Staff Reporter
TV INVESTIGATOR Donal MacIntyre has teamed up with the Olive Press for a hard-hitting probe into the case of missing Madeleine McCann.
The Irish investigative journalist joined forces with editor Jon Clarke for an in-depth cold case review of the snatch of the toddler, which is approaching its 15th anniversary.
In the podcast, Madeleine McCann: The Chief Suspect, the pair explore the complicated and harrowing disappearance of Maddie, who would be 18-years-old today.
The former BBC and ITV presenter turned to Clarke, whose new book My Search for Madeleine is the most comprehensive study of the case and its main prime suspect to date.
“It’s amazing the depths Jon has gone to to try and solve the mystery,” said MacIntyre, 55, who has visited Portugal many times himself in connection to the case.
“There was so much that came out that really points to the current main suspect. It’s so shocking how poor the original Portuguese investigation was. You have to wonder why.”
The pair spent hours exploring the likelihood that German Christian Brueckner snatched the British child while on a holiday with her doctor parents in Portugal on May 3, 2007.
They track his movements around Europe and along the Algarve that month and discuss his dozens of previous crimes, many in Portugal.
In particular, they analyse the likelihood that the convicted paedophile and rapist broke in and took the three-year-old to sell to a child trafficking network.
They also discuss the shambolic police investigation and Clarke’s recent high-level liaisons with Germany’s crack BKA detectives, who are expected to charge Brueckner this year.
They explore a number of recent trips Clarke has made to northern Portugal and three other crimes involving children and the rape of an Irish tourist.
Available on Spotify, Apple and other streaming platforms from April 22, the moving eight-part podcast, part of the wider Murdered, Missing, Unsolved series, looks at dozens of characters linked to the case.
“It’s going to be a must-listen for anyone interested in this harrowing mystery,” insisted MacIntyre, whose BBC series MacIntyre Undercover exposed the sleazy side of the modelling industry, as well as racist Chelsea football hooligans, for which he even got a tattoo while going undercover.
“With the Portuguese statute of limitations ending this year, it is now only in the hands of the Germans.”
Clarke, who was the first national newspaper journalist on the scene in 2007, added: “I really enjoyed doing the series with Donal, who knows how to ask the right questions.
“I really hope the German police can finally pull it all together this year and charge Brueckner.
“They say they are 100% certain he did it. Donal and I are sure they are on the right track.”
The eight-part series Madeleine McCann: The Chief Suspect,is released on Friday April 22 on Spotify and Apple.
READ MORE:
- EXCLUSIVE: Italy link could see German suspect in Madeleine McCann case formally charged
- New book explores 14 years of investigating Madeleine McCann case by the Olive Press in Spain and Portugal
