Accused Stalker Questioned: 'Yet Imagine I Might Be Madeleine?'

Courtroom sketch
Julia Wandelt - who a court has heard believes she is disappeared Madeleine McCann - deny the allegations

A female charged with pursuing Kate McCann apparently left her a recorded message which asked: "what if I am Madeleine?"

The defendant, twenty-four, who witnesses stated has persistently declared she was the missing Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are standing trial charged with harassing Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February 2025.

Madeleine McCann photo
Madeleine McCann's case has not yet been concluded

On Monday, Leicester Crown Court was told phone records and data recovered from phones documented Ms Wandelt repeatedly asking Madeleine's mother for a biological test during that period.

Madeleine's disappearance in 2007 - at the age of three during a trip in Portugal - is one of the most covered child disappearance cases and is still open.

'I Don't Want Money'

One phone message, presented in court, recorded Ms Wandelt saying: "I know I'm fat and unattractive like Madeleine had been, but I feel what I feel."

While one recording of Ms Wandelt's recordings with Mrs McCann's recording said: "Suppose there is a small chance that I am she? What happens next? Wouldn't that be crucial for you?"

"I don't want money, I maintain a living here in Poland, I simply desire to understand," the recording stated.

The jury was advised that through emails, SMS messages and communications, Ms Wandelt demanded a genetic test, forwarded early photographs to her phone in a effort to display a resemblance to Mrs McCann's missing daughter, and asserted to have "memories" from a youth with the McCanns.

The investigator, an intelligence analyst with the police force who collated the data, advised the court there "showed no any responses" from Mrs McCann.

Ms Wandelt also reached out to close associates of the McCanns, based on the communication logs.

On 9 October 2024, Gerry McCann answered a call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, saying she had "a wrong number."

During that incident Ms Wandelt deposited a voicemail on Mrs McCann's answerphone saying "I won't give up and I will prove my claim."

Court proceedings
Kate and Gerry McCann gave evidence to the court from behind a security measure on Wednesday

The court was informed the co-defendant struck up a connection online with Ms Wandelt before assisting her on a appearance to the McCanns' residence in that area in last December.

Phone records revealed Mrs Spragg had communicated via communication app to Mrs McCann to state the media had characterized Ms Wandelt as "a crazy person" but that she ought to be treated respectfully in the months preceding the visit to the village, Leicestershire, in last December.

The court learned communications between the two individuals, in that autumn, considering trying to obtain Mrs McCann's DNA samples from her bins or from cutlery at a restaurant.

"We must take action," the co-defendant told Ms Wandelt.

On the occasion of the visit to their house, Mrs Spragg sent a communication which said: "We are sitting near the McCanns' house with our headlights off resembling detectives. I wanted to do this with someone else I never thought I would be engaged in this with the McCanns."

The proceedings ongoing.

Suzanne Rodriguez
Suzanne Rodriguez

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