Covert DNA Test Confirmed Accused Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, Says Detective
A suspected stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was ruled out after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.
Targeted Behavior Against McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.
The woman from Poland bombarded 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 appeared at their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.
Police Testimony
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.
DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had in the past insisted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief 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 quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I genuinely have 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 difficult for the family.”
DNA Comparison
He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He stated: “Testing was conducted. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”
Legal Testimony
The court heard that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”
He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would not believe she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Family Impact
Earlier in the trial, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left scared and traumatized by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.
Jurors heard how the defendants made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.
Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.
