A German national under investigation for the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann has been released from prison after serving time for an unrelated crime. The individual, identified by media outlets as Christian Brückner, had been serving a seven-year sentence for the 2019 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal.
The release took place on Wednesday morning at Sehnde, near Hannover, Germany, where police confirmed that Brückner left the facility. His release comes amid a long-standing investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, who was last seen on May 3, 2007, at an apartment complex in Praia da Luz, Portugal. German prosecutors announced in June 2020 that Brückner was being investigated on suspicion of murder in her case, with authorities stating they presumed the girl was dead.
Following the announcement, police conducted additional searches in Portugal related to the McCann case. Despite being a suspect, Brückner has consistently denied any involvement in the child’s disappearance and has not been formally charged in connection with the investigation. The ongoing inquiry, involving law enforcement agencies in the U.K., Portugal, and Germany, remains unaffected by his release.
Brückner's lawyer, Friedrich Fülscher, emphasized that if there was adequate evidence, charges would have already been brought forth against his client. Brückner, now 48 years old, spent several years living in Portugal, particularly in the Algarve region, around the same period when McCann disappeared. Investigators are still working to determine the events surrounding the night of May 3, 2007, when McCann vanished from the same room where her siblings, 2-year-old twins, were also present, while their parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, dined with friends nearby.
In a separate matter, Brückner faced trial last year on multiple sexual offenses he allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017 but was acquitted in October 2022. The presiding judge stated that the evidence was insufficient for a conviction, highlighting that numerous witnesses were unreliable and some had been influenced by media coverage regarding Brückner.
Upon his release, the state court in Hildesheim did not disclose whether Brückner would be subjected to specific conditions. However, Fülscher confirmed that Brückner would be required to wear an electronic ankle monitor, report regularly to probation services, and surrender his passport. This decision was first reported by the German weekly Der Spiegel.
Moreover, Brückner is scheduled to appear in court on October 27, 2023, in Oldenburg, Germany, regarding a case involving accusations of insulting a prison employee. Although a district court in the city sentenced him to six weeks of imprisonment for the offense, Brückner's defense has filed an appeal against this judgment.
