MADELEINE McCann suspect Christian Brueckner has appeared at a hearing this morning where a court heard how a victim feared he would behead her after raping her.
The twisted sex offender, 47, was seen winking at his defence team as he shook hands with them ahead of the second day of his trial in Braunschweig, Germany, accused of sex crimes uncovered during the Maddie investigation.
While he is not facing charges over the McCann case – a string of key witnesses will give evidence in chilling overlaps set to reveal more details of the British tot’s fate.
Brueckner has been charged with raping Irish holiday rep Hazel Behan at knifepoint after tying her to a table and whipping her on camera.
The court heard how he asked her during the alleged attack: “You are afraid aren’t you?”
He then whipped her and demanded: “Are you afraid now?”
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Hazel was terrified of dawn coming – fearing Brueckner “would cut her head off”.
In a chilling similarity to the Maddie case, he is said to have climbed over the balcony of a ground-floor flat in the Algarve.
Despite the case not featuring charges over Maddie Brueckner’s lawyer opened his defence by raising the missing tot and insisted Brueckner is not guilty of the charges.
In a shocking opening statement Dr Friedrich Fulscher said: “According to the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office, he allegedly abducted and murdered Madeleine Beth McCann.
“The investigating authorities have been repeating this theory to the media like a prayer wheel.
“The results of the investigation have not yet been presented to the defence, so that the accused has not been able to substantiate this allegation.
“A comparable media campaign of prejudgement has been sought in vain.”
He added: “This is the prosecution that accuses my client of abducting and murdering Madeleine McCann.
“But there is no compelling evidence – there is no case.”
Brueckner’s lawyer has also demanded access to the hard drives found buried at his lair – which they have still never seen.
They claim they should have arrived at court last week.
A search of Brueckner’s lair revealed chilling notebooks with sick child rape pictures called “Das Buch” and “Das Buch 1.”
He is also charged with grabbing the wrist of a child on a beach and performing a sex act on himself, only six miles from Praia, just weeks before Maddie vanished.
Brueckner is also said to have performed a sex act on himself in front of a child on a park swing and made threats towards a prison guard.
The court heard Brueckner- currently serving a seven-year prison term for rape and drug trafficking – used a rape drug to incapacitate his victims.
Prosecutors allege he hit an elderly woman, aged up to 80 with a whip 20 times at her holiday home in Portugal enjoying seeing her in pain at some point between 2000 and 2006.
He then put a pillow on her face and attempted to suffocate her.
Around the same time prosecutors allege Bruecker tied a German-speaking girl aged just 14 to a post in Praia da Luz and raped her.
The first witness to testify will be an ex who will describe how the drifter secretly abused her daughter.
Nerves surround the case with Brueckner’s lawyer Dr Friedrich Fulscher last night threatening to nullify the jury and send the case to an embarrassing retrial at a cost of millions.
Legal sources in Germany believe the trial is being used test of witness credibility – with many of those who will give evidence set to be relied on if Brueckner is charged of.
A loss for prosecutors on the current charges would be embarrassing but nowhere near as devastating as losing a Maddie trial – seen as the biggest criminal case in the world.
If Brueckner is convicted he faces up to 15 years behind bars – and prosecutors could fight for a ‘public danger’ clause, giving them the safety net for the Maddie case they want to pursue.
If he is acquitted when his seven-year 2019 sentence for rape is complete.
The defendant denies all charges.
Brueckner’s trial was suspended last week after just nine minutes.
The twisted convict was pictured in the hearing with a blank expression on his face before the trial was adjourned after a judge’s “kill the b*****d” rant was read out in court.
Dr Fülscher claimed she had called for the assassination of a president on social media.
He said the woman had written “kill the b*****d now” and “kill the devil”, referring to Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro.
Dr Fülscher said the remark meant she was unfit to sit on the case and could not be relied upon as far as his client was concerned.
It comes as prosecutors allege Brueckner had surgery to remove a birthmark on his left thigh to avoid being recognised by student Hazel Behan.
Cops also believe Brueckner has splashed out “thousands to change his looks” and could be unrecognisable to the man he was in 2007.
Brueckner was identified four years ago as the main suspect in the abduction of Madeleine from her family’s holiday flat in Portugal in 2007.
The three-year-old vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve while holidaying with parents Kate and Gerry, 55, of Rothley, Leics.
German investigators believe Brueckner abducted and murdered her.
Despite being the prime suspect in the disappearance of Maddie German authorities investigating him for the past five years, but he has not been charged.
Key dates in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance
MADELEINE McCann vanished on May 3, 2007 – and cops believe Brueckner could have been behind her disappearace.
Almost 17 years on, no one has been charged in connection. These are the key dates:
May 3, 2007 – Kate McCann finds Madeleine missing at 10pm
May 14, 2007 – Property developer Robert Murat is named an “arguido” or formal suspect
August 31, 2007 – The McCanns launch libel action against Tal e Qual – a newspaper that claimed the couple killed Madeleine
September 7, 2007 – Kate and Gerry McCann are made “arguidos”
September 9, 2007– Madeleine’s parents return to England with their two-year-old twins
October 2, 2007– Lead detective Goncalo Amaral is taken off the case after criticising British police in a newspaper interview
July 21, 2009 – Portuguese police lift the “arguido” status of both Robert Murat and the McCanns
May 12, 2011 – On Madeleine’s eighth birthday, Scotland Yard launches a review into the case
April 25, 2012 – Scotland Yard officers say they believe Madeleine McCann is still alive
July 4, 2013 – Two years into a review of the case, Scotland Yard launched its own investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance
October 24, 2013– Portuguese police reopen their case after new lines of inquiry are found
November 27, 2013 – Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe called for British and Portuguese police to work together
October 28, 2015 – Scotland Yard reduces the number of officers working on Madeleine’s disappearance
March 11, 2017 – The Home Office grants Operation Grange an extra £85,000 to continue from April until September
September 28, 2017 – British police are granted £154,000 to keep the probe going until March 2018
November 2017 – Cops moved the search to Bulgaria
May 2018 – Another round of funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
September 2018 – An extra six months of funding is requested from the Home Office
November 2018 – More funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
November 2018 – UK police re-examine a theory Madeleine left the apartment to look for her parents
June 2019 – Another round of funding, believed to be £300,000 of government cash is granted
June 2019 – Portuguese police are probing a “new clue and suspect” after talks with British officers
June 2020 – New prime suspect revealed as a German paedo Christian Brueckner
April 2022 – Brueckner formally made an “arguido”
May 2023 – Police search remote Algarve reservoir Brueckner called his “little paradise”
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
