Covert DNA Analysis Verified Accused Stalker Could Not Be Madeleine McCann, Says Officer
An accused stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, authorities disclosed in court.
Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished 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 hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.
Official Statements
Giving evidence on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.
The senior officer said over a dozen persons had in the past insisted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.
“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I sincerely hold major concerns about approaching the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”
Genetic Testing
He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.
He declared: “Testing was conducted. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”
Legal Testimony
Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective met with Wandelt in custody and informed her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Testimony indicated that throughout their discussion, 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 “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would never accept she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Psychological Toll
In prior court sessions, the court heard how the family were left frightened and traumatized by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to insist on a DNA test.
The jury were told how the pair made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the family visited.
Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.