Madeleine McCann’s determined parents Kate and Gerry, who have never lost hope of finding their little girl, have today been dealt yet another devastating blow
Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner appears in Braunschweig court in April
Madeleine McCann’s family have had to deal with yet more fresh agony as a major update has been given on the prime suspect in the missing person’s case.
Christian Brueckner, who is currently on trial in Germany, stands accused of sick sex crimes against women and children in the Algarve between the years 2000 and 2017.
These accusations are unrelated to the disappearance of Madeleine, who vanished during a family holiday in Praia da Luz back in May 2007. However, Brueckner, 47, is currently suspect number one, with German police recovering evidence related to Madeleine inside his campervan.
The German sex offender, who was living in Praia de Luz at the time of the little girl’s disappearance, is currently serving out a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of an American pensioner in the Portuguese resort. He has denied any involvement in Madeleine’s case, which to this day remains unsolved.
Parents Kate and Gerry have never given up hope of finding their daughter, who was just three years old when she went missing from their Ocean Club apartment. Sadly, they have today had to contend with yet another devastating blow.
Although Brueckner’s trial in Braunschweig was initially expected to wrap up in December, it could now all be over in a matter of days. Judge Ute Engemann has today revealed that she could well announce her verdict in the long-running case next Tuesday (October 8), meaning the case could be finished by next week.
Judge Engemann delivered the update after being urged to hand Brueckner a 15 year sentence for the alleged crimes in the Algarve. Back in July, Judge Engemann ruled that the evidence against Brueckner was ‘insufficient’ – indicating a potential acquittal.
If Brueckner is cleared, this means he will be a free man next year – an outcome that would prove disastrous for the ongoing investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance. Detectives appear to be no closer to proving he was behind the tot’s disappearance, despite claiming to have proof that she is dead. A verdict of ‘not guilty’ would pile on the pressure to charge Brueckner over Madeleine’s disappearance. It’s expected that prosecutors will appeal to a higher court in Germany if he is acquitted.
Brueckner stands accused of a series of vile crimes, including the rape of a teenage girl in his Praia da Luz home and the rape of an elderly woman in her holiday apartment.
The defendant, described as a ‘serial rapist’ by the chief public prosecutor, also faces a child sex charge for allegedly exposing himself to a German girl on a Salema beach in April 2007, while his final charge relates to an alleged incident of indecent exposure in front of an 11-year-old in 2017.
Giving evidence recently, Brueckner’s former cellmate Laurentiu Codin told the court that he had ‘confessed’ to abducting a child during his time in Portugal. Codin, 50, said: “He told me that in Portugal, he had stolen there,” claimed the 50-year-old. “He was in a region where there are hotels and rich people live. He said there was somewhere with an open window, he told me this.
“He was looking for money. He said he didn’t find any money but found a kid and took the child. He said that two hours later, there were police and dogs all over the place, so he then went away, out of the area. He said he took the child in Portugal in his car, and in the time when the police and dogs were at the house, he drove away and he was gone. He asked me if the DNA from a child can be taken from bones under the ground.”
Back in June, the court heard from German senior detective Titus Stampa, who told of how emails found on Brueckner’s Hotmail account link him to Madeleine’s case. Referring to it as the ‘murder’ account, Stampa said he didn’t have clearance to discuss the emails because they were ‘related to the killing’.
Meanwhile, in May, Met Police detective Det Con Mark Draycott shared details of a voicemail about Brueckner left on a Scotland Yard answer machine in May 2017. The man, Helge Busching had claimed Brueckner had told him that ‘she did not scream’ during a discussion about Madeleine.
When Brueckner was first named as chief suspect in 2020, Kate and Gerry made the following heartbreaking statement: “All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace.”
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