Germany/Portugal - Christian Brueckner, 27 @ time of 1st crime (2004), charged with sexual assault crimes, Praia de Rocha, Portugal. #4

[Mex]

It has been raised in court that BKA has only one investigation into CB.

No doubt your reference to the 'court' is to the one in Braunschweig where CB is presently standing trial charged with five sexual offences.

Meaning that the investigations into these five crimes have been successfully concluded with charges laid.

End of investigation = charges being made = court appearances for CB = the trial ending with a conclusion, due legal process having been observed with the results of five investigations concluded.

This may leave only one BKA investigation into CB.
As far as we know.
There could well be others quietly bubbling away in the background.

CB is not only of interest to BKA.
Scotland Yard still have a recently funded investigation on the go centring on their only suspect CB.

The Policia Judiciaria were still interested enough to constitute CB as the only arguido in crimes against MM in time enough to beat the Portuguese Statute of Limitations.
Which means that if CB isn't tried in Germany there may be other options open.

Unlike CB's defence team three national law enforcement agencies have investigated and seen the evidence against CB.
So I would say it is safe enough to say as you do that BKA has only one case left against CB, the others being well on their way to conclusion one way or t'other.
But there are other options.

Just as one finds it remarkable that investigators of three nations who are privy to the evidence have unanimously made CB their only suspect.

 

[Dave55]

Where did you get the items for the MM case? HCW has been unequivocal in that they have, no photos, no video ,no forensics to link CB to MM, but this is for the other thread.

Wolters has not said they have no photos or videos...he's said they may have..but not of MM and CB together

 

[Dave55]

Could anyone say where the hair came from in the DM case....did the PJ find and keep it

 

[Davieson]

Could anyone say where the hair came from in the DM case....did the PJ find and keep it

One would hope so, otherwise it would be difficult to explain its appearance many years later.

Given the alleged incompetence of the Pj, I'm amazed that it was even collected, let alone retained

 

[RichardKimble]

Prosecutor '100% convinced' suspect abducted and murdered Madeleine McCann

Madeleine McCann prosecutors say they have no body and no DNA but other evidence leads to only one conclusion - jailed rapist Christian Brueckner is guilty and could be charged next year

www.mirror.co.uk

However, the prosecutors now admit they have no proof Madeleine is dead – despite authorities in Braunschweig telling the McCanns last year that they had “evidence” she is no longer alive.

No evidence means no pictures.

 

[Dave55]

Prosecutor '100% convinced' suspect abducted and murdered Madeleine McCann

Madeleine McCann prosecutors say they have no body and no DNA but other evidence leads to only one conclusion - jailed rapist Christian Brueckner is guilty and could be charged next year

www.mirror.co.uk

However, the prosecutors now admit they have no proof Madeleine is dead – despite authorities in Braunschweig telling the McCanns last year that they had “evidence” she is no longer alive.

No evidence means no pictures.

No it doesnt

 

[Denis R Tandib]

One would hope so, otherwise it would be difficult to explain its appearance many years later.

I do find it strange that this evidence was kept for 13 years while HaB’s was destroyed. IIRC, isn’t the statute of limitations for rape 10 years in Portugal? It’s definitely 15 years for murder. It seems peculiar that this evidence was kept.

 

[misty48]

of

I do find it strange that this evidence was kept for 13 years while HaB’s was destroyed. IIRC, isn’t the statute of limitations for rape 10 years in Portugal? It’s definitely 15 years for murder. It seems peculiar that this evidence was kept.

I find it more strange that the evidence in the HeB case was ordered by PJ to be destroyed less than 3 years after the crime. The order was issued 3 months after CB had been released from prison and less than 2 months before Madeleine disappeared.

 

[Denis R Tandib]

I find it more strange that the evidence in the HeB case was ordered by PJ to be destroyed less than 3 years after the crime. The order was issued 3 months after CB had been released from prison and less than 2 months before Madeleine disappeared.

It’s hard to know unless we understand what the normal practice was. For example, if it was normal for the DNA profile to be extracted from any forensic evidence and recorded, then it might not be necessary to retain the physical evidence.

So in the DM case, was the hair kept in storage for 14 years or was CB’s profile taken from it at the time of the crime? I think the latter is more likely but I don’t know.

 

[misty48]

It’s hard to know unless we understand what the normal practice was. For example, if it was normal for the DNA profile to be extracted from any forensic evidence and recorded, then it might not be necessary to retain the physical evidence.

So in the DM case, was the hair kept in storage for 14 years or was CB’s profile taken from it at the time of the crime? I think the latter is more likely but I don’t know.

