Private detectives give the Maddie case no rest, 09 June 2009

Private detectives give the Maddie case no rest Aachener Zeitung   09.06.2009, 15:16 Thanks to Astro for translation   Aachen. On the search for the then three-year-old Maddie, who disappeared two years ago, the English media and the private detectives working for the McCann-fund, which belongs to the little girl's parents, give the cancer stricken Raymond H. no rest.   On Tuesday, his lawyer, Detlev Wagner (45) cancelled a press conference that was scheduled to take place this week, with his client: "The pressure from the Fund and the not exactly soft media from Britain has become so large, that we will now only speak to one single British newspaper". It is presumed that this is the 'Mirror'.   The "media war" in England that surrounds Maddie's destiny is presently fought around the Hospital in Aachen, where the seriously ill suspect is laying. Reporter teams keep appearing, lawyer Wagner can hardly save himself from requests for interviews. The media excitement is based on the similarity of a photofit of the alleged abductor of Madeleine McCann, as well as on the presumption that Raymond H. was at the same resort at the time that the little girl disappeared.   "It was not the fee" from the exclusive contract with the British newspaper that was "determinant", says Aachen lawyer Wagner. It is rather the case that his client "is so seriously ill" that he "cannot even speak to several journalists".   This is strange: Very recently, the Yorkshire police questioned Raymond H. exclusively over a case of abuse from the seventies, with the assistance of the state prosecution service in Aachen. During that questioning, the Maddie case was not mentioned at all by the investigators. Consequently, the senior prosecutor in Aachen, Axel Geimer, thought that "the current explosive nature of the story had been completely taken out". A perspective that is apparently not shared by the British journalists and detectives.

'Maddie' perv quiz, 10 June 2009

'Maddie' perv quiz The Sun   Published: Today (10 June 2009)   PAEDOPHILE Raymond Hewlett is to be quizzed in the next 24 hours about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.   Hewlett, 64, indicated he will meet ex-cops who now work for Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry.   The team flew to Germany where the pervert is being treated for cancer.   A source said: "He needs to co-operate if he wants to be eliminated from the inquiry."   Hewlett - originally from Todmorden, West Yorks - told police last week he saw Maddie twice in Praia da Luz, Portugal, before she disappeared in May 2007.   Investigators also hope to test Hewlett's DNA.

Paedophile snubs Madeleine grilling, 10 June 2009

Paedophile snubs Madeleine grilling Press Association   10 June 2009 20:35 PM   Final attempts by private detectives searching for Madeleine McCann to interview a convicted British paedophile about her disappearance have failed.   Retired UK policemen Dave Edgar and Arthur Cowley flew to Germany hoping to speak to Raymond Hewlett, who is said to have been staying an hour's drive from the McCann's Portuguese holiday flat when the little girl vanished in May 2007.   But negotiations between the private investigators and Hewlett's German lawyer broke down.   Mr Edgar, who has been employed by Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann to look for their daughter, said he was "very disappointed" with the lawyer's behaviour.   He added: "I have been attempting to speak with Raymond Hewlett to eliminate him from our investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.   "He is not a suspect but I was keen to interview him because of his failing health. I have tried over the past weeks to arrange this via his lawyer in Germany.   "These negotiations have been difficult for reasons which I do not want to go into detail about. Mr Hewlett's condition has of course been deteriorating during these negotiations.   "I travelled to Germany yesterday in a final effort to interview Raymond Hewlett. Regrettably that interview is not possible. From information provided by his lawyer and other sources it is obvious that his health is such that any meaningful interview would not be possible."   West Yorkshire Police has confirmed its officers are investigating Hewlett in connection with an indecent assault in 1975.   Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing from Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007 while her parents dined with friends nearby. Despite a massive police investigation and huge publicity worldwide, she has not been found.

Madeleine Detectives Fail To Quiz Paedophile, 11 June 2009

Madeleine Detectives Fail To Quiz Paedophile Sky News   9:09am UK, Thursday June 11, 2009   Final attempts by Madeleine McCann investigators to speak to a convicted paedophile about her disappearance have failed.   Private detectives searching for the missing girl had hoped to speak to Raymond Hewlett, who was living in Portugal at the time she went missing on May 3, 2007.   But negotiations with his German lawyer broke down, the McCanns' spokesman said.   Hewlett, 64, is terminally ill with cancer and is now said to be too unwell for an interview.   Retired UK policemen Dave Edgar and Arthur Cowley, who flew to Germany to speak to him, said they were "very disappointed" with the lawyer's behaviour.   Sky sources say Hewlett has been demanding thousands of pounds in cash to help the inquiry - with the McCanns refusing to pay a penny.   Mr Edgar said: "I have been attempting to speak with Raymond Hewlett to eliminate him from our investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.   "He is not a suspect but I was keen to interview him because of his failing health.   "I have tried over the past weeks to arrange this via his lawyer in Germany.   "These negotiations have been difficult for reasons which I do not want to go into detail about.   "Mr Hewlett's condition has of course been deteriorating during these negotiations.   "I travelled to Germany yesterday in a final effort to interview Raymond Hewlett. Regrettably that interview is not possible.   "From information provided by his lawyer and other sources it is obvious that his health is such that any meaningful interview would not be possible."   Mr Edgar, a former detective inspector who worked for the Royal Ulster Constabulary and Cheshire Police, said Hewlett's ability to answer questions accurately "must also be in doubt".   The detective said he had been told the paedophile could only manage a 60-minute interview when to quiz him properly about Madeleine's disappearance would take five hours.   Mr Edgar added: "I will of course reconsider my position should Raymond Hewlett's condition allow a proper, meaningful interview to take place."   Hewlett, a former soldier who previously lived in Blackpool and Telford, has been jailed several times in the UK for sexually assaulting young girls.

Maddie suspect Raymond Hewlett admits he doesn't have an alibi for night she disappeared, 14 June 2009

