Alleged Stalker Asked: 'Yet Imagine I Could Be Madeleine?'
A female accused with harassing Kate McCann apparently recorded her a voicemail message which posed: "what if I am Madeleine?"
Julia Wandelt, 24, who witnesses stated has repeatedly claimed she was the missing Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are standing trial accused with pursuing Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February 2025.
On Monday, Leicester Crown Court was told call records and data recovered from phones documented Ms Wandelt persistently requesting Madeleine's mother for a DNA test during the past two years.
Madeleine's case in 2007 - as a three-year-old during a trip in Portugal - is among the most covered investigations and continues to be open.
'I Am Not Seeking Money'
One phone message, presented in court, captured Ms Wandelt saying: "I understand I'm fat and plain like Madeleine used to be, but I feel what I believe."
While one recording of Ms Wandelt's recordings with Mrs McCann's recording said: "Imagine there is a small chance that I am she? Then what? Wouldn't that be crucial for you?"
"I am not seeking money, I possess a existence here in Poland, I simply desire to understand," the message continued.
The tribunal was advised that by means of electronic messages, SMS messages and calls, Ms Wandelt demanded a DNA test, transmitted childhood photos to her phone in a attempt to show a similarity to Mrs McCann's disappeared daughter, and asserted to have "memories" from a youth with the McCanns.
Robert Jones, an investigator with the police force who gathered the information, informed the court there "showed no any responses" from Mrs McCann.
Ms Wandelt also communicated with family friends of the McCanns, as per the phone records.
On October 9th, 2024, the father picked up a phone call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, stating she had "the wrong phone."
On that occasion Ms Wandelt deposited a recording on Mrs McCann's recording declaring "I will continue and I plan to establish my claim."
The court heard the co-defendant established a connection online with Ms Wandelt before assisting her on a trip to the McCanns' residence in the county in December 2024.
Communication data demonstrated Mrs Spragg had contacted through WhatsApp to Mrs McCann to say the press had depicted Ms Wandelt as "mentally unstable" but that she should be considered genuine in the time leading up to the appearance to that location, Leicestershire, in that winter.
The court learned correspondence between the two accused, in that autumn, considering endeavoring to get Mrs McCann's DNA samples from her garbage or from silverware at a dining venue.
"We need to assert ourselves," Mrs Spragg told Ms Wandelt.
On the occasion of the trip to their house, Mrs Spragg sent a communication which expressed: "We are sat outside the McCanns' home with our headlights off similar to private investigators. I desired to accomplish this with Peter Andrew I didn't imagine I would be doing that with the McCanns."
The trial proceeds.