‘They’ Say The Parents Killed Madeleine McCann
“WE DIDN’T KILL OUR MADELEINE.”
The Express is, of course, appalled at the suggestion that Gerry and Kate McCann did murder their daughter Madeleine. But the paper feels duty bound to report the denial on its front page.
Such is the passion evoked by the story of Madeleine McCann that the headline could read “WE DIDN’T KILL YOUR MADELEINE”, the McCanns’ appeal for understanding and compassion to the readers at large.
A source close to the couple tells the paper: “Kate and Gerry are well aware what these reports [Madeleine might have died in the apartment] are inferring – that they or one of their close friends killed Madeleine either deliberately or by accident.
“Gerry is completely livid about it all. It is completely hurtful and untrue.”
“Maddy parents’ fury at murder slurs,” say the Mail’s cover page. “YOU ARE NOT SUSPECTS,” says the Mirror’s front-page headline.
Police spokesman Olegario Sousa tells us: “The family are not suspects. This is the official position.”
But we don’t know. Facts on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann don’t stack up to much. The news of blood on the McCanns’ walls is open to much interpretation.
The Mirror considers the evidence. It says Madeleine may have died in the family holiday apartment. “Killers are often those closest to home, they say,” writes Julie McCaffrey, who repeats what “they say” for we readers to dismiss. “This shows the McCanns in a new light, they snipe. No smoke without fire…”
The writer goes on to warn: “But jumping to the wrong conclusions is dangerous, not least incredibly hurtful.” Indeed. Tell that to Robert Murat who one Mirror hack found so “creepy” she had to tell the police about him, rightly, and then tell her readers, wrongly.
In any case Madeleine McCann is not dead. As Gerry McCann assures us: “Kate and I strongly believe that Madeleine is alive and that she was taken from the apartment but obviously what we don’t know is what happened to her afterwards, who has taken and what was their motive.”
Which means the Express can feature stories about Madeleine in a Belgian restaurant. For three days running readers have been invited to wonder if it was Madeleine sat in a Flemish eatery with two adults. Today readers learn that the results of a DNA test on a glass will prove if it was the missing child.
And if it wasn’t Madeleine, what then? Are we back to watching the parents and seeing the media they are using to find their daughter turn against them?
Posted: 8th, August 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (114) | TrackBack | Permalink
