Alleged Stalker Questioned: 'Yet What If I Am Madeleine?'
A individual indicted with pursuing Kate McCann reportedly recorded her a phone message which questioned: "what if I am Madeleine?"
Julia Wandelt, 24, who a jury heard has persistently asserted she was the vanished Madeleine McCann, and her co-defendant are standing trial charged with harassing Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February the current year.
On Monday, the court learned communication data and data recovered from phones logged Ms Wandelt repeatedly demanding Madeleine's mother for a DNA test throughout that period.
Madeleine's case in 2007 - as a three-year-old during a family holiday in Portugal - is among the most covered child disappearance cases and is still open.
'I Do Not Need Money'
Another phone message, shared in court, captured Ms Wandelt saying: "I realize I'm heavy and not pretty like Madeleine was, but I know what I believe."
While another instance of Ms Wandelt's recordings with Mrs McCann's recording expressed: "What if there is a small chance that I am she? What happens next? Is that not important for you?"
"I am not seeking money, I maintain a existence here in Poland, I only wish to know," she added.
The jury was advised that by means of electronic messages, text messages and phone calls, Ms Wandelt asked for a DNA test, transmitted youth pictures to her phone in a effort to display a resemblance to Mrs McCann's disappeared daughter, and stated to have "flashbacks" from a childhood with the McCanns.
Robert Jones, an investigator with Leicestershire Police who collated the evidence, told the court there "seemed to lack any answers" from Mrs McCann.
Ms Wandelt furthermore contacted close associates of the McCanns, as per the call data.
On 9 October 2024, Mr McCann answered a communication from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, stating she had "incorrect contact information."
That day Ms Wandelt recorded a message on Mrs McCann's answerphone declaring "I won't give up and I plan to establish my point."
The court learned Mrs Spragg established a connection through digital means with Ms Wandelt preceding accompanying her on a trip to the McCanns' home in Leicestershire in last December.
Phone records showed Mrs Spragg had reached out using messaging service to Mrs McCann to say the media had characterized Ms Wandelt as "a crazy person" but that she ought to be taken seriously in the time before the trip to Rothley, Leicestershire, in last December.
The court learned correspondence between the two accused, in that autumn, discussing attempting to obtain Mrs McCann's genetic material from her garbage or from utensils at a dining venue.
"We must take action," Mrs Spragg advised Ms Wandelt.
On the occasion of the visit to their residence, the defendant transmitted a communication which expressed: "We find ourselves sat adjacent to the McCanns' residence 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 proceedings continues.