Madeleine McCann suspect’s ‘MM’ text to fellow pedophile is revealed

The vile messages “could be a hint” that finally leads investigators to answers for the toddler’s grieving family, according to the case’s lead prosecutor, reported The Sun.

Convicted sexual predator Christian Brueckner is yet to be formally charged but was named by police as the prime suspect after the three-year-old vanished in 2007 while on a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

Sixteen years on, German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has told BBC current affairs program Panorama that online messages sent between Brueckner and another pedophile might include a reference to Madeleine.

In the chat allegedly discovered on one of Brueckner’s computers, the suspect detailed his desires to abduct and kill a little girl – and “document it”.

It’s claimed he then spoke of “destroying evidence” to which the pedophile replied: “mm”.

Of the exchange, Mr Wolters said: “It could be a hint”.

“Of course, it’s important to us. It could be piece for the big puzzle.”

While “MM” are Madeleine McCann’s initials, it’s unclear exactly what the suspect was referring to in the message.

The suspect’s extensive online chat history is known to contain disturbing messages pointing to his pedophile fantasies.

He allegedly discussed kidnapping and sexually abusing a child in a chatroom exchange in September 2013, and claimed he would make a lot of films if he were to capture a “little one”.

Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year sentence, for the brutal rape of an elderly woman in Portugal, at a high-security prison known as the “Alcatraz of the North” in the German city of Oldenburg. In 1994 he served a two-year sentence for performing sex acts in front of a child and child abuse.

He could face a trial as early as February next year for a string of heinous alleged crimes including three rapes and two sex attacks on children, it was reported this month.

Two of the alleged rapes are said to have taken place at his former residence outside Praia da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared.

German authorities have indicated a trial related to Madeleine’s case could take place shortly after Brueckner’s upcoming trial, English language Spanish newspaper The Olive Press reports.

Mr Wolters added: “I can only say that we have only one suspect at the moment”.

“[She died] in Portugal and we think maybe we know where it happened.”

It was also revealed in the program that Portuguese police apologised to Madeleine’s parents for the way they handled their daughter’s disappearance.

Kate and Gerry McCann were made “arguidos” – or suspects – in the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.

Both were questioned by Portuguese detectives, who believed they had staged an abduction and concealed their daughter’s body.

Kate McCann has said she was offered a deal to admit covering up her daughter’s death in exchange for a shorter sentence.

The couple’s arguido status was lifted in 2008, but they remained under suspicion in Portugal for years.

This story appeared in The Sun and is reproduced with permission.