Secret DNA Examination Proved Accused Stalker Was Not Madeleine McCann, Says Officer
A suspected stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was ruled out after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.
Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.
The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and appeared at their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.
Police Testimony
Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, explained he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had earlier asserted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.
“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I truly possess major concerns about contacting the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”
DNA Comparison
He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on stalking charges, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.
He declared: “Analysis occurred. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”
Legal Testimony
The court heard that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he answered: “Yes.”
He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”
Family Impact
In prior court sessions, the court heard how the relatives were left scared and upset by their “disturbing” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to insist on a DNA test.
The jury were told how both women made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.
The accused women both contest one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.
