Madeleine McCann case prosecution will be 'big task', admits top German investigator

The lead German prosecutor investigating Madeleine McCann’s disappearance has told a new ITV documentary getting a charge against the prime suspect will be “a big task”.

Christian Brückner, who is serving a sentence in northern Germany for a rape conviction, will be released this week on Wednesday(September 17).

Brückner has never been charged with any crime in relation to Madeleine's disappearance and denies any involvement. But German prosecutors led by Hans Christian Wolters have pointed to evidence suggesting Brückner may have been in the area when Madeleine disappeared.

Asked if it is his personal belief is that Brueckner killed Maddie, Mr Wolters said: "That is still the case since 2020. In the last five years, our investigations have not resulted in any exonerating evidence of Christian B being involved. He has no alibi. There is only evidence that incriminates him.

"He is the prime suspect, and above all, he is the only suspect. We really only have evidence that points to him as the perpetrator, but as to whether we can prove it, to prove it in a court of law, that is the big task that lies ahead of us.”

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According to an individual who worked with Brückner, he overheard the suspect allegedly saying that "pigs can eat human flesh." Rob Hyde, who had been tracking Brückner since he was named as a suspect told the ITV documentary: "He [Brueckner] would always walk around in a suit jacket, even though he was hanging around with petty criminals and low life.

"He wanted to look like the important person. A person who worked there told me about the news piece, about the Madeleine McCann case - it was running on the TV. Brueckner then flips out, starts shouting the 'Mädchen is tot' - the girl is dead. And he makes a really odd comment, which is, 'yes, pigs can also eat human flesh'."

ITV documentary Madeleine McCann: Searching For The Prime Suspect airs eighteen years after her disappearance from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. The mystery remains unsolved, and the investigation is still active.

In the ITV doc, criminologist Dr Graham Hill, a former senior Met detective who was in Portugal during the early stages of the investigation, assisting local police, returns to Praia da Luz for the first time.

He recalls how, after meeting the McCanns, Madeleine’s dad, Gerry, asked if he could indicate whether his daughter was alive. Dr Hill says: “My reply was simple. Statistically, what we know is children that have been abducted, they're normally dead within three to six hours.”

He also says some offers to help Portuguese police were rebuffed and he “lost faith in the investigation”. Revisiting the scene of her disappearance, unpicking Brueckner’s criminal history in both Portugal and Germany and meeting those who knew him to build a detailed offender profile, Dr Hill examines the case against the man who remains the prime suspect.

Concluding his investigation, Hill tells the programme: “If Christian Bruckner lived in London, he would be a very rare type of criminal. But to find him living in a small town in the Algarve, I mean, I've been involved in policing and investigating for over 40 years, and I just don't believe in coincidences.

"When you look at his backstory, you look at everything that we've learned about this man, everything points to him being a very, very good suspect for the abduction and murder."

* Madeleine McCann: Searching For The Prime Suspect airs tonight/Wednesday 17th September at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX