How to Close a Case Without Really Proving Anything
What do the public, the police, and, sometimes, even the family of a murdered or missing person want? More than justice, they want what we term "closure." I would define "closure" as putting something troubling to rest, to have an answer that is satisfying enough to enable one to stop dwelling on the matter, regardless if it is the truth or not.
Sometimes closure, for the family is necessary simply to be able to go on living. Sometimes closure is is necessary for the public, so they can focus on more timely and, perhaps, more important matters. Sometimes closure, for the police, means ending a screwed up investigation that is going nowhere, freeing up funds and manpower for other cases, or saving one's political butt from the accusations of the citizens, media and family of failing to bring the killer to justice or a missing person back home.
In reality, closure rarely happens in full for the family, no matter what....the damage has been done and they have to live with the consequences the rest of their lives. The real perpetrator behind bars or dead gives them justice but the pain still remains, so closure is not fully possible. And if they can't see the perpetrator behind bars, sometimes the pain is so intense, they will settle for what seems a possible explanation - a dead or already incarcerated suspect - just so they can feel there is some measure of justice. As for the police and citizens, they can move on much more quickly and most of the time they do.
So, what can we expect with the Madeleine McCann case? We can expect closure, just not the closure most of us want. We can be happy Gonçalo Amaral has been vindicated in a court of law and that a tremendous amount of information about the case is available online and in printed books and DVDs, so that the facts of the case are not swept entirely under the rug, but we are not going to see an arrest and conviction of the people we think are likely responsible for what happened to Maddie.
What we can't expect, and what has been evident since the day Scotland Yard set foot on Portuguese soil with a remit to investigate an abduction as opposed to all the evidence in the case, is that one day there would be closure of a legitimate type. Scotland Yard is finishing up its one line of investigation "worth pursuing" - and it is most likely the three burglars, not the McCanns. By the end of the year, we should have Scotland Yard explaining how they have thoroughly analyzed the case, followed every lead, and the most likely explanation for the disappearance of Maddie McCann was a botched burglary leading to her demise and removal from the apartment, and, unfortunately, there is not enough evidence to take anyone to court; this is known as solving the case "administratively." Of course, because they cannot 100% prove that this is what happened to Maddie, the door is open for the McCanns to say it is still possible for Madeleine to be alive and out there somewhere and, therefore, the fund can continue.
And the winners are: Scotland Yard, who made the best effort possible to solve the crime, and the McCanns who remain free of being charged with said crime. The added bonus for the McCanns is that if Scotland Yard does indeed shut down the case with the botched burglary explanation, this also "proves" Gonçalo Amaral, the Portuguese police, the Portuguese courts, and anyone who has questioned the abduction theory to be incompetant and dead wrong.
The losers are: everyone else - British citizens, Portuguese citizens, truth seekers, and missing children and their families in every country across the world.
Maybe someday the truth will out and all of us who have spent so much time seeking it will finally have OUR closure. But don't be surprised if the rest of the public is perfectly happy to accept the closure given to them by Scotland Yard because it is human nature to want to believe that parents wouldn't harm their children, that one's police agencies are above board and are spending our tax dollars in an honorable way, and the world isn't as bad as all that. Sometimes illusions are far easier to live with than reality, aren't they?
Criminal Profiler Pat Brown
April 27, 2016
By Pat Brown
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.
By Pat Brown
Rating: 
Published: July 27, 2011What 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.
40 comments:
For those who continue to comment, but Scotland Yard cannot investigate, it is a Portuguese case: you are confusing what should be with what is. It may be a Portuguese case and it would require Portuguese police to make an arrest and a Portuguese court to seek a conviction, but there is nothing much that could be called investigating being done by Portugal and a whole lot of investigating being done by Scotland Yard. And when Scotland Yard goes gives its determination on the case, that will effectively be the final word on the case (barring some miracle like the body being found and solid evidence linking someone to the crime).
It is very sad that this case had cost a life of a child, and media mayhem. I hope that one day that the truth would be brought to light. We can but hope. It is a great shame that a lie detector test was not done by everyone that was under suspicion in Portugal at the time, and had the case not gone "political" and people who should have been brought to justice have not. Karma should be working full time now!
Julian, the lost of the child made the case but the case did make media mayhem and yes, politics did mess things up. Unfortunately, polygraphs cannot be forced on people and they can be inaccurate which is why they can't be used in court.
