Cadaver Dogs Unreliable According to Gerry McCann

Continue Reading... Labels: Eddie, Eugene Zapata, FBI, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Mark Harrison, Martin Grime

Detectives led astray by sniffer dogs

Detectives led astray by sniffer dogs
10 May 2011
Daily Mail
Chris Brooke

The Portuguese police case against the McCanns relied on dubious evidence from two British sniffer dogs.

PC Martin Grime took his highly-trained spaniels Keela and Eddie to the apartment Madeleine was taken from. In her book, serialised in the Sun, Mrs McCann recalled the 100th day of the hunt for Madeleine when a police officer told her the two dogs had indicated blood and human remains were in the apartment.

‘Police appeared to be telling us, on the say-so of a dog, that someone had definitely died in apartment 5a and it must have been Madeleine.’

Later she said the Portuguese officer boasted about the success rate of the dogs. This helped persuade the authorities to name the McCanns as ‘arguidos’ or official suspects.

However, after forensic tests were carried out it later became clear that no scientific evidence could be found to back up the reaction of the sniffer dogs.

Mr Grime is now a director of a forensic science company, GSS International, and is employed as a sniffer dog expert. He owns both his former police dogs and they continue to work with him.

Yesterday he was in the United States on business and a spokesman for the Hampshire-based company said he had been asked by police in the UK not to comment on the McCann case.

Mr Grime and his dog Eddie were involved in the search for remains at the Haut de la Garenne children’s home in Jersey. The massive investigation in 2008 ended with the conclusion that nothing suspicious was found at the scene and there was no evidence of murder.

Continue Reading... Labels: Eddie, Forensic Science Service, FSS, Haut de la Garenne, Jersey, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime

Cadaver dog sniffed death in Prout home

Kate Prout

Cadaver dog sniffed death in Prout home
05 March 2011
This is Gloucestershire

EVIDENCE of a dead body inside murdered Kate Prout's home was discovered by a sniffer dog, it has emerged.

The "cadaver dog" homed in on an area in the living room of the Redmarley home she shared with her husband Adrian Prout, who was convicted of her killing last year.

An hour-long documentary on the murder case told how the dog, which was specially trained to seek out dead bodies and where deaths occurred, concentrated on a specific spot in the living room at Redhill Farm.

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Redhill Farm

Residents’ insistence victim was still on island led to manhunt

Bob Rose

3 March 2010 
The Press and Journal
Neil MacPhail

The refusal of locals to believe Campbell and Crummack's claims that Bob Rose had left Sanday sparked the massive manhunt which led to police solving the “particularly wicked crime”.  Suspicion focused on Campbell, who had threatened Mr Rose, and Crummack, who was acting strangely.

The pair had also been seen near the dunes four days before the murder, and Campbell had tried to order lime – which is used to speed the decomposition of bodies – from a local supplier. 

Both were quizzed by police and initially presented a united front.  However, Crummack turned against his friend after he heard him laughing with his lawyer in Kirkwall police station and believed he was going to be “fitted up”.

After that, Crummack told police where Bob Rose's body was and led them to the site in the dunes overlooking the sea.

Sniffer dog Eddie and his handler Martin Grime, who were involved in the hunt for Madeleine McCann and the search for Soham murder victims of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, were called in.

Campbell's only mistake was to confess to his cellmate at Inverness Prison – Leslie Norquoy recounted the conversation to the police.

The detective in charge of the investigation said last night that the two accused had been “very callous” in terms of the steps they took to cover up the crime.

Detective Inspector Mark Mackay said: “This was a particularly wicked crime, committed by two individuals who went to great lengths to cover their tracks.

“Our thoughts are clearly with Mr Rose’s family at this extremely distressing time and hopefully this verdict will bring some comfort in that justice has now been done.

“We would particularly like to thank the people of Orkney and in particular the residents of Sanday for their assistance, co-operation and support during the inquiry.”

The force interviewed 330 witnesses during the investigation on the 24-mile long island, which involved a range of specialist officers.

Det Insp Mackay said: “The logistics of the investigation were difficult and unusual given the remoteness, the transport links and infrastructure of a small island community.

“We are grateful to a number of local companies and agencies across Orkney, from whom we received significant assistance with regards to practicalities, such as boat hire and accommodation for the inquiry team.”

Det Insp Mackay added that it had been one of the biggest investigations carried out by the force in recent years.

