A leading detective has addressed claims made by a former cellmate of Christian Brueckner that the Madeleine McCann murder suspect had admitted snatching a girl from her holiday apartment
A Madeleine McCann detective has dismissed explosive evidence given by a former cellmate of prime suspect Christian Brueckner.
Laurentiu Codin sensationally claimed on Wednesday that the German had admitted snatching a girl from her Algarve holiday apartment. The 50-year-old also accused Brueckner of confessing to abducting and raping young girls in the city of Hannover.
Codin was interviewed by officers from Germany’s BKA – the equivalent of the FBI – in Braunschweig jail in August 2020. A jail informant is believed to have told cops that he had grown close to Brueckner behind bars while they were on remand.
Detective Niko Mueller told a court Codin made no mention of Brueckner allegedly snatching children during the four-hour interview. He also dismissed claims by Codin that Brueckner had admitted previously raping young girls on a bus he owned.
Asked by Judge Ute Engemann if abducting children in Portugal was mentioned in the interview, he replied: “No. Nothing like this was reported to me. The first time I heard this was in today’s press reports.” And asked about claims Brueckner snatched a young girl from her bike and raped her, he said: “He did not tell me that.”
But Det Mueller, 35, did confirm Codin claimed Brueckner asked if DNA could be obtained from bones buried in the earth. He also revealed Codin told him Brueckner wanted to obtain a false passport to return to Portugal and bragged about raping women.
But his rubbishing of the child abduction claims damages the credibility of Codin, who refused to say what he was jailed for. Brueckner, 47, is on trial in Braunschweig accused of carrying out crimes in the Algarve between 2000 and 2017.
They include the alleged rape of Irish tour rep Hazel Behan, who was attacked in her apartment Praia da Rocha in 2004. Brueckner is also accused of raping a teenage girl in his Praia da Luz home and raping an elderly woman in her holiday apartment.
He also faces a child sex charge for allegedly exposing himself to a German girl on a beach in Salema in April 2007. His final charge relates to an alleged indecent exposure in front of an 11-year-old in 2017.
Prosecutors appear no closer to proving he was behind Madeleine’s disappearance – despite claiming they have proof she is dead. They face the nightmare scenario of seeing their prime suspect walk free if he is cleared in the latest trial.
If Brueckner is found not guilty, he could be freed from prison in the early part of next year. A not guilty verdict would increase the pressure on them to charge Brueckner over Madeleine’s disappearance. The trial is due to end in December.
