Christian Brueckner: To be or not to be

The Video Camera is only of Evidential value if they had the Videos. 
Only then might they be in a position to prove that the same Camera took all the Films using Analysis.

As they have no Videos, and no Data, and no Camera and no Fingerprints on either the Camera or the Cassetes, that Game is over before it has even begun.

Jon Clarke wrote:

He added: “The officers will only be identified by their numbers, not by name.
Do German or Portuguese Police have numbers on their Uniforms Jon?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]



Another well known senior lawyer Johann Schwenn has allegedly withdrawn his accreditation for the trial.

Oh really?


The Hamburg lawyer, who had his office vandalised after announcing he was working for Brueckner, has previously spoken on his behalf to the German media.
True for a change.

“His accreditation for Brueckner has been withdrawn,” said the police source. “Meanwhile the new, less experienced, Marquort has been added.”

On what basis has his so called 'Accreditation' whatever Jon means been withdrawn? Press have Accreditation - Lawyers have Qaulifications! Nothing on the German Net supports this revelation.

And so say a yaysayer.

Do you even know what the German Accreditation System is? Do you even know what the acknowledged general definition of the word 'accreditation' is?

Jon Clarke did not say anything about police officers in the court room not being named but referred to by their rank number, certainly didn't mention anything about uniforms, the press article was quoting from another source..

“Quite a number are actually coming from Portugal, as well as from here in Germany,” a German police source told the Olive Press.

“It includes the police officer who arrested Brueckner in Portugal, as well as others involved in investigating him there.”

He added: “The officers will only be identified by their numbers, not by name.

“Some of them have been working in witness protection and have to be carefully protected.”

I'm given to understand German police on duty are not obliged to display their officer's number on their uniform for their own protection, although they are issued with a number

UK police constables display their official number on the uniform epaulette - it is quite usual for them to quote their number or use it in addition to their name, as no doubt the same/similar system is used in Portugal in line with policing within Europe - and beyond!

LEICESTERSHIRE POLICE FORCE

Witness Statement by Caroline Burrows

Occupation: Police Officer

This statement, consisting of two pages, each signed by me, is true to the best of my knowledge and belief

Date: 23 April 2008
Signature:

I am police inspector 4186 Caroline Burrows of the Leicestershire police, currently based in the criminal unit.

The second image you use to illustrate the Portuguese police uniform is of a male model taken from a police uniform trading company, it is not a serving officer on duty.

As you were ....

crusader wrote:Do we know exactly which video camera CB was using?

I doubt it, the camera was thrown into a reservoir, or dumped somewhere, or buried, or given away with the sale of a camper van - depending on which version of the truth you care to believe, or disbelieve.

On the other hand, the story is nothing but fabrication delivered by a couple or three felons of ill repute - disposable nappies.

Camcorders were on sale early 2000s, I think some models were more compact and user friendly.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

1. UK police constables display their official number on the uniform epaulette - it is quite usual for them to quote their number or use it in addition to their name, as no doubt the same/similar system is used in Portugal in line with policing within Europe - and beyond!

Irrelevant - as no British Police were involved in any of CB's earlier crimes in Portugal.

2. The second image you use to illustrate the Portuguese police uniform is of a male model taken from a police uniform trading company, it is not a serving officer on duty.

So the Uniform is real.

Oh for crying out loud give it a rest.

You surfed your way here on the crest of the Brueckner wave, weedled your way into bed with who you consider to be 'senior' members of this forum and bought any semblance of acceptance with private contact and yaysaying.

Clearly from your posts you don't know anything about the case of Madeleine McCann, nor anything else about anything by all appearances.  You post utter nonsense, you cite obscure sources to bolster your rubbish and above all else you know nothing about how a forum such as CMOMM operates.

I'm seldom if ever wrong - that's why I'm here.

Now go away and stop wasting my time.

I always notice when I get near the truth Verdi.

People begin to get nervous.

To be (again) obviously

Is this the clue to unlock Madeleine McCann mystery? German prosecutors say sick online messages between suspect Christian and another paedophile about 'MM' could be a 'hint' as to what happened

By John James
Published:  09:46, 31 October 2023   |  Updated:  12:55, 31 October 2023

A German prosecutor leading the Madeleine McCann investigation has revealed that sick online messages between suspect Christian Brueckner and another paedophile 'could be a hint' as to what happened to the toddler.

Convicted sexual predator Brueckner has been named as the prime suspect in the 16-year long case due to his activities in Portugal at the time but is yet to be formally charged.

The three-year-old disappeared during a family holiday in the Algarve in May 2007, sparking a nationwide hunt - but 16 years later and the truth of what happened to her has still not been unearthed.

