Prime suspect in Madeleine McCann case released from German prison

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Christian Brueckner, the convicted rapist identified by German prosecutors as the prime suspect in the 2007 disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann in Portugal, was released from prison in northern Germany on Wednesday after serving his sentence in an unrelated rape case.

Shortly after 9 a.m. local time, Brueckner was driven out of the Sehnde prison in a black Audi, accompanied by his lawyer and a police escort. Police confirmed that he had left the facility but said they did not know where he was going.

Brueckner, 48, just completed a seven-year prison sentence for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal. Upon his release, he was fitted with an electronic ankle tag, a condition imposed to enable authorities to monitor his movements. His lawyers have declined to say where he will live.

German prosecutors have said they believe Brueckner is responsible for McCann's disappearance from her family's vacation rental home in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, citing evidence including cell phone data that placed him near the resort at the time. McCann was three years old at the time.

Brueckner, who lived for years in Portugal's southern Algarve region, where Praia da Luz is located, has multiple prior convictions for sexual offenses, including against children, and a long record of petty crimes. Despite the circumstantial evidence, however, he has never been charged in relation to the McCann case and has always denied any involvement in her disappearance.

To many observers, the case has highlighted significant differences between the legal systems in Germany and the U.K.

Mark Stephens, a consultant at the British legal firm Howard Kennedy, told CBS News the legal thresholds differ between the countries.

"In the U.K. and the U.S., you need to believe there's better than a 50% chance of a successful prosecution before charges are brought. Circumstantial evidence can be used. The law recognizes that you won't always have key evidence. In a rape case, for example, you need some kind of corroboration, some supporting evidence. But in a murder case, that's the exception — you don't need that. So, you could prosecute if you thought the circumstantial evidence was sufficient."

In Germany, however, he said the legal system sets a much higher threshold for prosecution.

"The prosecutors' statement says they haven't gathered enough direct evidence to charge him," said Stephens. "That's because under German rules, circumstantial and inferential evidence isn't admissible in the same way."

Madeleine's disappearance remains one of the most high-profile unsolved cases in the world, and even after his release, Brueckner will likely remain at the center of the inquiry, as he's been since German prosecutors publicly identified him as a suspect in 2020.

British Investigators had hoped to question Brueckner just days before his release in Germany, to clarify key details about his movements in Praia da Luz around the time that McCann vanished. The London Metropolitan Police submitted a formal request for an interview with him, but Brueckner declined to speak with the investigators earlier this week.

Anna Noryskiewicz

Anna Noryskiewicz is a CBS News journalist based in Berlin, Germany, who covers politics, conflict and crime in Europe and beyond. Anna worked previously for a range of global outlets including BBC News, NPR and Al Jazeera. She speaks five languages, including Mandarin, German, Polish and Russian.

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