Suspected Stalker Questioned: 'Yet What If I Could Be Madeleine?'

Courtroom sketch
Julia Wandelt - who a court has heard asserts she is disappeared Madeleine McCann - deny the charges

A woman charged with pursuing Kate McCann apparently left her a phone message which questioned: "imagine I am Madeleine?"

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, who a jury heard has repeatedly declared she was the disappeared Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are on trial indicted with stalking Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February this year.

Madeleine McCann photo
Madeleine McCann's case has not yet been resolved

On Monday, the tribunal learned phone records and evidence retrieved from phones logged Ms Wandelt consistently asking Madeleine's mother for a genetic test during that period.

Madeleine's case in 2007 - as a three-year-old during a vacation in Portugal - is among the most widely reported child disappearance cases and remains unresolved.

'I Don't Want Money'

A separate voicemail, presented in court, documented Ms Wandelt saying: "I understand I'm overweight and unattractive like Madeleine was, but I know what I feel."

While another instance of Ms Wandelt's one-way conversations with Mrs McCann's voicemail stated: "What if there is a small chance that I am Madeleine? What happens next? Is that not crucial for you?"

"I do not need money, I possess a life here in Poland, I just want to understand," the recording stated.

The panel was informed that through electronic messages, mobile messages and communications, Ms Wandelt asked for a DNA test, sent youth pictures to her phone in a attempt to show a likeness to Mrs McCann's missing daughter, and asserted to have "memories" from a early life with the McCanns.

The investigator, an investigator with Leicestershire Police who collated the evidence, told the court there "didn't appear to be any responses" from Mrs McCann.

Ms Wandelt furthermore reached out to family friends of the McCanns, according to the phone records.

On 9 October 2024, Mr McCann answered a phone call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, declaring she had "incorrect contact information."

On that occasion Ms Wandelt deposited a voicemail on Mrs McCann's answerphone stating "I will continue and I plan to establish my point."

Court proceedings
Kate and Gerry McCann testified to the court from protected by a privacy screen on Wednesday

The court heard Mrs Spragg struck up a relationship via internet with Ms Wandelt preceding joining her on a trip to the McCanns' residence in that area in December 2024.

Call logs showed Mrs Spragg had contacted through communication app to Mrs McCann to say the media had characterized Ms Wandelt as "emotionally disturbed" but that she ought to be taken seriously in the time leading up to the visit to Rothley, Leicestershire, in December 2024.

The court was told message exchanges between the two accused, in last November, planning trying to obtain Mrs McCann's DNA samples from her trash or from cutlery at a dining venue.

"We have to take action," the co-defendant informed Ms Wandelt.

On the occasion of the trip to their home, Mrs Spragg dispatched a communication which said: "We find ourselves positioned adjacent to the McCanns' residence with our headlights off similar to private investigators. I wanted to accomplish this with someone else I never thought I would be doing that with the McCanns."

The proceedings ongoing.

John Rivera
John Rivera

A passionate game strategist and writer, sharing insights from years of competitive play and game design.