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An accused stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a secret DNA test definitively confirmed she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.

Harassment Campaign Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish citizen flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about contacting the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He stated: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “There was a possibility she would never accept she isn't Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

Earlier in the trial, testimony revealed how the family were left terrified and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made “increasingly bizarre plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Wandelt and Spragg both refute one count of stalking. The trial continues.