Madeleine cops quiz convicted murderers
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Madeleine cops quiz convicted murderers
by clairesy Sun May 08, 2011 10:33 am
Maddie Police quiz convicted murderers as Kate McCann gives chilling account of moment she found daughter missing
By IAN GALLAGHER
Last updated at 12:12 AM on 8th May 2011
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Two convicted paedophiles have been questioned by British police over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Charles O’Neill, 48, and William Lauchlan, 34, were jailed last year over sex attacks on children and the murder of a mother who had threatened to expose them.
The Mail on Sunday has learned they were interviewed in prison by detectives after inquiries revealed they were touring Spain, and possibly Portugal, on false passports when Madeleine vanished in May 2007.
Jailed: Charles O'Neill, left, and William Lauchlan have now been quetioned over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann
It is the first time that it has become known publicly that British police have interviewed anyone in connection with the case. Both men are described as highly dangerous.
Police interest in O’Neill, in particular, was heightened because of his resemblance to a thin, spotty suspect seen hanging around the holiday complex in Praia da Luz on the Algarve shortly before three-year-old Madeleine vanished.
A senior officer involved in the investigation said: ‘Lauchlan and O’Neill have been interviewed in prison but the whole Madeleine McCann inquiry is being kept extremely tight at the very highest level.
‘Basically nobody outside Leicestershire Constabulary knows exactly what is going on with the McCann inquiry.’
Leicestershire Police said they could not comment because the inquiry is being led by the Policia Judiciaria in Lisbon.
The development came as, for the first time, Madeleine’s mother Kate described in chilling detail the moment she discovered her daughter was missing from her bed at their holiday apartment.
Missing: Madeleine McCann disappeared on a family holiday to Portugal - and now two prisoners are being questioned with regards to her disappearance
Madeleine disappeared from her room at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007. Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry, on holiday with seven friends, had been dining less than 100 yards away in a tapas restaurant on the Mark Warner complex.
The adults had taken it in turns to check on the sleeping children. In a book to be published this week, Mrs McCann, 43, relives the moment she returned to the apartment, where she had left Madeleine beside twins Amelie and Sean, then aged two.
She tells how she realised something was wrong when she noticed that the door to the children’s bedroom was wide open – not as she and her husband had left it. She glanced at Madeleine’s bed but couldn’t make her out in the dark.
When she was sure Madeleine wasn’t there, she went to check her own room. When she could not see her daughter there either, she panicked and ran back to the children’s room.
‘My heart lurched as I saw now that, behind them, the window was wide open and the shutters on the outside raised all the way up. Nausea, terror, disbelief, fear. Icy fear. Dear God, no! Please, no!’
Mrs McCann, a former GP, said she went automatically into what she calls a ‘well-practised medical emergency mode’, scouring the apartment to exclude all other possibilities, ‘mentally ticking boxes I knew, deep down, were already ticked’.
She then ran back to her husband and their friends in the restaurant. ‘As soon as our table was in sight
I started screaming, “Madeleine’s gone! Someone’s taken her!” ’
The group returned to the apartment to widen the search and raise the alarm.
Mrs McCann said: ‘I vividly recall sobbing, “Not Madeleine, not Madeleine.” I was trying so hard to suppress the negative voice in my head tormenting me with the words, “She’s gone. She’s gone.”
‘Even now, when the dark clouds close in on me, I find myself shaking my head manically and repeating over and over again, “Not Madeleine, not Madeleine. Please God, not my Madeleine.”’
The book, Madeleine, took Mrs McCann nine months to complete. It is based on diaries she has written for her daughter to read if she is found. It will be published on May 12 – Madeleine’s eighth birthday. The McCanns say all proceeds will go to the fund that was set up to cover the costs of the worldwide search for their child.
That search has now focused on Lauchlan and O’Neill, who are childhood friends originally from Largs, near Glasgow. They were jailed for a total of 56 years last June for a catalogue of abuse both in Britain and abroad.
Nightmare: Kate McCann, pictured with husband Gerry, has revealed her pain in a new book titled 'Madeleine'
A source said: ‘It cannot be overestimated how violent these two are. They are known to have strong links to other paedophiles. Without doubt they are among the worst serial paedophiles in Britain.’
At the High Court in Glasgow last year, Lauchlan and O’Neill were convicted of murdering mother-of-three Allison McGarrigle at their Largs home in 1997 and dumping her body at sea after she threatened to expose their abuse.
Following their conviction, officers throughout Britain and Europe were alerted after it was revealed that the pair had left the country on fake passports in October 2006, weeks after being released from an earlier sentence for sickening child abuse crimes.
