MADDIE SUSPECT WINKS AS VILE SEX CHARGES READ OUT
Court told he exposed himself to 2 young girls He is accused of three savage rape nightmares
it open”. Ms Lindemann continued: “He was dressed entirely in black, wearing leather gloves and a full face mask. He held a 30cm knife in his left hand, knelt over his sleeping victim and called her name, which woke her.
“While she was panicking he told her in a serious but calm tone that she must not scream.”
The court heard Brueckner then raped her twice and whispered “You’re scared, aren’t you?”
Ms Lindemann said: “She was in fear of death because she feared he would cut off her head with the knife.”
The prosecutor then moved on to the indecent exposure allegations. She told how Brueckner “lay in wait” naked behind a rock for his 10-yearold victim on Salema beach, eight miles from his home, in April 2007.
He asked the girl her name in English and grabbed her by the wrist before saying “look here” while touching himself.
Ms Lindermann said the final crime took place in 2017 in a playground in Sao Bartolomeu de Messines, a 45-minute drive from Praia da Luz.
Brueckner committed a sex act in full view of an 11-year-old local girl who ran to her father for help.
The trial is being held on 29 separate days over four months and will hear from more than 40 witnesses.
Brueckner was charged with the offences in October 2022 but the case was delayed following a legal row over jurisdiction. It was due to start last week but adjourned at the last minute. During yesterday’s hearing Brueckner’s legal defence team requested a new witness be heard.
They said they had been contacted by a former German federal police officer who claimed she had been involved in tapping his telephone.
She reportedly said two other officers in the Federal Criminal Police Office told her “they had a personal score to settle” with Brueckner and were “planning to do something about it”.
Madeleine disappeared from her parents’ holiday apartment in May 2007 while Kate and Gerry
Mccann, from Rothley, Leics, ate with friends in a nearby tapas restaurant.
The couple have refused to give up hope that their daughter will one day be found alive.
Brueckner, named as a suspect in 2020, denies any involvement.
The German, who is not expected to give evidence, is serving a sevenyear prison term for rape and drug trafficking. There are no formal pleas in the German legal system and defendants are not obliged to respond to the charges.
The trial resumes next Friday.