Accused Stalker Asked: 'Yet What If I Might Be Madeleine?'
A woman accused with pursuing Kate McCann apparently recorded her a voicemail message which questioned: "what if I am Madeleine?"
Julia Wandelt, 24, who a jury heard has repeatedly declared she was the missing Madeleine McCann, and her co-defendant are standing trial indicted with pursuing Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February 2025.
On Monday, Leicester Crown Court learned communication data and evidence retrieved from phones logged Ms Wandelt persistently asking Madeleine's mother for a DNA test over that period.
Madeleine's disappearance in 2007 - at the age of three during a vacation in Portugal - is one of the most publicized investigations and is still open.
'I Do Not Need Money'
One recorded message, played in court, captured Ms Wandelt saying: "I understand I'm overweight and unattractive like Madeleine had been, but I believe what I feel."
While another instance of Ms Wandelt's monologues with Mrs McCann's answerphone expressed: "Suppose there is a small chance that I'm her? What then? Wouldn't that be crucial for you?"
"I don't want money, I possess a living here in Poland, I just want to know," she added.
The jury was advised that through emails, SMS messages and calls, Ms Wandelt asked for a biological test, sent youth pictures to her phone in a effort to display a likeness to Mrs McCann's vanished daughter, and claimed to have "flashbacks" from a childhood with the McCanns.
Robert Jones, an investigator with law enforcement who compiled the evidence, told the court there "showed no any replies" from Mrs McCann.
Ms Wandelt additionally communicated with close associates of the McCanns, according to the call data.
On October 9th, 2024, Mr McCann picked up a call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, stating she had "incorrect contact information."
During that incident Ms Wandelt deposited a recording on Mrs McCann's recording declaring "I will persist and I plan to establish my position."
The court heard the co-defendant developed a relationship through digital means with Ms Wandelt preceding assisting her on a trip to the McCanns' property in that area in last December.
Communication data revealed Mrs Spragg had reached out through messaging service to Mrs McCann to express the news outlets had characterized Ms Wandelt as "a crazy person" but that she should be treated respectfully in the time leading up to the trip to that location, the county, in December 2024.
The court heard communications between the two accused, in last November, considering attempting to obtain Mrs McCann's genetic material from her trash or from utensils at a restaurant.
"We must take action," Mrs Spragg told Ms Wandelt.
On the evening of the appearance to their home, the defendant dispatched a text which said: "We're currently sitting adjacent to the McCanns' house with our lights out like investigators. I had hoped to achieve this with someone else I didn't imagine I would be engaged in this with the McCanns."
The proceedings continues.