Masquerading as cleaners, the pair were given easy access to holiday villas and apartments by unsuspecting clients.
They were living in Vecindario, an industrial town in Gran Canaria, when seven-year-old schoolboy Yeremi Vargas vanished while playing near his home. The youngster is still missing but his mother remains convinced that the Scottish killers are responsible.
Detectives involved in both the Madeleine McCann and Yeremi Vargas inquiries have worked closely together.
The two men were arrested by Spanish police near Alicante on the Costa Blanca after abducting a 14-year-old boy to abuse during a camping trip
Lauchlan and O’Neill are known to have toured extensively and some reports suggested they were in the Algarve at the time Madeleine disappeared. A spokesman for the McCann family said it was ‘encouraging’ that information was still being sought by police.
Many of O’Neill and Lauchlan’s crimes are thought to have gone unreported because their terrified young victims were too scared to come forward.
Masquerading as cousins, the gay lovers were first jailed in 1998 at the High Court in Glasgow after admitting a five-year catalogue of abuse involving youngsters in Scotland.
During his sentence, O’Neill was said to have told fellow prisoners at Glasgow’s Barlinnie jail that he had killed Rothesay mother-of-three Mrs McGarrigle, who had disappeared a year earlier, and thrown her body in the sea to stop her exposing his sex crimes.
Both men served four years before being released in 2002. Lauchlan was released on licence but broke his parole conditions and fled to Spain after being told he would be returned to prison.
O’Neill remained in Scotland but fled to join Lauchlan in Spain in 2003 after abusing a 14-year-old in Irvine, Ayrshire.
In 2004, the two men were arrested by Spanish police near Alicante on the Costa Blanca after abducting a 14-year-old boy to abuse during a camping trip. They were deported to Britain and while in prison for breaking their parole conditions, were charged in April 2005 with the murder of Mrs McGarrigle.
But prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence and both men were released.
It was at this point, late in 2006, that Lauchlan and O’Neill evaded the British authorities and fled to Spain to prey on new victims.
After their true identities were exposed in the summer of 2007, they returned to Britain and a homeless hostel in Blackpool. Within weeks they were again grooming youngsters for sex.
Then an associate came forward with fresh information about the death of Mrs McGarrigle. Lauchlan and O’Neill were arrested, going on trial early in 2010.
They were convicted of grooming a six-year-old boy in Falkirk, an earlier sex attack on a 14-year-old in Benidorm and of the murder of Mrs McGarrigle.
O’Neill was sentenced to a minimum 30 years behind bars and Lauchlan to 26 years.
Explore more:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1384705/Madeleine-McCann-Police-quiz-convicted-murderers-Kate-McCann-gives-chilling-account-moment-daughter-missing.html#ixzz1LiDjE7o9
By IAN GALLAGHER
Last updated at 12:12 AM on 8th May 2011
Comments (0)
Add to My Stories
Share
Two convicted paedophiles have been questioned by British police over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Charles O’Neill, 48, and William Lauchlan, 34, were jailed last year over sex attacks on children and the murder of a mother who had threatened to expose them.
The Mail on Sunday has learned they were interviewed in prison by detectives after inquiries revealed they were touring Spain, and possibly Portugal, on false passports when Madeleine vanished in May 2007.
Jailed: Charles O'Neill, left, and William Lauchlan have now been quetioned over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann
It is the first time that it has become known publicly that British police have interviewed anyone in connection with the case. Both men are described as highly dangerous.
Police interest in O’Neill, in particular, was heightened because of his resemblance to a thin, spotty suspect seen hanging around the holiday complex in Praia da Luz on the Algarve shortly before three-year-old Madeleine vanished.
A senior officer involved in the investigation said: ‘Lauchlan and O’Neill have been interviewed in prison but the whole Madeleine McCann inquiry is being kept extremely tight at the very highest level.
‘Basically nobody outside Leicestershire Constabulary knows exactly what is going on with the McCann inquiry.’
Leicestershire Police said they could not comment because the inquiry is being led by the Policia Judiciaria in Lisbon.
The development came as, for the first time, Madeleine’s mother Kate described in chilling detail the moment she discovered her daughter was missing from her bed at their holiday apartment.
Missing: Madeleine McCann disappeared on a family holiday to Portugal - and now two prisoners are being questioned with regards to her disappearance
Madeleine disappeared from her room at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007. Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry, on holiday with seven friends, had been dining less than 100 yards away in a tapas restaurant on the Mark Warner complex.
The adults had taken it in turns to check on the sleeping children. In a book to be published this week, Mrs McCann, 43, relives the moment she returned to the apartment, where she had left Madeleine beside twins Amelie and Sean, then aged two.
