Portugal reopens the case of Irish woman who believes Maddie suspect raped her
But potential DNA evidence was previously destroyed
PORTUGUESE police have reopened their investigation into the rape of Irish woman Hazel Behan in the country 16 years ago.
Ms Behan believes her attacker may have been drifter Christian Brueckner, the main suspect in the disappearance of Madelaine McCann.
The 27-year-old waived her right to anonymity last month to say the masked man who targeted her in her Algarve apartment in 2004 could have been the German sex offender suspected of abducting the British toddler.
She spoke out for the first time about her horror 2004 attack after discovering Brueckner was convicted last year of the 2005 rape of an American pensioner in Praia da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared in May 2007.
It was the similarities between that attack and her own rape that piqued Ms Behan’s attention.
Portuguese detectives collected archived files earlier this week in order to reopen the case. However, potential DNA evidence was previously destroyed.
Case files state that Ms Behan described the rapist as an English speaker who could be ‘German, Belgian or Dutch’.
Ms Behan’s underwear was among clothes passed to experts for lab analysis, along with a broken nail. Documents make it clear the biological material was obtained, but no DNA profile comparisons could be made because no suspects were identified.
Confirming the destruction of the potential evidence, the authorities said: ‘On March 15, 2007, when the judge decides to archive the investigation, the Public Ministry decide [sic] any biological material should be destroyed.
‘As they are in a bad condition, it is improbable that if this reinvestigation was reopened the material could be subjected to counter-proof analysis.’
In April 2004, Ms Behan, then aged 20, was working as a holiday rep in Praia da Rocha on the Algarve. She later revealed details of the attack in which a masked man climbed over the balcony to her apartment in the early hours of the morning. Recalling the ordeal, she said: ‘I had gone to bed around 1am, and was awoken by someone calling my name.
‘I turned on to my back and standing there was a masked man dressed in tights and what resembled a leotard, a machete around 12 inches long in his hand.’
The man had removed his shoes at the door and set up a video camera in the room. He took out a bag full of whips and chains before cutting her clothes from her body and gagging her.
‘It seemed to me he had worked everything out, he had a plan and was very deliberate,’ Ms Behan said. ‘He consistently cleaned his hands, and repeatedly changed condoms. This went on, I guess, for around four or five hours.
‘He got angry and ordered me into the bathroom and he picked up the machete.
‘I was convinced he was going to kill me and I threatened to scream and said I would not go in there.
‘My hands were still tied behind my back and he leaned me over a small bench and put a sheet over my head. I thought that was it, my life was over. But underneath the sheet I watched as he backed out of the door, put on his shoes and ran away down the street.’
Once her attacker left, she ran down the corridor to find help and shortly after, around 30 policemen and officials came to investigate. She was brought to the local hospital where she was examined, but she does not know if forensic evidence was taken.
Ms Behan added that she is ‘not very confident’ police examined her room correctly either.
She said she had ‘little hope’ over the past 16 years that detectives would find her assailant.
Ms Behan has given a statement to the London Met police, who told her they were taking her case seriously and would be contacting Portuguese police. Brueckner, who is being investigated over the disappearance of Madeleine. is currently serving time in a German prison for drug offences.
Last year Ms Behan – an advocate for domestic and sexual abuse sufferers – was selected as Sinn Féin’s candidate for the Kinnegad area in Co. Westmeath in the May local elections.
Set up a camera to film sex attack
‘I was convinced he’d kill me’