Monday, June 6, 2011

May 4th: Kate is introduced to Robert Murat, the man she would later try to frame.

Kate wrote : 'Steve Carpenter returned with a man who had offered his assistance. He was, he’d told Steve, bilingual in English and Portuguese and could maybe assist with interpreting. I was grateful for any help we could get. This man was in his thirties, wore glasses and there was something unusual about one of his eyes – a squint, I thought at the time (I have since been told he is blind in one eye). He seemed very personable and was happy to be of service. When one of the GNR officers came over to request more details about Madeleine and any distinguishing features she had, this man stepped in to translate.
I was holding a photograph of Madeleine, which he asked to see.'



 'As he studied it, he told me about his daughter back in England who was the same age, and who, he said, looked just like Madeleine. I was a little irked by this. In the circumstances, it seemed rather tactless, even if he was simply trying to empathize.'

The first observation about Murat, he was kind and gentle and later, as his personal life became embroiled in the McCanns farce, we understood he missed his daughter very much. But Kate being Kate, only thought of herself and her 'feelings'.




'When he had finished translating, he turned and began to walk briskly away. Realizing I didn’t know his name, I caught up with him and asked.

‘Robert,’ he said.

‘Thank you, Robert,’ I said.'