McCann’s parents named as suspects

Her mother reportedly was offered a plea deal if she
confessed.

PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal (AP) — For four months, the world watched in horror and grim anticipation as police pursued the presumed abductor of wide-eyed British 4-year-old Madeleine McCann. Then, authorities dramatically turned the tables, naming the girl’s parents as suspects.

Suddenly, a couple who had been the beneficiary of so much sympathy and so many prayers — meeting with Pope Benedict XVI and getting support from celebrities like J.K. Rowling and David Beckham — found themselves in the crosshairs.

Most of the suspicion has focused on Madeleine’s mother, Kate, long praised for her strength amid an unimaginable ordeal. The girl’s aunt said police suggested Madeleine might have been killed accidentally and offered the mother a plea deal if she confessed.

Kate McCann was questioned for more than four hours Friday in a second straight day of interrogation into the disappearance of Madeleine in southern Portugal.

Her husband, Gerry McCann, followed her into the police station in the southern Portuguese town of Portimao for a separate round of questioning.

Both were named suspects, their lawyer, Carlos Pinto Abreu told reporters. “They have not been charged, and the investigation continues,” he said without elaborating.

Deal

Friends and relatives said the mother told them she was offered a deal if she confessed.

“They tried to get her to confess to having accidentally killed Madeleine by offering her a deal through her lawyer — ‘If you say you killed Madeleine by accident and then hid her and disposed of the body, then we can guarantee you a two-year jail sentence or even less,”’ Gerry McCann’s sister, Philomena, told ITV news.

A police spokesman, Olegario Sousa, confirmed to The Associated Press that police had named a new suspect, but would not say it was Mrs. McCann. He cited privacy laws in declining to comment further. He could not be reached later to comment on Mr. McCann.