Continue Reading... Labels: Bob Rose, Eddie, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Morse, Soham murders

Murdered by Monkey Man Jack

Bob Rose

3 March 2010
Scottish Daily Record
Ben Spencer
2 Guilty of love triangle killing

"Monkey Man" Jack Campbell was yesterday convicted of murdering his rival in an island love triangle. A jury took less than six hours to find 59-year-old Campbell guilty of murdering Bob Rose, 54. The pair had clashed over their love for Margaret Johnston, 34, the mother of Campbell's child.

Campbell was enraged after she dumped him and refused all contact - while sending widowed dad-of-three Bob intimate pictures of herself by phone.

He and Stephen Crummack, 51, killed Bob and dumped his body in a shallow grave in sand dunes - before using the victim's mobile phone to send Margaret a vile message. It read: "F off, you Scotch bitch. I've got myself a real woman."

Bob's body was found buried in sand dunes on the Orkney island of Sanday, only a few weeks after Campbell told a community nurse he wanted to kill his rival.

In the weeks leading up to his death, Bob also told friends that Campbell had threatened him with the words: "Your day is coming."

A month-long trial at the High Court in Glasgow was told Campbell and his co-accused Crummack had battered and smothered Bob at his home on the island.

They then concealed his body and tried to convince islanders that he had left Sanday.

Alcoholic Crummack claimed he had only helped to conceal the killing.

But the trial was told Bob had died fighting for his life and one person was unlikely to have been able to kill him.

Crummack was convicted of culpable homicide yesterday and both men were found guilty of trying to defeat the ends of justice.

Rescue

Judge Lord Turnbull deferred sentence until the end of the month and branded the pair "atrocious and callous" for their conspiracy to conceal the crime.

Bob's loved ones were left in agony for weeks before Crummack, fearing Campbell was about to stitch him up, led police to the sand dune grave.

During the trial, the jury heard Margaret, originally from Glenrothes, Fife, had first met Campbell while he was living in Falkirk and she contacted him about a monkey she wanted to buy.

The pair fell in love, had a daughter together and moved to Sanday to set up a rescue centre for lab monkeys.

But the "volatile" relationship went sour and Margaret began an affair with Bob, a building worker who moved to Sanday in 2008 from Yorkshire after his wife died.

Campbell had been so besotted with Margaret he had accepted her banning him from watching television or reading newspapers in case he saw topless women.

She allegedly told him she had an aversion to nudity and she also forbade him from going to the shops or the pub in case he spoke to other women.

So he was furious to discover that Bob was allegedly showing topless photos she had sent him by text message around in the pub.

It was claimed that they included one of Margaret in the bath.

At one point, the trial heard, Margaret briefly left Campbell's home and went to live with Bob.

Bob was so in love with her he offered to buy the monkeys from Campbell for £10,000 in cash but Campbell refused .

Margaret then returned to Campbell's home so she could be with her beloved marmosets and macaques, who had a purpose-built enclosure at the house.

She admitted in court that she had chosen the monkeys over Bob, agreeing with Campbell's defence QC Donald Findlay that for her "the monkeys came first, second and last".

Margaret eventually left for the mainland, taking her three kids, including Campbell's daughter, with her.

She refused all contact with Campbell, even changing her phone number.

And he was further incensed when he discovered that she was still in touch with Bob - and sending him saucy pictures of herself.

Campbell, with the help of Crummack - who had been a friend of Bob's but had grown to resent his attempts to persuade him to turn his life around - got his deadly revenge.

Last June 6, the night Bob died, he sent his daughter Katie a text message, which said: "Ha, ha. Just having a boys' night in," Instead, he was brutally murdered, robbed, slung into his own car and dumped in the dunes.

Yesterday, beauty therapist Katie, 25, described her father as "a great man".

She said: "Words cannot describe how much of an impact our dad had on our family and close friends.

"He was a great man - kind and generous. He was the kind of man who always left a good impression.

"He will be missed by many and never forgotten. We want to know him for the man that he was.

"We hope that we get justice for our dad but, whatever the sentence, it will never replace the life that has been taken."

The senior cop who led the hunt for Bob's killers last night welcomed the verdicts.

Detective Inspector Mark Mackay said: "This was a particularly wicked c rime, commit ted by two individuals who went to great lengths to cover their tracks."

The court heard that despite the deception, the people of tiny Sanday, which has a population of about 500, never believed that Bob had left the island.

