Madeleine McCann: German Prisoner Identified as Suspect, #33

[Janosch]

New in my blog: Did CB commit a burglary 55 metres from 5A three months before Madeleine's abduction?
In his excellent book "My search for Madeleine", Jon Clarke reported that one of the SIM cards found in 2016 in CB's factory at Neuwegersleben, Germany, belonged to "a British man whose holiday apartment in Praia da Luz had been robbed around the time that Maddie was missing".

I think he is referring to the burglary of "Casa María" in February 2007, some three months before Madeleine's abduction.

"Casa María", that also could be called "4A".

 

[Mex]

The link you provided mentions nothing about request from OG.Must be treated with caution though its the press.

According to a report in the news weekly Der Spiegel, Brückner received a letter from police in Braunschweig on 4 November 2013 inviting him to be interviewed as a witness in the “missing person case Madeleine McCann”.
Braunschweig police had sent the letter after noticing Brückner’s history of sexual offences following a routine request by the German Federal Office for Criminal Investigation.
Officers cited by Der Spiegel describe the letter as a mistake, saying such a high-profile case would have required investigators to gather more evidence before approaching a suspect. “This should not have happened and in no way complies with common procedure in such a delicate case,” said one.

I think your criticism of my link is valid.
I’ve had a look and really can’t confirm my opinion that the sequence of events was that Operation Grange was the primary contact point for requesting information from Germany.

Public appeals from Operation Grange when officially set up alongside MM’s parents certainly acted as a catalyst as this cite will support.

The mobile phone data was an important part of the OG investigation as detailed again with the usual tabloid caveat is as follows

(a) the Home Office report of 2009 voiced concern about “a lack of analysis of mobile phone data”
(b) following on from that the Met Police review took place over a two year period
(c) this included a list of 600 persons of interest sent by the Portuguese police which OG whittled down to 38
(d) CB’s name was on that original Portuguese list
(e) 2013 saw the official launch of Operation Grange and accompanying publicity

A joint appeal from Operation Grange officers and MM’s parents in Germany led to the emergence of a witness who reported suspicions relating to CB and his time in Luz.

Christian Brueckner's name was passed to police SEVEN years ago

Brueckner's name was passed to police after e-fits were shown on German TV watched by millions on October 2013. It is claimed detectives failed to act on the information passed on by a viewer.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Mex]

I think your criticism of my link is valid.
I’ve had a look and really can’t confirm my opinion that the sequence of events was that Operation Grange was the primary contact point for requesting information from Germany.

Public appeals from Operation Grange when officially set up alongside MM’s parents certainly acted as a catalyst as this cite will support.

The mobile phone data was an important part of the OG investigation as detailed again with the usual tabloid caveat is as follows

(a) the Home Office report of 2009 voiced concern about “a lack of analysis of mobile phone data”
(b) following on from that the Met Police review took place over a two year period
(c) this included a list of 600 persons of interest sent by the Portuguese police which OG whittled down to 38
(d) CB’s name was on that original Portuguese list
(e) 2013 saw the official launch of Operation Grange and accompanying publicity

A joint appeal from Operation Grange officers and MM’s parents in Germany led to the emergence of a witness who reported suspicions relating to CB and his time in Luz.

Christian Brueckner's name was passed to police SEVEN years ago

Brueckner's name was passed to police after e-fits were shown on German TV watched by millions on October 2013. It is claimed detectives failed to act on the information passed on by a viewer.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Not having a good day with cites, I forgot to add this to the above

Christian Brueckner's name was passed to police SEVEN years ago

Brueckner's name was passed to police after e-fits were shown on German TV watched by millions on October 2013. It is claimed detectives failed to act on the information passed on by a viewer.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Anxala]

Yes, I think we all see the Modus Operandi of CB. And think we all consider that CB has the criminological and psychological characteristics of a person who would commit MM's crime. What I want now is to see the proof he did it.

Exactly that.

No one on here is claiming that CB isn't capable of what HCW has accused him of: on the contrary, it seems to be the one uniting factor in this case, that we all see CB for what he is, a low-life, a grifter, a brutal rapist, a child abuser, someone best kept (and now thankfully) behind bars.

What he can't be, though, is seen and believed to be the answer to MM's disappearance and murder, based just on the above. And that seems to me to be pretty much at the root of HCW's claims.

I've followed MM's disappearance from the beginning. I balance what this investigation claims with what I know of the case, courtesy of the invaluable PJ files, in terms of how I view CB and his likely involvement. To this day, I struggle (and I have tried) to find a place for him on that evening. That's my informed position and HCW has seriously failed to change that position, despite his bullish 'talk the talk' claims over the past 3 years that CB is 100% the answer to this 16yr old question.

