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Inside Maddie McCann suspect Christian Brueckner’s chilling ‘rape lair’

The secret lair where the prime Madeleine McCann suspect allegedly tied up and raped a young girl has been revealed to a German court.

A disturbing photo has revealed the inside of Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner’s lair – where it is alleged he tied up and raped a young girl.

Madeline disappeared on May 3, 2007, from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal and has not been seen since.

Christian Brueckner, a convicted paedophile and rapist, has been named as the prime suspect in McCann’s abduction but has denied any involvement. He has never been charged.

Brueckner – who is also widely reported on with the name Brückner – is currently facing three charges of rape and two of sexual abuse which are unrelated to the Maddie case.

The allegations date back to between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal.

Manfred Seyferth, a key witness in Brueckner’s latest rape trial, said he watched footage of the convicted paedophile assaulting the girl while she was tied to a pole, The Sun reports.

Christian Brueckner, a convicted paedophile and rapist, is currently facing three charges of rape and two of sexual abuse which are unrelated to the Maddie McCann case. Picture: Moritz Frankenberg / POOL / AFP
Christian Brueckner, a convicted paedophile and rapist, is currently facing three charges of rape and two of sexual abuse which are unrelated to the Maddie McCann case. Picture: Moritz Frankenberg / POOL / AFP
He was named as a prime suspect in the infamous child snatching case in 2020, which he denies any involvement in. He has not been charged. Picture: Police Handout
He was named as a prime suspect in the infamous child snatching case in 2020, which he denies any involvement in. He has not been charged. Picture: Police Handout

Seyferth, a former pal of Brueckner, is vital for the ongoing Maddie investigation and gave evidence on Friday as Brueckner faces a string of other rape charges.

The 68-year-old previously described his former friend as an “evil psychopath” and claims the convicted paedophile snatched missing Maddie 17 years ago.

During his testimony he described coming across a video camera in 2006 with footage of Brueckner abusing an “old woman... and a young girl”.

And the chilling image shown in court allegedly shows the room in which Brueckner tied up the young woman – before brutally assaulting her.

Answering questions in court today he said: “I saw Brueckner directly in his face in one of the videos. And I could tell it was him from his voice in the other video.

“And then there was a second person, a girl in Brueckner’s home.

“She was tied to a post and Brueckner was dancing around her.

“He forced her to perform a sex act on him then when she was unwell he said ‘you are ruining my carpet’.”

A photo of his secret ‘rape lair’ was seen in the German court on Friday. Picture: Court handout
A photo of his secret ‘rape lair’ was seen in the German court on Friday. Picture: Court handout

Brueckner showed no reaction as a picture of the pole he allegedly tied a teenage girl to in order to rape her was shown in court.

The accused stared intently at images of the house where videos of his abuse were uncovered, calmly holding a hand across his mouth.

Describing how they came across the grim find in 2006, Seyferth explained that he and Brueckner’s other former friend Helge Busching broke into his Portugal home and took the camera.

He was pals with Brueckner, 47, when they lived near Praia da Luz in Portugal, around the time Maddie vanished in 2007.

Answering questions in court today he said: “In the house I found a gun and then Helge came with a camera and something small but I don’t know what it was.

“I wasn’t there when Helge took the camera – I wasn’t in the house so I’m not sure which room he got it from.

“Helge showed me the tape. He came with a camera – an old model, a big kind of one.

“I tried to push the abuse out of my mind. I just said ‘throw the f***ing thing away’.

And he added: “After everything I have seen Brueckner must go to jail.”

The family of missing Maddie have never given up hope following her abduction from a holiday resort in Portugal in 2007. Picture: Patricia DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP
The family of missing Maddie have never given up hope following her abduction from a holiday resort in Portugal in 2007. Picture: Patricia DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP

He also revealed today that Brueckner worked in hotels near the resort where Madeleine McCann disappeared – and regularly robbed the holiday apartments.