The parents are responsible, for leaving children alone, and having immunity from being suspects int he correct way. The fact that if they had not been doctors or connected politically in some way, they would have been prosecuted. It is an absolute travesty! and the only looser is that poor child!
Anon 4:31. The child lost on May 3, 2007m but after that justice, truth, the Portuguese and UK citizens have all been losers.
So: three (or was it four?) men have to live with the smear of bringing about a child's death (or possibly selling her on). What happened to the presumption of innocence? The McCanns have greatly benefitted from this. Why can no one else? These men lack the resources to sue. This is not justice.
Highmyope1955,
It has been my experience that when a police agency or media wish to railroad someone or publicly shift attention away from whomever they are protecting or ignoring, it is someone the general public doesn't care about (felon, creepy guy, unpopular dead guy, or some poor fellow without much status. This only backfires if the guy becomes a poster boy for the Innocence Project (usually a death penalty case).
Yes, I agree Pat. I know they are not 100% proof, but the fact that if my child had genuinely been missing, I would have walked over hell to find her (searching included) and would have answered anything they asked me. You have done a tremendous job in seeking justice and truth. You truly are a star ...
Some people have commented that they hope the last line of inquiry is the McCanns. I can guarantee you this is not the case. Because if Scotland Yard had been conducting a proper investigation, the McCanns would have been the first line of inquiry.
Succinct and on the money.
It was back in 2010 that the McCanns started bleating about the need for a review of their case, by whichever agency was most equipped to do it, or words to that effect.
It doesn't take an Ivy League Scholar (or an Oxbridge don) to appreciate there is not a snowball's chance in hell the McCanns would have persistently invited Scotland Yard to 'take another look' if it were remotely possibility the investigation might follow a trail to their front door.
Operation Grange was never any more than perceptual wallpaper.
I disagree with your opinion of Scotland yard having the final say,The truth of the lie book will be published in English or even better still an updated version of it,Goncalo Amaral will attempt to sue as many libellers as he possibly can resulting in this case being discussed for many years to come,one just has to look at all the police and media corruption being exposed on a near daily basis to form the opinion that neither the msm or police forces can be believed or trusted ,so in my opinion Scotland yard most definitely wont have the final say.its my beleif Goncalo Amaral will have that .
Frustrating!
Exactly, Martin.
Would Scotland Yard seriously expect anyone to believe that an apartment was broken into, a child was killed, and the murderer took the body with him when he left?
Anon 8:24
Would a defense attorney really think a jury would buy that OJ didn't do it? Yep. If you frame the story well enough, a good people will think that the police must have enough evidence and experience to know what happened and then maybe it actually did.
Pat Brown said...
Anon 7:08
I didn't say Scctland Yard "would have the last say," I was commenting on how the case will end up as far as the investigation goes.
As to the public perception and who they believe, I can state that likely the larger portion of the public will accept whatever Scotland Yard says. Why? Because it is hard for people to accept that a major police agency would be so wrong. If you think that this is not so, that there is such major distrust, all you have to do is look back at how much hate I have received in the past for suggesting Scotland Yard was a whitewash and this is from people who BELIEVE the McCanns are guilty. Even now after the writing is clearly on the wall, there are still many who believe Scotland Yard is planning some end play run - eliminating all the other possibilities and then swoop back to arrest the McCanns. When I explain to these folk that I have worked with law enforcement and this is NOT how a legitimate investigation works, I am called a fraud and a fake profiler and someone who has the gall to think herself smarter than Scotland Yard detectives.
Now, if this is the reaction from people who have read the files and have been examining this case for years, what do you think the general population is going to believe? We who are very close to this case often feel a huge portion of the UK and even the world knows about this case and that is because we are in a self-chosen fishbowl on McCann boards and blogs on the Internet and we specifically read and comment on McCann articles when they hit the press. The majority of the population really hasn't got that much of a clue and they accept what the media and officials tell them.
So, there will be information out there and now that Gonçalo has one, maybe more of it. More books may be published and so the question of the McCann's innocence will continue to be discussed for years to come. And, maybe, just maybe, the truth will come out and go down in history, but as of now, as far as truth and justice in the police investigation, and the courts, and the greater media and population, and BECAUSE of Scotland Yard, the McCanns pretty much still the upper hand.
