The widow of a man suspected of snatching Madeleine McCann said she is sure he was not responsible for her disappearance - and insisted he would have been at home watching TV at the time.
Heroin addict Euclides Monteiro, who died in a freak tractor accident in 2009, worked at the Ocean Club Resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal, which Maddie disappeared from.
However, he was sacked a year before she vanished and it is feared that he may have abducted the British girl to get revenge on his former employers.
The development comes after reports that police are closing in on three 'prime suspects' known to have been associates of Monteiro.
His widow Luisa Rodrigues said she was questioned by Portuguese police but she insists that he would not have committed such a serious crime.
Monteiro's mobile phone was near the Ocean Club Resort at the time the young girl disappeared, it has been revealed.
The 40-year-old convicted criminal, who served time behind bars, had previously been caught stealing from the resort Madeleine disappeared from.
However, family members have hit out, and accused the police of 'scapegoating a dead man'.
Ms Rodrigues, 40, told David Collins at the Daily Mirror she met police officers in a cafe near her home in Lagos.
'They said they suspected him because he used to work at the Ocean Club complex where the McCanns were staying and because they had tracked the signal from his mobile phone to the area where Madeleine disappeared the night she vanished,' she said.
'I was speechless. I kept repeating Euclides was innocent but they said it was not for me to say.'
She lives a 15-minute drive away from the scene of the young girl's disappearance on May 3, 2007.
Ms Rodrigues said the police officers asked about her relationship with Monteiro, where he had worked and about his problems with drink and drugs.
She later provided detectives with her husband's work contracts and bank statements from their joint account.
Ms Rodrigues said that she could not remember the night of Madeleine's disappearance - but insisted she would have turned him in if she thought he was responsible.
She added: 'It's a long time ago, but I'm sure he would have been at home watching TV. That's what he always did after work.'
Monteiro, who fathered Ms Rodrigues 11-year-old son, once served a five-year prison sentence for burglary. Could there be an element of protecting her son in her exuberance in declaring Monteiro innocent?
However, his wife said that although he was 'no angel' he would not have been behind the suspected kidnapping.
The former drug addict, from Cape Verde in West Africa, was first named as a suspect last November.
The development comes after reports that police are closing in on three 'prime suspects' believed to have been involved in the toddler's disappearance.
Analysis of mobile phone data suggested a burglary gang was operating very near to where she vanished in Portugal in May 2007.
The three men made an unusually high number of calls to each other in the hours after Madeleine was reported missing from her holiday flat.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police refused to comment.
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| Euclides Montiero Burglar, Heroin Adddict |
However, he was sacked a year before she vanished and it is feared that he may have abducted the British girl to get revenge on his former employers.
The development comes after reports that police are closing in on three 'prime suspects' known to have been associates of Monteiro.
His widow Luisa Rodrigues said she was questioned by Portuguese police but she insists that he would not have committed such a serious crime.
Monteiro's mobile phone was near the Ocean Club Resort at the time the young girl disappeared, it has been revealed.
The 40-year-old convicted criminal, who served time behind bars, had previously been caught stealing from the resort Madeleine disappeared from.
However, family members have hit out, and accused the police of 'scapegoating a dead man'.Ms Rodrigues, 40, told David Collins at the Daily Mirror she met police officers in a cafe near her home in Lagos.
'They said they suspected him because he used to work at the Ocean Club complex where the McCanns were staying and because they had tracked the signal from his mobile phone to the area where Madeleine disappeared the night she vanished,' she said.
'I was speechless. I kept repeating Euclides was innocent but they said it was not for me to say.'
She lives a 15-minute drive away from the scene of the young girl's disappearance on May 3, 2007.
Ms Rodrigues said the police officers asked about her relationship with Monteiro, where he had worked and about his problems with drink and drugs.
She later provided detectives with her husband's work contracts and bank statements from their joint account.
Ms Rodrigues said that she could not remember the night of Madeleine's disappearance - but insisted she would have turned him in if she thought he was responsible.
She added: 'It's a long time ago, but I'm sure he would have been at home watching TV. That's what he always did after work.'
However, his wife said that although he was 'no angel' he would not have been behind the suspected kidnapping.
The former drug addict, from Cape Verde in West Africa, was first named as a suspect last November.
The development comes after reports that police are closing in on three 'prime suspects' believed to have been involved in the toddler's disappearance.
Analysis of mobile phone data suggested a burglary gang was operating very near to where she vanished in Portugal in May 2007.
The three men made an unusually high number of calls to each other in the hours after Madeleine was reported missing from her holiday flat.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police refused to comment.
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