They called in the police, sparking a massive manhunt on the island, which measures just 24 miles from top to bottom.

The court heard that the search failed to turn up anything and Campbell and Crummack initially presented a united front when they were quizzed by police.

But Crummack, who has serious alcohol problems and was often barred from local pubs, turned against his co-accused after he heard him laughing with his lawyer in Kirkwall police station.

At that point, he believed he was going to be "fitted up" and led police to the burial site overlooking the sea - almost three weeks after Bob had disappeared.

Sniffer dog Eddie and his handler Martin Grime, who were involved in the hunt for Madeleine McCann and in the Soham murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, were called in. And Eddie pinpointed the exact spot where Bob's body lay.

The trial heard that, while Campbell denied having anything to do with the killing, he confessed to his cellmate at Inverness Prison Leslie Norquoy, who told all to the police.

All three men in the case had moved to Sanday to escape from the crime-ridden mainland and start a new life in a rural idyll.

There are no police based on the island, which has a population of just 520, and islanders do not not lock their cars or their homes.

But the three men were fated to clash with deadly consequences.

Continue Reading... Labels: Bob Rose, Eddie, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Morse, Soham murders

Accused 'led police to grave of victim'

Bob Rose

17 February 2010
The Daily Express
Rod Mills
Detectives called in Madeleine hunt expert

A man accused of murder on an Orkney island led police to sand dunes where the victim was buried but blamed his friend for the killing, a court heard yesterday.

Detective Constable Neil Docherty was giving evidence in the trial of John Campbell and Stephen Crummack, who deny murdering Robert Rose, 54, on Sanday.

Continue Reading... Labels: Bob Rose, Eddie, FBI, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Soham murders

'Super sniffer' led cops to Black Bob

Bob Rose

17 February 2010
Daily Star
Wilma Riley
Murder trial is told of dunes discovery

A sniffer dog involved in the Madeleine McCann and Soham cases found the body of a man buried in sand dunes, a murder jury was told yesterday.

Specialist canine handler Martin Grime told how he and his three springer spaniels, Eddie, Keela and Morse were called in to assist with the hunt for Bob "Black Bob" Rose.

Continue Reading... Labels: Bob Rose, Eddie, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Soham murders

Maddie dog led to body

Bob Rose

17 February 2010
Scottish Daily Record

A sniffer dog used in the search for missing Madeleine McCann found a man buried in sand dunes in Orkney, a court heard yesterday.

FBI consultant Martin Grime told the High Court in Glasgow he and his springer spaniels Eddie, Keela and Morse were called in by police in the hunt for Bob Rose, who disappeared on the island of Sanday last June.

Eddie, who is trained to detect dead bodies and was used in the McCann case and the Soham murders inquiry, reacted when he was taken to sand dunes at Sty Wick on June 24.

Continue Reading... Labels: Bob Rose, Eddie, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Morse, Soham murders

Biggest search in force history

Kate Prout

Biggest search in force history
The Citizen
6 February 2010

It was a missing person search which soon turned to a murder inquiry.

Everything Kate possessed was left behind at Redhill Farm. Her keys, car, passport, money, bank cards, handbag, shoes and clothes remained as they were when she was last seen on November 5, 2007.

A total 2,200 councils, police forces, the NHS, and government departments have no record of her existence since that day. She has not touched her £700-a-month teacher's pension.

She kept in regular touch with her family, placed flowers on her parents' graves, and made a note of family and friends' birthdays so that she would not forget to send a card.

But police could not find any evidence of her existence continuing after November 5. Newly released pictures from the police of their home show a farmhouse full of home comforts and a feminine touch; from satin bed covers to a Welsh dresser full of china and pictures of animals on the wall. Kate loved her pet dogs.

On November 14 Gloucestershire Constabulary launched one of its biggest searches for a missing person in its history, calling in specially-trained search officers from other forces to help to comb the 276-acre Redhill Farm and surrounding area.

Bound by the M50 motorway, the A417 and the River Leadon, the search area covered a radius centred on the farm of 1.5km to 2km.

Up to 50 search officers, including some from Gwent and West Mercia forces, went over subdivided sectors of the search area at least twice with broomsticks and specially-designed probes.

A sniffer dog called Eddie, which took part in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann, could not find any trace of her either.

The area was photographed from the air to try and identify recently-disturbed ground, a pile of woodchips and a grain store were searched.