Apologies Pat you did say final word rather than say ,Do u honestly believe the British public are still that gullible to believe anything the police and mainstream media tell them after Saville and especially Hillsborough ?I cant see how the Mccanns will have the upper hand if Goncalo Amaral in all his potential future actions keeps this case highlighted for years to come.I don't know about tge States but the general population on this side of the Atlantic are copping on to corruption by the thousands daily IMO.
Anon 12:07 No, my bad, I thought you were referring to the actual post, not one of my comments. Sorry. What I did mean by that is not that Scotland Yard will be the last to ever speak about the case, but that they will be the deciding fate of the case, that they have the final word, so to speak, on how the case will be "closed." (And it doesn't really matter that it is a Portuguese case because the damage done by Scotland Yard investigating every John, Dick, and Harry is "proof" to many that the crime is an abduction.
Again, Anon, you are looking at the machinations of this case from within a bubble....the bubble of people super interested in the McCann case, not the general public. Think of it this way; there are no protests in the streets that Scotland Yard is spending public tax money on a whitewash. While a portion of the public may have some doubts, the majority just read the paper and watch the telly and accept what is being spoonfed to them. There is even very little upset over the McCanns use of fund money, a huge fraud that has even gotten interesting press about the crooks they hired and yet, nothing.
People are the same the worldwide; unless it personally affects them in a large way, they pretty much just accept the party line. I have worked to bring to light a number of clear cases of police misconduct and railroading in the US and pretty much not much comes of it. Just because something is true and important doesn't mean people wake up. I have spent the last three years turning down every television appearance on mass murder and try to get a public opportunity to get the message across the the media is greatly responsible for the increase in mass murder. When, finally, CNN mistakenly had me on (the producer told me that CNN would honor my request to not have the mass murderer's name or face on my segment and that I could speak on the media's role) and I got to actually make very strong statements about media responsibility. Because CNN screwed up and did use the murderer's face and name on my segment and I pointed out that they had reneged on the deal, I got the BIll O'Reilly video of the day - not for speaking out about the media and its contribution to the increase in mass murder - but for sticking it to lying CNN (which I did not do; I just spoke the truth that we had a deal). I had hoped this would be a turning in the discussion about the media and mass murder but after a flurry of a day or two about Pat Brown's appearance on CNN (mostly about CNN screwing up), nothing has come of it. It is business as usual and the public is not up n arms about the media giving fame to mass murderers.
So it is with this case. The British public is not really up in arms about this whole McCann/Scotland Yard debacle. There are disgruntled individuals speaking out, mostly in forums, but, if you kept off the Internet for a month, you would realize that all you hear about the McCanns is that they are victims, Scotland Yard has worked hard to find Madeleine and find out what happened to her, and Gonçalo Amaral is a sick puppy. THIS is what the general population is being fed and this is what they are swallowing.
I have seen a great deal of material about this case. Very quickly, the English government became involved, including 2 English prime ministers, and prince charles and camilla, all in fervent support of the mccanns. What you have to understand as that there may be no justice, at least until they meet their Maker. It is common knowledge that the royal family orchestrated the death of Diana. Were they brought to justice? Recently prince andrew was named along with his friend jeffrey epstein for having sex with an under aged girl. What happened there? Some people are above the law and they are very powerful. In fact they're not above knocking people off if they feel like it. rupert murdoch owns the media companies that are doing the door knocking. If you research just how evil these bastards are, you would come to know more about how the world really is. In closing, I suspect that little Madaleine went though even more that one might think, but she too will meet her Maker (as the dead are dead and will rise on Judgement Day), and compensation will be given to her. May the peace of God be with all those who seek justice.
I don`t see how SY can claim burglars killed her. That would mean they`d have to hang around for at least 90 mins with her body in order for cadaver odour to develop. Or did they kill her, put her in the wardrobe, then go back for her.
Louisee
Louise, what cadaver odor? What dogs? Are you using evidence to come up with a theory? Look, Scotland Yard has never spent time with the evidence, so it is likely their final explanation will have nothing to do with actual evidence either.
