The man who will make the decision about whether the prime suspect in the Maddie McCann case will be set free or not has delivered a bombshell verdict which could ensure that he stays behind bars.
Convicted paedophile and rapist Christian Brueckner is the man who German investigators believe abducted and killed Madeleine, then aged three, from her parents’ holiday apartment in the Algarve in 2007.
The 47-year-old paedophile is currently on trial for a range of non-related sex offences committed in Portugal, and there are strong indications that he will be acquitted.
The only way German authorities could then keep him in prison would be if the court psychiatric expert, Dr Christian Riedemann, deems him ‘dangerous’ for society.
Speaking today at Braunschweig Regional Court, forensic psychiatrist Dr Riedemann, 47, head of the correctional facility in Bad Rehburg said: ‘The application of various procedures leads to the conclusion that Christian Brueckner can be categorized in the absolute top league of dangerousness’.
It comes after a former cellmate of Brueckne, Laurentiu Codin, alleged that he had confessed to him about abducting a girl from an apartment in Portugal.
In his latest testimony, Codin has reportedly claimed that a lover of Brueckner had been waiting outside the apartment at the time – with the pair arguing and fleeing separately when she saw he had snatched a child.
Christian Brueckner (C) is brought to the courtroom for a session of his trial at court in Braunschweig, northern Germany, on September 25, 2024
German investigators sensationally named Brueckner as the key suspect in the abduction of the British three-year-old
According to The Sun, Laurentiu told the court of the night of the alleged kidnapping: ‘There was another person with him – his lover – they got into a fight and they separated there.’
He added that he was convinced Brueckner had been been telling him the truth, saying; ‘Christian was very proud of his doings and as if he was living through them again while telling about it. He told all so detailed.’
Laurentiu, who was behind bars with Brueckner in 2020, is also reported to have claimed that the paedophile was part of a bigger organisation, and that he feared for his safety after speaking out against him in court.
‘I am afraid of Brueckner now because somebody said to me I will be stabbed in my back,’ he reportedly said.
In court today, Dr Riedemann reiterated the danger he believes Brueckner would pose if he were freed, adding that the convict had refused to cooperate with him.
‘According to established analysis procedures, almost 100 per cent of comparable sex offenders have more favorable prognoses than the defendant,’ the expert said.
‘And the probability that [Brueckner] will be imprisoned in the next two years is 30 to 50 per cent.’
Christian Brueckner, 47, is currently serving a seven-year sentence for the rape of a US pensioner in 2005 and drug trafficking, and is also the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann
A house near Praia da Luz resort and Lagos in the Algarve, Portugal, that was used by Christian Brueckner, a German man suspected in the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann
He added that he ‘rejected any attempts at exploration of his personality by experts.
‘I would like to ask him a lot of questions, but I only have to speculate about a lot of things.
‘He belongs in the absolute top league of dangerousness. The probability that the defendant could commit further offences in freedom within two years is high.’
Brueckner, who is currently serving a sentence for a 2005 rape of an American pensioner in Portugal, is currently accused of other horrific sex offences in the country.
These include three cases of rape, and two cases of exposing him to children while masturbating.
Pictured: The holiday complex where the McCanns were staying in Portugal’s Algarve region in May 2007, when their three-year-old daughter vanished without a trace
Madeleine McCann (pictured) went missing on May 3, 2007 at the age of just three. She has never been found. German criminal Christian Brueckner has been named by German prosecutors as their chief suspect in her disappearance
If he is acquitted of these crimes, the only way to keep him in prison will be by activating something called ‘preventative detention’, for which he has to say that he deems Brückner as dangerous for society.
Today was the second time that Dr Riedemann gave an assessment of Christian Brueckner’s personality.
On day 33 of the trial, he also did this, first discussing an introduction of scientific research on sadistic offenders, and arguing that their main motivation is not the sex, rather the power.
Here he said that sadists enjoy humiliating their victims, physically hurting them, tying them up and subjugating them.
Brueckner was sensationally named by German police as the prime suspect in the Madeleine’s abduction.
The revelation came in June 2020 – more than a decade after her disappearance.
But he has never been charged in the case, and has long denied any involvement.