The grain was removed to another site by tractors and trailers and put back once officers were satisfied her body was not in the grain store.

Avon and Somerset police divers searched two ponds at the farm, while Thames Valley police frogmen trawled a reservoir used as a water source for a garden centre, north east of the farm.

Vehicles at the farm, including Kate's Mitsubishi and Mr Prout's Jaguar were forensically examined, as was the farm house.

A forensic biologist was called in to carry out a more detailed examination but no blood was found, DS Christopher Ellis told the trial on January 21. He said there was also no sign of forced entry.

Operation Texas, as it was known, saw a huge desk-based hunt for her too - thousands of organisations were contacted as to Kate Prout's whereabouts and of the 2,000 who replied, none had records of her.

Those included Interpol, the UK Border Agency, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, DVLA, local councils, Land Registry, TV licensing, the NHS, dentists, private healthcare providers, utilities, mobile phone operators, Ebay, social networking sites, charities for the homeless and loyalty card organisations.

She was also marked down as a "watched passenger" by the UK Border Agency.

But all this soon pointed the finger of suspicion at her husband.

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann, Redhill Farm

DNA test could find kidnapper

DNA test could find kidnapper
SPECIAL REPORT
20 September 2009
The Sunday Life
Aaron Tinney

Method used in Omagh case is crucial to solving Maddie mystery says ex-Ulster cop

It is an amazingly powerful tool, so it's a real shame we will never get to use it with Maddie

A controversial DNA test used in the failed Omagh bomb case is the key to finding Madeleine McCann's kidnapper, Ulster investigator Dave Edgar has claimed.

But the former RUC detective sergeant's team will never be able to use it as Portuguese authorities will not give him access to forensic information.

Speaking exclusively to Sunday Life at the HQ of his Alpha Investigations Group in Cheshire, the ex-cop leading the search for Maddie believes that DNA tests, which can establish a profile from just a few cells, could help solve the mystery.

Edgar said he tries to maintain "a decent relationship" with Algarve cops but has blasted them for contaminating the scene of her disappearance.

He claimed if Low Copy Number (LCN) DNA testing had been carried out at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz, where Maddie vanished from two years and four months ago, it is "highly likely" her abductor would have been nailed.

LCN DNA is a highly sensitive forensic procedure which magnifies potential evidence that is unidentifiable by traditional DNA testing. It can obtain a perpetrator's profile from only a few cells as small as a millionth the size of a grain of salt.

Some argue its magnification method leaves evidence open to distortion. Doubts were raised when south Armagh electrician Sean Hoey was cleared of charges connected to the Omagh bombing in a case which focused on LCN DNA.

But Dave has seen it work before.

His team used it in 2007 to snare killer Stephen Mottram, who stabbed love-rival Andrew Batterton to death in a jealous rage.

Dave said:

"It's an amazingly powerful tool, so it's a real shame we will never get to use it with Maddie."

Prosecutors in the Omagh case claimed that LCN analysis had shown links between the bomb timers used in the attack and Hoey. But the judge rejected the use of the technique because it was not yet seen to be at a sufficiently scientific level to be considered evidence and Hoey was cleared of a total of 58 charges, including 29 murders.

A UK-wide suspension of the technique after the Omagh case collapsed was lifted in January of last year and detectives are now free to use it again.

The PSNI has championed Low Copy Number DNA analysis, pointing out that it helped catch Trevor Hamilton, the serial offender who brutally murdered Strabane pensioner Attracta Harron in December 2003.

LCN DNA was also crucial to the conviction fireman Gordon Graham for the 2000 murder of Lisburn man Paul Gault, husband of Graham's Fire Service lover Lesley, a mum of triplets.

Graham battered his love rival to death with a hockey stick and tried to the make the killing look like work of a burglar. But Graham's attempt to commit the 'perfect crime' was undone by traces of his sweat found on the handle of sports bag at the Gault's Audley Park home.

Graham, who has always denied the murder, was ordered to serve a minimum 18 years behind bars by the judge who branded him "brutal and merciless" killer.

Continue Reading... Labels: Attracta Harron, Eddie, Madeleine McCann, Trevor Hamilton

Husband accused of murdering wife gets engaged to new love just weeks ahead of trial

Kate Prout

Husband accused of murdering wife gets engaged to new love just weeks ahead of trial
Daily Mail
24 June 2009

A husband accused of killing his wife has proposed to his lover as he waits to go on trial for murder.