She tells how she realised something was wrong when she noticed that the door to the children’s bedroom was wide open – not as she and her husband had left it. She glanced at Madeleine’s bed but couldn’t make her out in the dark.
When she was sure Madeleine wasn’t there, she went to check her own room. When she could not see her daughter there either, she panicked and ran back to the children’s room.
‘My heart lurched as I saw now that, behind them, the window was wide open and the shutters on the outside raised all the way up. Nausea, terror, disbelief, fear. Icy fear. Dear God, no! Please, no!’
Mrs McCann, a former GP, said she went automatically into what she calls a ‘well-practised medical emergency mode’, scouring the apartment to exclude all other possibilities, ‘mentally ticking boxes I knew, deep down, were already ticked’.
She then ran back to her husband and their friends in the restaurant. ‘As soon as our table was in sight
I started screaming, “Madeleine’s gone! Someone’s taken her!” ’
The group returned to the apartment to widen the search and raise the alarm.
Mrs McCann said: ‘I vividly recall sobbing, “Not Madeleine, not Madeleine.” I was trying so hard to suppress the negative voice in my head tormenting me with the words, “She’s gone. She’s gone.”
‘Even now, when the dark clouds close in on me, I find myself shaking my head manically and repeating over and over again, “Not Madeleine, not Madeleine. Please God, not my Madeleine.”’
The book, Madeleine, took Mrs McCann nine months to complete. It is based on diaries she has written for her daughter to read if she is found. It will be published on May 12 – Madeleine’s eighth birthday. The McCanns say all proceeds will go to the fund that was set up to cover the costs of the worldwide search for their child.
That search has now focused on Lauchlan and O’Neill, who are childhood friends originally from Largs, near Glasgow. They were jailed for a total of 56 years last June for a catalogue of abuse both in Britain and abroad.
Nightmare: Kate McCann, pictured with husband Gerry, has revealed her pain in a new book titled 'Madeleine'
A source said: ‘It cannot be overestimated how violent these two are. They are known to have strong links to other paedophiles. Without doubt they are among the worst serial paedophiles in Britain.’
At the High Court in Glasgow last year, Lauchlan and O’Neill were convicted of murdering mother-of-three Allison McGarrigle at their Largs home in 1997 and dumping her body at sea after she threatened to expose their abuse.
Following their conviction, officers throughout Britain and Europe were alerted after it was revealed that the pair had left the country on fake passports in October 2006, weeks after being released from an earlier sentence for sickening child abuse crimes.
Masquerading as cleaners, the pair were given easy access to holiday villas and apartments by unsuspecting clients.
They were living in Vecindario, an industrial town in Gran Canaria, when seven-year-old schoolboy Yeremi Vargas vanished while playing near his home. The youngster is still missing but his mother remains convinced that the Scottish killers are responsible.
Detectives involved in both the Madeleine McCann and Yeremi Vargas inquiries have worked closely together.
The two men were arrested by Spanish police near Alicante on the Costa Blanca after abducting a 14-year-old boy to abuse during a camping trip
Lauchlan and O’Neill are known to have toured extensively and some reports suggested they were in the Algarve at the time Madeleine disappeared. A spokesman for the McCann family said it was ‘encouraging’ that information was still being sought by police.
Many of O’Neill and Lauchlan’s crimes are thought to have gone unreported because their terrified young victims were too scared to come forward.
Masquerading as cousins, the gay lovers were first jailed in 1998 at the High Court in Glasgow after admitting a five-year catalogue of abuse involving youngsters in Scotland.
During his sentence, O’Neill was said to have told fellow prisoners at Glasgow’s Barlinnie jail that he had killed Rothesay mother-of-three Mrs McGarrigle, who had disappeared a year earlier, and thrown her body in the sea to stop her exposing his sex crimes.
Both men served four years before being released in 2002. Lauchlan was released on licence but broke his parole conditions and fled to Spain after being told he would be returned to prison.
O’Neill remained in Scotland but fled to join Lauchlan in Spain in 2003 after abusing a 14-year-old in Irvine, Ayrshire.
In 2004, the two men were arrested by Spanish police near Alicante on the Costa Blanca after abducting a 14-year-old boy to abuse during a camping trip. They were deported to Britain and while in prison for breaking their parole conditions, were charged in April 2005 with the murder of Mrs McGarrigle.
But prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence and both men were released.
It was at this point, late in 2006, that Lauchlan and O’Neill evaded the British authorities and fled to Spain to prey on new victims.
After their true identities were exposed in the summer of 2007, they returned to Britain and a homeless hostel in Blackpool. Within weeks they were again grooming youngsters for sex.
