Alleged Harasser Asked: 'However Imagine I Am Madeleine?'
A woman charged with stalking Kate McCann allegedly left her a recorded message which questioned: "imagine I am Madeleine?"
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, who a jury heard has persistently declared she was the vanished Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are standing trial charged with pursuing Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February this year.
On Monday, Leicester Crown Court heard communication data and information retrieved from phones documented Ms Wandelt persistently requesting Madeleine's mother for a genetic test throughout 2023 and 2024.
Madeleine's case in 2007 - when she was three years old during a family holiday in Portugal - is among the most publicized missing child cases and remains unsolved.
'I Am Not Seeking Money'
A separate recorded message, shared in court, recorded Ms Wandelt stating: "I understand I'm overweight and not pretty like Madeleine was, but I feel what I feel."
While one recording of Ms Wandelt's one-way conversations with Mrs McCann's recording said: "What if there is a small chance that I am Madeleine? What then? Isn't that crucial for you?"
"I don't want money, I possess a living here in Poland, I only wish to understand," she added.
The jury was informed that via electronic messages, SMS messages and communications, Ms Wandelt asked for a DNA test, sent early photographs to her phone in a bid to display a likeness to Mrs McCann's disappeared daughter, and stated to have "flashbacks" from a childhood with the McCanns.
Robert Jones, a data specialist with Leicestershire Police who compiled the data, told the court there "didn't appear to be any replies" from Mrs McCann.
Ms Wandelt also reached out to acquaintances of the McCanns, according to the call data.
On October 9th, 2024, Gerry McCann answered a call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, stating she had "incorrect contact information."
During that incident Ms Wandelt deposited a voicemail on Mrs McCann's voicemail stating "I will continue and I intend to demonstrate my position."
The court learned the co-defendant established a association via internet with Ms Wandelt prior to accompanying her on a appearance to the McCanns' home in that area in December 2024.
Communication data demonstrated Mrs Spragg had contacted through messaging service to Mrs McCann to state the media had characterized Ms Wandelt as "a crazy person" but that she should be taken seriously in the time preceding the appearance to that location, the county, in that winter.
The court was told message exchanges between the two defendants, in that autumn, considering attempting to get Mrs McCann's DNA samples from her garbage or from silverware at a restaurant.
"We have to assert ourselves," the co-defendant informed Ms Wandelt.
On the evening of the trip to their house, the defendant dispatched a text which stated: "We find ourselves sitting outside the McCanns' home with our lights out similar to investigators. I wanted to do this with another person I never thought I would be engaged in this with the McCanns."
The proceedings proceeds.
