Could Christian Brueckner be freed from jail? Madeleine McCann suspect goes on trial over rape and sex assaults

Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, appeared in the Braunschweig Regional Court on February 15 for the trial of the sexual charges pressed on him. Friedrich Fulscher, Brueckner’s lawyer, who is defending him against charges of raping three women and molesting children twice in Portugal, has claimed:

“I am convinced that there can only be acquittal.”

The convicted 45-year-old was first named the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case in 2020. In the incident that occurred on May 3, 2007, Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old child, reportedly went missing from her bedroom at her parents’ holiday flat in the Ocean Club, a resort in the Algarve area of Praia da Luz.

McCann’s disappearance took place when her parents, Gery and Kate McCann, were dining with friends in a nearby apartment. Brueckner was also living in Praia da Luz in a “ramshackle farmhouse” around that time, which tied the alleged pedophile to the case.

According to the Mirror UK, the prosecutors working on the McCann case have claimed to have proof of Madeleine being dead but haven’t been able to prove it so far. Brueckner, who is currently serving a sentence for other assault charges, has denied involvement in the case.

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The Madeleine McCann suspect is accused of five offenses between 2000-2017

Brueckner emerged as a formal suspect in the Madeleine McCann disappearance case, 17 years after the incident took place. The convict was already serving a 7-year prison sentence for assault charges at the time.

Brueckner has allegedly committed five offenses in the Algarve region of Portugal between 2000 and 2017. According to the Mirror UK, these offenses include sexually assaulting an Irish tour rep at knifepoint, a teenage girl in his Praia da Luz home, and an elderly woman.

One of the two child molestation charges pressed against him includes exposing himself to a German girl child on a beach in 2007, as per the news outlet.

The Sun reported that Brueckner was assaulted in prison in 2020, after which he was taken to the hospital for treatment. After the incident, the convict was shifted from Oldenburg Prison, northern Germany, to Schnedebruch Prison in the same year.

Fulscher, Brueckner’s lawyer, has allegedly stated that the charges pressed against his client are all part of a “witch hunt.” He has also assembled a top team of defending lawyers, including legal ace Dennis Bock and Atilla Aykac, a German lawyer famed for his courtroom grilling, to fight “against prejudice in the media.”

Speaking about the McCann case, Fulscher has stated:

"I have no access to the files and no idea what is going on."

The media outlet has also revealed that Brueckner’s trial is being held on 29 separate days over 4 months, and a verdict is expected by the end of June 2024.