Maddie suspect Raymond Hewlett admits he doesn't have an alibi for night she disappeared Sunday Mirror   EXCLUSIVE from Simon Wright in Aachen, Germany 14/06/2009   Convicted paedophile talks for the first time about Maddie investigation, but says he did not kill her. Broken, frail, with only weeks to live, Raymond Hewlett is the man the McCanns fear could take the secrets of their daughter's disappearance to the grave.   The convicted child rapist – who has been catapulted into the frame over the hunt for Madeleine – sits hunched up in a squalid German flat, gasping for breath as he finally breaks his silence.   "It's obvious why they're interested in me," croaks Hewlett, 64. "But they can all think what they like. I didn't kill the McCann girl. It's the truth and it's never going to change."   The man jailed three times for sex attacks on girls today speaks out for the first time in a bid to clear his name amid the mountain of circumstantial evidence against him.   Hewlett, who has been in hiding ever since he was named in connection with the case, admits he was in the Algarve at the time Madeleine was snatched and, as our pictures show, that he looks strikingly similar to a sketch of a suspect with a pock-marked face seen lurking around the apartment.   And five weeks after she disappeared, he left Portugal for Morocco for a two-month-long "business trip".   There, he told Peter Verran, a tourist he had befriended, that he'd become obsessed with the case and he admitted being outside the McCanns' holiday flat in Praia da Luz "many times" and parking his van close to the complex.   What's more he is refusing to give an alibi for the night Madeleine, three, vanished.   "I have an alibi but why should I share it?" he says, struggling for air with each syllable.   "There is a person who can say where I was that day, but why should I bring them into this? I've done nothing wrong. Why should I have to prove it?   "My life's been made a misery for something I know nothing about and a crime I've not committed.   "I'd take a lie-detector test. I'll take any test you like. The only time I've seen Madeleine McCann is on missing posters. And I saw her on TV in a bar once. But I've never seen her in real life. Yes I've been to Praia da Luz, but not since 2002."   But those claims contradict what former Scots Guard Mr Verran, 46, says Hewlett told him – that he was in and around Praia da Luz at the time Madeleine disappeared in May 2007.   The McCanns' private detectives first became aware of father-of-six Hewlett in February this year when his name was given to them during local door-to-door inquiries.   His distinctive live-in Dodge truck, large family and bizarre nomad lifestyle singled him out.   Further checks into his past revealed his previous convictions in Britain, including the rape of a 12-year-old girl he lured into his car and then drugged with paint stripper, an attempted rape of a 14-year-old girl he snatched from a fair and threatened with a fake gun and the abduction of a 14-year-old newspaper delivery girl.   The McCanns' investigators began searching for him, keen to eliminate him from inquiries.   Portuguese detectives told UK officers they were unaware of his existence until the McCann team uncovered his name.   But bizarrely, Hewlett tells the Sunday Mirror he was visited twice by Portuguese police over the Maddie case and gave detectives a DNA swab and fingerprints, although he was never arrested or quizzed.   The McCanns' investigators are unsure whether to believe him or the detectives in Portugal. Hewlett says that Portuguese police, acting on unknown information, swooped on his truck while he was had throat cancer treatment across the border in Spain in August 2008.   He also says that local police helping in the search for Maddie visited him, wife Mariana and their children in the summer of 2007.   He says: "They checked that all the children living with us were ours. Our youngest girl looks a bit like her. But they saw everything was OK and they left.   "The police came again in August last year and told Mariana it was about the McCann girl. They asked for me and Mariana told them I was in hospital. They came to see me and asked permission to take DNA and fingerprints. I was very sick and barely able to speak to them. They asked where we parked in the Algarve in the first half of 2007.   "I told them, 'You know where we've been because you know us round there.'   "I knew why they were asking, because I'd seen the TV and newspapers. By then, that McCann kid's photo was in every shop and supermarket you went in to. I've got previous convictions for child-sex crimes so my heart sank. I thought, 'Oh no, here we go again.'   "I was miles from the UK but it didn't make any difference. I'd tried hard to build a new life. But the reality for me is that my past convictions will never go away.   "I have to put up with it because it's always going to be this way. I gave them their DNA and fingerprints. I knew they were just doing their job but I was angry. I had enough to cope with. I had cancer and no money."   At the time Madeleine vanished, Hewlett and his family were moving between three towns in the Algarve – Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Fuzeta and Tavira – all within 60 miles of Praia da Luz. They scraped money together by picking up unwanted jumble and old car parts, then selling it on.   Hewlett, originally from Todmorden, West Yorks, and Mariana first arrived in Portugal from her native Germany in the summer of 2002. They had been together five years after meeting in Italy. He was a mechanic on a tourist boat and Mariana worked as a cleaner for the boat's owners on the Mediterranean island of Elba.   They embarked on a tour of Europe in the converted Dodge truck. He had installed beds for their children, a sink, cooker and shower.   At that point the couple had four children – David, 10,  who died when he fell from their moving truck in December last year, Michael, nine, Anya, eight, and Jobe, seven, who were all born in Germany. Yanina, six, and  Paul, three, were born during their travels across the Algarve, and the youngest Daniel, now six-and-a-half months, was born in Spain.   "We'd stop in various places and decide whether to hang around there," he says. "It would depend on the weather and how easy it was to make money. I used to busk on the street, playing guitar. I can't really play but people would give me money anyway."   Hewlett says he was 60 miles away – in Vila Real de Santo Antonio – when Maddie was taken. Crucially, he says he cannot specifically remember being there that day.   "May 3 was a Thursday and I was always in Vila Real Santo Antonio on Thursdays," he says. "My routine never altered. That's 100km from Praia da Luz.   "If you asked people there if we were there on that day, I don't know what they'd say. Maybe they can't remember. If you ask them if we were normally there, they'd say yes. If it wasn't for the fact that we were living the way we were, I wouldn't be able to say so clearly that that was where I was.   "It's only because of the way we live that I can say it. As far as I'm concerned, I don't have to prove anything.   "Our truck was our only vehicle. I didn't have another vehicle to go anywhere in. It's a high-profile vehicle. Once you see it, you never forget it. It was like that purposefully because I wanted people to see us. I didn't want to be hiding."   But he claims that a female friend who shot a home video of him and his family on May 5 – two days after Maddie vanished – could vouch for his whereabouts on May 3.   The 30-minute video – seen by the Sunday Mirror – shows Hewlett, Mariana and their seven children laughing at the camera and playing games with each other at a market they regularly attended in the Portuguese town of Fuzeta every Sunday, less than 40 miles from Praia da Luz.   His youngest daughter Yanina bears a striking resemblance to missing Maddie.   He says: "The friend who made the video would remember where I was two days earlier. She could tell anyone where I was. But I haven't asked her and I don't intend to.   "Why should I ask her? I don't think I should involve anybody. Why should I keep dragging people in to this. I don't like being in it, so why should I keep putting people's names forward so that they get bothered with it too?   "I could ask her, but if she says no, then sorry, the answer is no. Then people will just have to carry on speculating."   A month later, on June 10, Hewlett left Portugal and took his family to Morocco.   He said: "A friend gave me a broken old Mercedes and I stripped it down into parts.   "I knew they were worth a fortune in Morocco because I'd been there for a couple of months in 2005. You can even get good money for Mercedes nuts and bolts there.   "I knew people on the docks at Faro and I got the captain of a ferry to take us over for free. We stayed in Morocco for two months and came back in the August. I made 300 euros from the car parts."   His voice so weak it is at times barely audible, today Hewlett is holed up in his cramped, sparce apartment, with Mariana, 33, and six young children.   The family arrived there six weeks ago as his health deteriorated, and Mariana is able to get state benefits.   Hewlett was last month tracked down by the McCanns' detectives to a hospital in Aachen, Germany, where he was undergoing  treatment. The detectives had hoped to put a series of questions to him but he refused to see them and they were forced to return to the UK empty-handed.   This week, they travelled there for a second time but he was deemed too ill to undergo intensive questioning.   Today as he wastes away on the fourth floor of a tower block, Hewlett is close to death. Doctors discharged him from hospital, telling him there is nothing more they can do for him, and his weight has plummeted to just 45kg. Instead of expressing sympathy for Kate and Gerry McCann, he insists people should feel sorry for him.   "I would say to the McCanns that I know what it's like to lose a child because it's happened to me recently," he says.   "I've been through hell and now I've got another hell which I don't deserve. I know for a fact that I didn't do anything wrong, but if people aren't listening, what can you do?"   Shaking with pain, he repeats: "I didn't kill the McCann girl."   *   Comment: The title of this article is: 'Maddie suspect Raymond Hewlett admits he doesn't have an alibi for night she disappeared', yet at no point in the article does Hewlett 'admit' that he doesn't have an alibi. In fact, the article quotes Hewlett as saying: "I have an alibi but why should I share it?"

But I didn't kill Maddie, 14 June 2009

But I didn't kill Maddie Sunday Mirror By Simon Wright 14/06/2009   Madeleine: Key suspect talks for first time.   Yes I'm a convicted paedophile   Yes I lived near Praia Da Luz   Yes I look like police drawingI look like police drawing   Yes I look like police drawing   (Body of article remains as previously posted - mistakes above, and below, are as they appeared online)   Why McCanns want to quiz him   He's a convicted paedophile who has served UK jail sentences for sex attacks on children   Lived an hour's drive from Praia Da Luz at the time Maddie vanished   Bears a striking resemblance to the pock-marked suspect seen acting suspiciously near the Ocean Club   He refuses to give a specific alibi Gave DNA samples but was never quizzed or eliminated   Told a friend he knew the Ocean Club complex and visited Prai da Luz   He fled across sea to Morocco soon after Madeleine was taken Why he claims he's innocent   He says he was 60 miles away from Praia Da Luz on May 3, 2007   Insists he hasn't even been there since 2002   His only way of driving to Praia Da Luz, his converted Dodge truck, was home to wife and six children   He appears on a home video filmed on May 5, 2007 - just two days after Madeleine vanished - looking totally calm and relaxed.   Insists he has alibi from un-named pal he doesn't want to 'drag into it'

