Madeleine McCann: Evidence 'not so strong' against suspect Christian Brueckner for sentencing, says investigator
Police have reportedly admitted that the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case may never see a day in court over the disappearance and death of child, although investigators believe they are just one witness away from being able to bring charges. According to Hans Christian Wolters, who is spearheading the investigation into Christian Brueckner's alleged linked to Maddie's 2007 disappearance in Portugal, there is no "forensic evidence" to build a case against the German pedophile and other clues are "not enough to get an arrest warrant," The Daily Mirror reported. German investigators named the 43-year-old as a suspect in June, after claiming they had "strong evidence." However, Wolters has now said: "At the moment our evidence is not so strong we are sure he will be sentenced by the court." Speaking to the podcast 'They've Taken Her', Wolters explained, "Maybe we need more witnesses or photos or video. Maybe we need one witness who can tell us the things we don’t know."
Meanwhile, an anonymous friend of the McCann family told The Sun: "It feels like he is trying to lower expectations after coming out all guns blazing. It’s heartbreaking for Kate and Gerry." Christian B, who has been convicted of child abuse and rape in the past, lived near the Praia da Luz resort where the three-year-old went missing during a family vacation in 2007. Friedrich Fuelscher, his lawyer, has maintained that his client is innocent.
Earlier this week, we reported how detectives had launched a manhunt for Brueckner's Russian friends who may have assisted him in kidnapping the child. German police revealed they were searching for associates of Brueckner who he had been in close contact with at the time of McCann's abduction. The search was being led by prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters who confirmed the latest development in the case to The Sun.
The police are continuing to treat McCann's case as a murder probe. The three-year-old mysteriously disappeared from her parents' vacation apartment at The Ocean Club Resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal on the night of May 3, 2007. Brueckner, a 43-year-old pedophile from Germany, was named by authorities in June as the prime suspect in Madeleine's missing case. Wolters told the publication, "We know that Christian B had contacts with Russian-speaking people in the spring of 2007. Because we want to interview all people who had any kind of contact with Christian B at the time, we are also interested in these men."
He did not provide any more details about the men. It is reported that the Russians are two brothers who have links to Spain and that Brueckner's former girlfriend who was a babysitter and would often talk about working for Russians. Portuguese TV channel RTP reported that she worked for Russian clients who were involved in the sale of yachts.
Brückner is currently in jail in Kiel, northern Germany, for drug trafficking and raping an elderly American woman in the Algarve. He raped the 72-year-old woman about a year and a half before Madeleine went missing. He was sentenced to seven years for the assault and 21 months for drug trafficking.