A former friend of Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the ongoing Madeleine McCann case, has claimed that he revealed crucial information to Scotland Yard in 2008 but was ignored.
In his first public interview, Helge Busching claimed that the jailed paedophile had told him “She didn’t scream” during a conversation about the missing three-year-old.
He told German outlet Bild that he had contacted the special hotline to report Brueckner’s comments but failed to receive a response. After leaving prison in 2017 and hearing about the 10th anniversary of her disappearance, he made a second call.
Brueckner, who is currently serving a prison sentence for raping a pensioner, was named as a prime suspect in 2020.
Last month, a reservoir in Portugal was searched by police after sources claimed that Brueckner had described it as a “little slice of paradise” while living near the Praia de Luz resort.
Scotland Yard has been contacted for comment.
Key Points
- Detectives analyse soil from suspect’s camper van
- Kate and Gerry forced to wait ‘weeks’ for reservoir search results
- ‘The world believes I killed Maddie, I didn’t’
- ‘Relevant clue’ found in search of reservoir
- How the search was completed
- Key suspect Christian Brueckner visited reservoir ‘days after disappearance’
- Portugal police give update as search of reservoir closes to an end
Suspect’s friend in explosive interview
A key witness who alerted authorities to Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner has claimed that he let slip that she “didn’t scream” when she was kidnapped.
In his first public interview, Helge Busching explained that his former acquaintance appeared to incriminate himself in the disappearance of the three-year-old girl.
Helge said that he learned of Brueckner’s true nature before the disappearance of McCann after he stole some videotapes and a gun from his house.
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Madeleine McCann suspect ‘said she didn’t scream’ when kidnapped, friend claims
Brueckner ‘had videotapes of sexual abuse at his home’
Busching also claimed that he realised Brueckner’s true nature before Madeleine’s disappearance after stealing some videotapes and a gun from his house.
The clips purportedly showed Brueckner sexually abusing a teenage girl and an elderly woman in Portugal.
After a victim protested, he allegedly responded: “Shut up”.
“That’s when I knew what kind of guy Brueckner was,” Busching said.
Brueckner is currently imprisoned in Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old American pensioner in the Algarve region; he is scheduled for release in 2025.
He has a number of previous convictions for child sexual abuse and drug trafficking.
Suspect friend claims ‘she didn’t scream’ when kidnapped
In an interview with German outlet Bild, a key witness in alerting the authorities to Christian Brueckner claimed that the prime suspect let slip that she “didn’t scream” when kidnapped.
Helge Busching said that he had been acquainted with Brueckner while they were both carrying out petty crime in the Algarve resort area of Portugal.
He crossed paths with the jailed paedophile again in 2008 at a music festival in Spain, which is where he made the alleged comment about the missing three-year-old.
“He asked me, ‘don’t you go to Portugal anymore and do business there?’, Helge said.
“I said, ‘no, since the girl disappeared there, there have been too many police checks for me and I don’t need that at all.’
“[The topic of Madeleine’s disappearance] came up and I said: ‘Anyway, I don’t understand how the little one could have disappeared without a trace.’
“Christian had drunk two or three beers, and he said: ‘She didn’t scream.’
“I thought: He knows that. He has something to do with it. But he also checked that I understood that and then left at night.
“At 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning he left a packed festival with his mobile home. I looked for him the next morning, but his neighbours said he had left.”