Madeleine: Key suspect talks for first time, 14 June 2009

Madeleine: Key suspect talks for first time Sunday Mirror (print version) Sunday Mirror, double-page spread, 14 June 2009 Raymond Hewlett and 'pock-marked' 'Scarface' But I didn't kill Maddie   EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wright in Aachen, Germany   YES I'm a convicted paedophile YES I lived near Praia Da Luz YES I look like police drawing YES I did flee area to Morocco   Why McCanns want to quiz him   * He's a convicted paedophile who has served UK jail sentences for sex attacks on children * Lived an hour's drive from Praia Da Luz at the time Maddie vanished * Bears a striking resemblance to the pock-marked suspect seen acting suspiciously near the Ocean Club * He refuses to give a specific alibi * Gave DNA samples but was never quizzed or eliminated * Told a friend he knew the Ocean Club complex and visited Prai da Luz * He fled across sea to Morocco soon after Madeleine was taken   Why he claims he's innocent   * He says he was 60 miles away from Praia Da Luz on May 3, 2007 * Insists he hasn't even been there since 2002 * His only way of driving to Praia Da Luz, his converted Dodge truck, was home to wife and six children * He appears on a home video filmed on May 5, 2007 – just two days after Madeleine vanished – looking totally calm and relaxed * Insists he has alibi from un-named pal he doesn't want to 'drag into it'   The convicted child rapist – who has been catapulted into the frame over the hunt for Madeleine – sits hunched up in a squalid German flat, gasping for breath as he finally breaks his silence.   "It's obvious why they're interested in me," croaks Hewlett, 64. "But they can all think what they like. I didn't kill the McCann girl. It's the truth and it's never going to change."   The man jailed three times for sex attacks on girls today speaks out for the first time in a bid to clear his name amid the mountain of circumstantial evidence against him.   Hewlett, who has been in hiding ever since he was named in connection with the case, admits he was in the Algarve at the time Madeleine was snatched and, as our pictures show, that he looks strikingly similar to a sketch of a suspect with a pock-marked face seen lurking around the apartment.   And five weeks after she disappeared, he left Portugal for Morocco for a two-month-long "business trip".   He told Peter Verran, a tourist he befriended there, that he'd become obsessed with the case and he admitted being outside the McCanns' holiday flat in Praia da Luz "many times" and parking his van close to the complex.   What's more he is REFUSING to give an alibi for the night Madeleine, three, vanished.   "I have an alibi but why should I share it?" he says, struggling for air with each syllable.   "There is a person who can say where I was that day, but why should I bring them into this? I've done nothing wrong. Why should I have to prove it?   "My life's been made a misery for something I know nothing about and a crime I've not committed.   "I'd take a lie-detector test. I'll take any test you like. The only time I've seen Madeleine McCann is on missing posters. And I saw her on TV in a bar once. But I've never seen her in real life. Yes I've been to Praia da Luz, but not since 2002."   But those claims contradict what former Scots Guard Mr Verran, 46, says Hewlett told him – that he was in and around Praia da Luz at the time Madeleine disappeared in May 2007.   The McCanns' private detectives first became aware of father-of-six Hewlett in February this year when his name was given to them during local door-to-door inquiries.   His distinctive live-in Dodge truck, large family and bizarre nomad lifestyle singled him out. Further checks into his past revealed his previous convictions in Britain, including the rape of a 12-year-old girl he lured into his car and then drugged with paint stripper, an attempted rape of a 14-year-old girl he snatched from a fair and threatened with a fake gun and the abduction of a 14-year-old newspaper delivery girl. The McCanns' investigators began searching for him, keen to eliminate him from inquiries.   Portuguese detectives told UK officers they were unaware of his existence until the McCann team uncovered his name.   But bizarrely, Hewlett tells the Sunday Mirror he was visited twice by Portuguese police over the Maddie case and gave detectives a DNA swab and fingerprints, although he was never arrested or quizzed.   The McCanns' investigators are unsure whether to believe him or the detectives in Portugal. Hewlett says that Portuguese police, acting on unknown information, swooped on his truck while he was had throat cancer treatment across the border in Spain in August 2008. He also says that local police helping in the search for Maddie visited him, wife Mariana and their children in the summer of 2007.   He says: "They checked that all the children living with us were ours. Our youngest girl looks a bit like her. But they saw everything was OK and they left.   "The police came again in August last year and told Mariana it was about the McCann girl. They asked for me and Mariana told them I was in hospital. They came to see me and asked permission to take DNA and fingerprints. I was very sick and barely able to speak to them. They asked where we parked in the Algarve in the first half of 2007.   "I told them, 'You know where we've been because you know us round there.'   "I knew why they were asking, because I'd seen the TV and newspapers. By then, that McCann kid's photo was in every shop and supermarket you went into. I've got previous convictions for child-sex crimes so my heart sank. I thought, 'Oh no, here we go again.' I was miles from the UK but it didn't make any difference. I'd tried hard to build a new life. But the reality for me is that my past convictions will never go away. I have to put up with it because it's always going to be this way. I gave them their DNA and fingerprints. I knew they were just doing their job but I was angry. I had enough to cope with. I had cancer and no money."   At the time Madeleine vanished, Hewlett and his family were moving between three towns in the Algarve – Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Fuzeta and Tavira – all within 60 miles of Praia da Luz. They scraped money together by picking up unwanted jumble and old car parts, then selling them on.   Hewlett – originally from Todmorden, West Yorks – and Mariana first arrived in Portugal from her native Germany in the summer of 2002. They had been together five years after meeting in Italy. He was a mechanic on a tourist boat and Mariana worked as a cleaner for the boat's owners on the Mediterranean island of Elba.   They embarked on a tour of Europe in the converted Dodge truck. He had installed beds for their children, a sink, cooker and shower. At that point the couple had four children – David, 10, who died when he fell from their moving truck in December last year, Michael, nine, Anya, eight, and Jobe, seven, who were all born in Germany. Yanina, six, and Paul, three, were born during their travels across the Algarve, and the youngest Daniel, now six-anda-half months, was born in Spain.   "We'd stop in various places and decide whether to hang around there," he says. "It would depend on the weather and how easy it was to make money.   "I used to busk on the street, playing guitar. I can't really play but people would give me money anyway."   Hewlett says he was 60 miles away – in Vila Real de Santo Antonio – when Maddie was taken. Crucially, he says he cannot specifically remember being there that day.   "May 3 was a Thursday and I was always in Vila Real Santo Antonio on Thursdays," he says. "My routine never altered. That's 100km from Praia da Luz.   "If you asked people there if we were there on that day, I don't know what they'd say. Maybe they can't remember. If you ask them if we were normally there, they'd say yes. If it wasn't for the fact that we were living the way we were, I wouldn't be able to say so clearly that that was where I was.   "It's only because of the way we live that I can say it. As far as I'm concerned, I don't have to prove anything.   "Our truck was our only vehicle. I didn't have another vehicle to go anywhere in. It's a highprofile vehicle. Once you see it, you never forget it. It was like that purposefully because I wanted people to see us. I didn't want to be hiding."   But he claims that a female friend who shot a home video of him and his family on May 5 – two days after Maddie vanished – could vouch for his whereabouts on May 3.   The 30-minute video – seen by the Sunday Mirror – shows Hewlett, Mariana and their seven children laughing at the camera and playing games with each other at a market they regularly attended in the Portuguese town of Fuzeta every Sunday, less than 40 miles from Praia da Luz.   His youngest daughter Yanina bears a striking resemblance to missing Maddie. He says: "The friend who made the video would remember where I was two days earlier. She could tell anyone where I was. But I haven't asked her and I don't intend to.   "Why should I ask her? I don't think I should involve anybody. Why should I keep dragging people in to this. I don't like being in it, so why should I keep putting people's names forward so that they get bothered with it too?   "I could ask her, but if she says no, then sorry, the answer is no. Then people will just have to carry on speculating."   A month later, on June 10, Hewlett left Portugal and took his family to Morocco.   He said: "A friend gave me a broken old Mercedes and I stripped it down into parts.   "I knew they were worth a fortune in Morocco because I'd been there for a couple of months in 2005. You can even get good money for Mercedes nuts and bolts there.   "I knew people on the docks at Faro and I got the captain of a ferry to take us over for free. We stayed in Morocco for two months and came back in the August. I made 300 euros from the car parts."   His voice so weak it is at times barely audible, today Hewlett is holed up in his cramped, sparse apartment, with Mariana, 33, and the six young children.   The family arrived there six weeks ago as his health deteriorated, and Mariana is able to get state benefits.   Hewlett was last month tracked down by the McCanns' detectives to a hospital in Aachen, Germany, where he was undergoing treatment. The detectives had hoped to put a series of questions to him but he refused to see them and they were forced to return to the UK empty-handed.   This week, they travelled there for a second time but he was deemed too ill to undergo intensive questioning.   Today as he wastes away on the fourth floor of a tower block, Hewlett is close to death. Doctors discharged him from hospital, telling him there is nothing more they can do for him, and his weight has plummeted to just 45kg. Instead of expressing sympathy for Kate and Gerry McCann, he insists people should feel sorry for him.   "I would say to the McCanns that I know what it's like to lose a child because it's happened to me recently," he says.   "I've been through hell and now I've got another hell which I don't deserve. I know for a fact that I didn't do anything wrong, but if people aren't listening, what can you do?"

Madeleine: Paedophile Won't Reveal Alibi, 14 June 2009

Madeleine: Paedophile Won't Reveal Alibi   Jun 14, 2009   The convicted paedophile at the centre of the Madeleine McCann case, Raymond Hewlett, has spoken publicly for the first time, saying he has no plans to reveal his alibi for the night the three-year old disappeared. Sky's Victoria Gatenby reports.   (00:01:57)

Pervert: I didn't murder Maddie, 15 June 2009

Pervert: I didn't murder Maddie The Sun By LEON WATSON Published: Today (15 June 2009)   CONVICTED British paedophile Raymond Hewlett has denied any connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.   Hewlett, 64, who was in Portugal's Algarve when Maddie was snatched in 2007, insisted: "They can all think what they like.   "I didn't kill the McCann girl. I'd take a lie-detector test. I'll take any test you like.   "The only time I've seen Madeleine McCann is on missing posters. And I saw her on TV in a bar once. But I've never seen her in real life."   Private detectives working for Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry tried and failed to question Hewlett last week.   Retired UK policemen Dave Edgar and Arthur Cowley flew to Aachen, Germany, where the ex-soldier — who is dying of throat cancer — now lives.   But negotiations with his German lawyer broke down.   Mr Edgar said he was "very disappointed".   He went on: "I have been attempting to speak with Raymond Hewlett to eliminate him from our investigation. He is not a suspect but I was keen to interview him because of his failing health."   Hewlett, who formerly lived in Blackpool and Telford, was jailed several times in the UK for sexually assaulting young girls.   In one attack in 1978, he put a gun to his victim’s back.   He is said to have been an hour's drive from Praia da Luz when Maddie, then three, was taken.   And he looks like a pock-marked suspect seen lurking near the apartment where the family, from Rothley, Leics, were staying.   Hewlett insists he has an alibi but refuses to disclose it.   He said: "There is a person who can say where I was that day but why should I bring them into this? I've done nothing wrong."

Clarence Mitchell: "Hewlett should have spoken to the investigators trying to find Madeleine before the newspapers", 15 June 2009

McCann detectives critcise lawyer Leicester Mercury   Monday, June 15, 2009, 09:40   Detectives hunting for missing Madeleine McCann have criticised a lawyer acting for a convicted paedophile they want to question.   Pervert Raymond Hewlett, who is not a suspect but has been jailed three times for assaulting young girls, spoke instead to the Sunday Mirror.   He said: "I'd take a lie-detector test. I'll take any test you like. The only time I've seen Madeleine McCann is on missing posters. And I saw her on TV in a bar once. But I've never seen her in real life."   He also claimed to have an alibi for the day Madeleine vanished – but refused to say what it was.   Retired UK policemen Dave Edgar and Arthur Cowley, who have been hired by Kate and Gerry McCann from Rothley to find their daughter, flew to Germany last week hoping to speak to Hewlett. But negotiations between the private investigators and Hewlett's German lawyer broke down.   Mr Edgar said he was "very disappointed" with the lawyer's behaviour.   "I have been attempting to speak with Raymond Hewlett to eliminate him from our investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann," said Mr Edgar. "He is not a suspect but I was keen to interview him because of his failing health."   He had been told the paedophile could only manage a 60-minute interview when to question him properly would take five hours. Hewlett was said to have stayed in Tavira, an hour's drive from the McCanns' Portuguese holiday flat in Praia da Luz, from which the little girl vanished in May 2007. The 64-year-old former soldier, who previously lived in Blackpool and Telford, has been treated for throat cancer in Aachen, Germany.   Madeleine's family are upset Hewlett did not speak to their investigators. Spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Hewlett should have spoken to the investigators trying to find Madeleine before the newspapers."

