Maddie McCann case breakthrough as prime suspect's ex pal to testify against him
Prosecutors say there might be a breakthrough in the Madeleine McCann case as a former friend of prime suspect Christian Brückner is set to testify against him in court.
Helge B, who met the paedophile a year before Maddie's disappearance, is considered the most important witness against Brückner as his testimony once helped put him away for years. While Brückner's lawyer Dr. Friedrich Fülscher alleged Helge's testimony was false, these claims were thrown out by a judge.
Brückner, who is suspected of having kidnapped and killed Maddie in 2007, is now being investigated for other sexual crimes - and this could also mean progress in the Maddie investigation. Helge once claimed he had stolen a camera and videotapes showing Brückner raping several women - and this evidence helped put him behind bars for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman, a crime he is currently serving a prison sentence in Germany for.
Christian Brückner is suspected of having kidnapped and killed Maddie in 2007 (REX/Shutterstock)
Brückner is facing new charges next month (REX/Shutterstock)He originally said he might have left the videotapes in his caravan in Portugal before leaving the country, but last year he said he may have left them at a holiday home he was living in. Brückner's lawyers reported Helge to prosecutors for making false statements, but a judge said he never claimed to know the exact location of the tapes, and was just guessing.
Helge is now set to testify at the Braunschweig Regional Court in February, reports The Sun. Brückner became linked to the Madeleine case two years ago after it emerged he had reportedly been driving around the Praia da Luz resort around the time the three-year-old went missing.
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The 47-year-old will stand trial next month over five more alleged sex crimes, three involving minors. They include three rapes, one of a girl who was said to have been attacked during a four-hour ordeal in Portugal.
Maddie disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal (METROPOLITAN POLICE/AFP via Gett)
The new testimony could be a breakthrough in the Maddie McCann case (PA)Two other rapes are understood to have been filmed at the small farmhouse he rented just outside Praia da Luz, where Maddie was snatched in May 2007. The victims were allegedly a young teenage girl and an elderly woman in her late 50s or 60s, both of whom were tied to a post in the living room.
He is also facing the sexual assault of a young German girl, 10, on a beach near Praia da Luz, a month before Madeleine went missing. Lawyers for Brückner say prosecutors are wasting time and money on the lesser allegations of prison official abuse.
His lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher said: "This accusation is really farcical. First of all, the term ‘torturer’ in the context of a criminal complaint by the accused should not be punishable under Section 193 of the Criminal Code. Anyone who criticises a state measure may also do so in an exaggerated manner."
The complex where Maddie's family was on holiday when she disappeared (Sunday Mirror)He added: "However, even if admissible, public prosecutors regularly dismiss trivial cases if the punishment to be imposed is not significantly significant compared to the punishment that can be expected for another crime. This regulation cannot be more relevant than in the Christian B. case." He also called the charges "a massive waste of tax money".
Brückner is now said to have described two prison officials at Oldenburg JVA in Germany as "torturers". He had used the phrase in a complaint to prison authorities about the treatment he received at the jail. Wardens complained to prosecutors after governors dismissed his complaint, saying his language was insulting.
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