DNA from Madeleine McCann’s pillowcase ‘proves stalker is impostor’

Jurors heard sample from Julia Wandelt, who is accused of stalking McCann family, did not match that of missing daughter

DNA from a Polish woman who allegedly stalked the McCann family does not match a sample from Madeleine’s pillowcase, a court heard.

Jurors were told the genetic evidence showed that Julia Wandelt, 24, who claimed to be the missing girl, was “not the biological child of Kate and Gerry McCann”.

Rosalyn Hammond, a forensic expert, told Leicester Crown Court on Monday that she was “satisfied” that the two samples were sufficiently “different” to rule out the claim they were from the same person.

The court previously heard that Ms Wandelt claimed to have a nearly 70 per cent DNA match with a sample taken from where Madeleine disappeared, an apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007.

It is alleged that she peddled the myth that she was the missing three-year-old while stalking the McCanns, sending emails, making phone calls and turning up at their home between June 2022 and February this year. Ms Wandelt, from Lubin in south-west Poland, denies the charge stalking.

Ms Hammond, who has been involved in Madeleine’s case since 2012, said: “The profiles from the two samples are different so Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.

“There are seven areas where they have the same component, out of 32. They happen to have the same component designation.”

She said the full result “writes off the possibility that DNA is from the same person”.

A statement read to the court from forensic officer Sarah Measures said she went to the McCanns’ home address in Rothley, Leicestershire, on May 14 2007, 11 days after Madeleine’s disappearance.

Ms Measures said “a white embroidered pillowcase” was recovered from Madeleine’s bedroom, and a DNA sample was taken from it.

DNA from a blood sample taken shortly after Madeleine was born was also obtained by police after she went missing, and matches the profile from the pillowcase, the jury heard.

The court previously heard Ms Wandelt’s DNA sample was taken by police after she was arrested at Bristol Airport in February this year.

Questioned about the comparison of Madeleine’s DNA with Mr and Mrs McCann’s samples, Ms Hammond said: “These results are exactly what I would expect to see if the DNA which has been attributed to Madeleine came from the biological child of Kate McCann and Gerry McCann.”

“The DNA profile of Julia Wandelt shows she is not the biological child of Kate and Gerry McCann, and neither is she the biological child of either one of them.

“Ms Hammond added that the results “strongly favour the proposition Julia Wandelt is not the biological child of the person who left the floor DNA profile”.

The court also heard that an American woman who helped run a campaign to find Madeleine McCann was “bombarded” with emails by Ms Wandelt.

Stacy Gorman, who lives in Washington DC, told the jury she joined a group called Helping to Find Madeleine days after the three-year-old went missing, and started working for the official campaign later in 2007.

She told jurors that Ms Wandelt first contacted the group in June 2022.

Ms Gorman said: “When it first started I felt very sympathetic, and so did Gerry and Kate. They showed her a lot of grace.

“As time went on, I became concerned because she had a big following on social media.

“Julia’s contact was not aggressive but a lot of the other people were extremely aggressive. They were talking about conspiracy theories.

“If people thought Julia was found, or that Julia was Madeleine, people would stop looking for Madeleine. It was in the news too, a lot of press.”

Ms Wandelt and her co-defendant 61-year-old Karen Spragg, of Caerau Court Road in Caerau, Cardiff, both deny one count of stalking.

The trial continues.