I didn't grab Maddie, but I won't tell you where I was - Sicko, 15 June 2009

I didn't grab Maddie, but I won't tell you where I was - Sicko Daily Star   By Tom Savage 15th June 2009   A BRITISH pervert suspected of being linked to the disappearance of Maddie McCann insisted yesterday: "I've done nothing wrong."   But vile Raymond Hewlett has refused to say what he was doing the day the youngster went missing.   Convicted paedophile Hewlett, 64, said he would take a lie-detector test to prove he had not kidnapped Maddie.   Misery   The child rapist, who is dying from throat cancer, moaned his final days were being made "a misery" by people asking questions about the case.   Maddie's parents Kate, 41, and Gerry, 40, both fear Hewlett could take the secrets of what happened to Maddie to his grave and would like him to be quizzed by their team of detectives.   The beast – who has been jailed three times for sex attacks on young girls – was living a short drive from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, from where Maddie, three, vanished on May 3, 2007.   But Hewlett refuses to give an alibi for his movements on that day, saying: "There is a person who can say where I was that day, but why should I bring them into this? I've done nothing wrong."   The fiend, who is now living in Germany, added: "I'd take a lie-detector test. The only time I've seen Madeleine McCann is on missing posters.   "And I saw her on TV in a bar once. But I've never seen her in real life.   "They can all think what they like. I didn't kill the McCann girl.   "It's the truth and it's never going to change."   Retired UK policemen Dave Edgar and Arthur Cowley, who are working for the McCanns, flew to Germany last week hoping to speak to Hewlett.   But negotiations between the private investigators and Hewlett's German lawyer broke down.   *   Comment: This report from the Daily Star does not reveal any new information but it has been included here for two reasons:   1) To show a shift away from the weekend headlines that included the words 'kill' and 'murder' toward the McCanns' more favoured 'grab', and   2) To show that, in order to write a headline for the UK press, there is no need to feel burdened by the words actually spoken by the person that you wish to quote - simply omit the quotation marks and write whatever you want your readers to read.   At no time does Hewlett mention the word 'grab' during his interview with the Sunday Mirror - nor indeed does he mention 'murder', as reported in todays Sun - yet this appears to be a mere irrelevance in the perpetual hunt for an attention grabbing headline.

Lie detector tests and a change of heart, 15 June 2009

Lie detector tests and a change of heart   By Nigel Moore 15 June 2009   Raymond Hewlett's willingness to undertake a lie-detector test - to prove his innocence - is in sharp contrast to the McCanns' who have refused to submit themselves to such a test.   On their return to the UK in September 2007, the McCanns initially stated that they would be willing to take a Polygraph test to clear their names but two months later, when approached, they declined.   This left Don Cargill, chairman of the British and European Polygraph Association, "dumbfounded" and concluding that "the whole thing was a PR exercise to get sympathy at a time when Kate was under increasing scrutiny."   Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesperson, meanwhile, concluded that "Gerry and Kate don't need to do one as they are telling the truth."     The following two articles were produced at the time, the first indicating willingness, the second a clear refusal:   *   Madeleine's parents: 'We will take lie detector test to clear our names' Daily Mail   Last updated at 10:04 21 September 2007   • Parents want to take lie detector test to clear names • Friend says 'mystery man' was heading towards Murat's home • Second Portuguese lawyer appointed for 'extra firepower' • Portuguese authorities admit their case has stalled   Kate and Gerry McCann are prepared to take a lie detector test to clear their names.   The couple are so confident of their own innocence that would take the polygraph test in Portugal, a source close to the couple said.   And new details have emerged about the sighting of the "mystery man" the McCanns believe was their daughter's abductor.   For the first time, a friend of the couple claimed the stranger seen walking away from the Praia da Luz holiday complex on May 3, apparently with a child in his arms, was heading towards former chief suspect Robert Murat's home.   The McCanns' offer to submit to lie detector tests would only serve to help clear any public doubts about the McCanns' guilt or innocence, as polygraphs are inadmissible in Portuguese courts and are never used by Portuguese police during the course of investigations.   The source said last night: "If they were asked to take a lie detector test, of course they would agree.   "Kate and Gerry are happy to do anything that would help clear their names."   Lie detectors work by measuring physiological responses such as blood pressure levels, pulse rate and skin conductivity when the subject is asked questions.   Any significant difference in these rates as the subject gives answers to different questions, may indicate that the subject is lying.   The McCanns yesterday announced the appointment of a second Portuguese lawyer, bringing their legal team to four.   Rogerio Alves is president of the Portuguese Bar Association and has worked on some of country's most high profile cases.   He will work alongside the couple's current Portuguese lawyer, Carlos Pinto de Abreu, whom the couple appointed a month ago when they were accused in the Portuguese media of being involved in Madeleine's disappearance.   It is thought that Mr Alves' fees will be paid out of the £100,000 that Sir Richard Branson has donated towards to the McCanns' legal fund.   The new appointment means the McCanns have a fearsome legal team of lawyers working for them.   As well as the two Portuguese lawyers, they have also employed British solicitor Angus McBride and Michael Caplan QC, both of whom have formidable reputations.   Mr Caplan, in particular, is considered one of the country's foremost solicitors.   With his expertise and track record, he can charge upwards of £700 an hour for his services.   Yesterday all four lawyers had discussions with the McCanns at Mr Caplan's London office. The meeting lasted around around six hours.   Afterwards, the family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "It is effectively the doubling of defence skills. It helps to have extra firepower."   Detectives start again   In Portugal the authorities admitted yesterday for the first time that their case had stalled - and that they are prepared to re-explore the possibility that she was snatched by an abductor.   They made it clear that the McCanns are still prime suspects in the inquiry, but that the case had reached "an impasse" after 141 days.   The news brought quiet relief to the couple, who saw it as a significant turning point in the campaign to switch the focus back to finding their daughter.   From 1,000 miles away in the UK, they watched events unfold yesterday after Wednesday's dramatic announcement that there was not enough evidence yet to warrant charges or reinterrogation.   The back-to-basics turnaround in the investigation was revealed by the national daily newspaper Diario de Noticias, quoting sources close to Luis Bilro Verao, the senior public prosecutor brought in to lead the case last week.   It reported that Mr Verao said: "The investigation has now entered an impasse."   All possible theories - abduction, accident, murder or innocent disappearance - would be reinvestigated.   The newspaper further reported that the kidnap theory, virtually abandoned after detectives pinpointed the McCanns as suspects, was "still on the table".   Other sources confirmed that new searches would be carried out soon at specific locations, aimed at finding either Madeleine or any clue to what happened.   While Mr Mitchell said the couple were relieved by the news that they would not face any immediate reinterrogation, he added: "There is still a long way to go in the legal process. They remain official suspects."   He said he could not discuss the DNA evidence at the centre of the police case, extracted from blood found in their holiday apartment and "bodily fluids" in the car they hired some 24 days after Madeleine disappeared.   But he added: "It's safe to say there are wholly innocent explanations for whatever the police may or may not have found in the car."   The McCanns, who could still be called back to Portugal if new evidence emerges, have also been offered help by a lawyer in Northern Ireland. Solicitor Paul Corrigan is defending an alleged Real IRA terrorist accused of murdering 29 people in the 1998 Omagh bombing.   The case has given him experience in challenging 'Low Copy Number DNA' or LCN DNA, a method of magnifying minute traces of body matter that are inadequate for more established DNA analysis.   Critics claims LCN DNA is not reliable enough to stand up in court - and it may be involved in the case against the McCanns.   And an intelligence expert has said photographs taken by spy satellites could hold the key to Madeleine's disappearance.   Professor Glees, who is director of Brunel University's Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, said the little-known Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre, based at RAF Brampton, Cambridgeshire, is a world leader in analysing aerial and satellite imagery.   It could collect and examine all the imagery that can be found of Praia da Luz, where the McCanns were on holiday, dating back to May 2. "It is perfectly possible that the European Commission's satellites, which track fishing boats, may also be able to shed light on Madeleine's fate. JARIC will quickly tell us," he said.   *   Now Kate McCann refuses to take a lie detector test to clear her name Daily Mail   By VANESSA ALLEN Last updated at 16:58 19 November 2007   Kate McCann has refused to take a lie detector test about her daughter Madeleine's disappearance, it was revealed yesterday.   She and husband Gerry had offered to undergo a polygraph examination in September, after they were made official suspects in the investigation.   But it has now emerged that they have refused an expert's offer to carry it out, because the results would not be admissible as evidence to a Portuguese court.   Don Cargill, chairman of the British and European Polygraph Association, said the McCanns told him they would only take the test if it was 100 per cent accurate and admissible in a Portuguese court.   He told the Sunday Express: "Kate said she'd take it to prove her innocence but in reality, she wasn't willing.   "I was dumbfounded, to tell the truth.   "I don't think it was the McCanns' fault. I was left with the impression the whole thing was a PR exercise to get sympathy at a time when Kate was under increasing scrutiny."   Lie detectors work by measuring physiological responses such as blood pressure levels, pulse rate, breathing and sweat gland activity in the skin during questioning.   Any significant difference in these rates may indicate the subject is lying.   The process has been criticised but the American Polygraph Association claims the current computerised technology is 98 per cent accurate.   They are not admissible in British or Portuguese courts.   McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Of course they are not going to take the test. It's inadmissible in Portugal and there are doubts about the accuracy.   "Gerry and Kate don't need to do one as they are telling the truth."

