Convicted German rapist and pedophile, Christian Brueckner has sensationally been made an ‘official suspect’ in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann – on the eve of the 15th anniversary of her disappearance.
Brueckner, 44, who has been linked to four other child murders across Europe since 1996, was sensationally named by German prosecutors as the man ‘responsible’ for Madeleine’s kidnap and murder in June 2020. But since then no charges have been brought.
Last night respected German daily Bild claimed he had been made an ‘arguido’ – an official suspect in the case by police in Portugal, which is usually the precursor to charges. It brings new hope that one of the world’s most harrowing unsolved crimes could still be closed.
Madeleine Mccann Arrest: Portuguese Authorities Declare Man Formal Suspect
Last night, the respected German newspaper Bild reported that authorities in Portugal had made him an ‘arguido,’ or formal suspect in the case, which is normally the first step toward prosecution. It provides a new ray of hope that one of the world’s most painful unsolved crimes may yet be solved. Brueckner, a convicted pedophile, is currently imprisoned in Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old American visitor in Portugal barely 18 months before Madeleine was taken. He was renowned for breaking into Algarve hotel rooms and flats to augment his drug-dealing earnings, and he abruptly left the south of Portugal in 2007, the same year Maddie vanished after more than ten years there.
He is said to have admitted kidnapping Madeleine to a friend in a pub, and German investigating officials are said to be convinced he assassinated the 3-year-old but lack the evidence to arrest him, with Scotland Yard suspecting that European officers are relying on an untrustworthy witness. Maddie’s parents, Garry and Kate, have yet to comment on Brueckner’s designation as an ‘arguido,’ but they have never given up hope that their daughter, who would have turned 18 this year, is still alive.
There was uncertainty the night before when the news agency AFP claimed that a man had been ‘charged’ with the crime by German authorities at the request of the Portuguese police. Friedrich Fulcher, Brueckner’s lawyer, denied that he had been charged to MailOnlien, and AFP revised their story late on Thursday, April 21, 2022, to say that a person had been named as a suspect in the case. However, making Brueckner an arguido is still a significant step forward in the investigation that began with the kidnapping of Maddie on May 3, 2007, with senior investigators working on the case projecting a murder charge.
