Statements credible?

Maddie case: witness incriminates suspect heavily

The public prosecutor's office assumes that Christian B. abducted and murdered Maddie.

(Bild: AFP/ITALIAN CARABINIERI PRESS OFFICE, AFP, krone.at-Grafik)

There may be a decisive breakthrough in the trial against Christian B., the main suspect in the Maddie McCann missing persons case.

A former cellmate testified that B. had confessed to kidnapping a child in Portugal. The 47-year-old is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of an American tourist.

The then three-year-old Maddie McCann disappeared from a vacation apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007, while her parents were out to eat. The girl would have been 21 years old today.

Maddie has been missing for 17 years
The trial in Braunschweig is not actually about Maddie McCann. Nevertheless, the child who has been missing for 17 years is a constant topic: Christian B., the German accused of five sexual offenses, is also suspected of having abducted and murdered Maddie.

Trial against Christian B. in Braunschweig

(Bild: AFP/AFP, Krone KREATIV)

He told me that he had stolen in Portugal. There was an open window, that's where he got in. He didn't find any money. But a child. He took that with him.

Zeuge Laurentiu C.über den Hauptverdächtigen Christian B.

Witness heavily incriminates main suspect
The witness, Laurentiu C., now testified in court that B. had told him during their joint detention that he had entered an apartment in Portugal in search of money. However, he did not find any money there, instead he came across a child and took it with him, as the British "Mirror" reported. Later, according to the witness statement, B. reported that the police were looking for him with sniffer dogs. However, he escaped in time.

Madeleine McCann disappeared without a trace on May 3, 2007

(Bild: APA/AFP PHOTO / METROPOLITAN POLICE, Photo by Hauke-Christian Dittrich / AFP, krone.at-Grafik)

Crucial evidence missing
The witness' statements relate to the year 2007, when the then three-year-old Maddie disappeared from a vacation apartment in Praia da Luz. Investigators have suspected for years that B. could be responsible for the disappearance of the British girl. But so far there has been no decisive evidence. 

He said he owned a bus, took children with him and abused them. He said: 'You can also keep them for two or three days and then release them'. I assume that he wanted to provoke me. To see if I had anything to do with children.

Zeuge Laurentiu C.über den Hauptverdächtigen Christian B.

How credible are the witness's statements?
In addition to these statements, C. accuses the 47-year-old of talking to him about the abduction and rape of other girls. According to C., B. claimed that he had abducted girls in a bus he owned and sexually abused them. However, he never spoke of having killed the victims. The question that now arises: How credible is this witness?

Christian B. bought this VW bus.

(Bild: EPA, AFP, krone.at-Grafik)

B. is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of an American tourist. The crime took place in Praia da Luz in 2005. He is also accused of raping an Irish woman in 2004 and several other sexual offenses in the Algarve region between 2000 and 2017. Including against minors.

Proceedings may end in December
However, the suspect denies any involvement in the disappearance of Maddie McCann and the crimes he is accused of in Portugal. The proceedings against Brückner are expected to end in December.