If/when he puts up, I'll certainly listen. Until then, he's given me no reason whatsoever during the course of the last 3 years to respect him, to give him the benefit of the doubt or believe that he'll ever walk the walk as far as CB/MM is concerned.

 

[G-Unit]

Exactly that.

No one on here is claiming that CB isn't capable of what HCW has accused him of: on the contrary, it seems to be the one uniting factor in this case, that we all see CB for what he is, a low-life, a grifter, a brutal rapist, a child abuser, someone thankfully and best kept behind bars.

What he can't be, though, is believed to be the answer to MM's disappearance and murder, based just on the above. And that seems to me to be pretty much at the root of HCW's claims.

I've followed MM's disappearance from the beginning. I balance what this investigation claims with what I know of the case, courtesy of the invaluable PJ files, in terms of how I view CB and his likely involvement. To this day, I struggle (and I have tried) to find a place for him on that evening. That's my position and HCW has seriously failed to change that position, despite his bullish 'talk the talk' claims over the past 3 years that CB is 100% the answer to this 16yr old question.

If/When he puts up, I'll certainly listen. Until then, I see no reason whatsoever to believe that he'll ever walk the walk as far as CB/MM is concerned.

You have stated the position exactly. The only way to believe HCW is right is to believe what he has said. His claim to have found MM's murderer was discredited in June 2020; despite previously saying he believes suspect Christian Bruckner killed her quickly, he said: “It was only personal opinion and speculation.”

Madeleine McCann could be alive admits German prosecutor who said she was dead

EXCLUSIVE: Hans Wolters has confirmed that there is no forensic evidence to show Maddie is dead, days after devastated Kate and Gerry McCann begged for proof

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[Malleux]

I don't have much difficulty trying to find a place for him that evening. He fits the profile perfectly IMO. Paedophile. Expert burglar. Forensically careful. Phone in the vicinity. Knowledge of the area. Links to the OC itself. History of breaking into apartments to commit sexual assault. Impulsive risk taker acting on perversions. Refuses to cooperate with the investigation. And of course, the one thing that seems to keep being glossed over - he's said to have admitted to being involved.

That last point is crucial and Helge's account shouldn't be ignored simply because he was also a criminal. As well as this alleged confession in 2008, there was said to be another confession in a bar in 2017. Then we have Das Buch, a book said to be written by CB documenting crimes he committed. We also know there are web transcripts between CB and other paedophiles that the BKA have. If CB was likely to talk to anyone about MM, you'd think it highly likely these are the people he would tell. And with the recent spate of darkweb busts in Germany, I do wonder if the Prosecutors have other evidence of CB admitting to the crime as well.

That IMO is the most plausible explanation for why HCW feels so confident in making such strong claims of CB's involvement - he's simply repeating what CB has himself said. Talking about the Cannan case earlier, that's another parallel. Cannan had on at least 2 occasions admitted to knowing what had happened to Lamplugh. Which is probably why the police felt protected in claiming his involvement.

Obviously the hurdle the Prosecutors have is proving these claims by CB are genuine and not just fantasies or BS. Clearly they do believe they are genuine though, based on what other corroborating evidence they've found thus far. JMO.

 

[Malleux]

You have stated the position exactly. The only way to believe HCW is right is to believe what he has said. His claim to have found MM's murderer was discredited in June 2020; despite previously saying he believes suspect Christian Bruckner killed her quickly, he said: “It was only personal opinion and speculation.”

Madeleine McCann could be alive admits German prosecutor who said she was dead

EXCLUSIVE: Hans Wolters has confirmed that there is no forensic evidence to show Maddie is dead, days after devastated Kate and Gerry McCann begged for proof

www.mirror.co.uk

I think you'll find HCW disputed saying this to the Mirror, he was quite annoyed about it. I'll see if I can find the article, it was in a German paper if I recall correctly.

 

[Malleux]

The British newspaper "Mirror" made a statement under the Braunschweig public prosecutor, Hans Christian Wolters, that he never made.

The British newspaper " Mirror " quoted him in an exclusive interview as saying that this statement was "personal opinion and speculation". So could Maddie still be alive? At the request of regionalHeute.de, Wolters stated that he had never made this statement.

