The hire car

McCanns may order own DNA tests on car
Parents have not received details of police evidence 'Find Madeleine' fund will not pay for legal defence

Giles Tremlett, Brendan de Beer in Praia da Luz and Esther Addley
The Guardian, Thursday 13 September 2007
The parents of Madeleine McCann are considering commissioning their own independent forensic testing of the vehicle in which the Portuguese police allege that traces of their missing daughter's body were found, it was reported yesterday.
A Portuguese magistrate is currently studying a dossier of evidence against Kate and Gerry McCann, which includes details of their daughter's DNA allegedly found in their hired Renault Scenic car. The evidence is said to relate to two samples found in the car, one of blood, the other of unspecified bodily fluids, and to a further quantity of hair allegedly discovered in the car's boot.

But the BBC last night quoted a source close to Mr and Mrs McCann who said they were considering carrying out their own tests on the vehicle, which was being kept in a "safe place to avoid any possibility of evidence being planted".

Local police are investigating a theory that the couple killed their daughter on May 3, perhaps by accident, and used the vehicle to transport her body at a later time. The Renault was not hired until 25 days after Madeleine disappeared from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal. Mr and Mrs McCann have spoken of their fears that they are being framed.

Despite having been named as official suspects in the investigation, the couple have not been given details of the evidence around which the police are building their case. In further unconfirmed reports yesterday it was claimed that the Portuguese investigating magistrate, Pedro Anjos Frias, who was given the 4,000-page dossier on Tuesday, may demand that they hand over some of their possessions for further investigation, including Mrs McCann's diary and the Cuddle Cat toy she has carried since Madeleine's disappearance.

In a separate development yesterday, the McCanns said that they would not seek to use money raised as part of the campaign fund to find Madeleine to pay for their defence. "They have decided not to seek to use those funds for their legal support," a spokesman, David Hughes, said. "Gerry and Kate's view is that if they take money from the fund it might be that 90% of people who made donations aren't bothered about it. But if 10% of people are bothered about it, they don't want to upset them."

The fund's trustees later said that they had decided not to permit the money to be used for lawyers' fees, despite expert advice that it would have been legal.

There was speculation in Portugal's Jornal de Noticias newspaper yesterday that Judge Anjos was considering asking British police to question the friends of the McCanns who were on holiday with them when Madeleine vanished from their apartment in the Praia da Luz resort, presumably to check their statements against answers given to police by the McCanns in interviews last Thursday and Friday.

Under Portuguese law Judge Anjos has until the end of next week to decide whether to take further action in the investigation, which might include ordering further searches or reviewing the couple's bail conditions.

But.....



External diligence 25 September 2007 re: hiring of villa
and Renault Scenic
Date: 25 September 2007; Place Albufeira, Lagos and the town of Luz
Officer: Paulo F. and David G., both Inspectors.
Description of the work:
--- On the above date, accompanied by my colleague named above, I went to the company offices of the vehicle rental company "A.A.Castanheira - Budget" in Albufeira. There, in compliance with higher orders, I requested information about the vehicle previously used by the McCann couple, Renault Scenic, licence 59... I was informed that the vehicle was returned to the company on 23 September last, at 15h30, at their Lagos premises. Soon after that delivery a Budget employee, Henrique S., drove it to the company premises in Faro where it was parked until having been taken to the premises of Renault Portugal in Oeiras where it was delivered precisely on 25th. I was furnished with copies of the vehicle contracts between Budget and Gerald McCann, which are attached, where one can verify [observe] that the period for delivery of the vehicle terminated at
12h30 on 24 September 2007.

--- In order for better clarification my interlocutor [the lady with whom I was speaking] put me in telephone contact with Sra. Isabel P. in Budget management. This lady explained that the firm AAC-Budget used that vehicle under a contract they have with Renault Portugal. The contract that gave them [AAC-B] the right of use of that car had already terminated and therefore they had already asked for the McCanns to return it in order for them to deliver it to Renault. They had informed the McCanns that they could exchange it for another vehicle should they have intended to continue to use the services of the company. Given that they had shown interest in continuing to possess that specific vehicle they were told that the only way that that could be done would be if they had proceeded to buy it, to which they had responded negatively and therefore they had returned it.
--- Afterwards, also under superior determination, we proceeded the work with a view to determine who owned the property that the McCanns had recently inhabited at Rua das Flores ... Luz - Lagos.

I thought uncle Gerahty had it stowed away in his garage.

If they were so innocent and thought the cadaver sent was planted, why didn't they get new tests done

Presumably for the same reason as they backtracked on taking lie detector tests....

Hiya Kitti, that was my understanding too, kept in a garage so they could have their own tests done. does anyone know if the McC or their agents or anyone had further dna or cadaver or blood dogs on it?

We don't know they didnt get the tests done......could be another report they are sitting on.

They didn't....they would off spouted It all over the Internet if they did.



That car was moved on after the Mccanns gave it back.



Shame on budget for not feeling sorry for them and giving them the car .

In a separate development yesterday, the McCanns said that they would not seek to use money raised as part of the campaign fund to find Madeleine to pay for their defence. "They have decided not to seek to use those funds for their legal support," a spokesman, David Hughes, said. "Gerry and Kate's view is that if they take money from the fund it might be that 90% of people who made donations aren't bothered about it. But if 10% of people are bothered about it, they don't want to upset them."

===================

Kate says in her book also that the legal fees did not come from the fund but from benefactors.

Apart from the car issue, the argument now facing the judges in the libel trial is that the book by Amaral prevented people from searching because they thought MM was dead, also that they had to use money that was given for the search on legal fees. Is that not correct?

If no Fund money was used for legal teams then the book did not cause them to divert money from the Fund for that purpose. It may have diverted money from a benefactor that could have been used to search but I believe certain benefactors paid the legal teams - Kennedy for one. His own lawyer, Smethurst? can't recall the name but Kennedy provided that person's or team's work.

The car as a key piece of evidence should have been purchased by the PJ and held in lock up. It should have been impounded as soon as the cadaver dog alerted to it; the key fob, etc.

That McCanns did not buy it to do their own tests privately seems to indicate they weren't terribly worried about evidence being found in it that could implicate them. If the offer to sell it to them was made and they rejected it they were pretty confident that even UK forensics would not find anything damning.

A car that had been abused as this one was (being used to cart filthy diapers and trash, leaking fish blood bags, etc and stunk so much they had to wash the boot liner and leave it open to the air) is unlikely to be put back into services.

I would think it'd be sold - rental cars are usually not used as trash collection vehicles - I have rarely rented one that wasn't newish, once they get used and over used they go to the auction block or to a local second hand car dealer who sells them off.