Maddy Man's Lie, 19 June 2009

Maddy Man's Lie Daily Mirror (paper edition) Daily Mirror, 19 June 2009 Paedo's story falling apart   * SUSPECT Hewlett told lies over truck   EXCLUSIVE By Stephen Moyes Friday June 19, 2009   Madeleine McCann suspect Raymond hewlett is today sensationally back in the frame after being caught lying.   The paedophile insisted he drove only a distinctive blue truck at the time the youngster vanished.   But former pal Peter Verran, 46, says Hewlett, 64, had a white Mercedes van - similar to one seen near the McCanns' apartment.   A source close to the investigation said: "This could be very significant."   FULL STORY: PAGE 5 Maddy paedo said this was only vehicle he had Daily Mirror (online headline/text same as in paper edition)     By Stephen Moyes 19/06/2009   EXCLUSIVE: But really he was driving a van similar to this..   Pervert Raymond Hewlett's lies were unravelling last night as he faced renewed questioning over missing Madeleine McCann.   The convicted paedophile rekindled suspicion after it was revealed he tried to mislead detectives over the vehicle he was driving at the time the youngster vanished.   He claimed he only had one motor - a blue Dodge truck. And he said it was so distinctive that he could not have driven into Praia da Luz in May 2007 without being spotted.   But now a former friend has dramatically come forward to say Hewlett was lying.   He actually owned a white Mercedes van at the time - similar to one seen parked near the McCanns' apartment before Madeleine disappeared.   Ex-Scots Guard Peter Verran, 46, decided to contact the Maddy inquiry team after being disturbed by Hewlett's claims in our sister paper, the Sunday Mirror.   Mr Verran, who befriended Hewlett on a campsite in Morocco in June 2007, said: "He told me he owned a white Transit-type van before his blue Dodge truck.   "He said he'd swapped it for the Dodge in order to leave Portugal and travel to Morocco.   Obsessed "The white van didn't have enough room for the whole family, so he sold it to a pal who traded on the same market as him in Fuzeta, about 40 miles from Praia da Luz."   Last month it was revealed a witness had seen a man apparently staking out the McCanns' apartment, standing near a white van.   According to Mr Verran, Hewlett also said that he had driven from Portugal's Algarve to Spain in the Mercedes van around the time Madeleine vanished.   But Hewlett, who was living near Praia da Luz, insisted recently that he only had the Dodge truck.   Protesting his innocence, he said: "If you'd gone in our truck you couldn't have got away with it, driving that about. You'd have stood out like a sore thumb."   He added: "Our truck was our only vehicle. I didn't have another vehicle to go anywhere in. It's a high-profile vehicle."   When they met in Morocco, Hewlett, 64, told Verran that he'd become obsessed with the case of the missing girl. He admitted being outside the holiday flat "many times" and parking his van close to the complex.   A source close to the Maddy inquiry team said yesterday: "This new information could be very significant. Hewlett has repeatedly said that he could not have been at the scene without someone remembering his distinctive truck.   "But if he was driving a Mercedes van at the time, his reasoning is shot to pieces.   "And it would raise the question of why he lied about the vehicle in the first place." It is not known if Hewlett owned the white van and the truck at the same time, or one after the other. But Mr Verran's recollection is that he bought the Dodge for the trip to Morocco - AFTER Madeleine vanished.   Hewlett admits he was in the Algarve at the time. He told friends he was offered money by "gipsy tourists" to sell his own three-year-old blonde-haired daughter just before Maddy vanished. He says he left Portugal five weeks later for a two-month "business trip". But last night there were also doubts over his assertion that he caught a ferry from Faro to Morocco. He claimed: "I knew people on the docks at Faro and I got the captain of a ferry to take us over for free." But there is NO public ferry service between Faro and Morocco.   Hewlett also said he stayed at a campsite in Morocco for at least two months and made 300 euros selling car parts. Questions were being asked how he afforded to remain for so long when the campsite cost 10 euros a night. He would also have needed cash to feed his seven children and partner, and pay for petrol for his truck.   Hewlett, who is refusing to give an alibi for the night Madeleine vanished, was first brought to the attention of investigators by Alan and Cindy Thompson, who met him while on an extended holiday in Portugal.   Dave Edgar and Arthur Cowley, the detectives working for the Madeleine McCann fund, hoped to question him last month after the Mirror tracked him down to a hospital in Aachen, Germany, where he was being treated for throat cancer. But Hewlett refused to see them, claiming he was too ill to be questioned.   Hewlett was jailed three times in the UK for sex offences before beginning his nomadic lifestyle across Europe with his wife Mariana and their six children.   He is still being investigated by West Yorkshire police over an attack nearly 30 years ago.He told me he owned a white Transit-type van before his Dodge PETER VERRAN HELP Peter Verran how

* And a reminder (article below) that the 'white van man' was already identified and eliminated from the PJ inquiry - and that even the McCanns' own investigators have no interest in talking to him.

Algarve resident hounded by Madeleine McCann case, 04 June 2009

Algarve resident hounded by Madeleine McCann case Algarve Resident   by DAISY SAMPSON Updated: 04-Jun-2009   A guitar teacher who lives in the Algarve has hit out at British Sunday tabloid the News of the World after it named him as someone, it believes, private investigators should speak with in relation to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.   Barrington Norton, who teaches classical guitar to children in the Lagos and Luz areas, believes the report in Sunday's edition could "threaten his current way of life".   The article, Maddie cops: 5 to quiz, claimed that investigators working for the McCanns are looking for five new witnesses who were all living near Praia da Luz at the time Madeleine disappeared and says "Our own investigation uncovered Barrington Norton, 58, who lives in a van, but was quizzed at the time."   Barrington Norton, who contacted the Algarve Resident this week, says a reporter approached him while he was busking in Lagos.   "He knew things about me that he shouldn't, including details about my wife and my bank account and he has since told me not to worry about what has been written about me in the paper. Before all of this happened to me, I used to be a happy-go-lucky person but the papers keep on digging up bullshit about me that doesn't even exist and I am fed up with it all. I just want this all to end," he told the Algarve Resident.   "I love kids and I am so proud of all my students.  Parents trust me with their children because their kids enjoy their lessons and see me as someone they can relate to."   Barrington Norton lives in his white van in the Luz and Lagos areas and was questioned by Portuguese police in relation to the case of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann at the time of the initial investigation.   "I have never hidden the fact that I was interviewed, but so were several other drivers of white vans. I cooperated fully with investigators and dogs searched my van but police found nothing to connect me to the case and I have not been contacted since.   "My van was parked near the McCanns' apartment but that is because I was shopping at the Baptista supermarket. I do not have an alibi for the night because I was asleep in my van alone but the police know all of this," he said.   "After I spoke to the reporter from the News of the World, I contacted the Find Madeleine Fund because I was under the impression that they wanted to interview me.   "However, the investigators got back to me and told me that they were not looking to speak with me and if they had wanted an interview they would have requested one much earlier than now."   Barrington Norton told the Algarve Resident that he hoped he could now finally move on from any connection with the McCann case. "I am not hiding from anyone. I just want to get on with my life."   The Algarve Resident contacted both the News of the World and the Find Madeleine Fund but at the time of going to press, both had failed to make a comment.

News on the British paedophile is not sufficient to reopen the investigation, 19 June 2009

News on the British paedophile is not sufficient to reopen the investigation Lusa   19 June 2009, 15:58 Thanks to Joana Morais for translation   The Attorney General Office, considered today that the recent news about the British paedophile Raymond Hewlett being close to the holiday apartments in Praia da Luz, from where Madeleine McCann disappeared is not sufficient to reopen the investigation.   In a reply sent to the news Agency Lusa, regarding the news advanced by the British press who present the British paedophile as a 'suspect', because he was in the Algarve at the same time of the English child's disappearance, the Attorney General Office stated that "speculations, opinions or comments are not enough to reopen the investigation".   According to the Attorney General Office, "when solid facts emerge, that the magistrates coordinating the process consider to be relevant and credible, the process will be reopened" relative to the disappearance of the British child.   However, the Attorney General Office advanced that "they are attentive to the signs that are appearing".   Raymond Hewlett, 64 years old, was allegedly living in Tavira, about one hour from Praia da Luz, in May 2007, at the time of the disappearance of the British child, while on holiday with his family.   The former soldier, according to the newspaper Daily Mail, has a history of known attacks on girls dating back to 1972, when he was convicted of abuses to a 12 year old girl.   According to the daily The Sun, Raymond Hewlett, was questioned by the Portuguese Police, but provided an alibi that cleared him of any suspicions.   Madeleine McCann disappeared on the 3rd of May 2007 from the bedroom where she slept with her younger twin brother and sister, from an apartment in the tourist resort 'Ocean Club', in Praia da Luz, district of Lagos, in the Algarve.   The parents, both doctors, dined at the time with a group of British friends in a restaurant of the tourist resort, about 50 metres away from the apartment.   The family maintained their position from the start that Madeleine had been abducted.   Until now the authorities have failed to know what really happened; the Public Ministry archived the case, which can be reopened if new data emerges on the disappearance of Madeleine.

Maddie: the "speculation" does not reopen the investigation, 19 June 2009

Maddie: the "speculation" does not reopen the investigation Duarte Levy Wordpress   Duarte Levy June 19, 2009 • 7:00 pm   In a reply sent today to Lusa, the Portuguese news agency, the Public Prosecutor Office qualified all the information published in the press regarding the British paedophile, Raymond Hewlett, as "speculation".   The presumed suspect, identified and sentenced as a paedophile by the British authorities in cases dating back to the 70s, has admitted that he was in the Algarve the night of Madeleine McCann's disappearance, but the Prosecutor still considers that the information is not sufficient to reopen the investigation.   In the reply sent to the news agency, the Public Prosecutor Office has confirmed being "alert to the signs that are appearing" and ready to reopen the investigation "when concrete facts emerge that the magistrates coordinating the process consider important and credible". According to the Public Prosecutor, the "speculation, opinions or comments are not sufficient to reopen the investigation".   Hewlett, aged 64 and in the final phase of a terminal cancer, is not the first "suspect" identified in the British press, but he has become the centre of attention. Clarence Mitchell, spokesperson for Kate and Gerry McCann, has convinced an English newspaper this week not to reveal the photos of two presumed suspects of Portuguese and German nationality. The tabloid was getting ready to identify the two men as "principal suspects" but the specialist in communication and public relations has rejected this information.

