Accused Stalker Inquired: 'But Imagine I Could Be Madeleine?'

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

A female charged with harassing Kate McCann apparently deposited her a phone message which posed: "suppose I am Madeleine?"

Julia Wandelt, 24, who a jury heard has repeatedly declared she was the vanished Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are on trial indicted with stalking Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February the current year.

Madeleine McCann photo
Madeleine McCann's disappearance has never been solved

On Monday, Leicester Crown Court was told call records and data recovered from phones logged Ms Wandelt persistently demanding Madeleine's mother for a DNA test over that period.

Madeleine's disappearance in 2007 - as a three-year-old during a vacation in Portugal - is one of the most covered investigations and is still unsolved.

'I Do Not Need Money'

One recorded message, played in court, documented Ms Wandelt saying: "I realize I'm heavy and plain like Madeleine used to be, but I know what I know."

While one recording of Ms Wandelt's one-way conversations with Mrs McCann's recording expressed: "Suppose there is a slight possibility that I am she? What then? Isn't that crucial for you?"

"I do not need money, I have a life here in Poland, I simply desire to understand," the recording stated.

The panel was told that through emails, SMS messages and communications, Ms Wandelt demanded a DNA test, transmitted childhood photos to her phone in a attempt to show a resemblance to Mrs McCann's disappeared daughter, and asserted to have "flashbacks" from a early life with the McCanns.

An intelligence analyst, an intelligence analyst with Leicestershire Police who collated the data, informed the court there "seemed to lack any responses" from Mrs McCann.

Ms Wandelt additionally communicated with close associates of the McCanns, based on the phone records.

On that date, Gerry McCann picked up a call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, saying she had "a wrong number."

On that occasion Ms Wandelt deposited a voicemail on Mrs McCann's answerphone stating "I will persist and I plan to establish my claim."

Court proceedings
Kate and Gerry McCann gave evidence to the court from behind a privacy screen on Wednesday

The court heard the co-defendant developed a relationship online with Ms Wandelt prior to assisting her on a visit to the McCanns' home in that area in last December.

Phone records showed Mrs Spragg had communicated through communication app to Mrs McCann to express the media had depicted Ms Wandelt as "mentally unstable" but that she ought to be treated respectfully in the months leading up to the trip to Rothley, Leicestershire, in last December.

The court was told correspondence between the two defendants, in November 2024, planning endeavoring to get Mrs McCann's biological evidence from her trash or from silverware at a restaurant.

"We must make a stand," the co-defendant told Ms Wandelt.

On the night of the visit to their house, the defendant sent a communication which stated: "We find ourselves positioned outside the McCanns' house with our vehicle dark resembling private investigators. I desired to accomplish this with someone else I hadn't anticipated I would be engaged in this with the McCanns."

The trial continues.

Sara Rojas
Sara Rojas

Elara is a tech enthusiast and writer with a passion for exploring emerging technologies and their impact on society.