Brückner admits he was selling drugs 137 metres from McCann apartment on night of Maddie's disappearance
The prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance has confessed to the Daily Mail that he was selling cannabis metres away from Ocean Club on the night of 3 May 2007.
Suspect in Maddie case admits presence near Ocean Club on night of disappearance
Christian Brückner, 49, the prime suspect in the Maddie case, revealed to the Daily Mail that he was selling drugs approximately 137 metres from the apartment where the McCann family was holidaying on the night Madeleine disappeared, 3 May 2007 in Praia da Luz, Portugal. The interview was published on Sunday, according to dn.pt.
"I was on the beach, not far from Maddie's hotel, selling drugs," Brückner stated. The German said he had smuggled cannabis from Spain to Portugal and that his van was loaded with narcotics when Portuguese police stopped him three times during the search for the girl. "Luckily, they didn't find the drugs," he added.
Brückner described the atmosphere that night: "I was fleeing quickly; there were blue lights flashing and checkpoints everywhere. I just thought: 'Get me out of here'."
This is the first time the German has spoken publicly about where he was when Madeleine McCann, then three years old, disappeared from the Ocean Club resort. To justify his silence until now, he said: "I kept quiet because the police want to incriminate me."
That same evening, the child's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, were dining with friends approximately 91 metres from the apartment.
A source close to the McCann family responded to the statements, citing the Daily Mail: if Brückner's account is true, the question arises "of what could have happened if Portuguese police had not let him slip away". At the time, Portuguese authorities faced criticism in the United Kingdom for alleged lack of urgency in responding to the case.
In 2020, German prosecutors identified Brückner as the prime suspect and stated they had "concrete evidence", although insufficient to guarantee a conviction. A mobile phone registered in his name was located near the McCann accommodation that night. German prosecutor Christian Wolters revealed that the device received a call from another Portuguese number at 19:32, lasting 30 minutes, which he classified as significant. Brückner subsequently said he had been on the telephone with a Portuguese citizen named Diogo Silva, but said he could not remember the conversation nor knew this person.
The morning after Madeleine's disappearance, Brückner transferred the registration of a Jaguar XJR-6 he owned in Germany to the name of a friend.
Brückner was released from a German prison in September last year, after serving six years for the rape of a 72-year-old American tourist. Since then, he has been under constant surveillance. In parallel, he is being investigated for alleged sexual abuse against a nine-year-old girl in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, which occurred in 2015.
British authorities seek to bring Brückner to the United Kingdom to be tried for the abduction and murder of Madeleine. A spokeswoman for London's Metropolitan Police confirmed that a dedicated team examines the case in close collaboration with German and Portuguese authorities, pursuing "all viable lines of investigation".
Brückner himself denies any involvement: "I have nothing to do with the girl's disappearance. I would be happy if Maddie turned up tomorrow, so everyone would immediately understand that everything against me is and was a set-up. But that probably won't happen, so I remain the prime suspect."
Source: Google News PT — Crime (pt)