Maddie McCann suspect's wife: No one can give him an alibi, 21 June 2009

Maddie McCann suspect's wife: No one can give him an alibi Sunday Mirror Exclusive: By Simon Wright 21/06/2009   The wife of Madeleine McCann suspect Raymond Hewlett yesterday admitted that NO ONE can give him an alibi.   German-born Mariana, 33, confessed that a female friend who Hewlett insisted could vouch for him on the day Madeleine vanished cannot remember where he was.   Convicted paedophile Hewlett, 64, won't name the woman.   In an interview with the Sunday Mirror last week, he claimed she was with him on the day Madeleine vanished.   He said she would remember because she shot a home video of him and his family at a flea market in the town of Fuzeta, 30 miles from Praia da Luz, on May 5, 2007 - two days later.   But he refused to reveal the German woman's identity, saying: "I don't think I should involve anybody. Why should I keep dragging people into this?" But last night, as dad-of-six Hewlett drifted closer to death from throat cancer, Mariana said: "The truth is, she cannot remember where Ray was. She can't give him an alibi. No one can."   The Sunday Mirror has also learned that Hewlett befriended two families of Portuguese gipsies in the weeks leading up to Madeleine's disappearance. Theories that Madeleine was snatched by gipsies have surrounded the case.   Chillingly, Hewlett told a friend that gipsies had offered him "good money" for his own two-year-old blonde-haired daughter.   Former Scots Guard Peter Verran, 46, shared a Moroccan campsite with Hewlett between June and November 2007.   He said: "He told me gipsies wanted to pay good money for her and he'd met some who traded in children and sold them to paedophiles."   Last week, Hewlett dismissed those claims as "rubbish".   But another former close pal of his in the Portuguese town of Tavira - where his family used to park their truck - revealed how, in April 2007, he developed a close friendship with two gipsy families.   Us-born artist Leonardo Leopoldo, 79, who has lived in Tavira - 40 miles from Praia da Luz - for 10 years, said: "No one spoke to the gipsies apart from Ray. He was always talking to them.   "There was talk in the area that they sold children to paedophiles. By the time, Madeleine was snatched, he was very friendly with them."   Leonardo said he was stunned to learn of Hewlett's past convictions for child sex attacks.   He said he had grown fond of him, Mariana and the couple's seven children after first meeting them in the summer of 2002.   "I thought they were lovely," he said. "Now, everything is different."   The Sunday Mirror tracked down another close pal of Hewlett's - British expat Jenny Day - who the McCanns' private detectives have been keen to interview but unable to trace.   Divorced Jenny, who is in her fifties, admitted she could not provide Hewlett with an alibi and told how she had been shattered by revelations of his criminal past.   Speaking at her beach-side apartment in Santa Luzia, 30 miles from Praia da Luz, she said: "I loved Ray, but not now. I met him 10 years ago and thought he was a loving father. To find out that he had committed the crimes he had was shattering.   "I didn't shoot the home video being talked about and I cannot provide Ray with an alibi for the day Madeleine went missing."   Hewlett's wife remains convince he had nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance.   Speaking from the couple's tiny flat in Aachen, Germany, she added that claims he had lied about a white van he supposedly owned at the time were "simply wrong".   A friend of Hewlett's said that he had owned a white van similar to one seen parked near the McCanns' apartment before Madeleine's disappearance.   But Hewlett insists a blue Dodge truck was the only vehicle he owned at the time.   He admits to leaving Portugal for Morocco three weeks later, but insisted if he'd been in Praia da Luz at the time, the truck meant he would have "stuck out like a sore thumb".   Mariana added: "We've never owned a white van. We had a grey van when we first arrived in Portugal in 2002.   "In August 2004, we swapped it for the Dodge and kept that until March 2008."

Forensic checks on Maddie perv's van, 27 June 2009

Forensic checks on Maddie perv's van The Sun   By SIMON HUGHES and ANTONELLA LAZZERI Published: Today (27 June 2009)   A VAN used by Maddie McCann suspect Raymond Hewlett will be "ripped apart" in a hunt for clues.   Private detectives believe forensic checks could provide crucial evidence about the toddler's disappearance.   The battered blue Dodge has been seized by cops in Germany, where paedo Hewlett, 64, is being treated for cancer.   A source close to the probe added: "It will be ripped apart to look for a trace of Maddie."   Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Maddie's parents Gerry and Kate, 41, said: "Our investigators have known about the vehicle for some time."   A former detective with more than 20 years' experience said: "A single hair or a clothing fibre could provide the breakthrough everyone is so desperate for."   Hewlett and the van were a familiar sight when Maddie, then three, was snatched from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007. It was the one vehicle he was known to drive at the time.   Hewlett has been jailed three times for sex attacks on young girls but has insisted: "I didn't kill the McCann girl."   He claimed he was 60 miles away when Maddie disappeared.

Raymond Hewlett, 19 July 2009

Raymond Hewlett News of the World (appears in paper edition only)   19 July 2009   Convicted paedophile Raymond Hewlett, who has been linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, will not be charged in connection with a sex attack in Britain 30 yrs. ago.   West Yorks. cops flew to Germany to question Hewlet, 64, over the assault of an 8 yr. old girl and took a DNA sample. He is unlikely to face any charges because he is dying of cancer.   McCann detectives have not named him as a suspect. But they want him to account for his movements at the time the youngster vanished. He has not provided an alibi and has refused to speak to private detectives.

DNA clues delay in Maddie probe, 21 July 2009

DNA clues delay in Maddie probe Blackpool Gazette   By Paul Fielding Last Updated: 21 July 2009 7:41 AM   A FORMER Blackpool soldier, linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, is unlikely to face charges over a sex attack 30 years ago.   A team of detectives from West Yorkshire police flew to Germany to question Raymond Hewlett over the assault on an eight-year-old girl in 1972 and took a DNA sample.   But sources at the Yorkshire force said that although they were still awaiting instructions on how to proceed from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), it was unlikely charges would follow. A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "We have been over to interview him and are currently liaising with the CPS regarding the matter.   "We are also still awaiting the results of a DNA profile."   Hewlett, 64, who was brought up in Hawes Side Lane, Marton, is currently in hospital in Aachen where he is being treated for throat cancer.   Private detectives working for the McCann family have not named him as a suspect but want to question him after receiving some worrying information from people who knew him.   In the past he has been jailed three times for sex attacks on young girls but has since insisted "I didn't kill the McCann girl".   Hewlett is said to have been staying around an hour's drive from the McCanns' holiday flat in Praia da Luz in Portugal when the little girl vanished on May 3, 2007.   The battered blue Dodge van owned by Hewlett at the time of Madeleine's disappearance has been seized by German police and looked over by investigators.   It has been alleged the vehicle was seen parked close to the McCanns' complex on several occasions around the time the youngster went missing.   The McCanns' investigators – retired UK policemen Dave Edgar and Arthur Cowley – flew to Germany last month in a bid to question Hewlett.   But negotiations between the private investigators and Hewlett's German lawyer broke down and the detectives flew home empty handed.

Maddie suspect close to death, urged to tell all, 09 December 2009

Maddie suspect close to death, urged to tell all Daily Express From Allan Hall in Berlin Wednesday December 9,2009 A CONVICTED paedophile wanted for questioning by detectives working for Madeleine McCann's parents is close to death, it was revealed yesterday. Sex fiend Raymond Hewlett, 64, can no longer speak because of throat cancer and lives in a council flat he shares with his partner in Aachen, ­Germany. Investigators fear that Hewlett could take the secret of Madeleine McCann's disappearance with him to the grave. Hewlett's lawyer, Detlev ­Wagner, said: "He could not talk to them even if he wanted to. "He is gravely ill. He does not have long for this world." Retired senior police officers working for Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry, from Rothley, Leics, have been trying to quiz Hewlett since May. But while he has spoken with British police investigating other offences against children dating back nearly 35 years, Hewlett has steadfastly refused to co-operate with the private investigators. The Briton, who has multiple convictions for offences against children, came to the attention of investigators after an ­English couple came forward with new information. They alleged he was near to the Praia da Luz holiday resort in Portugal where Madeleine, then three, ­vanished in May 2007. Private investigators Dave Edgar and Arthur ­Crowley, both ex-police officers with many years of experience, first went to see him in Aachen when he was being treated for his cancer in hospital. Numerous requests to interview him were all turned down. Wagner claims that his client was poised to broker an interview with the detectives but broke it off because he found the lawmen "too pushy". In June Hewlett – still ­smoking the cigarettes blamed for causing his throat cancer – said: "It's obvious why they're interested in me. "But they can all think what they like. I didn't kill the McCann girl. It's the truth and it's never going to change." He admits he was in the Algarve at the time Madeleine vanished. Hewlett looks ­strikingly ­similar to a sketch of a suspect with a pock-marked face seen lurking around the apartment where the family stayed in May 2007.

Madeleine McCann: Paedophile wanted for questioning struck dumb by throat cancer, 09 December 2009

Madeleine McCann: Paedophile wanted for questioning struck dumb by throat cancer Daily Star By Jerry Lawton 9th December 2009 A PAEDOPHILE wanted for questioning over missing Madeleine McCann has been struck dumb by throat cancer. Raymond Hewlett's lawyer says he can no longer speak and private investigators hired by the McCanns fear he could take his secrets to the grave. The 64-year-old's lawyer Detley Wagner said: "He could not talk to them even if he wanted to. He is not long for this world." Investigators have been trying for months to interview Hewlett, who has multiple convictions for offences against children. Now they urgently want him to reveal what he knows before he dies. He was in the Algarve when three-year-old Madeleine was snatched from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007. And he resembles a suspect with a pock-marked face seen lurking around the flat at the time. Hewlett has been quizzed by Brit police over a sex assault on a child three decades ago. But he has refused to co-operate with detectives acting for the McCanns. When private eyes Dave Edgar and Arthur Crowley – both ex-policemen – went to see him they were turned away from the hospital in Aachen, Germany, where he was being treated. Medics have now sent him home to die. McCanns spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Until Hewlett agrees to see our investigators he will remain of interest to them. We urge him to help." Though private eyes suspect Hewlett was not directly involved in the abduction, they believe he knows who was.