I don't think Portugal had the technology to extract DNA from hairs in 2005. <modsnip: no source link>
My own opinion is that PJ treated the HaB rape case as a "domestic" (because of JC's DNA being found in her underwear) which would explain why her file wasn't sent to BKA in 2018 along with other unsolved rapes with the MO described by HeB. The same explanation could be offered regarding the premature destruction of the forensics.
It would be interesting to know if the teenage runaway whom CB allegedly "kidnapped" and held for 4 days at his home, ever reported her experience, assuming she survived. I'm not entirely sure anyone would have believed her - especially the Portuguese police.

 

[C.greek]

I don't think Portugal had the technology to extract DNA from hairs in 2005. <modsnip: no source link>
My own opinion is that PJ treated the HaB rape case as a "domestic" (because of JC's DNA being found in her underwear) which would explain why her file wasn't sent to BKA in 2018 along with other unsolved rapes with the MO described by HeB. The same explanation could be offered regarding the premature destruction of the forensics.
It would be interesting to know if the teenage runaway whom CB allegedly "kidnapped" and held for 4 days at his home, ever reported her experience, assuming she survived. I'm not entirely sure anyone would have believed her - especially the Portuguese police.

I agree about HB's rape. I also think that there would be no way a German teenage girl, who was in the social service system, would go to the police to say she was "held" without her will and raped in Portugal. This girl could have died now or live on the streets or hopefully have come out clean and started a new life, but assuming she has survived, I find it very likely that she has not heard anything about this case, or if she has that she doesn't want to come forward. Women and girls are rarely taken seriously with such accusations and stories. Victim blaming is all around us and this is sadly true for the case of both HB and this teenage girl.

 

[Anxala]

I agree about HB's rape. I also think that there would be no way a German teenage girl, who was in the social service system, would go to the police to say she was "held" without her will and raped in Portugal. This girl could have died now or live on the streets or hopefully have come out clean and started a new life, but assuming she has survived, I find it very likely that she has not heard anything about this case, or if she has that she doesn't want to come forward. Women and girls are rarely taken seriously with such accusations and stories. Victim blaming is all around us and this is sadly true for the case of both HB and this teenage girl.

Yes, agree re the teenager, not in the least surprised that it was never reported. She could even have been prevented from reporting it by those whose care she was supposed to be in.

I was always more surprised that the elderly woman didn't report her attack. I wonder if maybe she was on holiday and didn't have family/friends locally, plus a possible language barrier, and felt too traumatised to report it herself? Odd though, and very sad too if the case that she dealt with it all on her own.

 

[C.greek]

Yes, agree re the teenager, not in the least surprised that it was never reported. She could even have been prevented from reporting it by those whose care she was supposed to be in.

I was always more surprised that the elderly woman didn't report her attack. I wonder if maybe she was on holiday and didn't have family/friends locally, plus a possible language barrier, and felt too traumatised to report it herself? Odd though, and very sad too if the case that she dealt with it all on her own.

How many women never report rapes unfortunately. I am not surprised at all re the elderly woman. I actually more surprised with DM that she reported it and went through people doubting she was raped. It is not easy to put yourself out there, especially when you are so vulnerable to begin with. This is all very sad

 

[Denis R Tandib]

DNA evidence has been used by forensics since the mid eighties. The UK’s first database was established in 1995. DNA was collected in 2007 from 5A by the PJ and yes I know some samples were sent to the UK for testing although I don’t think because local authorities were incapable. DNA was collected from the HaB crime in 2004. It always seems as though Portugal is judged like some ancient civilisation which I think is unfair. I seem to recall that Portugal started its own DNA database in the early 2000s. Does anyone know what DNA capabilities Portugal had around the time of these crimes? @Janosch, you may know this.

 

[Mex]

DNA evidence has been used by forensics since the mid eighties. The UK’s first database was established in 1995. DNA was collected in 2007 from 5A by the PJ and yes I know some samples were sent to the UK for testing although I don’t think because local authorities were incapable. DNA was collected from the HaB crime in 2004. It always seems as though Portugal is judged like some ancient civilisation which I think is unfair. I seem to recall that Portugal started its own DNA database in the early 2000s. Does anyone know what DNA capabilities Portugal had around the time of these crimes? @Janosch, you may know this.

The Portuguese forensic laboratory undoubtedly might have had the capability but the Portuguese police may not have had the inclination to instruct its implementation.