Seyferth said Brueckner would steal money and possessions – including the video camera he later used to film his revolting assaults.

Brueckner’s former pal claimed that he pushed the videos from his mind until detectives from Scotland Yard tracked him down to Greece.

He admitted: “They were there for three days and I didn’t want to have anything to do with it.”

He said he sent cops away – but was confronted by the German FBI (BKA) when he went to the German consulate in Greece to get a new passport and then engaged with investigators.

He admitted talking to co-witness Helge Busching by phone on Thursday – raising questions about whether the BKA had helped them get in touch to confer over their accounts.

He was expected to reveal what the convicted paedophile was doing around the time of Irish holiday rep Hazel Behan’s rape in 2006.

Maddie has never been found. Picture: Police Handout
Maddie has never been found. Picture: Police Handout

Prosecutors were said to be privately nervous over how the heavy-drinker’s credibility would hold up in court over cross-examination.

His account also had to match Busching’s – with fears the defence would be able to pick holes in both.

German prosecutors are nervous over failing in any Madeleine case, which could see the suspect walk free in less than two years.

Brueckner’s defence team were given a hard drive on Friday said to contain child abuse images from the German FBI, the BKA.

The data storage was uncovered at the paedophile’s box factory lair when he was named as a suspect in 2020 – but prosecutors resisted handing it over for years.

If Brueckner is convicted on his current charges he faces up to 15 years behind bars. Picture: Moritz Frankenberg / POOL / AFP
If Brueckner is convicted on his current charges he faces up to 15 years behind bars. Picture: Moritz Frankenberg / POOL / AFP

Brueckner’s lawyers are fighting for the images it contains to be ruled out of use in the trial.

No pictures of Maddie have ever been confirmed to be on the drive.

The credibility of their testimonies could be vital to seeing Brueckner charged over Maddie.

“I never liked him and he is a psychopath. He is obsessed with small children and I didn’t like it,” Seyferth told The Sun.

“He always had a young girlfriend with him and I think he is easily capable of taking a small child.

“That’s why I think he may have something to do with Maddie. He broke in and saw her and because he likes young girls — he’s got lots of convictions — he took her.”

In 2007, Seyferth lived in a caravan next to Christian’s house, a few minutes drive from Praia da Luz.

He told The Sun that he didn’t see paedophile and rapist Brueckner for months after Madeleine disappeared.

And reflecting on their life of crime together, Seyferth said: “We called him ‘The Climber’ because of his skills.

“He was an expert at getting into apartments and hotel rooms.

“Christian was athletic and he was strong. I saw him many times climb up to first and second-floor apartments and break in.”

If Brueckner is convicted on his current charges he faces up to 15 years behind bars, giving prosecutors the safety net for the Maddie case they want to pursue.

Brueckner was snapped appearing at Braunschweig regional court today where he faces charges for raping Irish holiday rep Behan at knifepoint after tying her to a table and whipping her on camera.

It has been nearly 17 years since Maddie disappeared. Picture: Supplied
It has been nearly 17 years since Maddie disappeared. Picture: Supplied

The convicted rapist was seen peering from the window of a barred police van as he pulled up to court.

He is also accused of tying a teenage girl to a post in the same resort Maddie was snatched from and forcing her to perform a sex act.

During a Praia de Luz raid – in the years before Madeleine disappeared – Brueckner is said to have raped a woman aged as old as 80 and hit her with a whip, filming the attacks on both victims.

The defendant is also said to have performed a sex act on himself in front of a child on a park-swing and made threats towards a prison guard.

He is also charged with grabbing the wrist of a child on a beach six miles from Praia, just weeks before Maddie vanished – and a further charge of insulting a prison guard.

Brueckner denies all charges and the trial continues.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission

Read related topics:Madeleine Mccann

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/inside-maddie-mccann-suspect-christian-brueckners-chilling-rape-lair/news-story/27be7ea118b0f47300acf3d0b9320b6f