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MARK WARNER
CLEANER 08 MAY 07 |
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675 to 678 Witness statement
of Fatima Maria Serafim da
Silva Espada 2007.05.08 |
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03-Processos Vol III
Pages 675 to 678
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TRANSLATION BY INES |
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03_VOLUME_IIIa_Page_675 |
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03_VOLUME_IIIa_Page_676 |
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03_VOLUME_IIIa_Page_677 |
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03_VOLUME_IIIa_Page_678 |
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Witness statement
Taken by officer Jose Luis,
Inspector
Date : 2007: 05: 08
Name: Fatima Maria Serafim da Silva
Espada
Profession: Cleaner
Place of work: Luz Ocean Club
She has worked at the Ocean Club for
approximately eleven years. She is a
permanent employee of the Club and
works all year round. She has a day
and a half off a week. She has fixed
working hours from 10.00 AM to 18.00
with a break for lunch from 13.30 to
18.00 and remains at the club during
this time or goes to attend to
personal matters near to the Club.
She has a fixed day off on Tuesdays
and had a day off on May 1st
(national holiday) as well Sunday
afternoon 29th April.
When asked how her work was
organised in the club, specifically
in the cleaning areas where she
worked, she said there are norms
pre-defining the areas where each
employee worked, with the aim of
delivering an efficient service.
This principle does not imply that
in times of work overload for any
colleague, that they could not help
out even in areas that were not
allocated to them. She knows because
she has heard that the missing
English girl was staying in block 5
apartment A, which is referred to as
5A out of habit. This apartment is
situated in a zone that was not
allocated to her, but to a
colleague, in this case her mother
Maria Julia Silva.
She knows that the little girl
disappeared on the night of 3rd May
and is sure that she only heard
about this on the following morning
when she arrived at work, as it was
the only subject being talked about.
She had the opportunity to observe
the photos of Madeleine that were
being circulated everywhere and has
no hesitation in confirming that she
saw the child before her
disappearance in the company of her
siblings and mother and father,
although in the latter case she only
observed him from a distance.
She states that this took place on
Sunday 29th April, just before she
finished her morning work shift
(13.30) as she had the afternoon off
that day. At about 13.15 she went to
help her mother, who was cleaning
apartment I of the same block (5)
situated on the first floor. She
clearly remembers seeing the girl
accompanied by her siblings and
mother leave their apartment (5 A)
and walk to the stairs leading to
the floor above. She was very close
to them at a distance of about 1
metre, observing their movements for
a few moments because she was
charmed by them. Madeleine led the
way with a plate (perhaps plastic)
in her hand bearing a piece of
bread. As regards the clothes she
was wearing she only remembers a
skirt but cannot recall its
description. She noted, because she
thought them nice, the type of shoes
she was wearing, tennis shoes, light
in colour she thinks, which had
little lights along the soles, which
lit up each time she stepped on the
ground. Her siblings followed behind
her, wearing the same king of shoes
and each holding a piece of bread in
their hands, their mother followed
behind them without holding their
hands. She seems to remember that
the mother was also carrying a
plate. Moments afterwards, perhaps
the time it took to close the
apartment door, the father came out
and also headed to the apartment
upstairs. When asked, she does not
remember whether the father pulled
the door closed or locked it with a
key.
After she chatted to her mother
about there being many children in
the apartments, she had the idea
that the family in 5H were friends
of Madeleine's family who were
staying in 5 A.
She never cleaned any of these
apartments referred to as they were
allocated to her mother. Her mother
never mentioned anything strange to
her, either before or after the
girl's disappearance that could be
related to the disappearance. The
only comment she remembered
concerned the clutter in the
apartments, mainly clothing which
was left all around the place. She
thinks that her mother cleaned the
apartments in that block on Monday
and Wednesday (02-05).
When asked if she observed anything
in the apartments where she cleaned
that indicated a person particularly
interested in children, such as
objects, photos, videos or anything
else, she replies no. She has no
knowledge of any fact that could
contribute to discover Madeleine's
whereabouts and pledges to contact
the authorities if anything should
happen.
No more is said. She reads the
statement and finds it in
conformity, ratifies it and signs it
together with me, the officer who
drew up the statement.
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