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A former German detective with years of
experience working on murder
investigations has added his voice to
the legions of people backing
"disgraced" Madeleine cop Goncalo
Amaral.
Ulrich M., 60, was in Praia da Luz on
the day Madeleine went missing in 2007.
He has been following the various
investigations ever since with the eye
of a trained professional.
His “exasperation” at the way things
have been handled down the years is one
of the reasons for his decision to put
pen to paper.
He writes to Amaral as the latter waits
on tenterhooks to hear the
judge’s
final decision over whether or not
he is liable for the €1.2 million
defamation claim taken out against him
by Madeleine’s parents five years ago.
Ulrich M. does not mince his words.
Amaral’s theory, given the details
available at the time, was “completely
valid”, he tells the policeman.
The theory that burglars could have
abducted Madeleine simply “does not fit
the profile”, he claims - and indeed, in
his opinion as a criminal investigator,
Ulrich M. does “not believe in an
abduction” at all.
Social media support for Amaral since he
was “disgraced” - particularly by the
British media - and removed from the
original Portuguese investigation has
been resounding, but this is perhaps the
first time a trained police investigator
has come out on record in this way.
Non-English speaking, Ulrich M. is
unconcerned.
He claims the case is unique in that the
Portuguese government “has allowed
itself to be pushed around” by Britain,
currently conducting the “Operation
Grange” investigation into Madeleine’s
almost eight-year-old disappearance.
“The way this case has been handled is
particularly unique because your
conclusions differed from those of the
British government,” he told Amaral,
stressing his “exasperation” at seeing a
fellow policeman’s work “denigrated”.
The Resident learnt of Ulrich M’s letter
as it was handed to us to pass on to
Amaral. We cannot go into the details of
Ulrich M’ theory as a criminal
investigator with specific experience in
murder cases as it would undoubtedly see
us in legal hot-water.
As Portuguese news media has long
pointed out, Amaral’s theory, expounded
in his book “The
Truth of the Lie”, has seen him
financially-strapped since its
publication.
Bank accounts have been frozen, the book
‘seized’ and withdrawn from sale for
months, and his “civil position”, as the
former detective refers to it, made
untenable.
In an open letter to his supporters as
the long-running trial for defamation
came to a close, Amaral reiterated his
belief that the parents of the missing
child have
“sought to ‘asphyxiate’ him
financially and push him to a civil
death” - a position from which he would
be “unable to react judicially”.
“After five years, the parents of the
child that mysteriously disappeared on
the 3rd of May of 2007 in the Algarve
were not able to fully achieve what they
intended. I am alive, I'm able to
financially sustain the civil suit,
although not much more than that…”
Since that message,
Projecto Justica Goncalo Amaral has
issued a new bulletin saying the judge’s
decision on the McCann parents’ suit
should come after the judicial holidays
which close on April 6.
“We trust in justice and serenely await
the judge’s decision,” the message came
to its close.
“God’s windmills move slowly,” Ulrich M.
concluded in his letter to Amaral. “You
are in a trap made by bad people, but I
know that when someone shares the
knowledge of the deed, the conscience
always come out - even if it is
unintentional.
“I have strong hope in your complete
recovery and rehabilitation,” he tells
the Portuguese “colleague” whom he has
never met.
Endless column inches have been devoted
to this eternal mystery but the truth is
that Goncalo Amaral has been fighting
for his professional credibility in an
arena bereft of mainstream support.
It is this reality that prompted Ulrich
M’s hand-written letter which comes in
the wake of rumblings from the UK that
the Metropolitan Police may at last be
considering a renewed scale back of the
multi-million pound investigation into
Madeleine’s disappearance. |