However, Hans Christian Wolters, a public prosecutor in Braunschweig has told BBC's Panorama that it is their opinion that Madeleine was killed in Portugal by Brueckner.

He told the programme: 'I can only say that we have only have one suspect at the moment. [She died] in Portugal and we think maybe we know where it happened.'

Mr Wolters also described how an online exchange between Brueckner and another paedophile could be a 'hint' as to what happened due to the use of the letters 'mm' - which they say could be a cryptic reference to Madeleine McCann.

The online chat, which was found on one of Brueckner's computers shows a brief conversation with a paedophile.

In the chat, Brueckener details explicitly his desires to abduct and kill a little girl and 'document it.'

He then speaks about 'destroying evidence' to which the paedophile replies: 'mm'.

Commenting on the vile exchange, Mr Wolters said: 'It could be a hint.

'Of course, it's important for us. It could be piece for the big puzzle.'

Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year prison term in a high-security prison locally dubbed 'Alcatraz of the North' in Oldenburg, near the historic northern city of Bremen.

Earlier this month it was reported that the suspect could face trial as early as February next year for a string of heinous crimes, which include three shocking rapes and two sex attacks on children.

He is said to have filmed two of the rapes he is being tried for which are said to have taken place at his former residence outside Praia da Luz - the same area where Madeleine disappeared.  

The trial is expected to span over a month and is likely to take place at Braunschweig High Court.

German prosecutors have not yet formally charged Brueckner with the abduction and killing of Maddie but authorities in Germany have indicated the McCann trial could take place closely on the heels of his upcoming trial, The Olive Press reported.

He is currently serving his sentence for the brutal rape of an American pensioner in Portugal in 2005, but he now faces charges of rape of a young Irish woman, Hazel Behan, in the Algarve in June 2004.

Behan endured a harrowing ordeal when a blond-haired German intruder with blue eyes broke into her apartment.

The vicious assailant raped her at knifepoint and filmed the vicious four-hour attack.

Two witnesses reported seeing a man resembling Brueckner enter and exit the apartment in Portimao at dawn, with one hotel worker claiming he saw the German expat without his mask.

In the Panorama documentary, a woman said Brueckner was part of a 'rebellious gang' when he was a teenager.

The woman said she knew Brueckner as a teenager when he was running in a gang in Würzburg in Germany.

She said: 'They were very rebellious and destroyed a lot of stuff. They were always out and about, escaping through windows and gone.'

She also revealed that she was afraid of what Brueckner might do if he found out she had spoken to the press, despite the fact he is currently serving a seven-year sentence for the brutal rape of an American pensioner in Portugal in 2005.

The woman said: 'I was thinking about how the older lady got raped and read about it. I thought about when he wanted to take his revenge, who knows what will go on in his head. It may well be he goes looking for me.'

Throughout the documentary, other people who had encounters with Brueckner over the years since Maddie's disappearance also gave testimonies about his violent and aggressive nature.

One woman, who manages a bar that Brueckner frequented sometime after May 2007, said he sometimes had 'fits of rage' with other people in the bar.

Brigitte Szegedi, bar manager at the Madame-Eck bar in Braunschweig, said she saw Brueckner 'almost every day' and he would often get into fights with men.

She said: 'I saw it only after he had drank a bit too much, but only with men, not with women.'

Another man, who worked at a shop that Brueckner previously owned, said he confronted him with a knife after demanding he return his freezer to him.

The man, who was not named, told the BBC: 'He came with a gang demanding his freezer back. He was brandishing a knife in the corridor.

'He had this long knife and wanted to stab me. He was drunk or on drugs. His eyes glistened like mad and he was filled with rage.'

The man added that Brueckner's girlfriend, who was a teenager at the time while he was in his late 30s, said the German national had strangled her.

He said: 'I met her at the bus stop and asked her where she had got those strangulation marks from and she told me he strangled her and beat her.

'She was scared stiff of him she told me a lot of things. She was really scared of him.'

When asked if he thought Breuckner was capable of the crimes he is accused of, the man replied: 'Yeah because he is so aggressive and after I saw how he strangled his girlfriend and that, yes he is capable.

'In the beginning he is sweet but once you get to know him he is a psychopath. He has several faces. This man is highly highly dangerous.'

A third man, Oliver Sternard, who employed Brueckner as an odd-job man in the Algarve in Portugal, said Brueckner broke his nose after he found out that he had been hiding alcoholm in his warehouse.  

Mr Sternard said: 'When I went in to my workshop I found out that he was hiding alcohol.' He later confronted Brueckner and he became violent. 'He said don't call me a liar in German. He was very aggressive. There was a fight, he hit me.'

He added that Brueckner broke his nose and was taken away by police but was later released.

Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year prison term in a high-security prison locally dubbed 'Alcatraz of the North' in Oldenburg, near the historic northern city of Bremen.

Mr Sternard added: 'He should stay in prison as long as possible. He is dangerous so he should keep away from society.'

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

ETA: Daily Mail videos deleted.

He needs a straight jacket.

Screenshot of the Waily Snails video of alleged darknet conversation between Brueckner and anonymous alleged paedophile..

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This was reported in June 2020..

German paedophile 'wrote about Madeleine McCann abduction in web chat room'

A former detective says investigators had in the past probed a German paedophile's chatroom activities before police announced a new prime suspect in the missing Madeleine McCann case.

A detective investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance previously made claims a 'German paedophile' wrote about her case on an Internet chat room.

The man, who was not identified in reports, is alleged to have discussed the abduction of the British toddler on a web forum after she vanished from a Portugese resort.

Madeleine has not been seen since disappearing from the holiday apartment in Praia de Luz, on the Algarve coast in 2007.

News last night that investigators had confirmed a key suspect is one of the most significant breakthroughs in the case in recent years.

They described the suspect as a German paedophile and he has been named in local media as 'Christian B'.

Police officially revealed the convicted sex offender is now the key suspect, but no forces involved in the long-running investigation have named him.

German state prosecutor Christian Hoppe confirmed the suspect is a paedophile who has been convicted of sexual abuse against children as well as other sex crimes.

Mr Hoppe, from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), told the country's ZDF television channel the 43-year-old is serving a prison sentence for a sex crime and has two previous convictions for "sexual contact with girls".

The suspect is reported to have been living in a campervan in Praia de Luz around the time Maddie vanished.

The Times reports a chatroom clue allegedly concerning a German man had previously emerged in the missing persons inquiry.

While the suspect has not been named, an investigator on the case had previously said the focus of the inquiry was on a German paedophile.

Goncalo Amaral, the head of the original Portuguese police investigation into the toddler's disappearance, said last year that detectives had looked into an Internet chatroom exchange.

According to the newspaper, Mr Amaral claimed that a German paedophile suspect had been ruled out of the inquiry in 2008.

The former detective described the man as later having been jailed in Germany for child sexual offences.

"Many years later, it appears that in an Internet chatroom there is a conversation between that person and another person where they talk about Madeleine," he said.

The prime suspect police revealed they are looking into last night is described as white with short blond hair, possibly fair, and about 6ft tall with a slim build at the time Maddie vanished on May 3, 2007.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Met Police released this e-fit in 2013 but it is not clear whether it bears any link to the new prime suspect ( Image:
PA)

British detectives have not named the suspect either.

The Metropolitan Police would say only that a 43-year-old German prisoner is now the prime suspect.

In 2013, Scotland Yard had said that a blond man had been sighted near the apartment where Maddie was taken from, where she was staying with parents Kate and Gerry McCann.

Yesterday evening detectives said the e-fit of the man that was released at the time had 'not been ruled out'.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Another even more obscure report names the darknet scum bag..

The conversations were held under the pseudonym of ‘madness-der-holger’ and in them he revealed that he wanted “capture something small and use it for days, that’s it”.

He also assured that if he got that “little one”, he would make many movies. In response, his interlocutor told him: “Oh yeah. Evidence is destroyed after”.

madness-der-holgar doesn't look much like CB to me, as portrayed in the Snail Mail

Do they think we are all to believe this carp?

'Churnalism' indeed.



Trying to drown out the inevitable Truth.
Madeleine McCann was not really ever Abducted.
Not even removed by Brückner from Apartment 5A.

Quit while you're ahead GB News - it's fast becoming embarrassing..

German prosecutor ‘more sure than ever’ Christian Brueckner murdered Madeleine McCann - ‘No alibi’

By Georgia Pearce

Published: 01/11/2023 - 11:23 Updated: 01/11/2023 - 11:28

Hans Christian Wolters claimed German police are 'more sure now' that Christian Brueckner murdered Madeleine

German Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has claimed that the police "are more sure than ever" that Christian Brueckner is the man responsible for the murder of Madeleine McCann.

McCann was just three when she went missing from her Praia Da Luz holiday apartment in May 2007, and the case into her disappearance has not yet been solved.

German national Christian Brueckner, 46, was made a formal suspect by German prosecutors in 2022.

Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year prison term in Germany for drug trafficking and the rape of a 72-year-old woman in 2005.

Speaking in a new BBC Panorama documentary, 'Prime Suspect: Who Took Madeleine McCann?', Wolters said Brueckner is currently their "one suspect" in the case.

He confirmed the German police's belief that Madeleine was killed in Portugal, stating they are "sure" it is what happened to her.

