Witness Statement Adriaan Jacobus & Lizelle van Marais

Processos Vol XII Pages 3150 – 3153

Witness Statement

Adriaan Jacobus Van Marais

Date: 2007/11/16


Profession: Head of Personnel

Place of Work: Golfinho Restaurant, P da L.


In spite of being of South African nationality, he speaks and writes perfect Portuguese.

He says that he is head of personnel at the Golfinho restaurant, situated in rua da Calheta, nº 14 A in P da L, where he has worked for almost 6 years.

He heard about the disappearance of Madeleine on 3rd May at about 23.00/23.30 when he was in the Mirage bar in P da L, close to the restaurant where he works. He was inside the bar, accompanied by his boss and they were both playing snooker. When they arrived at the bar they found it strange that it was empty. At that moment they asked a waiter why there were no other clients, he told them that a girl staying at the OC had disappeared and all the clients were absent because they were helping to search for her. Afterwards the witness and his boss also went to help search. They went to he OC where they spoke to an English P da L resident called Dave who explained to them what had happened and suggested to the witness and his boss that they search the beach area, having described the girl and what she was wearing to them.

He adds that when they arrived at the OC it would have been about 23.30 – 24.00, confirming that he saw a GNR officer next to the apartment the girl had disappeared from and that there was a police car parked behind the 5 A apartment block.

He searched until about 02.00 during which time he passed the apartment block two or three times talking to different people who were also searching. At about 02.00 when there were very many people searching he went home to rest.

When questioned he said that he does not know Robert Murat. He never saw him personally. He has just seen him on television. When asked he says that he does not remember having seen him that night helping in the searches. He adds that he did not speak to the girl’s parents either. From what he was told on that occasion, he thought that the girl had left the apartment and had got lost . He was told that the parents and the girl were in (blank space) when the girl disappeared and that is why he thought she could have left the apartment to look for them.

(Blank space) about whether he had seen anything strange on the days preceding and following the disappearance, he replies yes. The restaurant where he works is located at about 700 metres from the OC, close to the church. Some days before the disappearance, he is not sure when, but it was during the previous two weeks, he noticed the presence of an individual on the pavement near the restaurant where works, who had a behaviour that he found to be strange. The individual passed by there several times. Near to this place is a café that was closed at this time, whenever it is closed it is unusual for people to be there. However, this individual remained there for periods of almost two hours, doing nothing except for using a telephone cabin which was there, making calls for long periods of time.

This person did not seem to him to be a tourist or an inhabitant of the village. He describes the individual as being male, white, but with sun-tanned skin, aged about 30. He was about 1.70 – 1.80 tall and had a normal physical appearance. He remembers that he had dark coloured hair, a little gathered at the back but not covering his neck totally. He does not remember whether he ever saw him with glasses, but knows that he did not have a beard or moustache. He does not remember any other details. If he were to be shown the individual, either personally or photographically, he would recognise him, however he is not capable of describing him in order to produce a photo-fit. He remembers that he used several different kinds of clothing. He remembers that on one day he wore a red T-shirt, on another a white T-shirt and on another occasion a shirt, he does not remember the colour. He just remembers seeing him wearing blue jeans. He does not remember any other details. He did not hear him speak and does not know whether he was Portuguese or foreign.


As he has already said, the individual was there for several days, he does not remember exactly which days. He remembers that the last time he saw the individual was two or three days before the girl’s disappearance and he did not see him again afterwards. When shown the photo-fits made during the inquiry as well as several photos he says that he does not recognise the individual he is referring to, neither does he see any resemblance to him.

With regard to the sketch made according to the indications of Jane Tanner’s witness statement, he says that the hair that is visible has a certain similarity to the individual’s hair in terms of colour and they way it was combed, however the individual’s hair would be shorter at the back and at the sides than the hair in the sketch. The physical appearance of the man in the sketch appears to him to be similar to the individual but he is unable to say whether it is the same person, given that the sketch does not show facial features.

He clarifies that in spite not being able to say exactly on which days he saw the individual at this place, he can confirm that he always saw him at the same time. He would always be there between 16.00 and 18.00. During that time the individual would be talking on the telephone, using the phone cabin there for long periods, always more than 10 or 15 minutes.

Reads, ratifies, signs.

Translated by Albym

Processo Vol12

Pages 3154-3156


NOTE: There are several OCR errors in this statement, all created when it was burned to the DVD. I have either made a "best guess" or ignored them, so the translation is not always word-for-word.- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Witness Statement

Date:2007/11/16 11h30

DIC Portimao

Lizelle Joubert Marais

Despite being a South African national she understands Portuguese though better in its oral form than written.

She states being the chef in the GOLFINHO restaurant at 14-A, rua da Calheta, Praia da Luz, where she had performed her duties for about 5 years. She is married to Adriaan, the chief of staff ["the boss"] of the restaurant.

She found out about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann on 3 May, at around 23h00/23h30 when she left the restaurant. Her husband and the owner were still in a bar while she was on the floor above the restaurant where she stayed on occasions. She was in bed when she heard noise in the street seeming to come from some people who were calling in loud voices for MADIE, MADIE. She called her husband and it was he who told her that a young girl had disappeared from an apartment of the Ocean Club. She stayed at home with her baby, waiting for her husband to come home, which he did after having helped with the search for the child and he told her exactly what had happened.

Asked about if, during the days before or after the disappearance, she had seen anything strange in the area, she said Yes, she had. The restaurant where she worked was about 700 metres from the Ocean Club, near to the church. Some days previously, not knowing exactly when but it had been during the previous week, she became aware of an individual in the 'square' next to the restaurant where she worked, who had behaved in manner she thought strange. She worked in the kitchen and through a door there she had seen that person in the square at various times. The person used the public telephone [in the square] for long periods of time, always for more than 10 minutes. To her, the person did not appear to be either a tourist or a resident of the town. One time she had passed close to him and had felt 'strange' but did not know why.

She described him as being male, white with tanned skin, around 30 years old, between 1,70 and 1,75m tall, and of normal build. She recalled he had dark hair, it looked like dark brown, long at the back but not fully covering his neck. She does not remember the front because he sometimes wore a cap. She cannot describe the hat or its colour. She did not see any glasses but is sure that he had no beard or moustache. She remembers that his eyes were small but not their colour. He had a small mouth with thin lips. She does not recall any other details. She did not hear him speak so she does not know if he was Portuguese or foreign, but she had the feeling that he was not Portuguese. She understood? [thought; imagined] him to be English. She would recognise him again, in person or by photograph. She recalls seeing him wear a red T-shirt but does not recall any details about his trousers or footwear.

As already said, the individual came there on several days, not knowing exactly which. She remember that the last time she saw him was two or three days before the girl's disappearance. He never returned [She never saw him return]. Being shown the portraits created as part of the investigation along with various photographs from the case file, she did not recognise the individual nor any similarity. With respect to the picture made by Jane Tanner, attached, she affirmed that the hair in the picture was similar to that of the individual she had seen, as referred to in this statement, such as the colour and the hairstyle. Also the build of the person in the picture appeared similar but she couldn't affirm it was the same person due the lack of facial features in the picture.

Despite not being able to say on exactly which days he was in the area, she could affirm that he was there once at lunchtime and on other days between 16h00 and 18h00.

Nothing more said, I have read the statement, ratify it and will sign.