The super sleuth is at it again and cashing in on the nineteenth anniversary of Princess Diana's death. This time he's wandering the streets of Paris near and about the Alma Tunnel with that same investigative look he had around Dealey Plaza. While on a holiday in 2000 I'd been to Dealey Plaza to see where this historic event happened. The snipers nest as it became known is glassed off and McLaren had no more access than any other tourist.
So to the point with this farce. On his evidence wall he draws two short parallel lines meant to represent some skid marks on the road just before the entrance to the tunnel. He refers to these skid marks as missed evidence. He measures their length, their width apart saying they were fresh when he measured them. Now this is where his story trips over itself.
I'm thinking when? At the beginning of the documentary we're told he is back in Melbourne Australia watching his TV incredulously as the French police remove the car and wash down a declared crime scene (paparazzi were being charged initially for their involvement) and opening it up to traffic within four hours. If he decided to act immediately he has to book a flight and get there to find these fresh skid marks that other cars would have been running over now for at least three days.
Anyhow these skid marks take on some serious fascination for him. He measures the distance between the tyre marks as 46.5 inches and confirms with some automotive engineer that the distance is a match within a couple of millimeters to the 1994 S280 W140 Mercedes model death car. A diagram comes up with his arrowed measurement between the tyres describing the distance as the track.
Well for a start it's not a match. Not even close. Sitting with my IPad I check to find the front wheel track is 1603mm (63.11 inches) and the rear 1576 mm (62.047 inches). Also the track is commonly measured from the centre of the tyre not the inside edge. Looking at Mercedes own diagrams indicates the same. Nonetheless as the tyres on the car were close to 9 inches in width so that can be deducted to get the inside measurement and prove he is wrong. 54 inches front, 53 inches rear would be close to the inside measurements not 46.5 inches. Around 10 inches difference! I'm only playing armchair detective and it was not hard to find this using my IPad. He had his laptop and could have done the same but the master detective doesn't. McLaren solved nothing.
So to the point with this farce. On his evidence wall he draws two short parallel lines meant to represent some skid marks on the road just before the entrance to the tunnel. He refers to these skid marks as missed evidence. He measures their length, their width apart saying they were fresh when he measured them. Now this is where his story trips over itself.
I'm thinking when? At the beginning of the documentary we're told he is back in Melbourne Australia watching his TV incredulously as the French police remove the car and wash down a declared crime scene (paparazzi were being charged initially for their involvement) and opening it up to traffic within four hours. If he decided to act immediately he has to book a flight and get there to find these fresh skid marks that other cars would have been running over now for at least three days.
Anyhow these skid marks take on some serious fascination for him. He measures the distance between the tyre marks as 46.5 inches and confirms with some automotive engineer that the distance is a match within a couple of millimeters to the 1994 S280 W140 Mercedes model death car. A diagram comes up with his arrowed measurement between the tyres describing the distance as the track.
Well for a start it's not a match. Not even close. Sitting with my IPad I check to find the front wheel track is 1603mm (63.11 inches) and the rear 1576 mm (62.047 inches). Also the track is commonly measured from the centre of the tyre not the inside edge. Looking at Mercedes own diagrams indicates the same. Nonetheless as the tyres on the car were close to 9 inches in width so that can be deducted to get the inside measurement and prove he is wrong. 54 inches front, 53 inches rear would be close to the inside measurements not 46.5 inches. Around 10 inches difference! I'm only playing armchair detective and it was not hard to find this using my IPad. He had his laptop and could have done the same but the master detective doesn't. McLaren solved nothing.
