German prosecutors are seeking a change of court for a possible new rape trial of the man suspected of involvement in the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann in 2007, a spokesman told dpa on Saturday.
In addition to overturning the acquittal, the public prosecutor’s office has requested a new trial of the suspect, identified as Christian B in line with German privacy rules, at the Göttingen Regional Court in northern Germany.
The aim is to ensure that the trial material is handled as impartially as possible, said spokesman Hans Christian Wolters.
In October 2024, the Braunschweig Regional Court acquitted the 48-year-old man of several serious sexual offences.
At the time, the presiding judge cited insufficient evidence to convict him of the five offences in Portugal, where the 3-year-old British girl disappeared in 2007 from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz.
The public prosecutor’s office has appealed against the ruling, and the Federal Court of Justice is therefore reviewing the verdict for legal errors. The defence had described the acquittal as the only correct outcome of the proceedings.
The Göttingen Regional Court has not been involved in the proceedings in any way, Wolters said, which is why the prosecutors believe that the case should no longer be heard in Braunschweig, also known as Brunswick in English.
It is still unclear when the Federal Court of Justice in Leipzig will decide on the appeal.
After the Braunschweig trial for three rapes and two cases of child sexual abuse, the public prosecutor’s office had demanded a prison sentence of 15 years followed by preventive detention.
The prime suspect in the high-profile case of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance has declined to be interviewed by the Metropolitan Police, the force has said.
The Met said an international letter of request was sent to Christian Brückner, ahead of his imminent release for a separate offence, for him to speak with them which he later rejected.
German national Brückner, 49, has never been charged in the McCann case and denies involvement.
Madeleine vanished in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2007, shortly after she was left sleeping by her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, who went for dinner in a nearby restaurant.
Brückner is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of an elderly 72-year-old woman at her home in Praia da Luz in 2005.
Det Ch Insp Mark Cranwell said Brückner remains a suspect in the Met Police’s own investigation into Madeline’s disappearance.
“We have requested an interview with this German suspect but, for legal reasons, this can only be done via an International Letter of Request which has been submitted,” Det Ch Insp Cranwell said.
“It was subsequently refused by the suspect. In the absence of an interview, we will nevertheless continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry.
“We can provide no further information while the investigation is ongoing.”
Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007, then aged three [Handout]
Almost two decades since Madeleine’s disappearance, it has become one of the highest-profile unsolved missing person cases in the world.
Elsewhere in June, Portuguese and German police conducted a fresh search of land in Lagos – between where the McCanns had been staying and addresses linked to Brückner, but this yielded no breakthroughs.
Investigators have been searching scrubland and abandoned buildings in the latest searches for Madeleine McCann [PA Media]
Brückner was not identified as a suspect in her disappearance until 2020.
Due to differences in legal systems, German authorities suspect Brückner of murder in relation to Madeleine, while British police continue to treat her disappearance as a missing persons case.
However, no charges have ever been brought against Brückner in the case of Madeleine, and the full details of the alleged evidence have never been released.
COPS searching for Madeleine McCann believe their prime suspect may have taken pictures of her and buried them.
German drifter Christian B is alleged to have taken twisted “trophies” from victims — though it has never been publicly confirmed if any exist of Madeleine.
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German officers investigating Christian B believe hidden USB drives could hold clues to Madeleine McCann’s disappearanceCredit: Collect
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Christian B is currently in jail in Germany for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da LuzCredit: Enterprise
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Detectives have been digging for USB drives hidden by suspect Christian BCredit: Solarpix
It has emerged detectives had specifically hoped to find data drives or USB sticks when they dug around Arade reservoir in Portugal in May.
None were found in the area where he camped and no forensic matches are expected — but officers think Christian B had a string of other hidden lairs.
The Sun has also learned investigators have received no new tip-offs or leads for months.
A source said: “They now know Christian B buried data carriers like hard drives and USB sticks at any of the places where he’s stayed so that was their real hope at the lake.
READ MORE MADELEINE MCCANN
“They really thought they might find pictures there, but they are not giving up hope.
“They believe he made duplicates because he loved to keep them like trophies.
“So cops are now trying to find out more about Christian B’s movements.”
German police were criticised for sending Christian B a subpoena in 2013 asking him to account for his whereabouts when Madeleine, then three, disappeared during a family holiday in Praia da Luz in 2007.
Experts said it would have given the convicted sex offender a chance to destroy evidence.
However, officers have established he was so obsessed with his collection of vile images that he made duplicates — and may have overlooked a stash.
A source close to the case said: “They fear it’s the last chance to clarify Madeleine’s fate — and if they don’t seize it, there won’t be a second.
“It is not like cops are getting that many more leads and tip-offs.
“They have already worked through the most promising leads.”
It also emerged that 55-year-old parents Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, have been kept in the dark over the German probe because they are considered witnesses.
The source added: “The family was only informed one day before officers went public about Christian B.
“Other than that, they have had no briefings or updates whatsoever.
“As far as the Germans are concerned, the McCanns are witnesses — completely normal witnesses, as in other cases, and they know no more or less than anyone else.”
Christian B is currently in jail in Germany for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz.
Prosecutor Christian Wolters said: “Clearly finding any pictures of Madeleine would represent a huge step forwards.
A SICK online exchange between prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case Christian B and another paedophile has been revealed.
The vile messages “could be a hint” that finally leads investigators to answers for the toddler‘s grieving family, according to the case’s lead prosecutor.
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Convicted sexual predator Christian B is the prime suspect in Madeleine’s caseCredit: BILD
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Madeleine McCann vanished from a Portuguese resort in 2007 while on holiday with her familyCredit: PA:Press Association
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A lead prosecutor said messages could ‘hint’ at what happened to the toddlerCredit: BBC / Prime Suspect: Who Took Madeleine McCann?