When pressed by the investigative journalist, Wolters also revealed that they may know the exact location in Portugal where the murder of madeleine took place.

In connection with Brueckner, Wolters said as part of their five-year investigation into the suspect, they say Brueckner "has no alibi".

Speaking to the journalist, Wolters stated: "I can only say that we checked everything and we found no alibi."

He was asked again by the journalist: "And as far as you can see, there is no alibi?"

Wolters confirmed: "Yes, I'm sure."

When asked if they are "more sure now that he's the murderer", Wolters replied "yes, of course".

In response to Wolters' claims made in the program, Brueckner's lawyer Friedrich Fulscher has hit back at German police.

Fulscher told the BBC: "The public prosecutor's office keeps putting itself in the public eye and saying we have the right person here and that my client is the murderer of Madeleine McCann.

"And he repeats this like a mantra and thus shapes public opinion.

"And this public opinion will become a huge problem, because I am of the opinion that Christian Brueckner can probably no longer expect a fair trial in this country."

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

'More sure than ever' ?  What in the name of Keystone Cops is that supposed to mean?



Wotcha got, show us yer evidence - I dare yer ....

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

they must have made a scrapbook well over 3 years back, nothing new in it all. 

nothing new, the bbc is still not able to check their sources, when it is about this case, the rest is just nicking and picking from each other and other old crap. that stennard guy had ended up before with a broken nose, after something with cb and some scheep. 

and it is always very silly to be afraid because you are talking to the media, in a manner you must be recognizable for half the world. why are these types doing that, there is nowhere an obligation to talk to the media. even if they found out you once knew a guy, what is wrong with no comment, bye bye. 

what happened with all the old girlfriends of cb, he was still writing letters and postcards , who still found him okay. 

and so stupid, that guy who first have to ask how  the young girlfriend of another moment in time of cb had gotten strangulation marks, is just one sentence later witness of seeing it happen. i do hope they did find real witnesses not this bunch. 

the even revived hcw again, or that must have been already 3 years old footage of the beeb.

i think i feel lucky i forgot to look for a free to air beeb, i no longer make use of cable tv or some other form of programmed tv version. it always end up somewhere for free. are we sure it was indeed a new broadcast, or just a new approach of refitting old work of others. so we got a tsunami of other nicking and picking paper filling monkey's earning their weeks pay of peanuts.

The Brueckner saga gets more ridiculous by the day, the more I read the more I'm convinced the entire affair is a theatrical production.

The conclusion of this report by example..

"He should stay in prison as long as possible. He is dangerous so he should keep away from society," he warned.

Dangerous because he sold dope, because he burgled, because he nicked diesel, because he broke someone's nose, because he's got a temper? There doesn't appear to be any evidence to support the many allegations made against his name, allegations of child abuse, murder, rape and other serious accusations.

Then there has been talk of solitary confinement for his own protection and that of fellow inmates - because he raped an elderly woman, allegedly? Really?

If there was ever a case that should be written off as mentally unstable this is it - if indeed the name Brueckner is guilty as accused.

A few so called witnesses appearing in documentaries and/or press and media reports is far from convincing, so where is the evidence of all the crimes he is said to have committed. Is the law so dumb they let a serial offender slip through the net time and time again? Charged but never served a prison sentence until locked-up for the crime of rape built on flimsy mocked-up evidence.

I gather from this and the words said to have come from the mouth of Wolters, the German authorities have a penchant for building cases, could be interpreted as creating evidence to fit, on shifting sands it would appear - one gust of wind and the whole lot comes crashing down.

I don't buy it.

Oooops, so busy flapping me gills I forgot the press article..

Madeleine McCann cops probe cryptic 'MM' message sent to German suspect which 'could be part of the puzzle'

31 October 2023, 11:01

By Will Taylor

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[Image of you know who!]

German prosecutors believe a potentially cryptic message sent by Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner "could be a piece for the big puzzle".

Investigators believe messages sent between Brueckner and another paedophile could be important as they try to build a case.

Hans Christian Wolters, the public prosecutor in Braunschweig, has reiterated that the imprisoned sex criminal remains the prime suspect.

However, he has not been formally charged over Madeleine's disappearance in the Algarve, Portugal, in May 2007.

Brueckner was in Portugal at the time the three-year-old vanished.

Read more: Portuguese police apologise to the McCanns over their handling of Madeleine's disappearance in 2007

Speaking to the BBC's Panorama, Wolters said: "I can only say that we have only have one suspect at the moment.

"[She died] in Portugal and we think maybe we know where it happened."

The Met still considers Madeleine to be a missing person case.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[Image of you know who]

Wolters revealed investigators have been looking into messages sent between Brueckner and a paedophile.