Adrian Prout, 46, popped the question to divorcee and mother-of-two Debbie Garlick while on bail.

The couple are currently living together at his £1.2 million farm in the village of Redmarley D'Abitot, Gloucestershire, where they held an engagement party earlier this month.

The announcement comes just weeks after he was charged with the murder of his wife Kate, 55.

One of Prout's neighbours said she complained about the noise of their engagement party.

Villagers said they attempted to speak with Mrs Garlick about the party, but were told: 'This is my home and I can do what I want. You can't do anything about it.'

A source at Gloucestershire Police added: 'Officers are aware that Mr Prout had quite a big engagement party in the village ten days ago.'

Two days later, the couple spent the evening laughing and joking together in their local pub.

Kate vanished from the farm on Bonfire Night 2007, shortly before their seventh wedding anniversary.

The retired schoolteacher disappeared without taking any clothes or personal possessions such as a passport.

Prout waited five days before he reported her missing.

Despite extensive searches of the property - including the use of sniffer dogs which took part in the hunt for Madeleine McCann - her body has still not been found.

Mrs Garlick, 44, who has a son Austin, 19, and 16-year-old daughter, Jade, lived three miles from the Prouts in the nearby village of Corse.

A neighbour said that she had noticed Mrs Garlick leaving her house in March to live with Prout at Redmarley.

Up to 100 police using mechanical diggers carried out searches at Prout's farm following Kate's disappearance.

They emptied a grain store and scoured ponds and a reservoir in vain. A sniffer dog which took part in the hunt for missing tot Madeleine McCann was also called in without success.

Prout, who runs a pipe laying and civil engineering business, was arrested and questioned twice on suspicion of murder.

At the beginning of this year, detectives said he was no longer on bail and he appeared to be in the clear.

But in March, he was arrested again in a swoop on his home and charged with his wife's murder - despite no body having been found.

He is currently on bail and due to stand trial for murder at Bristol Crown Court at a date to be fixed.

A plea and case management hearing for his trial has been set for July 27. A Facebook page has been created by Mrs Garlick's daughter in a bid to clear Prout's name and prove his innocence.

Mrs Garlick is the second woman to have been linked with Prout since Kate's disappearance.

Just two months after Kate went missing, a 48-year-old woman called Diane Bellamy was arrested with Prout on suspicion of murder.

She was detained at an address in Stroud, Glos,. Two men aged 43 and 45 were also arrested.

At the time Mrs Bellamy, who had split from her farmer husband Tim, was reported to be Prout's girlfriend - an allegation she denied.

She and the two men were released on police bail, which has since been lifted.

Kate's closest family - her brother Richard Wakefield and sister-in-law Linda - refused to comment about the engagement.

Prout was also unavailable for comment.

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann

Working dog focus fast Eddie

Attracta Harron

17 May 2009
The Sunday Life

Elite police sniffer dog Eddie is a shining example to all working dogs. The specially-trained English springer spaniel found the body of murdered Sion Mills pensioner Attracta Harron in 2003.

He was also taken to Praia de Luz in Portugal to take part in the hunt for Madeleine McCann.

Eddie has also been called in to help police forces in the Republic of Ireland and in America and, with handler Martin Grime, who is attached to the South Yorkshire police force, has been given an award for Outstanding Achievement and Dedication to Duty.

The police sniffer dog, which is trained to locate minute traces of blood, has worked with the FBI.

His handler Martin Grime said: "Dogs like Eddie are very, very good at what they do and he has lots of operational experience.”

Continue Reading... Labels: Attracta Harron, Eddie, FBI, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, South Yorkshire Police, Trevor Hamilton

Husband charged with Kate prout's murder

Kate Prout

Husband charged with Kate Prout's murder
Bristol Evening Post
By Daniel Evans Crime Correspondent
11 March 2009

The husband of missing farmer's wife Kate Prout has appeared in court accused of her murder, 16 months after she disappeared.

Adrian Prout, 46, was today charged with killing Mrs Prout, who went missing from their 200-acre property in Gloucestershire 16 months ago.

The retired teacher was 55 when she disappeared from £1.2-million Redhill Farm, in Redmarley D'Abitot, on Bonfire Night 2007.

Her body has never been found despite police conducting an exhaustive "proof of life" investigation.

