EXPATS in Spain and Portugal fear the sudden arrival of Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner after he was released from prison.
The paedophile and rapist has been living in temporary housing in the German town of Neumunster, after serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for the rape of a grandmother, 72, in Portugal in 2005.
Despite wearing an ankle tag and being told he cannot go outside a three mile exclusion zone, many fear Brueckner, 49, is likely to return to his two favourite ‘stalking grounds’ in southern Europe.
“It is easy to cut those security tags with a knife and I’m sure that’s what he is planning to do,” a legal source told the Olive Press in Germany.
It comes after it was revealed in the Sun newspaper today that he has already bought a new mobile phone and is attempting to get an unregistered SIM card.
Meanwhile, his lawyer confirmed he is refusing to take part in a ‘rehabilitation programme’ because he claims he has been wrongly convicted of sex crimes.
“He is clearly in denial and still up to his old tricks,” continued the source. “And if he gets an untraceable phone and takes off his tag and flees Germany, we won’t be able to monitor him.
“He could literally end up anywhere, including Spain or Portugal.”
While a regular visitor to the Algarve – where he lived for over a decade, much of it in Praia da Luz, where Maddie vanished in 2007 – he spent many months living on and off in Granada.
Also a regular visitor to Catalunya and Valencia, it was in the Alpujarra area that he had many contacts, who he bought and sold drugs to.
“We are really hoping he does not come back to Orgiva where he spent a lot of time,” one British expat told the Olive Press this week.
“He lived for many months off-grid hanging out with drug dealers,” she added. “And he attended various festivals here.
“Lots of people wondered how many sex crimes he may have committed here.”
Chillingly she added: “I know quite a few characters here that will want to kill him for what he has done. He also has plenty of bad debts.”
It was during one event, the Dragon Festival, in Orgiva, in 2008, that he ‘confessed’ to an acquaintance, Helge Busching, that he was involved in the snatching of Maddie, then 3.
“He told me she ‘didn’t scream’,” Busching told the Olive Press this week. “It came after I asked him if he was going back to Portugal often and if he knew what happened to the girl.”
Speaking at a secret location in Europe, the German added: “He knew straight away that he had said the wrong thing and let the cat out of the bag.
“He quickly vanished and we didn’t see him again. It turned out he left in the middle of the night in his winnebago. We didn’t see him again.”
The former expat, who was in witness protection for four years, testified to Scotland Yard and BKA detectives in Germany that he had seen videos of Brueckner beating and raping a teenager, about 15, and another elderly lady in Portugal.
Busching and a fellow Germany expat Manfred Seyferth, had found the videos at Brueckner’s home while he was in prison for theft in Portugal in 2006.
“It was definitely him as he was speaking throughout, plus I recognised his house in the video,” he told the Olive Press. “And then, at the end, he suddenly takes off his balaclava and you can see his face.”
Furious that the authorities have let him out of prison in Germany, he continued: “He is a very dangerous criminal and for sure he will commit more crimes any time soon.
“Trust me, there are going to be a lot of problems for the German police and, for sure, some bad news coming.”
The Olive Press revealed in 2020 that Brueckner – who is still the prime suspect in the Maddie case in the UK, Germany and Portugal – sold stolen solar panels in Orgiva.
He was also a regular buyer of marijuana, cocaine and ketamine from a series of dealers in the area, before heading back to Germany to sell his wares.
He often brought his large winnebago van, which he revealed had a hidden compartment ‘large enough to smuggle a small child’.
The three-times convicted child molester is awaiting a retrial for a trio of rapes and two child abuse offences, both on the Algarve.
It comes after he was found not-guilty during a trial last year in Braunschweig.
He is also facing two more minor cases in German courts this Autumn.
While prosecutors in Germany say they ‘believe’ he kidnapped and killed Madeleine and they continue to investigate him, they admit they don’t have ‘enough evidence’ to convict him at present.
Under the German judicial system, he can only be tried by a panel of judges and not a jury.
The British Metropolitan police have now taken up the baton and officially requested to interview Brueckner over the case.
While this has so far been rejected, they continue to investigate and have confirmed that despite being ‘rare’ they could prosecute the German in a British court of law.
Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, said: “We can confirm this individual remains a suspect in the Met’s own investigation.”
While Brueckner has ‘refused’ a voluntary interview, he adds: “We will nevertheless continue to pursue any viable lines of enquiry.”
Pls contact jon@theolivepress.es if you have any information on Brueckner or the case.
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