Murder of Joana Cipriano

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Joana Cipriano was an eight-year-old Portuguese girl who disappeared from the village of Figueira, near Portimão, in the Portuguese region of the Algarve on 12 September 2004. After criminal investigation, she was later assumed to have been murdered, though her body was never found.

Before this crime, the last first degree murder of a child in the Algarve region happened in November 1990 and involved a British girl. Nine-year-old Rachel Charles was abducted and murdered in Albufeira. Her body was found three days later. A British mechanic, Michael Cook, a friend of the family, was arrested and convicted.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] Investigation

The investigation by the Portuguese Judiciary Police (Polícia Judiciária - PJ) ended with the conviction for murder of Leonor and João Cipriano, Joana's mother and uncle.[3] The prosecution claimed that Joana was killed because she saw her mother and João Cipriano, her mother's brother, having incestuous sex,[4] in accordance with the testimony of the stepfather of Leandro Silva, the common-law husband of Leonor Cipriano.[5] Leonor Cipriano confessed to killing her daughter. Her uncle confessed having beated her up after which she stood «quiet on the floor». He said he cut his niece's body in small pieces, put her in a fridge box, then put her inside an old car that was taken to Spain to be crushed and burned. When he was asked if he had sexually abused his niece he said in the presence of his lawyer «I did not harm her, I only killed her».[6]

[edit] The book: The Star of Joana

The book The Star of Joana (A Estrela de Joana)[7][8] was written as a homage to the little girl by Paulo Cristóvão, one of the PJ police inspectors in the investigation of Joana's murder.

[edit] Controversy

[edit] Allegations of police misconduct

Though Leonor Cipriano confessed to killing her daughter, it was only after nearly 48 hours of continuous interrogation, and she retracted her confession the next day, claiming she had been beaten. She had extensive bruising after the interrogation, which the police claimed came about when she threw herself down the stairs.[9] Since then Gonçalo Amaral and four other Portuguese police officers have been charged with offences.[3] "Mr Amaral was not present at the time of her alleged beating but is accused of covering up for his colleagues, which he strenuously denies."[10] Leonor Cipriano's lawyer confirmed that Leonor does not know who beat her up.[11] Of the four inspectors accused of torturing her, she has insisted that the two inspectors that interrogated her did not beat her up, and was not able to recognize the other two members of the PJ.[12]

[edit] Comparison to disappearance of Madeleine McCann

The village of Figueira is only seven miles from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine McCann disappeared on 3 May 2007. In both cases the mothers launched campaigns[citation needed] to find their girls and in both cases the local police, didn't find the girls alive, and investigated the possibility of the mothers having killed their daughters.[13] On June 19 1996, six years old German child Renè Hasèe, also disappeared from the Amoreira beach near Aljezur while walking a few meters ahead of his parents.[14][15]

A child protection specialist, Mark Williams-Thomas, who believes that Joana's and Madeleine's disappearances are related, commented that the disappearance of two children unknown to each other, within a period of four years in a seven-mile radius, would be a huge coincidence, especially considering that "Portugal is a small country with very, very few abductions[...]" (Portugal's land area is about 70% of England's land area; its population in 2007 was roughly 22% of England's population).[16] Leandro Silva, the common-law husband of Leonor Cipriano, commented that "The only difference between the McCanns and us is that we don't have money".[17]

[edit] Further reading

Cristóvão, Paulo. A Estrela de Joana. Ed.Presença 2007. ISBN: 978-972-23-3820-2 (in Portuguese)

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ 17 years since last abduction on the Algarve, and again the victim was British
  2. ^ Have police failed Madeleine?
  3. ^ a b David Brown. "Madeleine officer charged over another missing girl", The Times, 2007-06-11. Retrieved on 2007-09-17. 
  4. ^ Girl's Case 'May Solve McCann Mystery'
  5. ^ Testemunha diz que tio da Joana lhe confessou ter morto a criança
  6. ^ [http://diario.iol.pt/sociedade/joana-morte-algarve-pj-homicidio/850467-4071.html «Eu não lhe fiz mal, só a matei»
  7. ^ "A estrela de Joana" de Paulo Pereira nas bancas
  8. ^ Livro "A Estrela de Joana" revela pormenores da investigação da PJ ao desaparecimento da menina
  9. ^ David Rose. "Madeleine: Police on trial for torturing mother of another missing girl", Daily Mail, 2007-09-16. Retrieved on 2007-09-17. 
  10. ^ leading hunt for Madeleine sacked after blast at UK police
  11. ^ Caso Joana: Acusação a inspectores da PJ tem "natureza política"
  12. ^ Leonor não reconhece agressores da Judiciária
  13. ^ Fiona Govan. "The detectives working as the world watches", The Daily Telegraph, 2007-05-27. Retrieved on 2007-09-17. 
  14. ^ The Doe Network: Case File 2075DMPRT
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ Girl's Case 'May Solve McCann Mystery'
  17. ^ Detective in McCann Case Investigated For Beating Convicted Child Murderer