The key witness who led to the naming of Christian Brueckner as the prime suspect in the disappearance of 3-year-old Madeleine McCann could now face allegations of perjury.
Helge Büsching claimed that Brueckner confessed to kidnapping the little girl from a resort in Portugal back in 2007, the New Zealand Herald reported. Büsching claimed that Brueckner said it was “odd that she didn’t scream,” while the two discussed the girl’s disappearance.
In 2020, Büsching was asked what he thought of Brueckner, responding: “One word. Guilty.” At that time, Büsching also told investigators that he had stolen videotapes from Brueckner that allegedly showed numerous crimes. Even though the tapes have never been found, Büsching’s claim about these tapes led to Bruekner being jailed for seven years for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting two women.
Büsching claimed the tapes had been left in a caravan, but in January 2023, he changed his story and claimed they were not left in a caravan, but on a rural property where he used to live with another witness.
The change in statements, however, has led to Brueckner’s attorney, Friedrich Fülscher, attacking Büsching’s credibility. The allegations from Fülscher could lead to a perjury charge for Büsching.
“As a witness, this man is completely unbelievable,” Fülscher said, according to the Herald.
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Fülscher is seeking to suspend Brueckner’s rape sentence and request a retrial.
German prosecutor Hans-Christian Wolters, who is handling the case against Brueckner for the disappearance of McCann, must now weigh Büsching’s credibility.
Madeleine McCann was 3 years old when she disappeared from her bed in an apartment her family rented while on vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. She would be 20 years old today.
The McCann family — parents Gerry and Kate along with Madeleine and her twin siblings, who were 2 years old – was on vacation with seven friends, now known as the Tapas Seven, along with their children.
On the morning of May 3, 2007, the children played at the resort’s Kids’ Club before joining their parents at the pool, after which they returned to the Kids’ Club until Kate took them back to their apartment. Kate and Gerry put their children to bed before joining their friends at the resort’s tapas restaurant, located across the pool from the apartments where they were all staying.
The adults took turns checking on the children, with Kate completing her own check on the children around 10 p.m. and found her daughter missing. She quickly searched the apartment before running back to the restaurant screaming, “Madeleine’s gone! Someone’s taken her!”
By 10:10, a member of the Tapas Seven told the resort’s reception desk to call the police, and by 10:30, the resort began its missing child search protocol, which involved 60 staff members and guests searching the premises until 4:30 in the morning.
Madeleine has never been found.
The most significant break in the case came in 2020, when police named Brueckner as a suspect.
Jim Gamble, a former British police officer who in 2010 led an official review of McCann’s disappearance, said in April 2022 that phone data put Brueckner near the scene of the crime within a 30-minute timeframe. Brueckner had also allegedly stolen from vacation homes in the area, with children’s clothing reportedly found in his vehicle.
Brueckner, however, denies any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.