Madeleine McCann cops issue major update as prime suspect Christian Brueckner walks free

Portuguese prosecutors say their focus is still on Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner despite his release from prison in Germany.

The convicted rapist and paedophile will enjoy his first night of freedom today after finishing a seven-year jail sentence at Sehnde prison near Hannover for the 2005 rape of an American OAP in the Algarve resort of Praia de Luz where Maddie vanished.

The 48-year-old was made an arguido or official suspect in Portugal in April 2022 in an unexpected move linked at the time to the fact statute of limitations legislation could have prevented a successful prosecution against Brueckner in the country where Madeleine vanished.

Today Portuguese authorities insisted all options were still open in their fight to solve the 18-year-old mystery and see justice done following the German criminal's refusal of a Met Police interview request.

A spokesman for Portugal's Attorney General's Office, asked whether it planned to try to question Brueckner following the knock-back Scotland Yard received or was considering seeking his arrest and extradition, said: "In the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, in which a defendant has been named, as publicly announced on the website of the Public Prosecutor's Office of the District of Faro, the Public Prosecutor's Office will take all steps it deems relevant or appropriate."

Portuguese prosecutors announced on April 21 2022 Brueckner had been made an official suspect over Madeleine's May 3 2007 disappearance from her parents' Praia da Luz holiday apartment, although they didn't go public in their four-par statement with the reasons.

One well-placed source said at the time the decision was linked to Portugal's statute of limitations which means the authors of crimes punishable by a maximum prison sentence of more than 10 years cannot generally be prosecuted there once 15 years has passed.

The source claimed: "The legal grounds for making Brueckner an arguido include the fact that he allegedly confessed to a friend he had snatched Madeleine and mobile phone records placed him in Praia da Luz the night she vanished.

"But it is obviously linked to the fact that the Portuguese authorities want to keep their options open with the 15-year deadline looming."

Brueckner, who has consistently denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, was given arguido status after a formal international letter of request was issued by Portuguese authorities to their German counterparts.

The decision to make Brueckner an arguido in Portugal came as a surprise because a fortnight earlier sources close to the case there had been saying they viewed it as "highly unlikely", even though Portuguese police insiders were insisting closing their long-running 'cold case' review was "completely out of the question."

Portugal's Attorney General agreed to reopen the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance in October 2013, more than five years after it was archived, following a formal request from the Policia Judiciaria.

Brueckner's release from prison comes three months after German and Portuguese police hunting Madeleine's body searched wells, ruins and water tanks across a 120-acre area in Atalaia between Praia da Luz and neighbouring Lagos.

The searches were the first since a remote dam described at the time as Brueckner's 'little paradise' was combed in May 2023.
They also failed to produce any evidence pointing to the missing youngster's whereabouts.

No charges have ever been brought against Brueckner over Madeleine. He has insisted he has "nothing to do" with her disappearance in letters to the media and his lawyer Freidrich Fulscher says he has been made a "scapegoat."

Breuckner's passport has been cancelled and he will be electronically tagged and told he cannot leave his declared place of residence without permission as part of his German jail release conditions.