For those who have commented that this is not a British case to close, it is a Portuguese case, this is correct, but that is not the point. Scotland Yard has been allowed to conduct on Portuguese soil an investigation, not just a review, and when Scotland Yard shuts down its investigation, this is effectively "closing the case" in the eyes of the world; what they say will stick. If Portugal truly was going to close this case themselves, they would have not allowed Scotland Yard to overshadow them; in reality, the case is as shelved in Portugal as it has ever been and for what ever political reason there is, they allowed Scotland Yard the freedom to effectively take over the case in the eyes of the public. IF Scotland Yard really found evidence to close the case, then Portugal would have to do the actual prosecution and final report, but Scotland Yard could still claim it was them that did the work to close the case.
So, the "closing of the case" as I am speaking of it is about ending an investigation, not who has true authority to legally prosecute.
HI PAT This is just as i thought it would end , and how you did predict the eventual silence in the media? Its obvious they milked this story to sell out their drama instead of waiting for reliable public statements? Most of all this allowed so called trolls to speculate about the validity of that drama not fact? It reminds me of the oj simpson case where the arguement of contamination is identical? Without evidence it was some one else? Thats all i have to say , and thank you for all who support looking for the truth. john.
There is also the probability that Portugal do not want to go through all the costly legal wranglings of prosecuting the McCanns, extraditing them (impossible), years of costly court cases when the McCanns will have the best defence lawyers going to cast doubt in a judge`s mind.
Thanks for your earlier reply Pat. Corruption rules ok.
Louisee
HI PAT , Sorry about the previous post? I am identifying with what amaral found in what was stated, and the people the maccans hired? There is a contradiction that intentionaly sent the police on a wild goose chase? Too much time spent looking for a abductor caused the intial problem to start with since her freinds amongst the group were already in the apartment walking all over the alleged crime scene to conduct their time lines? One thing does contradict this before the time lines were done inside that apartment? Kate stated to the group on her return they have taken her child? At this point kate did not secure the alleged crime scene before the police were called? Obvious the police were confused? ? ?
HI PAT , Surely that would be enough to think things are not what they seem to be as alleged by kate and gerry? A little odd since gerry did not draw attention to that disrepancy in the initial stage of what kate alleged? Is this a cunning lie to manipulate control over the police investigation via political abuse? Political gagging orders that have nothing to with police work, during unfinnished investigations? Since the maccans wanted the case reopend , they knew amaral was part of the investigation, but no offical reconstruction was agreed upon?
Anon 3:48 There is something called GREAT police investigation and GOOD police investigation and POOR police investigation and what you get often depends on the capabilities of the detectives and whoever is in charge of the investigation. As to political gagging orders having nothing to do with police work, well, all I can say, is politics is always part of police work in some form or the other, so how any political move affects a police investigation depends on what is going on inside and outside the investigation.
What the McCanns did or didn't do doesn't matter now as far as the case goes; the case is effectively done and dusted and they will move on.
HI PAT , This did lead to amaral to writing a book since he was unable to reconstruct the events offically without obstruction? He was correct at the time to write such a book to question his removal from the case? Or following a theory over discrepancies that didnt add up? Kate should of understood this since the stories did change in contradiction from the group to what kate and gerry state? Ironic calling amaral a liar, when in fact he used their own scripts to show contradictions that came from them? Duplicity in the quote of dr martin roberts.
HI PAT , You are correct, its done and over, and nothing matters any more, and i will move on not concerned ? Only time will share that mystery one day, but thank you for keeping madeline in mind, and pointing out closure over what i have said, no offence taken or meant.
This case is a psyop case by the powers that be in control of states, to laugh at the sheeple for taking spoon fed state propaganda stories as the truth?
They make black white and white black and hide the obvious in plain sight and laugh at us for not being able to see the truth for the psychobabble?
This case has been a proof of concept experiment, to see how much control they have over the rest of us and how much shite we will put up with before our consciences trigger a reaction?
Educate yourself and watch Richard D Hall's excellent documentaries on Madeline?
The McCann's will receive real justice, not the pantomime we have for a justice system at the moment?
The people are waking up to the daily atrocities?
I struggle with the theory of a botched robbery. As a someone who has studied forensic investigation, amd can hopefully look at things in an honest way, there was no evidence of abduction or burglaries. But there was blood and cadaver odour signalling by the dogs. The evidence is fascinating in this case but I totally agree, nothing can stand up in court at this point. With a jury also on such a high profile case what you said about OJ rings true. Please do look through all the evidence on this case, there were dogs and they did their job.
