Portuguese police released the image, showing the father-of-one staring blankly ahead, as part of the publication of the 20,000 page 'Madeleine file'
Details of the interview detectives
conducted with Robert Murat are also
included
in the file.
|
|
|
The police mugshot of Robert Murat released for the first time today. He has been cleared of any involvement |
The Briton,
made an
official
suspect
alongside
the McCanns,
told
officers he
did not want
a lawyer and
agreed to
answer
questions.
He said he was at home with his mother when he heard an ambulance or police siren at around 10.30 on the night Madeleine disappeared but found out only on TV the following morning that ' something terrible had happened'.
Mr Murat searched his own garden to see if Madeleine had got in there.
During the
15 long
months Mr
Murat was an
'arguido',
the picture
remained
part of the
secret
documents
collected as
part of the
police
investigation.
 |
|
Innocent: Mr Murat in Portugal last year |
He was formally cleared of any involvement in the disappearance last month along with Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry, and only now has the file been opened.
His picture was published at the same time as two e-fits of possible suspects were also released for the first time.
The file also reveals Portugal's own prosecutors had strongly criticised the police investigation and how detectives tried to trap the McCanns with false DNA evidence.
In a further
blow to the
couple, it
shows
officers
failed to
follow up a
CCTV image
of a girl
bearing a
striking
similarity
to their
daughter.
Madeleine, then three, disappeared on May 3 as her parents ate at a nearby restaurant with friends. Despite regular checks, she vanished sometime around 10pm.
Anglo-Portuguese property consultant, Mr Murat, 34, became an 'arguido' just 11 days later.
Witnesses claimed they had seen him near the apartment complex and he was initially questioned by police after a journalist tipped off the police.
He had
become known
to reporters
after helped
officers
with
translation
work during
the initial
search to
find
Madeleine.
His house around 150 yards from the apartment where the toddler had been sleeping, which he shares with his mother, was searched.
Forensic
tests were
also carried
out on his
car and his
friends and
associates
questioned.
For five months, Mr Murat remained the only official suspect in the case but in September the investigation turned towards the McCanns themselves.
As police focused their efforts on the couple, he slipped from the public eye and there were signs police no longer considered him a serious suspect.
In March, officers returned items of clothing and computers seized from his home on May 19. The following month, he was able to fly to the UK to visit his daughter.
Last month, he was awarded damages for newspaper claims he was involved in the abduction.