'Maddie perv' died with his secrets, 10 April 2010

'Maddie perv' died with his secrets The Sun By NEIL SYSON Published: Today (10 April 2010) A PAEDOPHILE who was a prime suspect in the hunt for Madeleine McCann has died - taking any secrets he had to the grave. Convicted child rapist Raymond Hewlett, 64, died of throat cancer and was cremated at a pauper's funeral in Germany four months ago. His ex-wife Susan, 64, and children in Telford, Shropshire, were unaware of his death. Two private detectives hired by Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry went to Aachen, Germany, at least three times in a bid to interview Hewlett. But a source said: "He always wriggled out of it, saying he was too sick to see them. He was never eliminated from the inquiry." Maddie, of Rothley, Leics, was three when she vanished on holiday in Portugal in May 2007. Ex-soldier Hewlett bore a close resemblance to a straggly-haired man seen lurking near the McCann apartment. He was in Portugal when Maddie was snatched and left for Morocco three weeks later. And he told a pal he knew gipsies who sold children to perverts. Hewlett's German second wife Mariana, 35, refused to comment.

Blackpool Maddie suspect dies, 12 April 2010

Blackpool Maddie suspect dies Blackpool Gazette Published Date: 12 April 2010 A BLACKPOOL paedophile, who was a prime suspect in the hunt for Madeleine McCann, has died. Private detectives working for the McCann family wanted to question Raymond Hewlett - who grew up in Marton - about the youngster's disappearance. They believed the 64-year-old, a convicted rapist, bore a striking resemblance to the description of a straggly haired man who was seen near the McCann's apartment on the night of her disappearance. He was also thought to have been living in Portugal, just an hour away from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, when she disappeared in May 2007. It is believed he left for Morocco three weeks later. But the former serviceman - who grew up in a semi-detached house on Hawes Side Lane - was in ill health by the time investigators wanted to question him and living in Germany with a new wife. Hewlett was suffering from throat cancer. And now it has been revealed he has died and will take any knowledge of the McCann case he may have had with him to the grave. Hewlett had a long record of sex attacks on young girls and was wanted by police in Britain for offences dating back more than 30 years. When Hewlett's name was linked to the case, former neighbours in Blackpool told The Gazette Hewlett was "very strange" and said it was "frightening" to hear he had been linked with Madeleine's disappearance. The former neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "He was born on Hawes Side Lane just a few doors down and he had two sisters who were quite a bit older than him. "He was a bit younger than me but I remember him well and he was always very strange and a bit weird." The son of a Blackpool baker, Hewlett was one of seven brothers and sisters in a large family. He spent time in the Scots Guards and worked on fairgrounds before later committing a string of sexual offences. In 1972 he was jailed after abducting a 12-year-old girl and taking her to the moors near his home in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. He had incapacitated her with a rag soaked in paint thinner. She narrowly escaped being raped. In 1978 Hewlett attacked another girl, this time putting a gun to her back but she too managed to escape. He was jailed for four years for that offence. Then in 1988 he was jailed again after attacking a newspaper delivery girl. He was also questioned over the murder of 11-year-old Lesley Molseed, who was found in a lay-by in Ripponden,West Yorkshire, in October 1975. Hewlett was identified as a suspect after Stefan Kiszko, who was originally convicted of the murder and spent 16 years in jail, had his conviction overturned. Ronald Castree, a taxi driver from Shaw, near Oldham, was later convicted of the killing. Hewlett always protested his innocence in the McCann case. It was reported he spoke to journalists outside his hospital to declare he had nothing to hide. "I didn't kill that McCann girl," he was reported to have said.

I know who took Maddie, 01 September 2010

I know who took Maddie The Sun By ANTONELLA LAZZERI and ANDY CRICK Published: Today (01 September 2010) MADELEINE McCann suspect Raymond Hewlett confessed on his deathbed that he KNEW what happened to the little girl, The Sun can reveal. In a letter to his estranged son Wayne, he denied having anything to do with Maddie's disappearance. But he said he knew she had been stolen to order by a gipsy gang who kidnap children for wealthy couples unable to have kids or adopt. Hewlett, a serial paedophile seen near the spot where Maddie was snatched in Portugal, said they had a "shopping list" of potential targets - such as a little girl with blonde hair like Maddie. Private detectives working for Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry are "extremely interested" in Hewlett's claims. A source close to their ongoing investigation said: "What he says fits the No1 theory, which is that she was stolen to order." Hewlett died of throat cancer in April, aged 62, after persistently refusing to meet the McCanns' detectives. He became a suspect because of his appalling record of rape and abduction of children. And he was living as a nomad in Portugal with his second family when Maddie vanished from the McCanns' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007. Hewlett's letter to builder Wayne, 40, was delivered to the son by a mystery man - thought to be a solicitor or a private eye - a week after he died. Most of it was an apology for how his vile crimes had affected his first wife Susan and Wayne. But then he went on to write about Maddie, who was nearly four when she went missing. Wayne, of Telford, Shropshire, said: "It was a bolt from the blue and I shook when I read it. "He stated he didn't want to go to his grave with us thinking he had done such a horrible thing. "He said he had had nothing to do with taking Maddie but did know who had. "He said a very good gipsy friend he knew in Portugal had got drunk and 'let it out' that he had stolen Maddie to order as part of a gang. "My dad said this gang had been operating for a long time and had snatched children before for couples who couldn't have children of their own. "Maddie had been targeted. They took photos of children and sent them to the people they were acting for. And they said Yes or No. "Dad said the man told him it was nothing to do with snatching children for a paedophile gang or for a sexual reason. "He said there were huge sums of money involved. And he totally believed what this man was saying." The account fits with others surrounding the Maddie mystery. Several strange men were seen taking photos of children around the Ocean Club resort in the days before she vanished. And The Sun revealed earlier this year that a British expat thought he had seen Maddie in a white van driven by a gipsy couple the day after she was lost. Wayne, who had no contact with Hewlett for nearly 20 years, said his father's letter seemed "very genuine". He added: "I don't know if this is what happened to Maddie or not, but it does make sense. I can't believe he'd go to those lengths to make up some elaborate lie when he was so weak and ill." Wayne said he considered going to Kate and Gerry with the letter but was worried it could cause them more heartache if it gave them false hope. He added: "I actually burned it because it unnerved me so much. "To have a letter from someone you hated for so long was just mind-blowing. I couldn't deal with it." Wayne did not contact The Sun about the message. We learned of its existence through a friend. But now he intends to sit down with the Maddie detectives to tell them everything he knows. The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said last night: "We are extremely grateful to Wayne for coming forward with this information and the detective team will be interviewing him as a matter of priority." THE SUN SAYS The Sun (paper edition) Wednesday, 01 September 2010 Keep hoping MIGHT Madeleine McCann investigators finally have the breakthrough they hoped for? Paedophile Raymond Hewlett claimed on his deathbed to know missing Maddie's fate - stolen to order by a gipsy gang. Kate and Gerry McCann have never given up hope. Let's see police act swiftly on what may be a vital new lead.

'I know who took Madeleine': Paedophile suspect claims abduction clue in deathbed letter, 01 September 2010

'I know who took Madeleine': Paedophile suspect claims abduction clue in deathbed letter Daily Mail By DAILY MAIL REPORTER Last updated at 9:02 AM on 1st September 2010 A paedophile suspected of being involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann reportedly 'confessed' to knowing what happened to the little girl on his deathbed. Raymond Hewlett apparently wrote to his estranged son denying he played a part in the three-year-old's abduction, but claimed he knew she had been 'stolen to order' by a gypsy gang. Cancer sufferer Hewlett, who has a record of raping and abducting children, had previously claimed to have seen the missing toddler twice before she vanished in 2007. But he vowed only to reveal where he was the night she went missing if he was paid thousands of pounds. Kate and Gerry McCann's private detectives refused the request. Today his son Wayne claimed to the Sun that the letter was delivered to him by a mystery man a week after he died in April. Wayne, who has had no contact with his father for 20 years, claimed his father insisted he had nothing to do with Madeleine’s disappearance – but that he knew who did. He said: 'He said a very good gipsy friend he knew in Portugal had got drunk and "let it out" that he had stolen Maddie to order as part of a gang. 'My dad said this gang had been operating for a long time and had snatched children before for couples who couldn't have children of their own. 'Maddie had been targeted. They took photos of children and send them to the people they were acting for. And they said Yes or No.' Private detectives working for the McCanns are said to be 'extremely interested' in the claims and are preparing to interview Wayne. Wayne, 40, says he burned the letter because it 'unnerved' him so much. The Sun reported they learned of the existence of the note through another source and confirmed they had not been approached by Wayne originally. Madeleine went missing from The Ocean Club Hotel in Praia da Luz in the Portuguese Algarve while her parents dined at a restaurant on the resort. Hewlett was living with his family on a campsite an hour's drive away at the time.

Maddie: Kate plea to perv's widow, 27 February 2011

Kate plea to perv's widow News of the World (paper edition) Mum to mum ... please tell EXCLUSIVE By Matthew Drake Sunday 27 Feb 2011 HEARTBROKEN Kate McCann is pleading with the widow of a dead paedophile to break her silence in the hunt for snatched daughter Madeleine. But Mariana Schmuecker – herself a mother of six -has snubbed FOUR requests to reveal secrets about her husband, convicted child rapist Raymond Hewlett. Detectives believe what she knows could hold the vital key to their investigation. When the News of the World confronted her the callous German just snarled: "Clear off! I'm sick to death of hearing about Maddie McCann!". Flawed Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry desperately want Mariana to shed light on Hewlett's links with child-sex perverts in Portugal’s Algarve, where three-year-old Maddie vanished in May 2007. Ex-fairground worker Hewlett bore a striking resemblence to the straggly-haired man seen lurking near the McCanns' holiday apartment. His previous conviction included the rape of a 12-year-old girl he lured into his car then drugged with paint stripper. And he was bragged how gipsies had offered him "good money" for his own blonde-haired daughter aged two. But Mariana, who suddenly shipped off to Morocco with Hewlett just three weeks after Maddie's disappearance, has stayed tight- lipped – even about her partner's flawed alibi. Hewlett claimed that on the Thursday Madeleine (right) was abducted he was with his family at a market up the coast in Fuzets. But that market is only held on Saturdays. A source close to the McCanns told us: "Through detectives Kate has begged Mariana to speak out and hopes she will do the right thing. As a mother herself you'd think she'd want to help." Mariana lives with her kids in the German city of Aachen, in the same flat she shared with Hewlett before he died two years ago of throat cancer at 64. A source close to the investigation said: "Our detectives are pretty certain Mariana knows a lot about Hewlett's background and activities. That would open up doors to paedophile networks in the Algarve. "We were never able to rule Hewlett out as a suspect. He'd have had useful information and we're convinced Mariana is more than able to fill in the gaps. But she just tells us to go away or puts the phone down." "We want to know WHO she knows, and WHAT she's heard about possible routes to spirit a child out of the country." "She and Hewlett left Portugal at a rate of knots because he feared being associated with Madeleine's disappearance." "We wanted to know about the six children Mariana and Hewlett had because none of them had any official birth documents. And there was a seventh child who died in mysterious circumstances." "They never explained how they could move from country to country with the children despite having no passports."

