‘Fake Maddie’ makes chilling ‘I remember’ claim to McCanns from night of abduction | UK | News
A woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann recalled the night she was “kidnapped” in a voice message to the missing girl’s mother, a court heard. Julia Wandelt, 24, from Lubin in southwestern Poland, claimed she remembered Kate McCann telling her “that she loved me and that she would find me” on the night the boy disappeared in 2007.
Wandelt denies stalking Ms McCann and her husband Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February this year. Leicester Crown Court heard on Monday that Wandelt left Ms McCann voicemails over several months last year, at one point asking: “What if it was me?” he asked, sounding audibly upset in the recordings. Madeleine disappeared from her family’s holiday home in Algarve, Portugal, in May 2007, when she was three years old.
Wandelt left numerous messages detailing the allegations as to why he thought it was Madeleine.
“I remember how she hugged me,” Wandelt said of the night Madeleine disappeared.
“I remember how you came into the room before [the] There was a kidnapping, I rubbed my head, you said you loved me and you would find me. I’m begging you to call me.”
Prosecutors allege the Polish national spread the “myth” that she was Madeleine while stalking her parents by sending emails, making phone calls and showing up at their addresses.
In other messages to Ms McCann, Wandelt recalled “feeding my little brother in the kitchen” and claimed he had memories of playing Ring a Ring o’ Roses with other children and the McCanns.
In another message, he described “one instance I can remember” of having a barbecue with other children when he was little, and claimed he asked Ms McCann if he could have a ball.
The message read: “I cry when I hear your voice. I feel this connection, I don’t know how to explain it.”
He added: “I always thought you were innocent. I feel in my heart that you don’t want this to happen. I know people judge you and they judge me too.”
“I know you’ve probably finished this chapter of your life, closed it down, and I know you probably don’t want to bring it up again, but I always want to hear your voice.”
In her voicemail, Wandelt claimed she recalled “trying to scream ‘mom, dad'” and added: “I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t do anything.”
The court heard Wandelt repeatedly pleaded with Madeleine’s parents to take a DNA test.
In another voicemail left for Ms McCann and played to the court, Wandelt was heard saying: “I know you probably think Madeleine is dead. Actually, she’s not. I really believe it’s her.”
“Help me. Don’t think that Madeleine is dead. This is a chance. Please, I’m begging you.”
“The police don’t want to help me, they don’t want to help Madeleine. It’s all corruption.”
“I promise you, I will prove who I am because I know you love Madeleine.”
The court previously heard Wandelt called and texted Ms McCann more than 60 times in a single day in April last year.
Wandelt and co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, of Caerau Court Road, Caerau, Cardiff, deny an allegation of harassment.
The trial continues.
