Christian Brueckner - the main Madeleine McCann suspect - boasted to a friend about carrying out burglaries in hotels on Portugal's Algarve coast.
Brueckner, 46, appeared in court today in Germany as he faces sex crime charges, none of which concern Madeleine's disappearance. However, the convicted criminal has been named as a suspect in the case, and the current trial in Braunschweig, Germany, heard he is accused of three rapes and two sex assaults, which he's alleged to have committed on Portugal's Algarve coast between 2000 and 2017. The Mirror had a reporter in court for the opening of the proceedings today.
Brueckner arrived in a van with a police escort and was swept inside for the start of the hearing. He was handcuffed and flanked by security guards. Drifter pal and friend of Brueckner, Manfred Seyferth, 68, has told the court his pal told him about carrying out burglaries in the Algarve. Seyferth claimed to have videos of Brueckner raping a pensioner and teenage girl.
Christian Brueckner arriving at court this morning The alleged incidents all reportedly took place minutes away from the resort at Praia da Luz where three-year-old Madeleine was holidaying with her parents in May 2007 before she vanished. Parents Kate and Gerry had been dining with friends at a tapas bar at the Ocean Beach Club at the time.
German authorities named 'Christian B' as a suspect in the case in 2020. The 47-year-old is currently serving a sentence for an unrelated rape of a 72-year-old woman.
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Despite being named as a suspect, Brueckner has never been charged in connection with the McCann case and has denied any involvement in her disappearance.
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