The prime suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance gloated about his impending freedom in an interview from behind bars, boasting that he’ll soon be enjoying a “nice steak and beer”.
Convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner, 48, voiced his frustration at still being in prison, insisting on his innocence in an exclusive interview with German broadcaster RTL.
In the interview, Brueckner appeared to show no guilt and admitted he would flee to a country without an extradition treaty with Germany and go into hiding.
He claims he speaks very little behind bars, “only ten words a day”, and that he has remained isolated in his cell after a fellow inmate broke at least one of his ribs.
Brueckner told the news outlet he is most looking forward to a “decent steak and a bear” following his release.
It comes as German police launched fresh searches on Tuesday morning between Praia da Luz, where three-year-old Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007, and a house near the holiday resort where Brueckner used to live.
They are the first in Portugal for more than two years following a near-week-long operation involving Portuguese, German and police officers at a remote dam a 40-minute-drive from Praia da Luz in 2023.
Brueckner, who is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for raping an elderly American tourist in Praia da Luz in 2005, has always denied having any role in Madeleine’s abduction and refused to make any statements about the case at the meeting with RTL.
He has also denied committing the 2005 rape for which he was convicted in 2019 and is still serving his sentence.
In letters to the news outlet, he asserted his innocence, saying: "As I told you, what matters most to me is that I've been in prison for many years for something I couldn't have committed, and that, thanks to the media's involvement, half the world thinks I'm a cruel rapist."
Brueckner is due to be released later this year and police face a race against time if they are to charge Brueckner in the McCann case.
German authorities maintain that Brueckner is the main suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance and are pushing for charges before his scheduled release in September.
Philipp Marquort, one of Christian Brueckner's lawyers, previously told the Mirror: “If I were him I would leave Europe and look for a state which doesn't extradite to Europe or Great Britain, maybe like Suriname.”
This means that if evidence linking Brueckner to Madeleine’s death further down the line, it may not be possible to bring him back to Germany to face justice.
Sources said the new searches would take place on more than 20 privately-owned pieces of land near to the ramshackle rented cottage on the outskirts of Praia da Luz where Brueckner spent several years living.
They said the search area would extend from the house eastwards towards an inland area known as Atalaia in the direction of Lagos.
The German police team is expected to include forensic experts, who were also present for the May 2023 Arade Dam searches.
