German prosecutors have confirmed that their prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will be released from prison within weeks.
Christian Brückner, 48, is currently serving a sentence in northern Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old American tourist in Portugal in 2005. He will be freed by 17 September at the latest, according to Hans Christian Wolters, the lead prosecutor investigating Madeleine’s disappearance.
Mr Wolters told the BBC that although prosecutors consider Brückner dangerous, the current legal situation means he must be released without delay.
Brückner has never been charged in relation to Madeleine’s disappearance and denies any involvement.
The then three-year-old vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve, on 3 May 2007. Her parents had been dining with friends nearby, checking on their children throughout the evening until Kate McCann discovered Madeleine was missing around 10pm local time.
The case became one of the most high-profile missing persons investigations in Europe. German prosecutors say they have evidence placing Brückner in the area at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.
Brückner “is not just our number one suspect, he’s the only suspect,” Mr Wolters said. “There is no-one else. We have evidence which speaks against [Brückner], which indicates that he is responsible for the disappearance and the death of Madeleine McCann.
“We haven’t found anything in the last five years that exonerates [him]. We found evidence that strengthens our case. But in our view it’s not strong enough to make a guilty verdict likely, and that’s why so far we couldn’t charge him or apply for an arrest warrant.”
Differences between legal systems mean German authorities suspect Brückner of murder, while British police continue to treat the case as a missing person inquiry.
Mr Wolters, who has led German efforts since Brückner was identified as a suspect in 2020, said an expert assessment had concluded he remained a danger to society. “You have to expect [Brückner] to commit further crimes,” he said.
Prosecutors are now seeking restrictions to be imposed on Brückner after his release, including an ankle tag. The conditions will be decided at a private court hearing.
Brückner, who lived in the Algarve for many years, is a convicted sex offender with previous offences of child sexual abuse in 1994 and 2016. He is known to have been in the Praia da Luz area between 2000 and 2017, and investigators have linked his mobile phone data and a car sale to their case.
