Murder of Joana Cipriano

Joana Cipriano was an eight-year-old Portuguese girl who disappeared from the village of Figueira, near Portimão, in 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 had 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]

Investigation

The investigation by the Polícia Judiciária 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 to having beaten 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]

Controversy

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.^[7] 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."^[8] Leonor Cipriano's former lawyer said that Leonor does not know who beat her up.^[9]

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, unable to find the girls alive, investigated the possibility of the mothers having killed their daughters.^[10] On 19 June 1996, a six-year-old German child, Renè Hasèe, also disappeared, from the Amoreira beach near Aljezur while walking a few metres ahead of his parents.^[11][12]

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).^[4] 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".^[13]

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 (2007-06-11). "Madeleine officer charged over another missing girl". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1913175.ece. Retrieved 2007-09-17. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Girl's Case 'May Solve McCann Mystery'
5. ^ Testemunha diz que tio da Joana lhe confessou ter morto a criança
6. ^ (Portuguese) Sara Marques, Eu não lhe fiz mal, só a matei, IOLDiário (September 5, 2007)
7. ^ David Rose (2007-09-16). "Madeleine: Police on trial for torturing mother of another missing girl". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=482039&in_page_id=1770. Retrieved 2007-09-17. 
8. ^ leading hunt for Madeleine sacked after blast at UK police
9. ^ [1]
10. ^ Fiona Govan (2007-05-27). "The detectives working as the world watches". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/26/wmaddy226.xml. Retrieved 2007-09-17. 
11. ^ The Doe Network: Case File 2075DMPRT
12. ^ Photo "Rene Hasee vermisst seit dem 19.Juni 1996" | sevenload
13. ^ Detective in McCann Case Investigated For Beating Convicted Child Murderer