Then an associate came forward with fresh information about the death of Mrs McGarrigle. Lauchlan and O’Neill were arrested, going on trial early in 2010.
They were convicted of grooming a six-year-old boy in Falkirk, an earlier sex attack on a 14-year-old in Benidorm and of the murder of Mrs McGarrigle.
O’Neill was sentenced to a minimum 30 years behind bars and Lauchlan to 26 years.
Explore more:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1384705/Madeleine-McCann-Police-quiz-convicted-murderers-Kate-McCann-gives-chilling-account-moment-daughter-missing.html#ixzz1LiDjE7o9
clairesy- Grand Member
- Number of posts : 2698
Age : 39
Location : uk
Registration date : 2008-06-04
clairesy- Grand Member
- Number of posts : 2698
Age : 39
Location : uk
Registration date : 2008-06-04
Re: Madeleine cops quiz convicted murderers
by Rosie Sun May 08, 2011 6:47 pm
There is another of these kind of stories in the Sunday Express, although this one the man does look like the man Jane Tanner saw carrying a child and looking at him (it may just be the photo angle) he could very well be the man Martin Smith saw and to me this man looks a lot like Gerry McCann! This person seems to have taken boys, a psychologist has said this doesn't matter that much, I'm not so sure, anyway when I first saw the photo I did a double take because I thought it was Gerry!
MADDIE LINK TO GERMAN CHILD KILLER
In Germany he can be referred to only as Martin N because of its laws on naming suspects
Sunday May 8,2011
By James Murray THIS is the man who has confessed to one child murder and is now facing questioning over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
The 40-year-old German youth worker, who we can name only as Martin N, is being questioned over at least three child murders and 40 suspected attacks on children across Europe.
He bears a striking resemblance to the photofit of a man seen holding a child in his arms just minutes after Madeleine was snatched from Praia da Luz.
He targeted children on holiday, entering their tents, apartments or villas, armed with a knife or gun and wearing a black balaclava and clothing. He also threatened to kidnap a child unless the parents paid a ransom.
Private detectives working for Kate and Gerry McCann will now try to discover if he was in Portugal when Madeleine vanished from the family’s apartment at the Algarve resort on May 3, 2007.
McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “Our private investigators became aware of this man a month ago and they will be liaising with the German investigators. The investigation is at an early stage.”
In Germany he can be referred to only as Martin N because of its laws on naming suspects
German detectives will shortly question the child killer over the disappearance of six-year-old blond German boy Renee Hasse, snatched from the beautiful Amoreira beach near Aljezur on the Algarve in June 1996. The beach is some half an hour’s drive from Luz.
They believe Martin N was in Portugal that summer and are checking his passport and bank accounts to build up a complete picture of his movements over the past 20 years across Europe and South America.
They are trying to establish if the Hamburg-based youth worker, who is said to have used his good communication skills with children to lure his victims, was acting alone or was part of a ring of
He was arrested last month after a major police operation. In Germany he can be referred to only as Martin N because of its laws on naming suspects.
Officers say he has confessed to the murder of nine-year-old Dennis Klein, who vanished during a school field trip at the Lower Saxony coastal town of Cuxhaven on September 5, 2001.
Mushroom pickers discovered the child’s body about 15 miles away two weeks later but the killer’s trail had long gone cold. Earlier this year, a witness who saw a television programme about the case recalled seeing an estate car parked on a forest path at about 4.30am in early September 2001.
A boy who resembled Dennis was in the back seat and a man in the front. The brawny, bespectacled man, who looked to be in his early 30s, matched a description police had received of the suspect from sex abuse victims. He was dressed in black.
In 1992, police said that Martin N had kidnapped and killed 13-year-old Stefan Jahr.
A month earlier he had entered a youth hostel in Bremen, pointed a knife at a boy and ordered him to follow him.
The boy’s scream alerted a teacher who frightened the attacker off.
French police are believed to be about to question Martin about the fate of Jonathan Coulom, 11, who disappeared from a school hostel in St Brevin in the west of France. His body was found six weeks later, handcuffed and in his pyjamas in a pond 30 yards from the hostel.
This could be just the tip of the iceberg. Detectives in Holland want to speak to him about the murder of Nicky Verstappen in August 1998.
The boy disappeared from a tent in Brunssum and his body was found in a plantation of fir trees the next day.
Although so far he is suspected of killing or attacking young boys, clinical psychologist Ron Bracey stressed that gender is not so important to paedophiles, making it quite possible that he could target a girl like Madeleine.
He said: “With paedophiles the gender of the child isn’t really that relevant. It’s quite possible he could have killed girls and boys.”