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you where the 'Mirror' got its information from, but it's not from me," explains Wolters. Although he spoke to a reporter from the newspaper, he can assure you that he did not make such statements. We continue to have factual evidence that the accused killed Madeleine McCann. So that's not my private opinion, it's the result of the investigation so far,"

"Maddie" McCann doch nicht tot? Britische Zeitung feuert gegen Braunschweiger Ermittler

Die 2007 in Portugal entführte Madeleine "Maddie" McCann hält die Staatsanwaltschaft Braunschweig für tot. Die britische Zeitung "Mirror" schob dem Braunschweiger Staatsanwalt Hans Christian Wolters aber nun eine Aussage unter, die er nie getätigt habe.

regionalheute.de

 

[G-Unit]

I don't have much difficulty trying to find a place for him that evening. He fits the profile perfectly IMO. Paedophile. Expert burglar. Forensically careful. Phone in the vicinity. Knowledge of the area. Links to the OC itself. History of breaking into apartments to commit sexual assault. Impulsive risk taker acting on perversions. Refuses to cooperate with the investigation. And of course, the one thing that seems to keep being glossed over - he's said to have admitted to being involved.

That last point is crucial and Helge's account shouldn't be ignored simply because he was also a criminal. As well as this alleged confession in 2008, there was said to be another confession in a bar in 2017. Then we have Das Buch, a book said to be written by CB documenting crimes he committed. We also know there are web transcripts between CB and other paedophiles that the BKA have. If CB was likely to talk to anyone about MM, you'd think it highly likely these are the people he would tell. And with the recent spate of darkweb busts in Germany, I do wonder if the Prosecutors have other evidence of CB admitting to the crime as well.

That IMO is the most plausible explanation for why HCW feels so confident in making such strong claims of CB's involvement - he's simply repeating what CB has himself said. Talking about the Cannan case earlier, that's another parallel. Cannan had on at least 2 occasions admitted to knowing what had happened to Lamplugh. Which is probably why the police felt protected in claiming his involvement.

Obviously the hurdle the Prosecutors have is proving these claims by CB are genuine and not just fantasies or BS. Clearly they do believe they are genuine though, based on what other corroborating evidence they've found thus far. JMO.

It seems to me that your posts are telling us what you think, not what you know. Your thoughts may be correct, but you are no nearer to offering proof than HCW is.

 

[Lilly b]

Exactly that.

No one on here is claiming that CB isn't capable of what HCW has accused him of: on the contrary, it seems to be the one uniting factor in this case, that we all see CB for what he is, a low-life, a grifter, a brutal rapist, a child abuser, someone best kept (and now thankfully) behind bars.

What he can't be, though, is seen and believed to be the answer to MM's disappearance and murder, based just on the above. And that seems to me to be pretty much at the root of HCW's claims.

I've followed MM's disappearance from the beginning. I balance what this investigation claims with what I know of the case, courtesy of the invaluable PJ files, in terms of how I view CB and his likely involvement. To this day, I struggle (and I have tried) to find a place for him on that evening. That's my informed position and HCW has seriously failed to change that position, despite his bullish 'talk the talk' claims over the past 3 years that CB is 100% the answer to this 16yr old question.

If/when he puts up, I'll certainly listen. Until then, he's given me no reason whatsoever during the course of the last 3 years to respect him, to give him the benefit of the doubt or believe that he'll ever walk the walk as far as CB/MM is concerned.

Just regards the pj files, isn't there some censored or unpublished, due to them being about sex offenders etc etc ?

 

[G-Unit]

The British newspaper "Mirror" made a statement under the Braunschweig public prosecutor, Hans Christian Wolters, that he never made.

The British newspaper " Mirror " quoted him in an exclusive interview as saying that this statement was "personal opinion and speculation". So could Maddie still be alive? At the request of regionalHeute.de, Wolters stated that he had never made this statement.

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you where the 'Mirror' got its information from, but it's not from me," explains Wolters. Although he spoke to a reporter from the newspaper, he can assure you that he did not make such statements. We continue to have factual evidence that the accused killed Madeleine McCann. So that's not my private opinion, it's the result of the investigation so far,"

"Maddie" McCann doch nicht tot? Britische Zeitung feuert gegen Braunschweiger Ermittler

Die 2007 in Portugal entführte Madeleine "Maddie" McCann hält die Staatsanwaltschaft Braunschweig für tot. Die britische Zeitung "Mirror" schob dem Braunschweiger Staatsanwalt Hans Christian Wolters aber nun eine Aussage unter, die er nie getätigt habe.

regionalheute.de

So it's the word of Mirror journalist Patrick Hill against that of HC Wolters. I can't quite work out Hill's motive for lying. He's won awards for his interviews so why risk being refused when he wants another in future? It's not difficult to understand Wolter's reason for denying the story though.

