Madeleine McCann investigator says official suspect Christian Brueckner a ‘monster’ but no proof he’s a killer

The official suspect in the Madeleine McCann mystery may be a child abuser but the case against him has been “blown to smithereens,” says an investigator.

The man named by Portuguese authorities as an official suspect in the case of missing British girl Madeleine McCann might well be a “monster,” but he is not guilty of het murder, says an investigator closing following the case.

Mark Thomas–Williams made the startling claim ahead of a new documentary on the incident set to air shortly in the UK.

Late last month, prosecutors in Portugal named German man Christian Brueckner as an “arguido,” an official suspect, in the disappearance of McCann. He has not been charged with a crime.

The three year old vanished from the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz, on the country’s south coast, on 3 May 2007.

Brueckner, 45, a convicted paedophile, is currently in prison in Germany serving time for raping a 72-year-old.

He is said to have confessed to a friend he had snatched Madeleine and mobile phone records placed him in Praia da Luz the night she vanished.

It’s understood potential witnesses have been told be on standby to give evidence in a German courtroom as he may be charged within weeks.

Madeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007. Picture: AFP PHOTO / METROPOLITAN POLICE.

Case against Brueckner is ‘weak’

However, Mr Thomas–Williams believed talk of the case finally being resolved are wide of the mark. Brueckner, he said, had a “strong alibi” for the night McCann vanished.

“It blows their claims to smithereens,” he wrote in the Daily Mail.

He additionally told Channel 9 that the investigation was “weak” and that the “case falls apart when you start to look at our evidence”.

Mr Thomas–Williams, whose documentary Madeleine McCann: The Case Against Christian Brueckner airs on the UK’s Channel 5 on May 11, said a desire to close the notorious case my lead prosecutors to “scapegoat” Brueckner, who lived in the resort at the time.

“There is no doubt he is a man with repellent sexual leanings.

“(But) what I have uncovered is deeply troubling. The much-vaunted confession in a bar simply doesn’t stand up.”

He said there was no proof the admission took place and the man who relayed the information “lacks all credibility”.

“Being a child abuser does not make you a child killer.”

Christian Brueckner says he has an alibi for the night. Picture: 60 Minutes

Mr Thomas–Williams said there was proof a phone call was picked up by a mast near the McCann residence on the night Madeleine was last seen.

But that did not mean the call was made particularly close to the complex or that the phone was Brueckner’s.

Additionally, Mr Thomas–Williams has said Brueckner had a fling with a 17-year-old German tourist and would visit there every night on the week Madeleine vanished, some 44 km from Praia da Luz.

He said he had tracked down the woman to Germany and she said Brueckner was with her that week.

“I confirm that, although she cannot say exactly what they were doing on May 3, she is sure his behaviour showed no changes or signs of stress that week.

“If the wrong man is convicted of Madeleine’s murder, then the real killer remains free,” he warned.

Parents Kate and Gerry McCann continue to pursue the case. (Photo by Joe Giddens / POOL / AFP)

Prosecutors remain confident of breakthrough

But German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, who is leading the investigation, seemingly contradicted Brueckner’s potential alibi.

Wolters said “nothing” he had heard so far could be a valid alibi for Brueckner.

“What we found out, it all went in the other direction, so was rather incriminating, without me being able to elaborate on that now,” Wolters told Sky News.

McCann’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann released a statement on May 3 on the 15th anniversary of her disappearance.

“It feels no harder than any other but no easier either. It’s a very long time,” they wrote.

“Regardless of outcome, Madeleine will always be our daughter and a truly horrific crime has been committed. These things will remain.”