Accused Harasser Questioned: 'However Suppose I Could Be Madeleine?'
A woman accused with pursuing Kate McCann allegedly recorded her a phone message which asked: "what if I am Madeleine?"
The defendant, twenty-four, who a jury heard has consistently declared she was the disappeared Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are on trial charged with pursuing Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February this year.
On Monday, the tribunal learned communication data and evidence obtained from phones logged Ms Wandelt consistently requesting Madeleine's mother for a biological test throughout 2023 and 2024.
Madeleine's vanishing in 2007 - at the age of three during a vacation in Portugal - is considered the most covered investigations and is still open.
'I Am Not Seeking Money'
Another recorded message, presented in court, captured Ms Wandelt stating: "I understand I'm overweight and plain like Madeleine was, but I feel what I know."
While one recording of Ms Wandelt's one-way conversations with Mrs McCann's voicemail said: "What if there is a small chance that I'm her? What happens next? Is that not significant for you?"
"I don't want money, I possess a living here in Poland, I only wish to know," she added.
The jury was advised that by means of emails, text messages and phone calls, Ms Wandelt asked for a DNA test, forwarded youth pictures to her phone in a bid to show a resemblance to Mrs McCann's disappeared daughter, and stated to have "recollections" from a childhood with the McCanns.
The investigator, an intelligence analyst with the police force who compiled the evidence, advised the court there "seemed to lack any answers" from Mrs McCann.
Ms Wandelt furthermore communicated with family friends of the McCanns, as per the call data.
On 9 October 2024, Gerry McCann responded to a phone call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, declaring she had "a wrong number."
On that occasion Ms Wandelt deposited a message on Mrs McCann's answerphone declaring "I won't give up and I will prove my position."
The court heard the co-defendant struck up a association online with Ms Wandelt before assisting her on a trip to the McCanns' home in Leicestershire in December 2024.
Communication data showed Mrs Spragg had reached out using WhatsApp to Mrs McCann to say the news outlets had portrayed Ms Wandelt as "mentally unstable" but that she ought to be treated respectfully in the period leading up to the appearance to Rothley, Leicestershire, in December 2024.
The court learned message exchanges between the two individuals, in November 2024, considering attempting to acquire Mrs McCann's biological evidence from her trash or from cutlery at a restaurant.
"We must assert ourselves," Mrs Spragg informed Ms Wandelt.
On the night of the visit to their residence, the defendant transmitted a communication which said: "We're currently sitting adjacent to the McCanns' residence with our headlights off resembling private investigators. I had hoped to achieve this with another person I didn't imagine I would be involved in this with the McCanns."
The case ongoing.