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Madeleine McCann prime suspect gloats in sick letter

Prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case Christian Brueckner has told cops they will “never” convict him without a body in a cruel letter.

Madeleine McCann searches to end after three days scouring abandoned buildings

The prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case Christian Brueckner has gloated that police will never pin the case on him without a body.

In a sickening letter, the German sex fiend, 48, also goaded “the dropping of the investigation will hit the world like a bomb”.

The German pedophile bragged in a letter police do not have the evidence to back their accusations against him in the investigation into the toddler’s disappearance, The Sun reports.

Brueckner, who is in jail in his homeland for rape, also taunted cops, saying: “Is there a body? No, no no.”

Christian Brueckner is the prime suspect in the case. Picture: Moritz Frankenberg/AFP
Christian Brueckner is the prime suspect in the case. Picture: Moritz Frankenberg/AFP

The vile letter emerged as officers desperate to find a forensic link to him flew back to Germany after a fresh, three-day search in Portugal.

They had combed scrubland close to where Madeleine vanished aged three from a holiday villa in Praia da Luz in 2007.

German prosecutors are convinced of the predator’s guilt, but he has never been charged and denies any involvement.

Brueckner handwrote the terrifying note. Picture: The Sun
Brueckner handwrote the terrifying note. Picture: The Sun

In the verified letter seen by The Sun, Brueckner insists there is no evidence against him.

He wrote: “It is the important questions, the decisive questions that can never be answered.

“Was I or my vehicle clearly seen near the crime scene on the night of the crime?

“Is there DNA evidence of me at the crime scene? Are there DNA traces of the injured party in my vehicle?

“Are there other traces/DNA carriers of the injured party in my possession? Photos?

“And, not to forget, is there a body/corpse? All no, no no.”

He adds: “You don’t have to be a realist like me to predict that the accusations made against me will not hold up and that the investigation will be dropped.”

Brueckner — named as a Madeleine suspect for five years — has also revealed in creepy letters a knowledge of how the German legal system works in his favour.

He wrote: “You know, of course, that in Germany you don’t have to prove your innocence as a suspect, but that the public prosecutor’s office has to prove that you are clearly guilty.

“Even the slightest doubt leads to an acquittal, if there is a court hearing at all.”

Brueckner even claims the case against him is built on “purchased witnesses” and reveals his awareness of his global notoriety.

He added: “Now, my path is paved with misjudgements, so to speak, but from now on the whole world is watching.

“Not even the Braunschweig regional court will now dare to make an obvious misjudgment.

“Even if an attempt is currently being made to create a shocking overall picture of me through purchased witnesses, it is the important questions, the decisive questions that can never be answered with ‘yes’.”

New bombshell evidence

Last month, a Sun investigation aired on UK’s Channel 4 revealed new bombshell evidence found at Brueckner’s lair, including a kids’ bike and a balaclava mask, as well as toys, guns and memory cards containing child kidnap stories.

Christian Brueckner in 2018. Picture: Supplied
Christian Brueckner in 2018. Picture: Supplied
Christian Brueckner, who is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence, abducted and killed Maddie after phone records placed him near the scene. Picture: Bild/ Supplied
Christian Brueckner, who is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence, abducted and killed Maddie after phone records placed him near the scene. Picture: Bild/ Supplied

He wrote horrifying fantasies about abducting and abusing a blonde toddler and how this would leave him “in paradise”.

He also boasted in online forums about his desire to “capture something small and use it for days”.

The latest hunt for DNA or forensic links on the case appeared to have ended without success on Thursday.

Police were seen taking fibres by hand while a hole was dug at the site of an apparent tent from around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.

However, it was unclear whether the search had found anything was found with enough potential value to the case it merited being sent back to Germany for testing.

Brueckner had already moved out of his cottage in Praia da Luz when three-year-old Madeleine, from Rothley, Leics, arrived in the resort with parents Gerry and Kate and her two-year-old twin siblings.

He was living in his car, or wild camping in areas including this week’s search site.

In another letter seen by The Sun, Brueckner described how he used his drifter lifestyle to avoid detection.

He wrote: “Do you know that I was a drug dealer at that time in 2007? Investigators know this.

“I bought marijuana in Spain and sold it on beaches in the Algarve.

“I was never caught by the police because I followed a few principles.

“If possible, only drive during the day so that my battered hippie bus doesn’t attract so much attention, only drive the necessary and most importantly, never provoke the police.”

He added: “Together with my dog and a lover at the time I enjoyed the ‘temporary hippie life’.”

Fresh setbacks

The seeming failure of longshot searches this week to find any traces of Madeleine is the latest in a string of blows for the case.

German authorities, who maintain Madeleine is dead, are racing to find a way to keep dangerous Brueckner behind bars after he was cleared of further rape allegations last year.

He told this week he plans to “hide” when he is released, as soon as September 17, taking hopes for the Madeleine case with him.

The pervert was jailed in 2019 for the 2005 rape of an American pensioner just streets from the Ocean Club, where the McCanns stayed in Praia da Luz.

British missing child Madeleine McCann, three, who was taken from a Portuguese resort. Picture: Supplied
British missing child Madeleine McCann, three, who was taken from a Portuguese resort. Picture: Supplied
The house in Lagos, Portugal, where the three-year-old went missing. Picture: CARLOS COSTA / AFP
The house in Lagos, Portugal, where the three-year-old went missing. Picture: CARLOS COSTA / AFP

In his letters, he whinges he has been framed so he can be scapegoated over the Madeleine case.

Brueckner wrote: “Right from the start they plotted a miscarriage of justice to make me vanish into thin air. And now half the world knows why.”

And he adds: “I am not exaggerating when I say that 80 per cent of what I have heard from the reports is not true.

“A large proportion of these lies are clearly being spread by the investigating authorities.

“My words are directed at those who are taking this seriously and are not laughing about it.

“Those who want to understand how brutal the German justice system is in its attempts to hammer through its own law, even if nothing is true.”

Police investigators search an area during an operation in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine (or Maddie) McCann at Atalaia, Lagos in Algarve on June 5, 2025. Picture: Patricia DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP)
Police investigators search an area during an operation in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine (or Maddie) McCann at Atalaia, Lagos in Algarve on June 5, 2025. Picture: Patricia DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP)

The Sun investigation aired on Channel 4 revealed the existence of computer hard drives which were vital in to persuading investigators of Madeleine’s death.

The findings placed Brueckner at key Madeleine search point — the Arades Dam, in Portugal.

And a document puts him at the location where he allegedly said “she did not scream” as he discussed her with an associate.

In the online message where he brag that he really wanted to “capture something small”, he adds it would not matter “if the evidence is destroyed afterwards”.

German investigators last night remained hopeful British police might rejoin the investigation as an active inquiry.

Originally published as Madeleine McCann prime suspect gloats in sick letter

Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/world/madeleine-mccann-prime-suspect-gloats-in-sick-letter/news-story/209b68e97e0be15e3eca0af84d9c44fb