Alleged Harasser Asked: 'Yet Imagine I Might Be Madeleine?'

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

A woman charged with stalking Kate McCann apparently deposited her a recorded message which asked: "suppose I am Madeleine?"

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

Madeleine McCann photo
Madeleine McCann's disappearance has never been concluded

On Monday, the court learned communication data and data retrieved from phones recorded Ms Wandelt consistently asking Madeleine's mother for a genetic test throughout that period.

Madeleine's vanishing in 2007 - when she was three years old during a trip in Portugal - is among the most widely reported missing child cases and remains open.

'I Don't Want Money'

One recorded message, played in court, recorded Ms Wandelt stating: "I realize I'm overweight and not pretty like Madeleine was, but I know what I believe."

While a separate message of Ms Wandelt's one-way conversations with Mrs McCann's answerphone expressed: "What if there is a slight possibility that I am Madeleine? What happens next? Wouldn't that be significant for you?"

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

The panel was told that via electronic messages, SMS messages and phone calls, Ms Wandelt requested a genetic test, transmitted youth pictures to her phone in a bid to display a similarity to Mrs McCann's vanished daughter, and asserted to have "recollections" from a early life with the McCanns.

An intelligence analyst, an investigator with Leicestershire Police who gathered the evidence, told the court there "showed no any responses" from Mrs McCann.

Ms Wandelt also reached out to acquaintances of the McCanns, based on the phone records.

On 9 October 2024, Gerry McCann picked up a call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, stating she had "the wrong phone."

That day Ms Wandelt deposited a message on Mrs McCann's answerphone saying "I will continue and I will prove my point."

Court proceedings
Kate and Gerry McCann provided testimony to the court from using a protective barrier on Wednesday

The court learned the co-defendant established a relationship through digital means with Ms Wandelt preceding joining her on a trip to the McCanns' residence in the county in December 2024.

Communication data showed Mrs Spragg had contacted through communication app to Mrs McCann to express the press had depicted Ms Wandelt as "mentally unstable" but that she deserved to be considered genuine in the months preceding the appearance to the village, that area, in December 2024.

The court heard message exchanges between the two accused, in last November, considering attempting to acquire Mrs McCann's biological evidence from her trash or from utensils at a dining venue.

"We need to make a stand," Mrs Spragg advised Ms Wandelt.

On the night of the appearance to their home, Mrs Spragg dispatched a communication which expressed: "We are positioned near the McCanns' residence with our vehicle dark like detectives. I had hoped to do this with someone else I never thought I would be doing that with the McCanns."

The case continues.

Roberto Arnold
Roberto Arnold

A seasoned crypto analyst with over a decade of experience in blockchain technology and digital finance, passionate about educating investors.