Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, was released from prison this morning. Brueckner has always denied any involvement, but an investigator pointed to the connections between him and the young girl. Graham Hill investigated the case in Portugal and warned of the danger Brueckner presents to women and children.
He told The Times: “We should be very worried. He is a man that has multiple deviant sexual behaviours. He is a sexual risk to adult women, children of both genders. He is a very dangerous man. We have got an offender here who is interested in the whole spectrum, he is an exhibitionist, he likes watching, we know that he is a sexual sadist, we know he’s tortured people.”
Brueckner was serving a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of an elderly woman at her home in Praia da Luz in 2005.
He left the high-security prison in Sehnde near Hanover just after 9.15am local time on Wednesday morning, German police said.
The 49-year-old was convicted in 2019 of the heinous crime against a 72-year-old American woman.
The Metropolitan Police said Brueckner remains a suspect in its own investigation – with Portuguese and German authorities also probing the Madeleine’s disappearance. He has denied any involvement.
German, Portuguese, and British authorities have carried out numerous searches in the 18 years since she went missing – with the latest taking place near the Portuguese municipality of Lagos in June.
In 2020, German prosecutors investigated Brueckner on suspicion of murder in connection with Madeleine’s case.
Then in 2023, investigators searched near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz. Brueckner spent time here 2000 and 2017, and had photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.
Brueckner will have to wear an electronic tag, report to probation staff, and give up his passport, his lawyer Friedrich Filscher confirmed.
He also faces a court hearing on October 27 in Oldenburg, north-west Germany, to deal with a case in which he is accused of insulting a prison employee. A local district court sentenced him to six weeks in prison, but the defence appealed.
Brueckner remains a suspect in the Met’s investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, which is not affected by his release.
Investigators from Britain, Portugal, and Germany continue to piece together what happened on the night the young girl disappeared.