Suspected Stalker Questioned: 'But Suppose I Could Be Madeleine?'

Courtroom sketch
Julia Wandelt - according to court testimony believes she is disappeared Madeleine McCann - deny the charges

A female accused with stalking Kate McCann reportedly recorded her a phone message which asked: "imagine I am Madeleine?"

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, who witnesses stated has consistently declared she was the vanished Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are standing trial charged with stalking Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February 2025.

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

On Monday, Leicester Crown Court learned call records and information retrieved from phones documented Ms Wandelt consistently asking Madeleine's mother for a genetic test throughout the past two years.

Madeleine's vanishing in 2007 - at the age of three during a vacation in Portugal - is among the most publicized investigations and continues to be unsolved.

'I Am Not Seeking Money'

One phone message, presented in court, documented Ms Wandelt stating: "I realize I'm overweight and not pretty like Madeleine had been, but I know what I feel."

While a separate message of Ms Wandelt's recordings with Mrs McCann's recording expressed: "Imagine there is a tiny probability that I'm her? What happens next? Isn't that crucial for you?"

"I am not seeking money, I maintain a life here in Poland, I just want to know," she added.

The panel was advised that via electronic messages, text messages and calls, Ms Wandelt requested a biological test, sent early photographs to her phone in a bid to display a similarity to Mrs McCann's missing daughter, and stated to have "flashbacks" from a early life with the McCanns.

The investigator, an intelligence analyst with the police force who compiled the evidence, told the court there "showed no any replies" from Mrs McCann.

Ms Wandelt furthermore contacted family friends of the McCanns, based on the call data.

On that date, Mr McCann answered a communication from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, declaring she had "the wrong phone."

That day Ms Wandelt deposited a recording on Mrs McCann's answerphone declaring "I won't give up and I intend to demonstrate my point."

Court proceedings
Kate and Gerry McCann testified to the court from protected by a privacy screen on Wednesday

The court was informed Mrs Spragg developed a relationship through digital means with Ms Wandelt preceding joining her on a trip to the McCanns' property in the county in December 2024.

Communication data demonstrated Mrs Spragg had communicated via messaging service to Mrs McCann to express the media had portrayed Ms Wandelt as "a crazy person" but that she should be considered genuine in the time before the trip to Rothley, Leicestershire, in that winter.

The court heard communications between the two defendants, in November 2024, planning trying to acquire Mrs McCann's biological evidence from her trash or from cutlery at a dining venue.

"We have to make a stand," Mrs Spragg informed Ms Wandelt.

On the night of the visit to their home, the defendant sent a text which said: "We find ourselves sitting outside the McCanns' residence with our headlights off similar to investigators. I wanted to achieve this with someone else I hadn't anticipated I would be doing that with the McCanns."

The proceedings proceeds.

Carrie Walsh
Carrie Walsh

A cybersecurity specialist with over a decade of experience in software development and digital protection.

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