Accused Harasser Inquired: 'But What If I Am Madeleine?'
A woman indicted with pursuing Kate McCann allegedly recorded her a voicemail message which asked: "imagine I am Madeleine?"
The defendant, twenty-four, who a jury heard has repeatedly declared she was the vanished Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are facing charges accused with harassing Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February 2025.
On Monday, Leicester Crown Court heard phone records and evidence retrieved from phones documented Ms Wandelt repeatedly requesting Madeleine's mother for a biological test throughout 2023 and 2024.
Madeleine's case in 2007 - as a three-year-old during a family holiday in Portugal - is one of the most widely reported investigations and remains unresolved.
'I Am Not Seeking Money'
A separate phone message, shared in court, recorded Ms Wandelt stating: "I understand I'm heavy and plain like Madeleine had been, but I know what I know."
While a separate message of Ms Wandelt's recordings with Mrs McCann's recording said: "Imagine there is a tiny probability that I am she? Then what? Is that not significant for you?"
"I am not seeking money, I possess a life here in Poland, I just want to understand," the message continued.
The jury was advised that through electronic messages, SMS messages and calls, Ms Wandelt requested a genetic test, sent early photographs to her phone in a effort to demonstrate a similarity to Mrs McCann's disappeared daughter, and stated to have "memories" from a youth with the McCanns.
The investigator, an intelligence analyst with the police force who collated the information, advised the court there "seemed to lack any answers" from Mrs McCann.
Ms Wandelt furthermore communicated with acquaintances of the McCanns, as per the phone records.
On that date, the father answered a phone call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, stating she had "incorrect contact information."
That day Ms Wandelt deposited a message on Mrs McCann's answerphone declaring "I will continue and I intend to demonstrate my point."
The court learned Mrs Spragg developed a connection online with Ms Wandelt preceding joining her on a appearance to the McCanns' residence in Leicestershire in December 2024.
Call logs demonstrated Mrs Spragg had contacted using WhatsApp to Mrs McCann to state the media had characterized Ms Wandelt as "emotionally disturbed" but that she deserved to be considered genuine in the period preceding the trip to that location, the county, in that winter.
The court learned correspondence between the two accused, in that autumn, considering trying to get Mrs McCann's genetic material from her garbage or from utensils at a dining venue.
"We need to assert ourselves," Mrs Spragg advised Ms Wandelt.
On the night of the appearance to their residence, Mrs Spragg dispatched a communication which said: "We find ourselves positioned outside the McCanns' residence with our headlights off similar to private investigators. I had hoped to do this with Peter Andrew I never thought I would be engaged in this with the McCanns."
The trial continues.