Mr Prout, a farmer who runs a pheasant shoot, entered no plea to a single count of murder on a date between November 4 and November 11, 2007, at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court today.

He spoke only to confirm his name, age and address, which remains as Redhill Farm.

Magistrates refused him bail and remanded him in custody to appear at Bristol Crown Court on March 17 for a preliminary hearing. Mr Prout was originally arrested shortly after Mrs Prout's disappearance.

He was questioned twice as police undertook an exhaustive search of the 200-acre farm but his bail was cancelled in January.

Mr Prout was arrested for the third time yesterday at the family home in the Forest of Dean and charged with murder after the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was sufficient evidence for trial.

Ann Reddrop, Head of the CPS Complex Casework Unit, said: "We have been working closely with the police over the past months to investigate all aspects of Mrs Prout's disappearance before reaching a final decision on charging.

"We have also sought advice from leading counsel. Accordingly, we have this week authorised the police to charge Mr Prout."

Mrs Prout was last heard of when she made a telephone call to the bank, which was taped, at about 3.30pm on November 5, 2007.

She had given no indication anything was wrong when she spoke to her sister-in-law shortly before that call and did not take any personal belongings with her when she disappeared without a trace.

After her husband reported her missing five days later on November 10, more than 100 officers searched a grain store, piles of bark chippings, woodlands, a pool and a reservoir at the Prouts' home.

But despite becoming increasingly convinced Mrs Prout was dead, detectives never found a body.

An underwater team searched ponds on the land and helicopters were sent up to scan the land.

A sniffer dog called Eddie, which took part in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann, could not find any trace of her either.

The case has been dubbed a real-life "Midsomer murder", with many villagers being questioned by officers.

Three other people were arrested, questioned and dropped from enquiries during the investigation.

They were Diane Bellamy, 48, landlord Eric Woolley, 60, and a 43-year-old man from Lydney.

Senior Investigating Officer Acting Detective Superintendent Neil Kelly said yesterday: "This has been a complex, thorough and necessarily lengthy investigation to bring us to this point.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those affected, especially Mrs Prout's friends and family, for their understanding, tolerance and patience."

Mrs Prout's brother Richard Wakefield made pleas for information, but she has never come forward and missed memorable events such Christmases and birthdays.

After her disappearance, Mr Wakefield said: "She was a kind, caring person. She was artistic and she enjoyed sketching and she does the flowers for the local church.

"She enjoys the countryside and she loves walking her dog. She's a good cook, articulate, intelligent and she's always well-presented and the family and all her friends are missing her greatly.

''It's most unusual for Kate to disappear like this at this moment, and I'd like to appeal to everyone to come forward who can help with inquires to bring Kate back."

Mrs Prout is white, 5ft 6in and of medium build.

Described as having a pale complexion, she has green eyes and had brown, shoulder-length straight hair when last seen. She was wearing jeans and a black V-neck top.

Anyone with information about her disappearance should call Gloucestershire Constabulary on 0845 0901234.

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann, Redhill Farm

We will find killer of Forest of Dean housewife

Kate Prout

We will find killer of Forest of Dean housewife
Western Daily Press
3 November 2008

Almost a year after Gloucestershire housewife Kate Prout was murdered, police have announced they are still "very confident" of catching her killer, despite having never located her body.

Leading officers from other forces have been brought in to advise Gloucestershire Constabulary on how to manage a success- ful no-body murder case, it has emerged.

Mrs Prout, 55, vanished from her 200-acre farm in Redmarley, in the Forest of Dean, on Bonfire Night, 2007.

After her disappearance, 50 police conducted a search of her 200-acre farm and surrounding woodland.

Officers emptied a grain store, went through a pile of bark chippings and dived in ponds and a reservoir.

Even Eddie, the sniffer dog which took part in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann, failed to find any trace.  

[Blogger note: Eddie found cadaver scent in Prout home. In November 2011, Adrian Prout confessed to murdering Kate.]

But even though the search failed to find a body, detectives were convinced she was dead, because she disappeared without saying where she was going, without taking her phone or any money, and without touching her clothes.

Almost 12 months on, there is still no body, no conviction and no conclusive evidence to prove what happened to her.

But officers remain convinced they know who did it and are working on a way to get a prosecution.

Detective Superintendent Neil Kelly said: "There was no motive for her to disappear. The only reasonable conclusion is that she is no longer alive."

Now the reduced team of 15 dedicated staff working on the case are looking at proving the case is murder even without the body.

