Alleged Stalker Questioned: 'Yet What If I Might Be Madeleine?'

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

A woman charged with stalking Kate McCann apparently recorded her a phone message which questioned: "what if I am Madeleine?"

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, who witnesses stated has repeatedly declared she was the disappeared Madeleine McCann, and her co-defendant are standing trial charged with stalking Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February 2025.

Madeleine McCann photo
Madeleine McCann's disappearance has not yet been concluded

On Monday, Leicester Crown Court was told communication data and information obtained from phones recorded Ms Wandelt repeatedly asking Madeleine's mother for a genetic test throughout that period.

Madeleine's disappearance in 2007 - at the age of three during a family holiday in Portugal - is among the most publicized investigations and remains unresolved.

'I Am Not Seeking Money'

One recorded message, presented in court, captured Ms Wandelt stating: "I realize I'm fat and unattractive like Madeleine used to be, but I feel what I feel."

While one recording of Ms Wandelt's recordings with Mrs McCann's answerphone said: "Imagine there is a tiny probability that I am she? What then? Wouldn't that be significant for you?"

"I am not seeking money, I possess a living here in Poland, I simply desire to discover," the message continued.

The tribunal was advised that through electronic messages, SMS messages and communications, Ms Wandelt demanded a biological test, forwarded youth pictures to her phone in a attempt to display a resemblance to Mrs McCann's disappeared daughter, and asserted to have "recollections" from a early life with the McCanns.

An intelligence analyst, an investigator with the police force who collated the evidence, informed the court there "didn't appear to be any answers" from Mrs McCann.

Ms Wandelt also contacted close associates of the McCanns, based on the communication logs.

On 9 October 2024, Gerry McCann answered a call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, saying she had "a wrong number."

That day Ms Wandelt recorded a voicemail on Mrs McCann's answerphone saying "I will persist and I intend to demonstrate my claim."

Court proceedings
Kate and Gerry McCann provided testimony to the court from using a protective barrier on Wednesday

The court was informed the co-defendant established a association via internet with Ms Wandelt preceding assisting her on a visit to the McCanns' residence in the county in December 2024.

Communication data demonstrated Mrs Spragg had contacted via communication app to Mrs McCann to say the press had depicted Ms Wandelt as "emotionally disturbed" but that she ought to be taken seriously in the time leading up to the trip to the village, the county, in last December.

The court was told communications between the two defendants, in last November, planning endeavoring to get Mrs McCann's DNA samples from her bins or from utensils at a dining venue.

"We must assert ourselves," the co-defendant told Ms Wandelt.

On the evening of the visit to their home, Mrs Spragg dispatched a message which stated: "We find ourselves sitting outside the McCanns' home with our lights out resembling private investigators. I wanted to do this with someone else I never thought I would be engaged in this with the McCanns."

The trial continues.

Marilyn White
Marilyn White

Klara is a linguist and writer passionate about exploring the nuances of language and storytelling in modern literature.