Maddie suspect in letter to German woman: “I’ve never done anything wrong… Well, almost never” | Abroad

The letter was sent to a German woman, but the British newspaper said it was able to read the contents. “Welcome to the greatest adventure imaginable. I am the most famous villain in the world and yet I have never done anything wrong. Well, almost never,” writes Brückner.

“I have never kidnapped, let alone killed anyone. What’s more: I haven’t attacked anyone since I was eighteen. In my youth I made some stupid mistakes, but who doesn’t?”

Why then did the Portuguese police declare him the prime suspect? “Maybe because of my past. I’ve been dealing drugs and breaking into houses. I lived in cars and also did something wrong with children when I was 17 years old. But they still have no proof that I’m involved in the Maddie case. And do you know why? The detectives don’t have a hair sample or anything from Maddie. So they can’t set me up either.”

According to Brückner, the German authorities are leaking fabrications to put him in a bad light. “The public prosecutor wants to be world famous. And the German police like to show that they are a very clever organization. I know that five lawsuits have been opened against me for rape and abuse. They manipulated the truth in such an unprofessional way that it makes me laugh. Luckily I haven’t lost my sense of humor. That’s the only thing that keeps me going.”

Brückner had also recently sent a letter to the ‘Daily Mail’ himself. In it he complained about the way he was treated in prison. He would also say that he had not yet been thoroughly questioned about the Maddie case at that time. “In the meantime, the German Ministry of Justice is feeding the media with information that should put me in a bad light.”

Last Thursday, Brückner was questioned, a day after he was officially charged by the Portuguese public prosecutor. “Where were you on the night of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance? If you weren’t near her apartment, where were you?” According to sources, Brückner would have kept his lips tight.

Maddie’s parents reacted with relief to the news that the German had been declared an ‘arguido’ (the Portuguese term for an official suspect who has not yet been charged). “The odds are slim, but we haven’t given up hope that Madeleine is alive and we’ll be reunited with her.”

Madeleine McCann – better known as Maddie – disappeared on May 3, 2007 in Praia da Luz, a seaside town in southern Portugal. There she was on vacation with her parents and a group of friends. Her disappearance sparked a massive international campaign. Photos of the toddler, with her light brown hair and big eyes, went around the world.

The German authorities have been claiming for several years that they have evidence for Maddie’s murder. The decision to officially designate Brückner as a suspect may have to do with the fact that a 15-year statute of limitations applies in Portugal.