Alleged Stalker Inquired: 'But Suppose I Could Be Madeleine?'
A woman accused with harassing Kate McCann apparently left her a voicemail message which questioned: "what if I am Madeleine?"
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, who a jury heard has consistently claimed she was the vanished Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are facing charges indicted with stalking Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February this year.
On Monday, the court learned communication data and evidence retrieved from phones documented Ms Wandelt persistently requesting Madeleine's mother for a DNA test throughout 2023 and 2024.
Madeleine's case in 2007 - as a three-year-old during a vacation in Portugal - is one of the most publicized investigations and is still open.
'I Don't Want Money'
A separate voicemail, presented in court, captured Ms Wandelt stating: "I realize I'm heavy and unattractive like Madeleine used to be, but I feel what I know."
While one recording of Ms Wandelt's monologues with Mrs McCann's recording expressed: "Imagine there is a slight possibility that I am she? What then? Wouldn't that be crucial for you?"
"I am not seeking money, I have a living here in Poland, I only wish to discover," the recording stated.
The panel was informed that by means of emails, SMS messages and calls, Ms Wandelt asked for a biological test, sent childhood photos to her phone in a bid to demonstrate a likeness to Mrs McCann's missing daughter, and claimed to have "flashbacks" from a youth with the McCanns.
Robert Jones, an investigator with Leicestershire Police who gathered the data, advised the court there "didn't appear to be any replies" from Mrs McCann.
Ms Wandelt furthermore communicated with family friends of the McCanns, according to the phone records.
On 9 October 2024, the father picked up a call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, declaring she had "a wrong number."
On that occasion Ms Wandelt deposited a recording on Mrs McCann's recording declaring "I will continue and I will prove my claim."
The court was informed the co-defendant established a association via internet with Ms Wandelt prior to assisting her on a trip to the McCanns' property in the county in December 2024.
Phone records revealed Mrs Spragg had reached out using messaging service to Mrs McCann to say the press had portrayed Ms Wandelt as "emotionally disturbed" but that she ought to be treated respectfully in the period leading up to the trip to the village, the county, in that winter.
The court was told communications between the two accused, in last November, discussing trying to obtain Mrs McCann's DNA samples from her bins or from silverware at a restaurant.
"We must make a stand," Mrs Spragg informed Ms Wandelt.
On the occasion of the trip to their residence, the defendant transmitted a text which expressed: "We're currently sitting adjacent to the McCanns' home with our vehicle dark similar to private investigators. I had hoped to achieve this with someone else I hadn't anticipated I would be involved in this with the McCanns."
The trial continues.
