By Mia Alberti and Sara Sparv | CNN
A German prosecutor has mentioned he's “certain” that Madeleine McCann — the British woman who disappeared from a resort in Portugal in 2007 on the age of three — was killed by suspect Christian Brückner.
Hans Christian Wolters, who's investigating the case, advised Portuguese broadcaster CMTV on Tuesday that investigators had discovered “new proof” that connects Brückner, who's a convicted rapist and youngster intercourse abuser, to the kid’s disappearance. Brückner is but to be charged.
“The investigation remains to be going, and I believe we discovered some new info, some new proof, not forensic evidences, however some proof,” Wolters advised the broadcaster.
“We're certain he's the assassin of Madeleine McCann,” he mentioned.
Wolters was talking on the fifteenth anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine — who was additionally affectionately recognized by the title Maddie — from a vacation resort in Praia da Luz, within the Algarve area, on Could 3, 2007.
She went lacking from a lodge room throughout the night, whereas her dad and mom, Kate and Gerry McCann, have been eating at a close-by restaurant.
Looking for the reality
Final month, Portuguese and German officers named Brückner, who's German however lived within the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, as an official suspect.
It was in 2020 that prosecutors first mentioned that they suspected Brückner — who on account of German privateness legal guidelines they check with as Christian B — had been concerned in Madeleine’s disappearance. They mentioned on the time they believed the kid was lifeless.
It was the primary time Portuguese prosecutors recognized a proper suspect within the case since clearing Kate and Gerry McCann, who have been initially named as suspects in 2007.
In an announcement revealed on April 22, after Portuguese and German officers named Brückner because the official suspect within the case, Kate and Gerry McCann mentioned they “welcomed” the information, because it indicated “progress” within the investigation.
“Though the chance could also be slim, we have now not given up hope that Madeleine remains to be alive and we might be reunited along with her,” the couple mentioned on the web site arrange of their seek for Madeleine.
Brückner, who's 45, had beforehand mentioned he had been along with his then-girlfriend throughout the entire night time on which Madeleine went lacking, however Wolters advised CMTV he had “no alibi.”
When requested if his group of investigators had discovered “one thing belonging to Maddie” in Brückner’s caravan, the place he lived on the time, Wolters mentioned he couldn’t touch upon any particulars, however added: “I don’t need to deny it.”
Brückner is at present in jail in Germany for raping a girl in the identical space of the Algarve area the place Madeleine went lacking in 2007.
He has been related to a string of different crimes. In response to paperwork seen by Reuters, he burgled resorts and vacation flats, and was additionally caught stealing diesel from a Portuguese harbor and falsifying passports.