A suspected stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.
Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.
The woman from Poland flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, 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, the court was earlier informed.
Investigation Details
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.
The senior officer said 13 people had in the past insisted to be the abducted child 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 off an individual quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had many persons 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 given them false hope. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”
Genetic Testing
He said investigators had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was two years older than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He stated: “Analysis occurred. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”
Legal Testimony
The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt while detained and informed her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he answered: “Yes.”
He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”
Psychological Toll
Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the McCanns were left frightened and upset by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to demand a DNA test.
Jurors heard how the defendants made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.
The accused women both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.