Brueckner says he wants to abduct and kill a girl then destroy the evidence.

The other paedophile replies with "mm", though it is unclear if this could potentially refer to Madeleine or if it is simply a sign of agreement.

"It could be a hint," Wolters said.

Read more: Child rape trial against Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner can go ahead, German court rules

"Of course, it's important for us. It could be piece for the big puzzle."

Brueckner is in jail in Oldenburg, in northern Germany, for raping an American pensioner in Portugal in 2005. He is serving a seven year sentence.

He is now charged with the rape of an Irish woman in the Algarve a year earlier. He could also face a trial over two sex attacks against children.

In the documentary, he is described as being part of a "rebellious gang" as a teen, with one woman saying she if afraid of him looking for her now she has spoken to the press about him. She knew him as a teenager.

Another described how he would sometimes fly into "fits of rage" at a bar after meeting him after Madeleine's disappearance and he would get into fights with men "almost every day".

One man, Oliver Sternard, said Brueckner broke his nose after he found out the German was hiding alcohol in his workshop in the Algarve.

"He should stay in prison as long as possible. He is dangerous so he should keep away from society," he warned.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

If I was Christian Brückner my ribs would be cracking right now.

With Laughter

well, when the database was not closed, i did read about 3 convictions for crimes against young girl, all 3 german, in germany. 

how many chances do you get in germany, to tell the world you need other convictions to keep the guy in, most very different, i do not even want to understand this form of german justice in action. but is there a stronger way to tell the earlier victims they did not really count enough, their faith and experiences have not been enough, to see at least one prosecution officer that this guy will not make use of just the next chance to better himself. why shop for other crimes and shout to the world he must have done it, o well, the department of do not let happen such things again must be closed long ago. 

it is not they had no chance to know it is a bad apple, rotten to its core, their own expert told him well before he even had his first conviction in cases against young girl. no, i do not want to understand that at all.

I just came across this from way back in June 2000 when the Brueckner affair first hit the headlines - it's a corker..

Madeleine McCann suspect's DECADES of preying on vulnerable: German pedophile has 17 convictions including sexual abuse of children when he was teenager ... so how did Portuguese police miss him?

   UK police probing Madeleine McCann's disappearance yesterday announced 'major breakthrough' in the case
   43-year-old paedophile Christian Brueckner currently in jail for sex offences is the new prime suspect
   German police said they are treating the case as murder and have 'almost enough evidence' to charge suspect
   Sources said officers in Germany are convinced they have solved the case, 13 years after Maddie disappeared
   Maddie's parents welcomed the developments but friends said they would never give up hope she is still alive
   New suspect lived in Praia da Luz for years and phone records put him in the area the day Maddie vanished
   Scotland Yard have linked him to two vehicles - a camper van and a Jaguar - seen in surrounding area

By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter and Tracey Kandohla and Shekhar Bhatia and Nick Fagge In Brauschweig

Published: 09:07, 4 June 2020 | Updated: 22:04, 4 June 2020

German prosecutors today revealed they believe Madeleine McCann is dead as it emerged their paedophile prime suspect has 17 convictions and began abusing 'little girls' as a teenager but was overlooked by Portuguese police.

Christian Brueckner, who is serving seven years in Kiel jail in northern Germany for rape, was shopped by a friend after he confessed during a drinking session that he 'knew all about' what had happened to Maddie, MailOnline can reveal.  

Portuguese police face serious questions after their German and British counterparts found Brueckner, 43, was not put on a shortlist of 600 suspects despite his long criminal record, history of child abuse and his decision to leave Praia da Luz shortly after the three-year-old's disappearance on May 3, 2007.

The controversial Portuguese detective who initially led the investigation into Maddie's abduction, Goncalo Amaral, said he ruled him out of the inquiry in 2008 and claims that Brueckner is a 'scapegoat’.

The German spent 12 years living in the Algarve dealing drugs, burgling holiday homes and had even raped a 72-year-old American tourist in her apartment. The sex attack on the US-born pensioner followed a break-in - and police have long believed Maddie may have been snatched during a burglary.

German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told a press conference today: 'We think that Madeleine McCann is dead and are appealing for witnesses. The 43 year old suspect is a multiple sexual predator already convicted of crimes against little girls'.   Gerry and Kate McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell told MailOnline this afternoon the family still have hope she's alive but are 'realistic' about her fate.

Christian Brueckner allegedly shared details about Maddie's abduction with a friend over a drink on the tenth anniversary of her disappearance when her face appeared on the German pub's TV screen in 2017. He then showed his friend a video of him raping a woman.  