 

[Malleux]

So it's the word of Mirror journalist Patrick Hill against that of HC Wolters. I can't quite work out Hill's motive for lying. He's won awards for his interviews so why risk being refused when he wants another in future? It's not difficult to understand Wolter's reason for denying the story though.

I would think it was more likely down to a misunderstanding, not anyone "lying" per se. That seems far more likely than HCW saying it and then denying he said it.

ETA: re-reading the Mirror article, I think HCW's objection is with the way they have spun the story. Which is also the way in which you appear to have interpreted it above. When referring to his "opinion" I think HCW was talking specifically about the fact he had previously said he "believed" MM was killed relatively quickly. Whereas the Mirror have kind of spun the story to make it sound like he was saying it was only his opinion that MM was dead (and in turn that CB was the killer).

 

[Mex]

Exactly that.

No one on here is claiming that CB isn't capable of what HCW has accused him of: on the contrary, it seems to be the one uniting factor in this case, that we all see CB for what he is, a low-life, a grifter, a brutal rapist, a child abuser, someone best kept (and now thankfully) behind bars.

What he can't be, though, is seen and believed to be the answer to MM's disappearance and murder, based just on the above. And that seems to me to be pretty much at the root of HCW's claims.

I've followed MM's disappearance from the beginning. I balance what this investigation claims with what I know of the case, courtesy of the invaluable PJ files, in terms of how I view CB and his likely involvement. To this day, I struggle (and I have tried) to find a place for him on that evening. That's my informed position and HCW has seriously failed to change that position, despite his bullish 'talk the talk' claims over the past 3 years that CB is 100% the answer to this 16yr old question.

If/when he puts up, I'll certainly listen. Until then, he's given me no reason whatsoever during the course of the last 3 years to respect him, to give him the benefit of the doubt or believe that he'll ever walk the walk as far as CB/MM is concerned.

I think it would be a struggle to place any individual unknown to the general public until 2020 anywhere at all on the evening MM disappeared.

If memory serves I believe that despite being mentioned in the files no-one had placed Dr T walking in the near vicinity carrying his sleeping daughter until it was mentioned by Operation Grange.

Even in retrospect it would be exceedingly difficult for anyone unconnected to the case to place CB anywhere as I don’t think he has an alibi.

 

[Janosch]

I had written a cite, but I cannot remember who said it: "Sometimes you have the feeling that you know what happened, but you are not in the position of being able to prove it to charge someone"

Do you?

I found it: it was @Dik79 here in websleuths citing HCW.

 

[RichardKimble]

I don't have much difficulty trying to find a place for him that evening. He fits the profile perfectly IMO. Paedophile. Expert burglar. Forensically careful. Phone in the vicinity. Knowledge of the area. Links to the OC itself. History of breaking into apartments to commit sexual assault. Impulsive risk taker acting on perversions. Refuses to cooperate with the investigation. And of course, the one thing that seems to keep being glossed over - he's said to have admitted to being involved.

That last point is crucial and Helge's account shouldn't be ignored simply because he was also a criminal. As well as this alleged confession in 2008, there was said to be another confession in a bar in 2017. Then we have Das Buch, a book said to be written by CB documenting crimes he committed. We also know there are web transcripts between CB and other paedophiles that the BKA have. If CB was likely to talk to anyone about MM, you'd think it highly likely these are the people he would tell. And with the recent spate of darkweb busts in Germany, I do wonder if the Prosecutors have other evidence of CB admitting to the crime as well.

That IMO is the most plausible explanation for why HCW feels so confident in making such strong claims of CB's involvement - he's simply repeating what CB has himself said. Talking about the Cannan case earlier, that's another parallel. Cannan had on at least 2 occasions admitted to knowing what had happened to Lamplugh. Which is probably why the police felt protected in claiming his involvement.

Obviously the hurdle the Prosecutors have is proving these claims by CB are genuine and not just fantasies or BS. Clearly they do believe they are genuine though, based on what other corroborating evidence they've found thus far. JMO.

