WITNESS STATEMENT
Date: 2007/05/14 Time: 19:45 Location: DIC from Portimao’s P.J.
Officer: R. Fernandes, inspector.
Name: LUIS FILIPE DUARTE ANTONIO
He has no relationship envisaged in Art.134, paragraph l of the CPP.
Moves to give evidence.
On the matter of the file he said:
— He comes to the file as a witness.
— Urged, he explains that he is the owner of a small firm of maintenance of swimming pools for 08 (eight) years, having only a part-time employee, providing services in an area of Barlavento Algarve from Salema up to Portimao.
— That the swimming pools he services are owned by individuals and condominiums, providing assistance in terms of cleaning and making minor repairs.
— That he is the owner of an all-terrain vehicle made by Nissan, the 1990 model Patrol, colour red, a station-wagon made by Volkswagen, Passat model, also the year 1990 colour dark blue, along with, more recently, he acquired a light commercial vehicle made by Renault, model Kangoo, colour yellow, the year 1999. He acquired this vehicle on 16 April this year from a client resident on the outskirts of Barao de S. Joao, this client is of Dutch nationality named PIM DE HAAM, it being that the vehicle was registered in his wife’s name, INGE. He acquired the vehicle for the amount of 4,000 (four thousand) Euros, having paid through the delivery of 3,000 euros in cash from B.C.E. and the remaining amount, 1,000 euros, through a cheque that was issued to him by a customer in payment for services rendered in the repair of his swimming pool.
— He is married to MICHAELA WALCZUCH since 1995, both having a daughter called Cxxxxxxxx Sxxxxx Walczuch Axxxxxx who is 08 (eight) years of age.
— They all reside at the address indicated above, but four years ago the relationship of the couple suffered a serious setback due to his wife having committed adultery, that is, she maintained a relationship with an individual for about a month, having left home but, at the same time, alleging to miss her daughter, she asked the witness to return to the family residence in Lagos, ending with the deponent agreeing with this situation.
— That after this situation, they still made an effort to save the marriage, however, those efforts have proved fruitless, ending with both making separate lives, but continuing to live under the same roof. Currently they live in separate bedrooms, maintaining the relationship thinking of their daughter, but there is a divorce in progress for about three weeks or a month, since this is a divorce by mutual agreement, leaving the child to live with the mother although they will have joint custody of the child.
— The question asked, he explains that his wife MICHAEL WALCZUCH, still his wife, has a website called WWW.ROMIGEN.COM, it being that, from what he has been given to understand by MICHAELA, this is dedicated to marketing properties that are placed for sale by customers in the web page.
— That his wife was employed as a sales representative in Remax and Century 21, both in the city of Lagos, before the launching of this project, but the witness does not know the exact date when MICHAELA WALCZUCH began to imagine setting up the project or to make it a reality.
— Asked, he states that MICHAELA has a colleague in the preparation of the website project, not knowing if he is a partner, it being that the individual has the name of ROBERT MURAT.
— That he met ROBERT MURAT when he [RM] was employed at Remax, at the same period in which MICHAELA WALCZUCH also worked there, knowing they both got on very well professionally, doing work together. That in the beginning ROBERT MURAT did not go to his home, given that, because of the infidelity committed by his wife, he had prohibited any visits by males.
— However, after a while, having started to know ROBERT MURAT better, he was permitting that he could go to his residence for reasons related to working with his wife, and to dine with the couple in some situations.
— These dinners were sporadic, and the majority of meetings were in fact, to his knowledge, purely professional.
— Because it was asked, he states that ROBERT MURAT sometimes used the portable computer belonging to his wife, and also used the personal computer of the witness.
— It is completely unknown if ROBERT MURAT used the Internet on his wife’s computer, or whether, for business purposes or personal matters, he [RM] used his [LA] wife’s e-mail address.
— Urged, he states, without absolute certainty, that ROBERT MURAT is in the process of a divorce, as is the witness, knowing that he is of British nationality, he lives in Praia da Luz about 300/400 meters from the resort “LUZ OCEAN CLUB” in a house that he believes is owned by his mother. Has knowledge that Robert has a daughter aged about 04 (four) years old who lives with her mother in England.
— Asked, he explains that, from memory, he never met personally, either the wife or the daughter of ROBERT MURAT, having only seen photographs of the girl.
— He thinks that his daughter will have in her possession photographs where the daughter of ROBERT MURAT is also included, given that his wife MICHAEL WALCZUCH went to England on two occasions, having taken his daughter Cxxxxxxxxx with her. This trip occurred in the Christmas vacation of 2006, MICHAELA having previously gone to England without his daughter, the date of which he does not know precisely but, certainly, also during the year of 2006. He is not sure if there was a third trip, however, he thinks so, not having a proper memory of the reason for that as, at this time, he was already leading a life separate from his wife.
— Because it was asked, he thinks that the first trip to England that MICHAELA WALCZUCH made, she made the trip in the company of ROBERT MURAT, having stayed at the home of his family. The reason for the trip, from what was said to him, was due to the works of restoration of a home of Robert, allied to the fact that they both needed time to work on the idea of the Internet site. He believes that MICHAELA WALCZUCH went to help with the restoration works mentioned above.
— Questioned, he states that, concerning the payment of the trips to England, he thinks that ROBERT MURAT was charged with such payments. This was because of the collaboration opportunities that would be given to ROBERT by MICHAELA in their business affairs.
— He remembers that before the Christmas holiday visit to England, in which his daughter Cxxxxxxxx also travelled with her mother, that she asked the witness to lend her about 900 (Nine) euros, claiming to need money to pay a debt to the bank that was still maintained since asking for a loan to open a shop selling German food, this business that failed. MICHAELA WALCZUCH said she still needed some money to buy clothes for their daughter in England, given that there it would be more expensive than in Portugal
— The deponent, then drew 1200 (twelve hundred) euros from one of his accounts at Montepio Geral, the Lagos branch, which he gave to his wife.
— To date, MICHAELA has never returned the money she borrowed, despite the witness already having reminded her of that fact.
— The question asked, he explains that in his understanding, ROBERT MURAT and MICHAEL WALCZUCH do not have any love relationship, the relationship between them being of a professional nature.
— Questioned accordingly, he affirms that he had dinner with Robert yesterday, at the residence of the witness, it being that when came home from work he [RM] was already there eating, alone, while MICHAELA was in the kitchen. They talked about the fact that Robert had rented a car of the brand Hyundai, Getz model, because the truck owned by him or his mother is in Praia da Luz, to display in the windows photographs of little Madeleine McCann, whom the public knows is missing.
— This truck, the Volkswagen brand, model Transporter, colour green, was driven several times by ROBERT MURAT.
— That ROBERT used to drive this truck as well as a vehicle of brand SKODA, Fabia model, station-wagon, colour grey, this car that MICHAELA also would drive when ROBERT was in England.
— He does not know if ROBERT MURAT has any other cars.
— It being asked of him, he clarifies that, except for yesterday night when he dined with ROBERT MURAT, he has no memory of the last time when he saw him or was with him.
— That during the dinner they talked about the fact that ROBERT has helped the current investigation, as an interpreter, in two or three diligences, not having noticed any behaviour or remark in any way strange or out of the ordinary for him. It seems to him that ROBERT is concerned about the disappearance of the English child, since he has a daughter of the approximate age of Madeleine McCann. As has been said, ROBERT has participated also in actions that lead to discovery of the whereabouts of the girl, the same as the rest of the English community in the area of Praia da Luz and Lagos.
And nothing more said. Read, ratified and will sign.