The confidant went to the police but after three years of investigations they have gone public with extraordinary details about his paedophile past and offered a 10,000 euro reward after failing to gather enough evidence to charge him with Maddie's murder.

Detectives believe that he used a VW campervan he was living in to spirit the three-year-old away after snatching her, but after shipping the vehicle to Germany they have not found any of Maddie's DNA inside, according to Sky News. A Jaguar he owned until the day after the abduction is also in their hands but forensics teams have found not clues.

As detectives in Germany said Maddie's case was being treated as murder, but the Met said it remains a missing persons inquiry, it also emerged today:

   Portuguese police face serious questions as it is revealed that the man who may have taken Maddie spent 12 years in Portugal before her disappearance committing serious sexual and drugs crimes without ever being arrested;
   German police were told about his bar chat about Maddie with a friend in 2017 - but three years on have finally confirmed he is a suspect;
   His VW campervan and Jaguar have been located by police who believe one or both were  - but a lack of DNA evidence means a 10,000 euro reward has been put up for any information that leads to his conviction.
   Portuguese detective says 'Christian B' was dismissed as a suspect in 2008 - but a discussion 'years later' on an online forum about Maddie and her abduction was brought to the attention of police;
   Her parents Gerry and Kate McCann have not given up hope that their daughter is alive but are 'realistic' that she might not be, their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said today;
   Downing Street said the latest developments appeared to be significant and added that Number 10's thoughts were with the McCann family 'who have had to endure so much'.

News magazine Spiegel today revealed that Brueckner has 17 convictions in Germany for child abuse and child pornography offences, driving without a licence, assault, burglary, theft and drink driving.

Brueckner's first burglary was in his home town of Wurzburg, Bavaria, in 1992, when he was 15. He was also given a two-year youth sentence in 1994 for sexually abusing a child when he was a 17. After his 12 years in Portugal he was jailed for drug smuggling in northern Germany October 2011.

In 2013 he abused another little girl and was caught with child porn, and was jailed for those offences in 2016. It was only in 2019 he was jailed for the rape in Praia da Luz after being found living on the streets in Milan.

Brueckner, described as a drifter, was living in Praia da Luz when Maddie vanished from an apartment 13 years ago as her parents Gerry and Kate were out for dinner at a nearby tapas restaurant.

German police have revealed that the suspect had arrived in the Algarve in 1995 aged 18, a common destination for the country's teenage backpackers.

For the next 12 years he lived around Praia da Luz and nearby Lagos, telling family he was working as a caterer and odd-job man, when in fact he was dealing cannabis, trafficking drugs and burgling holiday homes and hotel rooms.

Today it was revealed he had tortured and raped a 72-year-old American tourist in her holiday home close to the McCann's apartment in 2005, 18 months before the three-year-old was snatched from her bed - but was only jailed last year after German police began investigating.

He planned the rape having broken into the victim's house wearing a mask and armed with a rope to tie her to a wooden beam. She was blindfolded, gagged and whipped with a piece of metal before being raped and robbed - but hairs left at the scene later linked him to the crime. She told the police: 'He enjoyed torturing me'.

He denied the attack but friends had gone to police saying that videos of him raping other women had 'fallen into their hands' and they were in no doubt that they were 'real scenes', the court heard.

Weeks before Maddie disappeared he moved from a rural farmhouse into a VW T3 Westfalia campervan taken in the Portuguese resort in the days before she vanished. He also had a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate that was registered to another person in his home country 24 hours after Maddie was taken - but he was still driving it, Scotland Yard has said. Both vehicles have been traced by police.

The suspect then returned to Germany where he was jailed for dealing drugs in the North Sea resort of Sylt and later 'sentenced on numerous occasions to prison terms for sexual abuse of children in the past', Christian Hoppe, from the German Federal Criminal Police (BKA) has said.

He had been registered in Braunschweig since 2014. In court, he said he worked until seven in the morning until midnight but the business, along with his relationship, failed and he began to hit the bottle and live on social assistance.

He returned to Portugal where he was arrested in June 2017 and extradited again to Germany. The reason was a sentencing of the Braunschweig district court to 15 months' imprisonment for the sexual abuse of a child.

After his release in August 2018, he was homeless, the accused continued at his trial. He spent nights sleeping in park benches before fleeing to Italy where he was arrested in Milan in September 2018.

After being released from prison he appears to have left Germany for Italy but was held by police last year after an European arrest warrant was out out over the 2005 rape of the US tourist. He is now less than seven months into his seven-year jail term for the crime - but is appealing claiming his extradition was unlawful.