A lot of good points but a lot of suppositions, but look at it from a defence point of view (no I have no background) breaking into apartments to commit sexual assaults, plural, only one he's in prison for at the moment the other posible one is up in the air.
Phone in the vicinity , he lived in the vicinity so why is that suspicious.
Links to OC, so did one of the locals questioned in 2014 , so that in itself is nothing out of the ordinary.
I've no doubt its entirely possible Cb is some one involved, but circumstantial does not add up to proof, BARD is the benchmark, plenty of it imo that why in effect its not moved on to charges since the appeal in 2020, Not forgetting the charges which for possibly now have been dropped , only came about because of the TV appeal in 2017, so the evidence its seems is there for those case's , not for Madeleine's.
Back to 5a, not one of the investigative forces have said they believe Madeleine was abducted from 5a, that has only ever come from Mitchell who in 2007 was forced to admit there was no damage to the shutters or windows, Quote "I'm not going into the detail, but I can say that Kate and Gerry are firmly of the view that somebody got into the apartment and took Madeleine out the window as their means of escape, and to do that they did not necessarily have to tamper with anything. They got out of the window fairly easily."unquote, thats it.

McCann family reverse story over break-in 'evidence'

The spokesman for the family of Madeleine McCann has reversed a statement made in the early days of the search for the missing child.

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

 

[RichardKimble]

I think it would be a struggle to place any individual unknown to the general public until 2020 anywhere at all on the evening MM disappeared.

If memory serves I believe that despite being mentioned in the files no-one had placed Dr T walking in the near vicinity carrying his sleeping daughter until it was mentioned by Operation Grange.

Even in retrospect it would be exceedingly difficult for anyone unconnected to the case to place CB anywhere as I don’t think he has an alibi.

OG never identified who Tanner saw .

He was interviewed by the Guarda Nacional Republicana soon after Maddie, three, vanished in May 2007, but his wife Rachel said: “My husband had told the local police it could be him but we didn’t hear anything for years.

Why did Madeleine McCann cops waste years investigating GP sighting?

COPS spent four years trying to identify a man seen carrying a child on the night Madeleine McCann disappeared — despite a GP saying it was probably him. Julian Totman walked near the McCanns’ apar…

www.thesun.co.uk

 

[RichardKimble]

I had written a cite, but I cannot remember who said it: "Sometimes you have the feeling that you know what happened, but you are not in the position of being able to prove it to charge someone"

Do you?

I found it: it was @Dik79 here in websleuths citing HCW.

I see its referenced to JC's book.

 

[mrjitty]

It's worth remembering a couple of points about how courts handle "MO" and 'similar fact' evidence

Germany has different rules of evidence as it doesn't use juries, but we can still make analogies. As a general rule, similar fact evidence is not admissible in common law countries. Ditto 'propensity' reasoning is not allowed i.e. he is the kind of person who would do a murder. You have to offer evidence that directly proves facts at issue - not generic profiles or character types.

So what is allowed?

In England, the rapes on video would likely be allowed as evidence in the HB case, due to uniquely similar modes (whipping, style of dress etc). i don't think they offer MO evidence in the MM case as we have no evidence as to the MO in the MM case. In fact the MO appears different. (short time frame vs extended attacks).

if it could be proven CB did burglaries at the OC that might well be relevant.

But again one of the problems in this case is things we think we know are either

1. Not from the prosecutor but 'reporting' from journalists of unknown quality

2. Hearsay evidence recounted to above journalists

For instance the supposed SIM card from OC 4 would be a huge piece of evidence if it actually exists.

Ditto 'Das Buch' - posters place importance on it, but does it exist?

 

[mrjitty]

I had written a cite, but I cannot remember who said it: "Sometimes you have the feeling that you know what happened, but you are not in the position of being able to prove it to charge someone"

Do you?

I found it: it was @Dik79 here in websleuths citing HCW.

Looking back at the post, makes me wonder yet again if this is mostly a human intel case, where they expected to find the body or other physical evidence once they located the right suspect. What else could they really be working on for 3 years?

The HB case makes much more sense to me as it was a brand new prosecution on a cold case so to take 2 years to get to charges seems about right.

 

[Janosch]

New in my blog: Did CB commit a burglary 55 metres from 5A three months before Madeleine's abduction?
In his excellent book "My search for Madeleine", Jon Clarke reported that one of the SIM cards found in 2016 in CB's factory at Neuwegersleben, Germany, belonged to "a British man whose holiday apartment in Praia da Luz had been robbed around the time that Maddie was missing".

I think he is referring to the burglary of "Casa María" in February 2007, some three months before Madeleine's abduction.

"Casa María", that also could be called "4A".

Maybe in Neuwegersleben's factory BKA/HCW found a lot of things that belonged to people from 5L and other apartments in Block 5 and surroundings? It would be evidence that CB was burglaring a limited zone in a limited time span. Maybe 5A was in the middle of that zone?