Convicted sexual predator Christian B is yet to be formally charged but was named by cops as the prime suspect after the three-year-old vanished in 2007 while on a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal.
Sixteen years on, German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has told BBC‘s Panorama that online messages sent between Christian B and and another paedophile might include a reference to Madeleine.
In the chat discovered on one of Christian B’s computers, the suspect detailed his desires to abduct and kill a little girl – and “document it”.
He then spoke of “destroying evidence” to which the paedophile replied: “mm.”
Read more on Madeleine’s case
Of the exchange, Mr Wolters said: “It could be a hint.
“Of course, it’s important to us. It could be piece for the big puzzle.”
He allegedly discussed kidnapping and sexually abusing a child in a chatroom exchange in September 2013, and claimed he would make a lot of films if he were to capture a “little one”.
Christian B is currently serving a seven-year sentence for the brutal rape of a pensioner in Portugal at a high-security prison known as the “Alcatraz of the North” in the German city of Oldenburg.
He could face trial as early as February next year for a string of heinous alleged crimes including three rapes and two sex attacks on children, it was reported this month.
Two of the alleged rapes are said to have taken place at his former residence outside Praia da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared.
German authorities have indicated a trial related to Madeleine’s case could take place shortly after Christian B’s upcoming trial, The Olive Press reports.
Mr Wolters added: “I can only say that we have only one suspect at the moment.
“[She died] in Portugal and we think maybe we know where it happened.”
In the Panorama documentary, a woman said Christian B ran a “rebellious gang” in Würzburg, Germany when he was a teenager.
She said: “They were very rebellious and destroyed a lot of stuff.
“They were always out and about, escaping through windows and gone.”
Others who encountered Christian B in the years following Madeleine’s disappearance spoke of his violent and aggressive nature.
A bar manager, Brigitte Szegedi, recalled the “fits of rage” she witnessed him have with other patrons, while a former employee of the suspect claimed he once confronted him with a knife.
The unnamed man told the BBC: “He had this long knife and wanted to stab me. He was drunk or on drugs.
“His eyes glistened like mad and he was filled with rage.”
The man added Christian B’s girlfriend, who was a teenager when the suspect was in his late 30s, was assaulted by him.
He claimed: “I met her at the bus stop and asked her where she had got those strangulation marks from and she told me he strangled her and beat her.
“She was scared stiff of him, she told me a lot of things. She was really scared of him.”
The main said he had no doubts Christian B was capable of the crimes he is accused of, explaining: “In the beginning he is sweet but once you get to know him, he is a psychopath.
“He has several faces. This man is highly, highly dangerous.”
A third man, who previously employed Christian B in the Algarve in Portugal, said Christian B once broke his nose in an argument.
Portuguese police have apologised to Gerry and Kate McCann over how they treated them while investigating the disappearance of their daughter MadeleineCredit: Getty – Contributor
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Disgraced former Portuguese cop Goncalo Amaral previously branded suspect Christian B a ‘scapegoat’ on Portuguese TVCredit: The Sun
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Madeleine went missing in May 2007 during a family holiday in the AlgarveCredit: Rex
The cops have told BBC’s Panorama that a delegation of senior officers travelled from Lisbon to London earlier this year.
They met Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s father, and apologised for the way detectives investigated the case and treated the family.
Both were questioned by Portuguese detectives, who believed they had staged an abduction and concealed their daughter’s body.
Read More on Maddie McCann
Kate McCann has said she was offered a deal to admit covering up her daughter’s death in exchange for a shorter sentence.
The couple’s arguido status was lifted in 2008, but they remained under suspicion in Portugal for years.
Much of the damage was caused by one man – the original lead detective, Goncalo Amaral.
He was sacked from the investigation but went on to write a book and present a TV documentary accusing the McCanns of being involved in their daughter’s disappearance.
As well as apologising, the Portuguese police have told Panorama that they also briefed the McCann family on the ongoing investigation.
They gave their support to German prosecutors who believe 46-year-old Christian B killed Madeleine McCann.
Portuguese detectives now also think he’s the prime suspect.
Christian B is currently serving a seven-year prison term in Germany for rape and drug trafficking.
The German denies killing Madeleine.
For the past five years, the German authorities have been investigating him in connection with Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
But Christian B hasn’t been charged.
Hans Christian Wolters, one of the German prosecutors on the case, said they hoped to complete their investigation next year.
“It’s a big puzzle and we have some important pieces but some pieces are missed.
“So, we hope to find as many pieces as we could get, so the picture will be a complete one.
“We think that he was involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and we think that he murdered Madeleine McCann.”
Mr Wolters also welcomed the Portuguese apology to the McCann family.
He said: “It’s a good sign and it shows that in Portugal there’s development in the McCann case.
I think it’s a good and right decision.”
Christian B has already been charged with a further three rapes, sexual assault, and sexual assault of a child.
The five offences are alleged to have been committed on the Portuguese Algarve.
Mr Wolters confirmed that they would go to trial in February.
Christian B’s lawyer, Friedrich Fulscher, said his client was exercising his right to silence.
He said: “We know the contents of the files, and I think the charges are all based on very, very shaky foundations.”
The McCann family have not commented on the apology.
The Panorama programme Prime Suspect: Who Took Madeleine McCann? airs tonight at 8pm on BBC1.
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The investigation into what happened to Madeleine continuesCredit: PA
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Madeleine’s parents were made arguidos – or suspects – in September 2007Credit: AFP – Getty