Mr Hoppe last night also described the prisoner as being white, with short blond hair, around 6ft tall and of slim build and offered a 10,000 euro reward for information that could lead to his prosecution. Although there are concerns that Germany's strict privacy laws, which allow the suspect anonymity, could hamper the investigation because potential witnesses aren't being given his identity.  

Scotland Yard revealed a man with short, light-coloured hair was seen lurking near the apartment in question on the day that Madeleine was snatched. Detectives have said the e-fit of the man released in 2013 had 'not been ruled out', suggesting he may resemble the new suspect.

Hans Christian Wolters, a spokesman for the Braunschweig Public Prosecutor's Office, said: 'In connection with the disappearance of the three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann on May 3 2007 from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, the Braunschweig prosecution is investigating against a 43-year-old German on suspicion of murder.

'We are assuming that the girl is dead. With the suspect, we are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and he's already serving a long sentence.'

He said the suspect was regularly living in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, where he worked jobs in the gastronomy business, but funded his lifestyle by committing crimes, including thefts in hotel complexes and apartments, as well as drug dealing.

He added: 'The Braunschweig prosecution is now concerned because before going abroad he last had his residence in Braunschweig.'

Police also revealed last night that the German suspect made a 30-minute phone call that located him in Praia da Luz just an hour before the Maddie was last seen on May 3, 2007. The following day he suspiciously transferred the ownership of his Jaguar car to another person despite continuing to drive it, police said.

Kate and Gerry McCann 'still fervently hope that Madeleine will be found alive'

Kate and Gerry McCann are pictured at a Child Rescue Alert event in London in October 2014

Madeleine McCann's parents 'still continue to hope' their daughter is alive despite a German prosecutor saying police believe she is dead, their spokesman said today.

Kate and Gerry McCann are being comforted at home in Rothley, Leicestershire, by close relatives and being kept updated on developments by Scotland Yard officers.

McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell told MailOnline: 'German police say they are assuming that Madeleine is dead but they have no proof. British police are keeping an open mind and Portuguese police are reacting with caution too.

'So Kate and Gerry still fervently hope that Madeleine will be found alive despite everything that appears to be happening. They continue to hope she is alive until they can be shown incontrovertible evidence which proves that she is not.'

He added: 'But they are being realistic and simply want to know what has happened to their daughter and establish the truth, and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

'They will wait to hear what the police tell them. They want a resolution and after all these years they want peace.'

They think the man - who has also got previous convictions for sex crimes against girls - made money dealing drugs and burgling holiday homes and that could be how he chanced upon Maddie.

Detectives in London leading the hunt called a press conference last night to announce the 'major breakthrough'. The suspect was not named by Scotland Yard due to German anonymity laws, and British officers insisted theirs was still a 'missing persons' inquiry rather than a murder probe.

However German police chief Christian Hoppe last night went on the country's TV show XY - his country's version of Crimewatch – and revealed: 'The investigation leads us to believe that Maddie McCann was killed.'

Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, told BBC television: 'They are grateful and they welcome this appeal.

'They have not given up hope of finding Madeleine alive, despite the length of time - they've never given up that hope.

'But they are realistic and they say that whatever the outcome of this appeal and the police work, they do need to know because they need to find peace.'

MailOnline understands the BKA unit firmly believes their 43-year-old suspect is the man who took Maddie.

Maddie, who vanished days before her fourth birthday and would now be 17, had been left sleeping with her baby siblings Sean and Amelie on the night she disappeared as her parents went to a tapas restaurant nearby with friends.

Last night Kate and Gerry said: 'We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace.'

The attack on the American pensioner took place in Praia da Luz, 18 months before Maddie vanished from the same resort town. It was unclear this morning why the man, who was extradited to Germany from Portugal, had not faced trial in Portugal for the offence.

German law prevents police from naming even convicted criminals – so the McCann suspect remained anonymous even as he was jailed last year.

And it meant Scotland Yard was unable to name him when they made their announcement about the case last night.

Downing Street said the latest developments appeared to be significant and added that Number 10's thoughts were with the McCann family 'who have had to endure so much'.

Here in Germany, the media are still trying the best they can to frame CB. Only days after the alleged apology to the McCanns made the headlines everywhere, now the case made headlines again with the chat protocols - yawn, it's not news at all, they obviously are still talking about the chats CB made several years after Madeleine's disappearance, and all of this has already been published in the media years ago.  

