A former Madeleine McCann investigator has criticized German prosecutors for dismissing allegations against the prime suspect in the British girl’s disappearance, saying it undermines the Scotland Yard investigation.
Christian Bruckner may not face charges in Germany over the disappearance of a British child after a court there ruled that prosecutors had no jurisdiction to pursue a case against him.
The convicted rapist, 45, has been named as the man responsible for Madeleine’s abduction and murder after investigators in Germany claimed they had “concrete evidence” of her death.
Last year, Bruckner was charged with a number of sexual offenses – said to have occurred in the Algarve where the three-year-old disappeared in 2007 – between 2000 and 2017.
An investigator hired by the family of the missing child in 2007 said the court’s decision showed prosecutors had “no solid evidence” against Bruckner.
Convicted rapist Bruckner, 45, has been named as the man responsible for Madeleine’s abduction and murder after investigators in Germany claimed they had ‘concrete proof’ of her death.
Bruckner protested his innocence in her case in a series of letters to MailOnline insisting that prosecutors were “trying to catch him” and had “no evidence” to press charges. Pictured: Maddie’s parents, Kate and Jerry
said Julian Peribanese the sun: German prosecutors spent nearly three years declaring Christian B the prime suspect, but did not file any criminal charges against him. This means that they do not have any solid evidence against him.
‘You cannot say he was the kidnapper and murderer of Madeleine McCann and declare him a prime suspect without charges being brought against him, as this is inconsistent with Scotland Yard’s current investigation as it could turn off potential leads people might have,’ the investigator continued.
He added that he did not understand the rationale behind the court’s decision not to have jurisdiction, especially since Bruckner is in prison for the rape of an elderly woman in Portugal in 2005.
Let’s hope this isn’t a strategy to also distance themselves from the Madeleine McCann case saying they have no jurisdiction – hiding the real truth, which is that they don’t have any hard evidence.
The investigator, who no longer has family ties, said he continues to work on the case in a personal capacity.
German Attorney General Hans Christian Wolters said yesterday that nothing had changed in the child’s case and that the Braunschweig court’s decision needed to be reconsidered.
In a statement to MailOnline, Walters continued to insist that nothing would change in the near future.
The private investigator was hired by Madeleine McCann’s family in 2007 to try to find new leads in the case
He said: ‘We will continue to investigate Madi’s case and the accused will remain in detention.
With regard to the decision of the Braunschweig Regional Court on jurisdiction in pending proceedings, we will first carefully examine the reasons and then most likely have the decision reviewed by the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court.
We continue to assume that we are responsible for the decision of the Higher Regional Court, so that investigations into Madi’s case will continue as planned.
“From our point of view, there is currently no reason to speculate about the possible liability of the Magdeburg Public Prosecutor’s Office for the investigations in the Mady case and the possible abandonment of the proceedings.”
Bruckner protested his innocence in her case in a series of letters to MailOnline insisting that prosecutors were “trying to catch him” and had “no evidence” to press charges.
In a statement to MailOnline, his lawyer Friedrich Fulcher said: ‘In its decision of 19 April 2023, the Regional Court in Braunschweig declared that it had no jurisdiction to hear the charge against Christian B. The arrest warrant against him was revoked.
Already during the preliminary proceedings the defense indicated that the Braunschweig judiciary should not have local jurisdiction.
For reasons not understood here, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Braunschweig clung to its jurisdiction and thus risked its annulment by the Federal Court of Justice if it were opened. This is very doubtful, especially considering the fact that a large number of witnesses would have to appear in court again (on highly criminalized cases) in the event of an annulment.
The court’s decision also means that the Braunschweig judiciary is not responsible for the ‘Made’ case.
The decision means Bruckner’s arrest warrants in the case will be dismissed, but he will not be released from prison where he is serving a seven-year sentence for rape and will not be released until 2026 after his parole request is denied.
In the German legal system, a court must decide after receiving an indictment from prosecutors whether to refer a case to trial.
The Braunschweig State Court said its supposed responsibility for the case being in the region was based on his last residence before he went abroad and then went to prison.
But she said this was not true, because the suspect provided evidence of a subsequent residence in the neighboring state of Saxony-Anhalt, where he was registered as the owner of a property he kept after traveling abroad.
As a result of its decision, the court said it had revoked a new arrest warrant it issued for the suspect in November.
It said in a statement that this had no effect on the suspect serving his current sentence.
She said her decision could be appealed to a higher court in Braunschweig.
