Maddy: Chief Suspect Accused Of Lying

Daily Express Headline; says: Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat was accused of lying by a friend of her parents in a finger-pointing outburst, it was alleged yesterday. Details emerged for the first time of the face-to-face showdown between Murat, 33, and three key witnesses. Portuguese detectives set up the confrontation after members of Kate and Gerry McCanns’ holiday party cast doubts over the British ex-pat’s alibi. They claim they saw Murat on the night the four-year-old was snatched from her family’s Portuguese holiday apartment in Praia da Luz. During the confrontation one of the women is said to have launched a tirade after being left with the suspect in an interview room at Portimao police headquarters. It was claimed she pointed an accusing finger at Murat and shouted: “I know you were there. I would recognise you anywhere.”

The friends were certain they recognised Murat because of his distinctive lazy right eye caused by a detached retina. The sightings could shatter Murat’s alibi. He insists he was dining with his mother before going to bed early the night Madeleine was taken. But one of the witnesses claims she spotted Murat peeking into the McCanns’ apartment that night.

Earlier this month doctors Russell O’Brien and Fiona Payne, along with another friend, Rachael Oldfield, flew to Portugal to be questioned.

As part of the process in Portugal, witnesses can challenge a suspect when there are conflicting statements. At one point the witnesses were left with Murat while detectives watched through a two-way mirror. Murat is said to have sat in silence after the finger pointing accusation left him badly shaken.

His spokesman Tuck Price said: “Robert found it traumatic. He could not understand how these people could sit there and accuse him of lying. It all seemed to revolve around them recognising his dodgy eye. It was dark. How could they have seen it? Besides that, he was not there anyway.”