“This monster is the stuff nightmares are made of,” that’s how one netizen described Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann, after he appeared to smirk while leaving a German courthouse.
“Did you k*ll Maddie?” one journalist shouted, causing the convicted felon to flash a smile.
The 48-year-old was appearing before judges in Lehrte, not for any offence directly related to the McCann case, but rather for insulting guards at the prison where he is serving a seven-year sentence for r*pe—a punishable offence in the country.
According to German prosecutors, Brueckner is the main suspect in McCann’s disappearance, and claim to have thousands of pages worth of evidence to prove it.
Christian Brueckner, suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, smirked while confronted by journalists in Germany
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Disclaimer: this story contains references to adult crimes committed against children. Reader discretion is advised.
“We have strong evidence that Madeleine McCann is d*ad and that our suspect k*lled her,” prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said in an interview.
“We don’t have the body and no parts of the body, but we have enough evidence.”
Image credits: Alexander Koerner/Getty
Brueckner’s latest court appearance is due to an outburst he had in March while he was enduring solitary confinement. According to authorities, he insulted a female prison guard, calling her a “laughing stock” and telling her to “shut [her] gob” while in an enraged state.
Despite the conviction, he received only probation and was ordered to pay court costs, as well as to issue a written apology.
The suspect’s projected release this September has placed mounting pressure on German investigators, who are looking to bring formal charges against Brueckner to extend his imprisonment for a further 15 years.
Proving Brueckner’s involvement in McCann’s alleged murder is the prosecutors’ “last chance” to keep him behind bars
Image credits: Alexander Koerner/Getty
As Bored Panda previously reported, proving Brueckner’s connection to Madeleine McCann is the prosecutors’ “only ace left up their sleeve” for keeping him behind bars after losing an October 2024 trial that found their evidence “almost worthless.”
With his 2005 sentence running out, prosecutors sought to extend his punishment by proving his guilt in five other cases of r**e and child a**se allegedly committed by Brueckner between 2000 and 2017.
Image credits: BPIOrgNews
Presiding judge Uta Engemann, however, said that Brueckner could “not be convicted of the acts he’s accused of” because of “unreliable testimony” and a lack of forensic evidence.
“As soon as Brueckner is free he will disappear and likely never be seen again,” a source close to the case told the Telegraph. “Prosecutors still have firepower they can rely on but they are nervous.”
Image credits: BPIOrgNews
To support their case, German authorities are relying on “over “20,000 pages of Madeleine evidence,” extracted from an abandoned factory Brueckner purchased in Neuwegersleben, Germany in 2008.
In 2016, investigators scoured the area and uncovered a trove of items that painted a disturbing portrait of the suspect’s obsessions.
Contained in a suitcase were folders and USB sticks containing disturbing images and videos of children, as well as 75 swimsuits for minors, small toys, handwritten accounts of abductions and perverted fantasies.
German prosecutors are urging their British counterparts to reopen their investigation warning that “time is running out”
The suitcase also contained snippets of internet chats with other alleged child abusers.
“I want to capture something small and use it for days,” one message read, with similar ones describing scenarios in which he would dr*g and kidnap women and young girls.
Investigators say the digital material retrieved from the factory strongly supports the theory that Madeleine passed away shortly after her disappearance from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007.
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In addition to physical evidence, prosecutors have gathered testimonies. One informant, Helge Busching, recalled a conversation with Brueckner during a 2008 festival in Spain. When Busching mentioned the missing child in Portugal, Brueckner allegedly replied, “Yes, she did not scream.”
Image credits: Miguel Villagran / Getty
German authorities urged their British counterparts to reopen their investigation into the disappearance of the toddler, but received only a cautious response from the UK’s Metropolitan Police (MET).
“We will continue to support Madeleine’s family to understand what happened on the evening of 3 May, 2007,” the MET said, explaining that those efforts will include collaboration with officials from both Germany and Portugal.
“Vile.” Netizens took to social media to argue about the merits of the prosecutors’ accusations
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