Confidential DNA Test Proved Alleged Stalker Could Not Be Madeleine McCann, Says Investigator
A suspected stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.
Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who disappeared from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.
The woman from Poland bombarded 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 appeared at their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.
Police Testimony
Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.
The senior officer said 13 people had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.
“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from someone probably not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I genuinely have major concerns about contacting the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”
DNA Comparison
He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.
He declared: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”
Legal Testimony
Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell saw Wandelt while detained and informed her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
Testimony indicated that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”
He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would refuse to acknowledge she cannot be Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Psychological Toll
In prior court sessions, the court heard how the relatives were left scared and traumatized by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.
Jurors heard how the defendants made “increasingly bizarre plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the family visited.
The accused women both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.
