Rebuttal of "Fact" 38


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38. On 11 December 2009, Gerry McCann said: “There is no evidence that we were involved in Madeleine’s death”. The previous year, the McCanns’ spokesman said: “Can I suggest you actually quote me accurately. I said: ‘I believe Kate and Gerry are not responsible for Madeleine’s death’.”

VerdictWrong date given and misquoted.

Source - Media Articles and news video feed.

 

 


 

Summary of Verifiable Facts

  1. Gerry McCann gave a press conference in which he stated that the findings of a Portuguese Judiciary were that there was no evidence that Madeleine was dead and no evidence to implicate the McCanns in her death.
  2. The date of this interview was 23rd September 2009.
  3. NO credible source can be found to support the MMRG's second quotation by Clarence Mitchell.

 

 

Discussion

As with many of the Madeleine McCann Research Group's "facts", this one comprises several separate statements.  As with the other "facts" in the leaflet, the claims in this "fact" are unsubstantiated.

 

  1. On 11 December 2009, Gerry McCann said: “There is no evidence that we were involved in Madeleine’s death”.
  2. The previous year, the McCanns’ spokesman said: “Can I suggest you actually quote me accurately. I said: ‘I believe Kate and Gerry are not responsible for Madeleine’s death’.”

 

 

1. On 11 December 2009, Gerry McCann said: “There is no evidence that we were involved in Madeleine’s death”.

 

Inaccurate  

 

On 23rd September, 2009, in a press conference, Gerry McCann said the following:-

 

Quote:

"I think the most important thing to say is that the evidence that's been presented by the PJ and the Prosecutor to the Judiciary and the judiciary, having reviewed all of the evidence, have said that there is no evidence that Madeleine is dead and there's no evidence to implicate us in her death and that's the message really which we fully expected to come out after the files were published and from our perspective, the most important thing is that Madeleine probably still is alive."

 

 

Belief she is alive

Gerry McCann has repeatedly emphasised that he believes Madeleine is alive.

 

From the Daily Mail:-

Quote

‘I know for a fact people have been told Madeleine is dead. There is no evidence to support that and that is unforgivable.’

 

From The MIrror:-

Quote:

"If people read it and believe she is dead then they will not keep looking for her and may not come forward with information they may have," he said.

 

From The Express:-

Quote:

 He said the book had "damaged" the search for Madeleine because it encouraged people to believe she was dead. "If people read it and believe she is dead then they will not keep looking for her and may not come forward with information they may have," he said.

 

From the Daily Mail:-

Quote:-

The couple’s spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: ‘The cable is a historic note that is more than three years old.  ‘Subsequently, Kate and Gerry had their arguido status lifted, with the Portuguese authorities making it perfectly clear that there was absolutely no evidence to implicate them in Madeleine’s disappearance whatsoever.’

 

 

Similar Statements

Gerry McCann has made several statements saying that there is "No evidence Madeleine is dead" and that there is "No evidence that we were involved in her disappearance".  It is therefore most likely that having repeated this statement several times, the above statement was that most common of human errors - a slip of the tongue.

 

From The BBC:-

Quote:

Speaking as he arrived at the court building for a second day of evidence, Mr McCann said there was "No new evidence".

 

"The most important thing yesterday was what the prosecutor said, there is absolutely no evidence that Madeleine is dead and there is absolutely no evidence that we were involved in her disappearance.

 

 

 

Conclusion

  1. As with many of the quotes in the MMRG's leaflet, this quotation is inaccurate and incomplete.  The date has also been incorrectly reported.
  2. Given that Gerry McCann has made numerous similar statements saying that there is "no evidence Madeleine is dead" and "no evidence to implicate us in her disappearance", it is more likely that the above is a simple slip of the tongue.
  3. Additionally, the impression given in the MMRG's misquote conveys an impression that Gerry McCann believes that Madeleine is dead when in fact, the interview proves that he believed she was still alive.

 

 

2.  The previous year, the McCanns’ spokesman said: “Can I suggest you actually quote me accurately. I said: ‘I believe Kate and Gerry are not responsible for Madeleine’s death’.”

 

Misleading 

 

No unedited source can be found to support this statement.  Google searches lead back to the Madeleine Foundation.  A video collage exists on YouTube but the clip which would appear to support the above statement cuts off half way through the last word ("dea...") and does not enable us to consider the statement within its entire context.  The relevant clip can be heard at 4.30.

 

 

Conclusion

  1. The MMRG imply that two isolated references to Madeleine's "death" are suspicious.  However, this is a very weak argument, especially given the McCanns' and Clarence Mitchell's many and repeated statements that they believe she is still alive. 
  2. Yet again the MMRG's quotes and details are inaccurate.
  3. Slips of the tongue are a fact of life and something we all do.  It is a dangerous practice to interpret every slip of the tongue as a sinister subconscious revelation. 
  4.