Alleged Harasser Questioned: 'Yet Suppose I Am Madeleine?'
A woman indicted with pursuing Kate McCann allegedly left her a phone message which posed: "imagine I am Madeleine?"
The defendant, 24, who a jury heard has consistently claimed she was the missing Madeleine McCann, and her co-defendant are standing trial indicted with stalking Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February this year.
On Monday, Leicester Crown Court heard phone records and evidence recovered from phones documented Ms Wandelt consistently requesting Madeleine's mother for a DNA test over 2023 and 2024.
Madeleine's case in 2007 - as a three-year-old during a trip in Portugal - is considered the most covered child disappearance cases and remains open.
'I Do Not Need Money'
One voicemail, shared in court, captured Ms Wandelt declaring: "I realize I'm heavy and not pretty like Madeleine used to be, but I feel what I know."
While another instance of Ms Wandelt's recordings with Mrs McCann's recording stated: "Imagine there is a small chance that I am Madeleine? Then what? Is that not important for you?"
"I do not need money, I possess a life here in Poland, I only wish to understand," the recording stated.
The tribunal was told that via emails, text messages and phone calls, Ms Wandelt asked for a DNA test, sent childhood photos to her phone in a bid to display a likeness to Mrs McCann's vanished daughter, and asserted to have "memories" from a youth with the McCanns.
An intelligence analyst, a data specialist with Leicestershire Police who gathered the data, advised the court there "seemed to lack any replies" from Mrs McCann.
Ms Wandelt also communicated with close associates of the McCanns, as per the communication logs.
On October 9th, 2024, Gerry McCann picked up a phone call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, declaring she had "incorrect contact information."
During that incident Ms Wandelt left a recording on Mrs McCann's recording stating "I won't give up and I will prove my claim."
The court heard the co-defendant developed a relationship via internet with Ms Wandelt preceding assisting her on a visit to the McCanns' home in the county in that winter.
Phone records showed Mrs Spragg had reached out through messaging service to Mrs McCann to say the media had characterized Ms Wandelt as "a crazy person" but that she should be treated respectfully in the months preceding the trip to Rothley, Leicestershire, in December 2024.
The court learned message exchanges between the two defendants, in November 2024, discussing attempting to get Mrs McCann's genetic material from her bins or from cutlery at a restaurant.
"We must take action," Mrs Spragg advised Ms Wandelt.
On the evening of the visit to their home, Mrs Spragg dispatched a message which expressed: "We find ourselves sat outside the McCanns' residence with our lights out similar to investigators. I wanted to do this with someone else I hadn't anticipated I would be involved in this with the McCanns."
The proceedings continues.