October 11th 2024.
Today, Christian Brueckner made his way to the Landgericht Braunschweig state courthouse for what could potentially be one of the last days of his trial for sex crimes. The 47-year-old has been the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, and German investigators are worried that he may flee to Cuba if he is not charged soon.
Brueckner had previously been cleared of three charges of aggravated rape and two charges of sexual abuse of children at a court in Brunswick. However, he is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of an American woman in the Algarve region of Portugal, where three-year-old Madeleine went missing two years later.
But here's the catch - if a new warrant is not served before his sentence ends in September 2025, Brueckner will walk free. Hans Christian Wolters, one of the German prosecutors on the case, stated that the verdict of the trial has no bearing on the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, and it will continue regardless.
At the moment, Brueckner has not been charged in the McCann case, but he is under investigation on suspicion of murder. Madeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007, and investigators fear what may happen if he is not charged before his current sentence ends and he is released.
According to German newspaper Bild, there is concern that Brueckner may flee to countries such as Cambodia, the Philippines, or Cuba, as they do not have extradition agreements with Germany. This is a worrying thought for investigators, as it could hinder their efforts to bring him to justice.
Furthermore, the newspaper also highlights a potential weakness in the Madeleine case. During Brueckner's recent trial, the court dismissed the evidence of a prosecution witness named Helge B, labeling him as unreliable and a liar. This witness is also a key figure in the Maddie case, as he had allegedly confessed to him in 2008.
Since Madeleine's disappearance, there have been many events that have taken place. In 2007, on the 3rd of May, her parents Kate and Gerry McCann left their sleeping children in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while they dined at a nearby restaurant. When Kate returned to check on the children, she found Madeleine missing. Later, their friend Jane Tanner reported seeing a man carrying a child earlier that night.
Soon after, Robert Murat, an Anglo-Portuguese property developer, was taken in for questioning and made a formal suspect, but this was later withdrawn. In August, 100 days after Madeleine's disappearance, the investigating officers acknowledged for the first time that she could be dead. In September, both Mr. and Mrs. McCann were made formal suspects in their daughter's disappearance, and they flew back to England with their other children.
In 2008, on the 21st of July, the Portuguese authorities put an end to their investigation and lifted the formal suspect status of the McCanns and Mr. Murat. However, in 2011, on the 12th of May, Mrs. McCann published a book about her daughter's disappearance on Madeleine's eighth birthday. This led to Scotland Yard launching a review of the case, and in 2012, they believed that Madeleine could still be alive and released an age-progression photo of her as a nine-year-old.
In 2013, on the 4th of July, Scotland Yard confirmed that they had launched their own investigation, Operation Grange, into Madeleine's disappearance. They had 'genuinely new' lines of inquiry and had identified 38 people of interest, including 12 Britons. In 2014, in January, British detectives flew to Portugal, and in June, they began questioning 11 people who may have information on the case.
As time went by, the government disclosed that the investigation had cost them over £10 million, and in 2015, on the 16th of September, Scotland Yard reduced the number of officers working on the case to just four. Four years later, the McCanns marked the 10th anniversary of their daughter's disappearance and vowed to continue searching for her.
In 2019, local media reported that the Portuguese authorities were investigating a foreign pedophile as a suspect in Madeleine's abduction. Then, in 2020, on the 3rd of June, the police revealed that a 43-year-old German prisoner, later identified as Christian Brueckner, was a suspect in Madeleine's disappearance. However, the investigation is still a missing person inquiry, as there is no definitive evidence of whether Madeleine is alive or dead.
In 2021, on the 4th of May, Kate and Gerry McCann released a statement on the official Find Madeleine campaign website, saying that they still hold onto hope and await a breakthrough on the 12th of May, which would have been Madeleine's 18th birthday. In 2022, on the 21st of April, Brueckner was made a formal suspect by Portuguese authorities, and the McCann family stated that it is essential for them to learn the truth on the 15th anniversary of her disappearance.
In 2023, on the 3rd of May, Kate and Gerry marked the 16th anniversary of their daughter's disappearance, and on the 22nd of May, an area close to where Madeleine went missing was sealed off for searches. In 2024, on the 16th of February, Brueckner went on trial in Germany for three counts of rape and two charges of child sex abuse, but he was acquitted on the 8th of October.
His lawyer, Friedrich Fulscher, stated that there was never enough evidence against his client, and he also suggested that Brueckner may not have been charged if he was not a suspect in the McCann case. Brueckner had spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine's disappearance, but he has denied any involvement in the case.
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