'The world believes I killed Maddie...I didn't': Madeleine McCann prime suspect letters from prison cell revealed
27 May 2023, 13:53 | Updated: 27 May 2023, 13:55
Letters from the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case have been revealed for the first time, showing that the convicted sex offender has been trying to plead his innocence.
Christian Brueckner, 45, is hoping to convince authorities and the public that he is innocent, despite police singling him out as the prime suspect in Maddie's disappearance.
One letter was written by Brueckner days before Portuguese police started searching a remote reservoir near where the little girl went missing in 2007.
In the letter obtained by MailOnline, Brueckner wrote: "You can never imagine how it is when the whole world believes you are a child murderer, and you are not."
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Brueckner also said he believes that police and prosecutors are "attempting to create a monster" to "divert and let people think that I am the right one", denying that he played a role in Madeleine's disappearance.
The revelations come just days after a 'clue' was found during a three-day search at the remote reservoir in Algarve, which Brueckner previously described as a "little paradise".
Soil and other items are being sent for forensic tests in Germany after a three-day joint operation with Portuguese authorities.
The investigation centred on a promontory at the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from the holiday resort of Praia da Luz, from which Madeleine vanished days before her fourth birthday in May 2007.
Read More: Madeleine McCann detectives hunting a camera which could contain images of her and two other victims
Read More: ‘Clue found’ in Madeleine McCann case during three-day search at Algarve reservoir
Police searched a picnic spot in an area of remote woodland.
Debris and soil were removed from the site and eight holes around 2ft deep were drilled, suggesting officers were looking for buried items or soil samples.
According to the Correio da Manga newspaper, a ‘relevant clue’ was found.
The Portuguese Polícia Judiciária said: “The steps requested by the German authorities have been carried out . . . which resulted in the collection of some material which will be subject to the competent expertise.”
Police said the three-day search had "resulted in the collection of some material", and would "be handed over to the German authorities".
German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has consistently said he is convinced Madeleine is dead and caged paedophile Brueckner, 45, has been named as the sole suspect.
He is currently serving time for the September 2005 rape of an American OPA in the resort where Madeleine vanished and has yet to face any formal accusation over the youngster’s disappearance.
Last April he was made an official suspect, or arguido, in Portugal over Madeleine’s disappearance, although his defence lawyer Friedrich Fulscher labelled it a “procedural trick” linked to statute of limitations legislation at the time.
Last autumn Bruecker was charged in Germany with several sex crimes on the Algarve against women and children including the rape of an Irish holiday rep in 2004 and the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl on a beach near Praia da Luz in 2007.
