Accused Stalker Asked: 'Yet Suppose I Could Be Madeleine?'
A woman indicted with stalking Kate McCann apparently deposited her a phone message which questioned: "what if I am Madeleine?"
Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, who court testimony revealed has repeatedly claimed she was the missing Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are on trial indicted with pursuing Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February 2025.
On Monday, Leicester Crown Court was told call records and data obtained from phones recorded Ms Wandelt repeatedly asking Madeleine's mother for a DNA test throughout that period.
Madeleine's case in 2007 - when she was three years old during a trip in Portugal - is considered the most widely reported investigations and remains unresolved.
'I Am Not Seeking Money'
A separate recorded message, shared in court, documented Ms Wandelt saying: "I know I'm fat and plain like Madeleine used to be, but I know what I feel."
While a separate message of Ms Wandelt's one-way conversations with Mrs McCann's voicemail expressed: "What if there is a tiny probability that I am she? What happens next? Is that not significant for you?"
"I do not need money, I maintain a living here in Poland, I just want to discover," she added.
The panel was informed that via electronic messages, SMS messages and communications, Ms Wandelt asked for a genetic test, transmitted childhood photos to her phone in a bid to display a similarity to Mrs McCann's disappeared daughter, and stated to have "flashbacks" from a childhood with the McCanns.
The investigator, an intelligence analyst with the police force who gathered the data, told the court there "didn't appear to be any replies" from Mrs McCann.
Ms Wandelt additionally contacted close associates of the McCanns, according to 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."
On that occasion Ms Wandelt deposited a message on Mrs McCann's voicemail declaring "I won't give up and I plan to establish my claim."
The court was informed Mrs Spragg established a connection through digital means with Ms Wandelt prior to accompanying her on a trip to the McCanns' residence in that area in that winter.
Phone records showed Mrs Spragg had communicated via WhatsApp to Mrs McCann to say the news outlets had characterized Ms Wandelt as "a crazy person" but that she ought to be taken seriously in the time before the appearance to the village, that area, in December 2024.
The court heard correspondence between the two defendants, in November 2024, discussing endeavoring to acquire Mrs McCann's DNA samples from her garbage or from cutlery at a restaurant.
"We must make a stand," the co-defendant told Ms Wandelt.
On the night of the trip to their home, the defendant transmitted a communication which expressed: "We're currently sat adjacent to the McCanns' residence with our headlights off like detectives. I desired to do this with someone else I didn't imagine I would be involved in this with the McCanns."
The proceedings ongoing.
