What's Wrong with the Dead Black Man?

What indeed is wrong with the dead black suspect that Portugal was investigating? I have been ruminating over that question since Scotland Land reportedly stated that they were pursuing a different line of investigation than the Portuguese team. Has this raised the public eyebrow in any way? It struck me as odd.....a different line of investigation...in what way could it be different unless one agency is looking at abduction and the other is not? However, Scotland Yard had pronounced from the beginning that the McCanns were not suspects and it would seem that Portugal was following suit. So how could these two agencies be following two different lines of investigation? Was one pursuing information that Madeleine was kidnapped by a sex ring and the other looking for a family who wanted a child? Where would each have gotten such strong leads that the agencies would have such an exclusive direction and each had totally eliminated any other?

I have worked many cases where detectives in one department had been exploring two or more investigative directions because there were no strong leads; they were making sure to investigate all possibilities until they could rule all but one of those directions out. But this is not what Scotland Yard was suggesting; they were insinuating Portugal was not looking in the correct direction at all.  It could be true; I have had that experience myself when I have come in to work a cold case with a police department and I found that the detectives on the case were totally ignoring the evidence and following some gut intuition, trying to fit the evidence to the theory rather than the theory to the evidence. This is what it appears Scotland Yard was saying; we are focusing on proper leads and Portugal is off on a fool's errand.

But, then, we hear about Scotland Yard pursuing three burglars who made phone calls following the disappearance of Madeleine...wait, isn't that the same theory as Portugal? Wasn't their dead black guy a burglar who made phone calls on the evening of May 3, 2007? Isn't that exactly the same line of investigation, just different suspects?

So, now, I have to wonder, what is wrong with the dead black guy? He is the perfect patsy; he is a criminal, he is black (and we all know in a still racist world how that helps make the case), and he is dead; all the things a police department could want in a fall guy....I have seen that exact kind of suspect made us of in other criminal investigations to close a case which was never going to be properly solved.

So, why doesn't Scotland Yard like the dead, black man? I can only come up with only three reasons:

1) Scotland Yard can't have Portugal solve the case after reopening it just a few months ago when they have spent ten million dollars and two years working on the review.

2) Portugal can't solve the case because that is for Scotland Yard to do; after all, the Portuguese police have been proven to be incompetent and they must remain incompetent while the top police agency in the world, Scotland Yard,  comes in to save the day.

3) The black guy just doesn't look a bit like Gerry McCann.

It is Number Three that is most important of all. If we think back to Crimewatch, Andy Redwood made a huge deal out of knocking down the Tanner sighting which was, I believe, a surprise to many of us because that was Gerry McCann's alibi. When Redwood did so, it gave hope to some that there was some clever ruse being played out by Scotland Yard to finally nail the McCanns and their Tapas friends. I also wished this would be so, but considering how Scotland Yard had behaved to that point with their investigation, I was not particularly inspired to believe justice would eventually win out; I still fully believed the review was going to be nothing but a whitewash in the end. I did wonder, however, why Scotland Yard ruled out the Tanner sighting with a clearly bogus vacationer walking in the wrong direction and publicized the e-fits of the Tanner sighting when this would throw the suspicion back on Gerry McCann.

Now, I think I know. I know why they did this and why it can't be a dead, black guy....because he does not look like Gerry McCann.

What are the odds that one of the three burglars does look like Gerry McCann? Looks enough like Gerry McCann to finally have an explanation for the Smith sighting? It won't matter that burglars don't kidnap children, it doesn't matter if it can't be proven that the burglars had any part in the disappearance of Maddie McCann; it only matters that one of the burglars looks close enough to the man in the composite drawing to be the guy the Smiths saw. I have to wonder whether a good portion of the time the Yard spent in this review was simply flipping through Portuguese mug shots looking for someone who looks similar enough to Gerry and lives close enough to Praia da Luz to serve their purpose. The Smith sighting is the one loose end that needs to be eliminated and a suspect who looks enough like Gerry and is a believable candidate to have committed the crime of abducting Maddie is what is needed to wrap up this whole charade with a pretty, little bow.

Proof is not necessary; just doubt and the word of a well-respected police agency. It remains to be seen whether we eventually see photos of the burglars and if we do, whether Scotland Yard has accomplished a bait-and-switch trick that will fool enough of the public to put the case to rest once and for all.


Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

January 19, 2014




Profile of the Disappearance of Madeleine McCann available at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble.


 

By Pat Brown
Rating:
(5.00 based on 5 reviews)

Published: July 27, 2011

What really happened to Madeleine Beth McCann in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007? Was she abducted as the Gerry and Kate have claimed or did something happen to Madeleine on May 3 in the vacation apartment and the incident covered up? Criminal Profiler Pat Brown analyzes the evidence and takes the readers through the steps of profiling, developing a theory that is intriguing and controversial.