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

that is fully right!

maybe the bbc only just found a translator german- english, and they still had the old german papers in a closet.

it is on youtube, at least yesterday it was, but i really can not do so much crap, i was 10 minutes in, and it looked like what they still had on the shelf by a company that usually sell such stuff to the bbc. and no one other ever wanted it before. 

the origins of these words in conversations never had a traceable source with them, if it are indeed screenshots of something and if it is indeed a cb something. who knows for sure. i don't. they did not came with a handout of the german police. 

and it is absolutely normal to react with mm, or even mmm when you do not want to say yes or no , in that moment. i think every dutch or german does is as a habit. you can even use a more specific tone. like when someone said something you do not like it comes often more as a kind of growl, or when somebody in a busy place stumbles up against you, even a more irritated growl. written it ends always up in mm, or even mmm.

mmm is more that you still are thinking about it, but from a more positive stance. 

and even mmmmm is used and the longer the m sound the more you like something. 

it is probably our neanderthal inheritance that surfaced from time to time, but it is very useful as very short and direct and indirect communication. 

the only way to know for sure is ask it the person who used it.

and germans have a nasty habit to be overly fond of using capitals for names(sorry max!) they are so much trained in school, they can not do it in other ways. so if a german would mean mm for madeleine mccann it would be in capitals written.

and all of this aside, why do people get the idea, that the mystery of missing madeleine is not a forever hot topic in the world of pedo's. most of these guys only can reach out to a dream world for their appetite. most never act on their weird feelings, they do look, but restrict themselves to dirty pictures, movies, holiday pictures on a beach on social media. and stories. 
only the idea that some other lucky guy, in their eyes, got something like a young girl to live out its fantasies, makes then jealous. they dream of such a chance, most would luckily never dare to act on these feelings. but they can dream, fantasies all they want. 

the ones that use dirty pictures of children, or look to the movies out and about, are still part of that same world that makes them, a lot are not even made by pedo's but only to sell to pedo's. 
pictures can be 10, 50 years old and still in circulation. 

they collect even all they can get their hands on, that shows something that can work for their fantasies, they even are used as money to get access to websites. makers are very often related to the child even. it is an industry, and yes missing children are a part that is very much woven in to it, not because the missing child ended up in pedo hands, but the thoughts that it could be possible is enough. 

and these kinds are everywhere, you have to catch them red handed while selling stuff, usually when the next server is taken down, often the same that let you see football matches for free. and are lucky to find list of credit card numbers or member lists, so you can visit the homes and related places. they are very experienced in hiding their stuff. and a lot is on usb, or hidden online. whats app is also very populair. 
so it is often a lot of luck or just a stupid one who you can get. 

i would never could work that part of law enforcement, it is something i would not be able to restrict myself to keeping calm and collected. i got pretty quickly after i started access to the books of criminals, and you can not make use of knowing who are part of such worlds, and only knowing is bad enough. and i did not like how many i had already met, some i could have guessed before, but some i had hard time to even start believing it. and you can not unknow it. most officers cannot do it for long, stints of maximum 2 years and they are done with it. 

these guys see so much horrible stuff, have to study it and can only talk freely with the psych, and it was because of that work we always had one on the floor. i could handle other work around victims of sexual abuse, because i was not a police officer, i was often asked as being the responsible adult, meaning mostly for 16 plus years. 
the result is, i am not in favor for second chances at all. and very much in favor for putting then at least out of society. and do not forget, it is not a male only world. 

and it is also a world where bragging is very common. blackmailing too. and as always making a lot of money. 

a lot of the traffic on the sites these messages are suppose to come from, is not only to show off to like minded people, but also trying to get access of what others have already. it has no meaning in being honest to each other, it usually is business. and they know it is criminal and they know there are people there on these same forums to catch them out. 
and i think it is very okay most people who are not into this stuff, can not even understand anything of it, i can not and i not even want to understand. and even trying is almost impossible. 

but this is just easy page filling they got payed for, two letters would not be what solves this case. 

and if you look to it all, the guy is bad. for me he lost his right to live a life in freedom long ago.

but in how all is written i do hope we do not end up with a fake confession that gets accepted, but with absolutely no findings that prove if it the truth. and when you put someone in a airtight room, and escape anything is no longer there, even a fake confession can serve him a better life , even it is without freedom. 
i do not like to call that a form of justice in a democratic society. not for cb, but justice needs to follow strict guidelines, because when we let them give to much rein, where do you stop. 

i have seen it happen in a much smaller scale, but that case had a suspect, but in the end it was just an innocent man. and judges are people too, and all german judges hear already well over 3 years about the man who did it. and this case has not even met the charging process. and most judges are sound, they are well trained in how to do their task, but there are so many moments in a court case, that have a larger grey area, and try to unknown what you heard and read in that moment. 

it is simply not okay how this case is brought to the public by paid professionals, some even with an oath to uphold the law, who forgot what the law told them. is this really the way to do justice to that little girl called madeleine. the germans cannot even use her full first name. they never do. fall maddie is just a better selling point.
a well maybe we can count that too to our neanderthal genes.