Snip
The 2005 rape case inquiry was abandoned five months after the horrific attack, while neither a red T-shirt stuffed in the victim's mouth nor a nylon rope used to tie her hands together were DNA tested, according to The Sun.

Official documents show Carlos Farinha, then Director of the Judicial Police's Forensic Science Laboratory, wrote in a November 2009 letter: 'We have learned by telephone that the examination is no longer necessary. We are therefore cancelling the tests and returning the material sent to us for analysis.'

CB was arrested over the rape in 2017 and convicted in December after German police reinvestigated and did DNA tests.

Police 'failed to DNA test evidence linked to Maddie's prime suspect'

Clothes and rope from a villa in southern Portugal where Christian Brueckner raped a 72-year-old American woman in 2005 were not DNA tested.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[tedtink]

Arguido or No: The Portuguese DNA Database

dnapolicyinitiative.org

 

[Denis R Tandib]

Arguido or No: The Portuguese DNA Database

dnapolicyinitiative.org

Thanks. So the Portuguese set up a database in 2008.

From the Mail article shared by @Mex the material from DM’s case was with testing authorities in 2009 - I don’t buy the bungling PJ narrative from the tabloids.

It’s certainly possible the forensics from the DM case could have been tested in 2005. I think the fact they weren’t was probably the lack of a suspect in order to match them to. Something which was resolved when CB was identified.

 

[Mex]

Thanks. So the Portuguese set up a database in 2008.

From the Mail article shared by @Mex the material from DM’s case was with testing authorities in 2009 - I don’t buy the bungling PJ narrative from the tabloids.

It’s certainly possible the forensics from the DM case could have been tested in 2005. I think the fact they weren’t was probably the lack of a suspect in order to match them to. Something which was resolved when CB was identified.

If the tabloid account is correct it shows that forensic samples from the aggravated rape which took place in Praia da Luz in 2005 had not been tested and the results put on record at that time.

A bit remiss when one considers that a three year old child vanished a short walking distance from the scene of that crime less than two years later.

Really totally remiss when one considers the purpose of establishing a DNA database as illustrated by Machado -
Law 5/2008,[1] published on 12 February 2008, which approved the creation of a DNA profile database in Portugal, combines separate purposes within the same law, namely civil identification and criminal investigation.

Arguido or No: The Portuguese DNA Database

dnapolicyinitiative.org

There was no interest shown by the Portuguese MM investigation into broadening the spectrum away from those closest to the missing child to the wider criminal populace. Particularly that of home invasions for burglary and sexual offences which Operation Grange verified were rife.

My point is that a DNA database is as useless as a chocolate teapot if the individuals responsible for determining appropriate content are demonstrably incapable of doing so.

The main issue for collecting DNA from family and friends is for elimination purposes. Not initially clearly understood by Portuguese investigators who failed to comprehend the significance of foreign DNA which should not have been legitimately near a crime scene. To the extent that they ignored it instead of recording it.

It was fortunate that some forensic evidence from the DM crime scene had been preserved; pity about that which was discarded from the HB crime scene and that from the environs of the MM crime scene.

Snip
A PILE of discarded cigarette butts could have been the link to finding missing MM.

A witness claims the discarded butts were found on a shared balcony that had a bird’s eye view of the apartment in Portugal, from where toddler was snatched a few days before her fourth birthday in 2007.

Missing link overlooked in the Madeleine McCann case - Olive Press News Spain

Police failed to extract DNA samples from a pile of cigarette butts, which may have held the key to the case

www.theolivepress.es

 

[mrjitty]

It’s certainly possible the forensics from the DM case could have been tested in 2005. I think the fact they weren’t was probably the lack of a suspect in order to match them to. Something which was resolved when CB was identified.

RSBM

That's what frequently happens elsewhere at least. They get a profile when they run the rape kit / forensics at the time. But it doesn't take you anywhere until the same offender is arrested years later for a new crime and they get his DNA and hey presto it matches the historical offence also.

This is not a portugal problem - it happens loads in the US as well. I would not trust mail reporting.

MOO

 

[RichardKimble]

RSBM

That's what frequently happens elsewhere at least. They get a profile when they run the rape kit / forensics at the time. But it doesn't take you anywhere until the same offender is arrested years later for a new crime and they get his DNA and hey presto it matches the historical offence also.

This is not a portugal problem - it happens loads in the US as well. I would not trust mail reporting.

MOO

This is what happened in one if not the worst miscarriages of justice in the uk, DNA evidence extracted from Lesley Molsseds underwear was not matched to the real killer until he had been arrested on a sex offence and his DNA matched.When was CBs DNA first taken and is there a European DNA data base,