Secret video of Maddie suspect, 06 March 2011

Secret video of Maddie suspect News of the World (subscription/paper edition) News of the World, paper edition March 6, 2011 MADELEINE McCann suspect Raymond Hewlett said his wife would "go mental" if she was asked about the missing girl in a dramatic video recorded before his death. Convicted paedophile Hewlett was tracked down to a German hospital by a British couple who met him on holiday in Portugal. In a tense video, the couple confront Hewlett and tell him they know of his paedo past - and ask him if he was involved in Madeleine's disappearance from an apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in May 2007. He replies: "You're joking. How would I know about that?" Hewlett then launches into a rambling alibi, during which he claims he was at a market with German wife Mariana Schmuecker on the day Madeleine vanished - except the market is held on Saturdays and the little girl went missing on a Thursday. Terrified the couple are going to speak to his wife, Hewlett adds: "I mean, you going... going to repeat all this to Mariana about this, about this kid? She'll go mental."

Did he take Maddy?, 24 November 2012

Did he take Maddy? Daily Mirror (paper edition) NEW PAEDOPHILE PROBE Cold case cops to quiz Brits about child rapist EXCLUSIVE BY MARTIN FRICKER POLICE hunting Madeleine McCann are again investigating paedophile Raymond Hewlett over the youngster's disappearance. The child rapist was living on the Algarve when she vanished and told a Brit couple gypsies had been looking to buy children. FULL STORY PAGES 4&5 New Madeleine McCann sensation: Cold case cops investigate paedophile in search for Maddy Daily Mirror The child molester, who has a string of child sex convictions, was living on the Algarve when the youngster vanished from her holiday home By Martin Fricker 24 Nov 2012 00:00 Child molester Raymond Hewlett went to his death refusing to speak to investigators hunting for Madeleine McCann after he was sensationally linked to her disappearance. But police have now turned their attention back to the notorious paedophile who has a string of child sex convictions and was living on the Algarve when the youngster vanished from her holiday home in May 2007. Scotland Yard detectives who opened a review into the Madeleine mystery want to speak to a couple who befriended the former soldier while they were on holiday in Portugal. They were told by him he had been approached by gypsies wanting to buy one of his six children. Alan and Cindy Thompson met pervert Hewlett, his German wife Mariana Schmucker and their kids. It was only after they returned to Britain they learned from a fellow holidaymaker that the seemingly harmless drifter had been jailed three times for vile attacks on young girls. The couple raised the alarm after ­realising he and his family had been staying in their converted truck at a camping site near Praia da Luz at the time three-year-old Madeleine disappeared as her parents Kate and Gerry dined out with friends nearby. Speaking after making the link Alan, 59, said: "Hewlett befriended us but kept quiet about his terrible past." The sex beast told the Nottingham couple how he was approached by some "gypsy tourists" offering cash for his own daughter. Like Madeleine, she was blonde-haired and blue-eyed. He said he refused. Cindy, 50, added: "We didn't think too much of this at the time. "Ray and his family led a desperate hand-to-mouth lifestyle and someone may have thought he'd be tempted to sell one of his six children." Hewlett, once on a ­Crimestoppers list of most wanted ­paedophiles, bore a striking resemblance to a suspect seen lurking outside the McCanns' apartment. He also repeatedly refused to give an alibi. Described as "cunning" and a "danger to children", it is feared the pervert might have kidnapped Madeleine to sell to the gypsies or even smuggled her into North Africa. He admitted leaving Portugal for Morocco three weeks after she disappeared. The 64-year-old was tracked down by investigators Dave Edgar and Arthur Cowley, who were working for Kate and Gerry, before his 2010 death from throat cancer. But despite being confronted on three occasions, he refused to speak to the private detectives about the case. Former Scots Guard Peter Verran, 46, shared a Moroccan campsite with Hewlett between June and November 2007. He said: "He told me gypsies wanted to pay good money for his daughter and he'd met some who traded in children and sold them to paedophiles." Another former pal in the ­Portuguese town of Tavira – where Hewlett's family used to park their truck – revealed how he developed a close friendship with two gypsy families. US-born artist Leonardo Leopoldo, 79, said: "No one spoke to the gypsies apart from Ray. "He was always talking to them. There was talk in the area they sold children to ­paedophiles. "By the time, Madeleine was snatched, he was very friendly with them." The Thompsons recalled Hewlett telling how he had gone to Morocco with his family to make a sale. He did not elaborate but said it was "a good business trip and he made a profit". There were numerous sightings of a girl matching Madeleine’s description in the North African country after she was taken. Alan and Cindy contacted Hewlett in September 2009 to ask him about any link to her disappearance. When quizzed about his Morocco trip he replied ­sarcastically: "Yes, so? That makes me guilty then? "In Morocco, everything's worth ­something. You can get 25 euros for an old bike." Speaking after he and Mr Cowley tracked Hewlett down to Germany, Mr Edgar said: "It would appear certain now that he does not want to talk to us. "We want to know where Hewlett was when Madeleine McCann went missing. "Does he know anything about Madeleine and will he speak to us? This is the first named person we have flown out to see. "We want to eliminate this man from our inquiries as quickly as possible. "His evidence could be crucial but we won't know until we've spoken to him." German newspapers quoted police sources as saying the pervert boasted he had seen Madeleine twice before she died. And in a deathbed letter to estranged son Wayne, he claimed to know what had happened to the youngster. Hewlett denied having anything to do with her disappearance but said he knew she had been stolen to order by a gypsy gang. Detectives are also looking at interviews Hewlett gave before his death in which he admitted being in the Algarve when Madeleine was snatched. He told the Sunday Mirror: "It's obvious why they're ­interested in me. But they can all think what they like. "I didn't kill the McCann girl. It's the truth and it'll never change. "I know I didn't do anything wrong, but if people aren't listening, what can you do? I didn't kill the McCann girl." Before his death Hewlett claimed he was with an unnamed woman in Fuzeta, 30 miles from Praia da Luz, on May 3, 2007 – the day Madeleine went missing. He said she would remember because she shot a home video of him and his family at a flea market in the town. But Mariana later revealed the friend could not remember where he was. She said: "The truth is, she can't remember where Ray was. She can't give him an alibi. No one can." Before he died, Mariana challenged Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leicestershire, to come to see her. She said: "I know about my Raymond's past and it is forgotten. He is a changed man. I know that he didn't take Madeleine. "He is a very sick man and has said to me he will do anything to prove he is innocent, even take a lie detector test. "Let the parents of Madeleine come here and ask him face-to-face if he had anything to do with their child going missing. "My husband has nothing to do with little Madeleine. He's an innocent man and he'll prove it." Reports in Portugal claimed Hewlett was grilled by local detectives but later ruled out as a suspect. But yesterday, the Policia Judiciaria refused to confirm if the paedophile had ever been questioned. Hewlett gave a sample of his DNA to police in Germany from his hospital bed before he died. But a German police spokesman said the DNA sample related to two 1975 child abuse cases in Britain – and not Madeleine's disappearance. British police wanted to interview him about a sexual assault on a child in West Yorkshire in 1975 and the murder of 11-year-old Lesley Molseed that same year. In 1972, he abducted and ­sexually assaulted a neighbour's six-year-old daughter and was sentenced to 18 months behind bars. In 1978 he attempted to rape a nine-year-old girl and was jailed for four years. And in 1988 at Mold, Flintshire, he kidnapped and assaulted a 14-year-old girl and was jailed for six years. Last night Scotland Yard said: "We are not prepared to discuss any particular lines of enquiry." Rush of new clues in fresh look at case The renewed investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance uncovered 95 potential new leads in its first year. Scotland Yard launched its £2million Operation Grange in May 2011, three years after the official inquiry ended, at the request of Home ­Secretary Theresa May. By May this year the team of 29 detectives from the Met's highly skilled Homicide and Serious Crime Command unit had sifted through 40,000 pieces of information in the case. They are being led by Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Redwood, who previously caught murderer Miguel da Silva – convicted of strangling a mum-of-two – after a cold case review. Last December, police said were examining up to eight "very important" new leads after meeting Barcelona private investigators Metodo 3, who spent six months working for Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine's parents. They urged their Portuguese counterparts to re-open their search for the youngster, who vanished in May 2007. The Portuguese police refused, but Madeleine's dad Gerry said he had "no doubt" they would re-open the investigation to check new leads uncovered by the ­Scotland Yard team. Former Met detective Peter Kirkham said the renewed investigation could still uncover new clues. He said: "They bring fresh eyes to the case to ensure nothing has been missed. "Forensic science has moved on and re-examination of the original exhibits may reveal new clues. "If the police go knocking on doors again someone may now be willing to talk. "Just one piece of information could help reveal what happened to Madeleine."