Madeleine McCann disappearance: Suspect Christian Brueckner

Convicted sexual predator Christian Brueckner was named by police in 2020 as the prime suspect in the disappearance of the three-year-old who vanished 16 years ago while on a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal. He is yet to be formally charged in relation to the matter.

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.

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.

Helge Busching was a key witness in the trial that helped jail Bruckner for rape in 2019 but his testimony is now being examined for possible perjury which could come as a major blow to investigators on the McCann case.

Brunswick prosecutor’s office have said that are investigating Busching for “false testimony” after they received a complaint from Brueckner’s lawyer Freidrich Fulscher last week, The Daily Mail reports.

He claimed he and another man called Manfred Seyferth had found a video camera in Brueckner’s house showing him raping and sexually assaulting two women and this was used to jail him.

Busching also told investigators that Brueckner said it was “odd that she didn’t scream” when they discussed Madeleine’s disappearance one year after she was taken.

According to the outlet, Mr Fulscher would only say, “as a witness, this man is completely unbelievable”, but confirmed he had filed the complaint and asked for a retrial in the rape case which saw Brueckner jailed for seven years.

German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters last month told BBC current affairs program Panorama that online messages sent between Brueckner and another paedophile

were recently discovered on one of Brueckner’s computers.

In those messages, 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 paedophile 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 paedophile 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”.

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

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.