McCanns' phone line tapped
Updated on 10 September 2007
The statements and evidence which have been gathered by Portuguese Police over the last 132 days is colossal, amounting to thousands of pages.
But they contain not just the much-discussed forensic reports of blood stains and other material but also, Channel 4 News understands, transcripts of recorded phone conversations the McCanns have had with others over many weeks. There is also evidence from emails they have sent and received.
We also understand that Portuguese police have been in daily contact with the forensic laboratories in Birmingham seeking further reports.
We believe that an expert in blood-splatter analysis can determine if dried blood is from a live or a dead person.
The Madeleine McCann case
It just may be that that is the difference between what was found in the apartment and in the boot of the car the McCanns hired twenty-five days after Madeleine disappeared
A decision is expected from the Portuguese courts within the next few days as just to where this case goes next.
The District Attorney will receive a dossier and then decide whether to issue charges against any or all of the three aguidos - that is Kate and Gerry McCann, and Robert Murat - or request further police investigations for anything up to eight months.
What he will not do is close this case - for there is still a missing child. Simon Israel.
