Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brückner won't talk to investigators until they show ‘proof’, says lawyer
A man suspected of killing Madeleine McCann, who went missing on the evening of May 3, 2007, won’t answer any questions about the case until prosecutors give proof that he was involved in her disappearance, his lawyer said. German investigators believe that Christian Brückner killed Madeleine after kidnapping her from a holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007.
Bruckner’s lawyer Friedrich Fulscher said: “Mr B is remaining silent on the allegation at this time on the advice of his defense counsel. This is quite common in criminal proceedings. It is the duty of the state to prove that a suspect committed a crime. No accused person has to prove his innocence to the investigating authorities.”
According to a report by The Times, the detectives were also investigating links to a 2005 incident involving a ten-year-old British girl in the same resort from which Madeleine disappeared. 2005 was the same year when Brückner raped a woman at a villa nearby. The report said police knew about nine sexual assaults and three attempts against British girls aged from six to 12 who were holidaying in the area between 2004 and 2006.
Currently, Brückner is serving his jail term in Germany for drug dealing. He is also reportedly appealing against a conviction for the 2005 rape. When his lawyer Fulscher was asked about Brückner’s reaction on reports linking him to other cases around Europe, the lawyer said: “We are reviewing every article and will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to take legal action against the media concerned.”
Meanwhile, a former German police chief has said that it was a blunder from their side when they notified Brückner in 2013 that he was a person of interest in Madeleine’s missing case. Even before a proper investigation was launched into the case, police in Braunschweig, northern Germany, reportedly sent a letter to the suspect summoning him for “questioning” in relation to the “missing person case Madeleine McCann (crime scene Portugal)”.
The move that happened seven years ago may have allowed Bruckner to eradicate any evidence that may have existed related to the case, experts told German newspaper Der Spiegel last week as reported by The Metro. While the former head of police in the German city of Braunschweig, Ulf Kuch, said sending the letter “was a huge mistake”, he also insisted that despite being the supervisor for the officer who issued the notice to Bruckner, he did not know about it.
A previous report related to the case has claimed that Madeleine may still be alive. German prosecutors have said that there was no forensic evidence to suggest she is dead. Prosecutor Hans Wolters recently said: "Because there is no forensic evidence there may be a little bit of hope. We don’t want to kill hope and because there is no forensic evidence it may be possible. I am surprised by the fact we say or I say Madeleine is dead is so important for the British people."