The thought that Madeleine may have been abducted by a paedophile, and is possibly still being abused, is Kate McCann’s worst fear, according to a newspaper interview yesterday. She was speaking in advance of her book, simply called Madeleine, which is published on Thursday.
Meanwhile a profile of Martin N began to emerge yesterday. German police interviewed him in 2004 after two boys complained they had been sexually attacked.
He was given a small fine but appeared before the courts again in 2006 when a man said Martin N had demanded 20,000 euros or he would tell police the man had child pornography on his computer. Two years later Martin N was asked to supply a DNA sample for police but failed to keep the appointment.
It is believed that between 2000 and 2008 he worked for an evangelical church on a project for the homeless.
His mother is distraught about the police investigation and does not accept the boy she raised has grown into a monster. She describes him as “normal, a little timid and very attentive”.
She insists he never showed signs similar to “the cruelty necessary to commit these horrible crimes”, although a German magazine claims he was scarred by his father leaving the family when he was young.
At 21, the suspect finished a teacher training course and started to travel. Police know he visited Ecuador in 1993, Peru in 1995 and Portugal the following year. He has also made repeated trips to Holland and Denmark.
Police psychologist Alexander Horn said: “During his studies to be a school teacher he was a solid student, although not over-brilliant. No professor observed any behaviour that brought special attention, no evidence from work colleagues that recalled him as a violent person. In fact, quite the reverse.
“Everyone who has been his neighbour or has worked with him describes him as reliable, amiable, friendly and very intelligent. He was always disposed to help with a smile on his lips.”
There are suggestions, however, that in 1987 he sent letters threatening extortion to neighbouring families. One is alleged to have warned: “If you don’t follow our instructions, your children will die.”
His penalty involved doing social work for eight weeks. Five years later he went on to kill his first victim.
German police spokesman Anke Rieken said: “Every place that he has been, every person with whom he has been in contact could lead us to more victims.”
Last week the church in Praia da Luz was filled with supporters and wellwishers on the fourth anniversary of
Madeleine’s disappearance. Although the McCanns were not present, a message from Kate was read out while prayers and readings were given in English and Portuguese.
Father Haynes Hubbard, of St Vincent’s Church of the Algarve, said: “There were far more people at the service than we expected, exceeding all our expectations.
“This was not a memorial service, instead we were challenging those who attended to continue in their search for Madeleine.”
Susan Hubbard, his wife, who is a friend of Kate’s, said: “Father Haynes was unfortunately ill at home in bed so he could not lead the service but it was not something that was really led anyway.
“We had readings in both English and Portuguese and I read out a message that Kate McCann had sent over for us.
There were more people than ever in the church for the vigil. It looked to be full, with a mixture of Portuguese and foreign residents and visitors who all wanted to come and say a prayer.
“We prayed for the safe return of Madeleine but also for the return of other missing children including Rui Pedro and others. Although we may not know all of their names, we pray for their safe return too.
“We believe that Praia da Luz has been given a mission to be the place that represents all missing children and we will continue to pray for them all.”
After the half-hour service candles were lit outside the church as a symbol of hope and light in the search for Madeleine.
Additional reporting: Allan Hall in Berlin and Bill Bond in Madrid
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/245336Maddie-link-to-German-child-killer#ixzz1LkF0aIdj
Rosie- Admin
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Re: Madeleine cops quiz convicted murderers
by dianeh Mon May 09, 2011 3:13 pm
All of those murdered little boys. It is horrific.
I hope that a monster like this has not taken Madeleine. I also hope that if he did kill any of those boys that he 'mans' up and tells the authorities, to give the parents some peace. If he harmed any of those boys, he deserves to be locked away for the rest of his life.
I hope that a monster like this has not taken Madeleine. I also hope that if he did kill any of those boys that he 'mans' up and tells the authorities, to give the parents some peace. If he harmed any of those boys, he deserves to be locked away for the rest of his life.
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Re: Madeleine cops quiz convicted murderers
by clairesy Tue May 10, 2011 8:07 am
the problem is though with sickos like that they lay their rotten hands on other people thinking they have the right to do...little do they OR ANYONE ELSE KNOW what effect that can have on a person...they should be kept solitude for the rest of their lives sat in a dark room and starved of any human contact...make them totally alone and isolated ....Give them something to be scared about the same way they done to their victims!!!!
No amount of jail term served will make it any better...To be honest the best thing for folk like him his death!
No amount of jail term served will make it any better...To be honest the best thing for folk like him his death!
clairesy- Grand Member
- Number of posts : 2698
Age : 39
Location : uk
Registration date : 2008-06-04
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