New evidence has been found against the main suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, a German prosecutor has revealed.
Hans Christian Walters said in an interview with Portuguese television that investigators believed they had found “some facts, some new evidence, not forensic evidence”.
Officials in Faro, Portugal, said last week that Christian Bruckner, 44, a convicted rapist, was an arguido or official suspect – the first time Portuguese authorities have officially identified a suspect in the case since Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gary McCann were declared as such in 2007. They were officially released from suspicion in 2008.
Bruckner had previously denied involvement in the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine.
Walters, who has been investigating Bruckner since 2020 in the case of Madeleine and other alleged crimes, was asked in a television interview whether it was true that German investigators had found something belonging to Madeleine in the caravan used by Bruckner. “You can’t deny it, can you?” The CMTV interviewer asked.
Walters replied, “I don’t want to deny it.”
He added: “We are sure that he is the killer of Madeleine McCann. We are sure that he killed Madeleine McCann. The investigation is still ongoing and I think we have found some new facts, some new evidence – not forensic, but evidence. “
Speaking on the eve of the 15th anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance on May 3, 2007, Kate and Gary McCann said a “horrific crime” had been committed and they were still searching for answers.
They said in a statement: “This year marks the 15th anniversary of the last time we saw Madeleine. It doesn’t feel harder than anyone else, but it’s not easier. This is a very long time. Many people are talking about the need to close. It has always been a strange term.
“Regardless of the outcome, Madeleine will always be our daughter and a truly horrific crime has been committed. These things will remain. “
Last week, the couple said they welcomed the news that Portuguese authorities had declared an argument. They said: “Although the possibility may be small, we have not given up hope that Madeleine is still alive and we will reunite with her.
German police said in June 2020 that Madeleine was presumed dead and that Bruckner was probably responsible for her disappearance. However, British officers continued to treat him as a case of missing persons. Germany, unlike Portugal, has no statute of limitations for murder.
Walters, the public prosecutor in Braunschweig, is investigating Bruckner for five separate alleged crimes. These include three cases of rape and two cases of child abuse, the last in 2017, when Bruckner was allegedly exposed and masturbated in front of a group of children.
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