Portuguese detectives make Christian Brueckner official suspect in Madeleine McCann case
The parents of missing child Madeleine McCann break their silence as the suspect in her disappearance refused to cooperate with investigators.
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann - who vanished 15 years ago in Portugal - said they still hope they’ll one day reunite with their daughter.
Kate and Gerry McCann said even though the “possibility may be slim” they still have hopes that they will see Madeleine again as the probe continues.
In a statement they said: “Even though the possibility may be slim, we have not given up hope that Madeleine is still alive and we will be reunited with her.”
It comes as Portuguese detectives confirmed they made Christian Brueckner an official suspect over Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
The 44-year-old was told he was now an “arguido” in Portugal in his German prison cell on Thursday morning according to The Sun.
But sources say the convicted rapist is not cooperating with investigators.
He was asked: “Where were you the night Madeleine McCann disappeared?”
He was asked to account for his whereabouts the night McCann vanished as her parents ate tapas nearby with friends, Portuguese sources said.
German authorities acting on behalf of Portuguese prosecutors also asked him: “If you weren’t by the apartment she disappeared from that night, where were you?”
Sources close to the case in Portugal also revealed the suspect answered none of the questions put to him during his jail interrogation, retaining the right to silence afforded him by his new ‘arguido’ status.
The Sun reported Brueckner has given details to a TV documentary claiming he has an alibi for the night of Madeleine’s disappearance.
Details will be aired on May 3 — the 15th anniversary of her disappearance — in the documentary Madeleine McCann: Prime Suspect, by US network AMC Crime.
It is the first time he has faced a formal quiz over Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
It comes after it was revealed the convicted rapist travelled between Praia da Luz and Germany in a camper van for several years before Madeleine vanished.
It is now understood that investigators are focusing their forensic work on the vehicle.
MADDIE’S PARENTS WELCOME PROBE INTO SUSPECT
The parents of British toddler Madeleine McCann, who went missing while on holiday in 2007, said they “welcome the news” that Portuguese authorities and German prosecutors have declared a convicted German rapist the prime suspect in her disappearance.
The girl’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, said in a statement on their website that the announcement was a reflection of “progress in the investigation” into the “disappearance of our beloved daughter Madeleine”.
The McCanns said in their statement that it “is important to note the ‘arguido’ has not yet been charged with any specific crime related to Madeleine’s disappearance”.
Christian Brueckner’s lawyer, Friedrich Fuelscher, told AFP the Portuguese announcement “should not be overrated”.
He said the “arguido” move appeared to be linked to Portugal’s 15-year statute of limitation for certain crimes.
“I assume that the statute of limitations was interrupted by this step,” Fuelscher said.
Brunswick prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters also suggested the step was a formality and unlikely to indicate a major breakthrough in the Portuguese probe.
WHAT IS AN ‘ARGUIDO’?
An “arguido” - normally translated as “named suspect” or “formal suspect” - is someone who is treated by Portuguese police as more than a witness but has not been arrested or charged.
Detectives invoke arguido status on someone as a preliminary to an arrest being made or charges brought, but that does not mean arrests or charges automatically follow.
A written statement issued by the Portimao section of the Faro Department of Criminal Investigation and Prosecution (DIAP) said: “As part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007, a person was made an arguido on Wednesday.
“The person was made an arguido by the German authorities in execution of a request for international judicial cooperation issued by the Public Ministry of Portugal.
“The investigation is led by the Portimao section of the DIAP in Faro with the assistance of the Policia Judiciaria police.
“The investigation has been carried out with the cooperation of the English and German authorities.”
A well-placed source said the decision was linked to Portugal’s statute of limitations which means the perpetrators of crimes punishable by a maximum prison sentence of more than 10 years cannot generally be prosecuted there once 15 years has passed.
Madeleine vanished aged three from her family apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 2007.
It comes after Portuguese police said they would continue to investigate Madeleine McCann’s disappearance as the Met Police ended its probe.
The source said: “The legal grounds for making Christian Brueckner an arguido include the fact that he allegedly confessed to a friend he had snatched Madeleine and mobile phone records placed him in Praia da Luz the night she vanished.
“But it is obviously linked to the fact that the Portuguese authorities want to keep their options open with the 15-year deadline looming.”
According to The Sun’s report, Brueckner stayed silent after being informed of his new status and declined to be questioned as part of the criminal procedure.
It is not yet clear who informed him but it happened after a formal international letter of request issued by Portuguese authorities to their German counterparts.
The Portuguese move paves the way for him to be flown from Germany to the Algarve for formal questioning but there are not thought to be any immediate plans to try to interrogate him in Portugal.
A spokesman for Portugal’s Attorney General’s Office, asked about the future of the probe led by a prosecutor based in the Algarve resort of Portimao, said: “The investigation is proceeding, with the inquiry not having a final conclusion yet.”
Portuguese police sources said closing their long-running ‘cold case’ review was “completely out of the question.”
Madeleine McCann’s family’s lawyer Rogerio Alves warned in July 2020 Portugal’s 15-year limit on prosecutions meant there was less than two years left to take action against Christian B, who German authorities were treating as their chief suspect.
On Thursday, German newspaper Bild also reported that Brueckner has been named as an “arguido” or “official suspect” by prosecutors in Portugal.
Brueckner’s lawyer, Friedrich Fulscher, has denied reports his client had been charged over the young girl’s disappearance.
Mr Fulscher also told Bild that the step taken by Portuguese authorities should not be misinterpreted.
“Without knowing the Portuguese legal situation in detail, I assume that this measure is a procedural artifice to stop the statute of limitations threatening in a few days,” he said
Sources close to authorities in Portugal say abandoning their ongoing case review was “completely out of the question”.
Portugal’s Attorney General’s Office said an independent inquiry led by prosecutors out of the Algarve will continue.
A spokesman said previously: “The investigation is proceeding, with the inquiry not having a final conclusion yet.”
SUSPECT’S CRIMINAL PAST
The latest step “is related to the statute of limitations”, agreed ex-police inspector Goncalo Amaral, who led the inquiry into Maddie’s disappearance in Portugal in 2007.
“It’s a procedural trick by the public prosecutors,” he said. Amaral was sued by Kate and Gerry McCann over a 2008 book in which he accused them of concealing her body after she died accidentally.
Portuguese police shelved their controversial investigation - which saw Amaral sacked - in 2008, but reopened it five years later citing “new elements”.
British police opened their own inquiry in July 2013, but on-site excavations in Praia da Luz yielded no evidence.
The case appeared to have gone cold until Brunswick prosecutors made the stunning revelation in June 2020 that they were certain Maddie was dead and that they believed Christian Brueckner killed her.
He was at that time already serving a jail sentence for drug trafficking in Kiel, northern Germany.
He has a long criminal history including sex offences and convictions for child sexual abuse.
Brueckner lived just a few kilometres away from Praia da Luz in Portugal’s Algarve region at the time Maddie vanished from her family’s holiday accommodation, according to Brunswick prosecutors.
Wolters said his team was currently also investigating Brueckner on suspicion of raping an Irish woman in 2004 and over suspected cases of child abuse in Portugal.
Wolters said he hoped to complete those probes soon, while the Maddie investigation “could take a while longer”.
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