Madeleine McCann suspect’s chilling jailhouse ’confession’
The suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann allegedly confessed to his prison cellmate. See what he said.
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner confessed to an inmate he did abduct a child from a Portuguese apartment, a German court has heard.
The 47-year-old Brueckner is said to have spoken about his past after asking cellmate Laurentiu C if he “too” was imprisoned for child offences.
The suspect revealed he had taken “a child” during a break-in in Portugal – and asked his fellow cellmate to burn down his lair when he got out of prison.
Chillingly, Laurentiu C raised the subject of where Madeleine could be buried – saying the rapist had asked him “if the DNA from a child can be taken from bones under the ground”.
“He said he stole in Portugal,” the witness told Braunschweig Regional Court in Germany.
“He told me that in Portugal, he had stolen there. He was in an area of hotels where rich people live. And when he went to the hotel area, there was an open window somewhere, he told me,” the witness said.
“And he would have entered this window for money and gold. However, he did not find any money, but came across a child and took [the child] with him.
“About two hours later, the area was full of police and dogs and he had left from there.
“He left the area. He then said that there was another person with him who he had argued with and that they had split up.”
“And he said he took the child with him in Portugal and drove away, while the place was full of police and dogs.
“He drove off in the car and he was gone. He asked me whether DNA can be taken from a child,” Laurentiu C said.
“He asked me if the DNA from a child can be taken from bones under the ground.”
It comes after investigators previously stated their firm belief the British girl is dead, although they have not elaborated on why they believe this.
According to The Sun, Laurentiu C also claimed Brueckner had seemed panicked about potential evidence he might have left at a crime scene – asking if a person could be traced by their hair – or if they might leave a trace climbing over a balcony.
He alleged in court that Brueckner had asked him to burn down his box factory residence when he was released from prison – believing he would never get free.
German authorities later searched the property and found a string of data storage and hard drives – although the exact relevance to the case has not been made public.
Laurentiu C also claimed Brueckner had boasted about covering his tracks by burning a car – although he did not specify in court, which crime it related to.
“He told me that he was there in Portugal with another person and that he set fire to a car or hired someone else to set fire to a car in Portugal,” he said.
The witness also alleged Brueckner told him of abusing “tiny” young girls on a “bus” he owned after abducting them.
“There was talk of a girl, I don’t know if what he said was true or not,” he told the court.
“He said that he had a bus and that he had taken her with it. He said he kept some of them, but not others, but he never said that he had killed them.
“We’re talking about girls, not boys. Not all at once, always one at a time. He told me about two. He said that he had taken someone, had sex with her but he didn’t kill her.”
Asked by the judge how old his victim was, Laurentiu C said: “I don’t want to get it wrong, but it was very young, tiny. I mean young.
“Each time when we were together he spoke about it because he was convinced that I was a paedophile.
“He asked me every time if I was a paedophile. Every time we spoke, he came back to that. Brückner said at the time: ‘Tell me, you don’t have to watch out for me,’” he said.
“He told me all these things in the hope that I was a paedophile too.”
The witness claimed in court that the German confided in him while they were both on remand in the same prison.
Madeleine went missing in 2007 – nine days before her fourth birthday – from a Portuguese hotel while on holiday with her parents and siblings. She disappeared while her parents ate dinner downstairs in the hotel. Her siblings were not harmed.
Convicted paedophile and rapist Brueckner was named as the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine in 2020, although he has never been formally charged.
He is on trial for a string of rapes and sex offences unconnected to the disappearance of Madeleine, which he denies.
More Coverage
Originally published as Madeleine McCann suspect’s chilling jailhouse ’confession’
The Aussie men backing Trump
These are the Aussies who think Donald Trump will be a good president while other Australians are bracing for disaster.
Watch: Rudd breaks silence on Trump victory
Australia’s Ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, has made his first detailed public comments following his scathing comments on Donald Trump. See the video.