Madeleine McCann suspect claims it would have been ‘absurd’ for him to have abducted her

The prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has hit back at law enforcement in a series of letters, written from prison.

The prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has claimed in a series of letters from prison it would have been “absurd” for him to have abducted the little girl from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007.

Christian Brueckner, who is currently serving a seven-year sentence in a German prison for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz at the same resort Madeleine disappeared from, was sensationally named as the prime suspect in the case almost two years ago.

Since then, however, there has been little progress – with no sign of the 45-year-old being charged with any involvement in three-year-old Madeleine’s abduction.

In a string of letters to German TV station Sat 1 that were broadcast on Monday night as part of a new documentary, Brueckner went further to dismiss the case against him, saying if he had been involved, it would have risked his criminal life.

He wrote that he survived as a drug dealer and was never caught by police because he “followed a few key principles”.

Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance. Picture: Bild/ Supplied

The three-year-old went missing from a hotel room in Portugal in 2007. Picture: Metropolitan Police/AFP

“Where possible, only driving during the day so that my battered ‘hippy bus’ didn’t attract attention, only driving on the roads I needed to and, most importantly, never provoking the police,” Brueckner wrote.

“So that means not committing any crimes, certainly not abducting anyone.

“Having said that, this was just as absurd to me at the time as starting a nuclear war or slaughtering a chicken.”

It’s the first time Brueckner has responded publicly to the various allegations from prosecutors in the German city of Braunschweig, where investigators are working with support from Scotland Yard detectives and Portuguese police.

“Even if at the moment attempts are being made to create a shattering overall picture of me with bought-in witnesses, it is the essential questions, the decisive questions, that will never be answered with a ‘yes’,” he wrote in another letter.

A letter reportedly written by key Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner. Picture: BILD Fotoservice

“Was I or my vehicle clearly seen near the crime scene on the night of the crime? Are there DNA traces of me at the crime scene?

“Are there DNA traces of the injured party in my vehicle? Are there any other traces of the damaged party in my possession? Photos? And, not to forget, is there a dead body?

“This public propaganda against me has been going on for (almost a year and a half now). However, I myself have not been heard on a single accusation so far.”

An earlier episode of the documentary revealed that Brueckner had worked as a repairman at the resort where Madeleine was snatched from.

An anonymous witness alleges he was employed by a company that “repeatedly carried out repair work” at Praia da Luz’s Ocean Club.

The makers of the documentary, titled SAT. 1 investigativ: Neue Spuren im Fall Maddie, said Brueckner, who has convictions for child sex offences, was “very familiar” with the club and the town where the McCanns stayed.

“A reconstruction of the evening of the crime and extensive research in Portugal and Germany found that Christian B was very familiar with the Ocean Club area in Praia da Luz,” a spokesman for the channel told The Telegraph.

“Prior to Maddie’s disappearance, he repeatedly carried out repair work at the place where the three-year-old disappeared in 2007.”

The main entrance of the apartments hotel Luz Oceans Club – Garden Club where the McCann were staying during the night of Maddie's disappearance. Picture: AFP/Patricia De Mole Moreira

The Metropolitan Police maintain their investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, known as Operation Grange, is a missing person inquiry as there is still no “definitive evidence whether she is alive or dead”.

Prosecutors in Germany say they have a compelling but circumstantial file of evidence against Brueckner, including data records that show his mobile phone was in use close to the unlocked apartment where Madeleine and her two younger siblings were left asleep by their parents.

“We are grateful to the Sat1 team for sharing certain findings with the public prosecutor’s office,” prosector Hans Christian Wolters said.

“There are witnesses who might prefer to speak to the media than to us or the police. If this produces any ideas, we will of course follow these up.”

Brueckner’s lawyer, Freidrich Fulscher, has repeatedly insisted on behalf of his client that he was not involved in the case.

“For almost two years this has carried on – for the sake of the McCann’s and my client the prosecutor office should say what the evidence is,” Mr Fulscher previously told The Sun.