The only doubt in the 2007 disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann from a holiday apartment in Portugal soon to be charged—But not because of her kidnapping and murder.
German prosecutors say they have turned over evidence files to the lawyer of convicted pedophile Christian Brueckner, who is serving time in prison for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in the village where McCann disappeared. way for new charges.
However, prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said the charges were not related to McCann, but to the rape of another woman in the same village, and a string of “contact incidents” with children while he worked in the resort where McCann was apprehended. German law provides that a suspect’s lawyer has time to review evidence before any charges are made public.
German, British and Portuguese authorities all say they believe Brueckner, 45, snatched McCann from the bed where she was sleeping near her twins as her parents dined with friends at a bar nearby tapas on the evening of May 3, 2007.
Various theories as to what happened next point to the possibility that Brueckner contracted her to kidnap her for a child sex ring known to be in the area at the time. Wolter said he believes the media attention paid to the disappearance of a young British person may make her less attractive to traffickers, who will not easily conceal her identity. . Wolters assumed that was when she was killed.
German investigators say they found a cache of girls’ swimsuits and child pornography in the camp van where Brueckner was living and working at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz with as a gangster in May 2007.
The new criminal charges don’t mention McCann, but help close the net around him, especially if new witnesses called to the trial provide the missing piece of evidence directly related to McCann’s disappearance 15 years old now.