Now the Portuguese police have actually stated that the three 'burglars' are not part of the investigation and no request from Scotland Yard has been received to re-interview them as suspects, what are we to assume regarding SY's final line of enquiry?
Anon 5:22,
Youvsre missing the point if my blog; it doesn't matter what really is true or what theory is given; Scotland Yard can just give any explanation and the public will buy it.
Its the final presentation to tie a bow around this case, and to give the maccans closure, since conflicts have gotten the better of the case , they can at least say they couldnt promise anything in a botched investigation? Im not sure how that will be received? Since some of the botched mistakes came from shady characters the maccans hired? There were alleged hundreds of lines of enquieries? But it turned out alot of statements werent reliable, as this became apparent over time, and this exhausted police budgets ect. At a cost of millions to end up with a theory, and a unsolved case? Past that i havent no ideas?
Well I hope the three burglar suspects have something to say to the media about the situation.
I honestly don't think the UK public would be gullible enough to accept a concocted story by Scotland Yard in this case, or that Scotland Yard would assume us to be so. There is too much information out there. This latest story about the McCanns refusing to go on national TV for the anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance and blaming in on Amaral winning his appeal is just too much to swallow, and it's all over our national press today.
::Sigh::
I cannot say this enough times.
No, the botched burglary story is not logical or based on evidence. But, IT DOES NOT MATTER. People will believe anything that Scotland Yard says because THEY have the platform in the media and people believe authorities for the most part.
For all of you who say folks in the UK are waking up, you are living in a fishbowl. 99% of the country has NEVER read a Madeleine McCann forum or read the PJ files. When you see a bunch of anti-McCann comments underneath a news story that isn't because the average people are getting the point: it is because YOU and others who comment HERE and on Internet forums are always looking for articles on the case and as soon as one pops up, YOU are posting comments. It is the same small group of people that are vocal, not the majority of the country. It is an ILLUSION.
So, when Scotland Yard wants to shut this case down, they can make up some excuse to do so and the country will believe it. Hillsborough finally got some justice because there were 97 victims and 97 families directly affected and that STILL took 30 years. NO ONE has been protesting in the streets about this case; all that has happened is people who speak up against what is happening are labeled trolls and you can bet, that the majority of the British public thinks we ARE trolls for being mean to the McCanns.
I will give you a simple example of how we can have illusions about how strong we are. My haters actually think their nasty tweets about me, their emails and their hate FB pages and sites had some affect on my television career. They crow that I have been proven to be a fraud...blah, blah blah. They entire time they were claiming this, I was still busy doing television work to the tune of 3000 appearances. I was in discussions with the networks for my own television show (I am in talks with two production companies right now). I am in discussion with publishers as well. No one has mentioned any haters and they tell me they love my profiling and work. Now, it IS true that I am not doing regular commentating on television these days; it has not a thing to do with my haters or me losing credibility. The networks simply not paying commentators anymore because of the economy; they want everyone to Skype out of the house; no remuneration, no professional studio, no hair and makeup; I refuse to do it. After 15 years of television I am rather fine with not spending all day long racing around with breaking news; I can do other stuff.
But, the haters will think their slander and lies about me have made a difference. Funny thing is, since I have blocked the couple dozen on Twitter and I don't go to their hate pages, I hardly EVER see anything negative about me. And THAT is the point. Most people are not seeing what WE write either; they only read what is in the media and on TV and all of that is pro-McCann and pro-Scotland Yard. Yes, Gonçalo winning his case has caused a few uncomfortable media moments for the McCanns, but that will all wash over soon; he is a hero in Portugal but not in the UK; there he is still a corrupt cop and a mean guy and a slanderer to the majority of the British public.
Only in our fishbowl is anyone really awake.
Hi Pat,
Will we one day be able to purchase a hard copy of your book, "profile of the disappearance of madeleine mccann"? I am just finishing "the profiler" and am desperate to keep reading more of your work. With Gonçalo Amaral finally able to re release his book, I am hoping yours will be able to follow!
Thankyou for your amazing work and keeping my passion for criminal investigation alive.
Amy
Amy,
Not my self-published book, no. Only if a big American publisher gets some balls and thinks the story is worth telling in full, then, yes, it is possible but it would be the full story of Madeleine McCann and the case which would include Goncalo's conclusions and my updated profile along with other theories.
Or the public are powerless to do anything about it as is often the case in the UK.
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