Det Sup Kelly said: "From my point of view, I have been happy that this has been a murder from a very early stage."

Conviction rates in these kinds of cases are few and far between.

Leading officers from other forces have been drafted into Gloucestershire Constabulary's HQ to advise county investiga- tors on what they can do.

"We have had the benefit of sharing the details of our inquiry with other officers and getting feedback with regards to the investigation," Det Sup Kelly said.

"We have discussed how other forces were successful and discussed the particular difficulties and issues of other cases.

"We have done extensive searches and taken forensic examinations collecting 1,300 exhibits and 1,000 witness statements.

"There will also be a number of other areas we will be pursuing in the coming months."

As tough as it may be to convict a killer without a body, it can be done.

Chief Inspector Paul Burgan, from Devon and Cornwall Police, worked for 12 months on the murder of 16-year-old Charlotte Pinkney back in 2004 whose body was never recovered.

Without that final missing piece in an investigation, two things have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. Firstly that the person is dead and secondly they have been murdered by the accused.

But, unlike a standard murder case, the prosecution does not have to prove how the victim was killed.

Chief Insp Burgan said: "It sounds obvious in some ways, but what is the crucial point in a case like this is proving beyond all reasonable doubt that the person is dead.

"In our case it was Charlotte's birthday. She made no contact with her family and that was a clear marker something was wrong."

Det Sup Kelly said they had no intention of stopping their investigation.

He said: "I am very confident we are going to be able to get a successful conclusion. We have no intention of giving up."

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Redhill Farm

Eddie and Keela Video - Madeleine McCann Investigation

Eddie and Keela investigating McCann apartment, vehicles and clothing. The dogs reacted only to McCann's vehicle and clothing.  See: Official PJ (Portuguese police) report for details.

Continue Reading... Labels: Eddie, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime

Eddie & Keela Video: Spanish TV

New images of the work of the Cadaver dogs Eddie and Keela, released by Spanish TV Antena 3. 
10 September 2008

Continue Reading... Labels: Eddie, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime

Sniffer Dogs search the McCanns Hired Car

"September 06, 2008 — A five minute section of the two hour forty five minute video showing the forensic dogs Eddie and Keela at work.

Continue Reading... Labels: Eddie, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime

McCann sniffer dog video released

5 September 2008
Press Association

A Portuguese police video showing British sniffer dogs reacting to Leicestershire couple Kate and Gerry McCann's hire car and their holiday apartment has been made public.

The two specialist animals - one capable of detecting corpses and the other trained to find human blood - carried out searches in the Algarve in early August last year after the McCanns' daughter Madeleine vanished.

Footage posted on The Sun newspaper's website shows the cadaver dog, named Eddie, barking loudly next to the driver's door of the McCanns' Renault Scenic rental car.

Continue Reading... Labels: Eddie, Forensic Science Service, FSS, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime

Kate McCann criticises Portuguese detective who wrote book

5 September 2008
Press Association National Newswire
Sam Marsden

Kate McCann has strongly criticised the Portuguese detective who named her and her husband Gerry as suspects in their daughter Madeleine's disappearance.

In the couple's first interview since they were formally cleared of involvement in the case, she attacked Goncalo Amaral's decision to write a book about the inquiry.

Continue Reading... Labels: Clarence Mitchell, Eddie, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime

Eddie and Keela (two forensic dogs) and their handler ex PC Martin Grime at work in Portugal on the case of Madeleine McCann

September 04, 2008 — A video showing Eddie and Keela (two forensic dogs) and their handler ex PC Martin Grime at work in Portugal on the case of Madeleine McCann. The dogs clearly alert to the scent of cadaver and blood on clothing in the hired Renault Scenic and in Apartment 5A where Drs Gerry and Kate McCann stayed with their family in Praia da Luz in May 2007.

Eddie and Keela, two of the most famous dog detectives in Europe used to work for South Yorkshire Police. Eddie and Keela are highly skilled sniffer dogs - technically known as victim recovery dogs - who search for and locate human remains. They have recently worked in Jersey on the Haut de la Garenne case.

The case surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine has been shelved by the Portuguese Policia Judiciara awaiting further evidence. A book about the case by Goncarlo Amaral has been released in Portugal - The Truth of the Lie.

Continue Reading... Labels: Eddie, Haut de la Garenne, Jersey, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, South Yorkshire Police