were told how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in.
Wandelt and Spragg both refute one count of stalking. The trial continues.
