Maddie parents demand German evidence
A GERMAN prosecutor who suggested Madeleine Mccann is dead has backtracked in an astonishing interview with the Sunday Mirror.
Hans Wolters conceded the girl, who vanished in 2007, may be alive.
He said there was no forensic evidence to prove her death and suggested there was “a little bit of hope” she might yet be found.
Mr Wolters said the case against prime suspect Christian Brueckner is “90 per cent” there – and he considers him as “the only suspect”.
He says they have “strong” evidence but not enough to charge him. And they have not yet spoken to Brueckner, who is in jail for drug offences.
The Germans’ handling of the case was slammed as cruel by the Mccann family’s lawyer in Portugal.
And both he and the Mccanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the family now just want answers.
Mr Wolters previously said he believed Madeleine was killed quickly and Brueckner “had done the deed”.
FACTS
But he told the Sunday Mirror: “It was only a personal opinion and speculation. I have no facts for this”.
Madeleine vanished from Praia da Luz in May 2007, days before her fourth birthday. She was on holiday with parents Kate and Gerry and twins Sean and Amelie, then two.
Clarence Mitchell said last night: “The Mccanns have only ever wanted to know what has happened to their daughter and they need to establish the facts as known by the police.
“Without that knowledge they will never find peace and they are still relying on the police utterly to establish the facts accurately around this particular lead. Whatever the outcome they need to know.”
A friend of the Mccanns slammed German prosecutors, saying: “They said they’re treating it as a murder investigation and off we go. They shouldn’t say that unless they were damn sure.”
Mr Wolters conceded his theory about Madeleine was based on previous cases involving missing children and paedophiles.
A prosecutor of 17 years, he said: “Because there is no forensic evidence there may be a little bit of hope [that she is alive]. “We don’t want to kill the hope and because there is no forensic evidence it may be theoretically possible. I know it’s important for the British people when I say she is dead, but I did not know it was so important. But I know in Germany it’s more normal that we investigate a murder in such a case, so it’s not so important. It’s more normal.” Asked about saying Madeleine was quickly killed, he admitted: “This was only a personal statement. I have no facts for this. That was only my private opinion and speculation. It was only a personal... without facts. I don’t know everything.
“I said, ‘I believe because of other cases where children were kidnapped, they made a sexual crime and then they killed’.
HUMANITY
“That it is what happened in other cases and I believe this is a typical case, but there are no facts for this. It is only my private view.”
The Mccanns’ Portuguese lawyer Rogerio Alves branded the German authorities “cruel” for refusing to say what evidence they have to suggest Madeleine is dead. He insisted the couple, of Rothley, Leics, have a right to know what evidence German police may have. He said: “They need to know what’s going on. It’s a question of legality but also humanity. Of course they want to know. It’s cruel.
“For the family it was a shock that the prosecutor said so strongly she is dead. He shouldn’t say it without demonstrating why he’s saying that.
“This is a public crime, a notorious crime, but they remain the father and the mother. They more than anyone have the right to know what happened with priority, especially when we are arguing that their daughter is dead.”
Mr Alves also urged police to stop squabbling after Mr Wolters accused his Portuguese counterparts of being
slow to provide information. Mr Alves said: “This is not the Champions League between police departments.”
The German authorities already faced criticism after it emerged bungling police tipped off Brueckner, 43, that he was being looked at in relation to the case seven years ago.
They wrote to the convicted child sex offender asking if he could attend an interview – giving him the chance to dispose of any potential evidence.
Our interview with Mr Wolters was at his office in Braunschweig, northern Germany – where Brueckner used to run a kiosk from 2014-16.
Last week we told how local schoolkids said he had treated them to toys and sweets for two years. Mr Wolters
admitted German cops haven’t interviewed Brueckner.
He is eligible for parole on the drug offences but Mr Wolters said he was certain it would be blocked. Brueckner is also appealing against a seven-year term for raping an American woman of 72 in Praia da Luz in 2005 – 18 months before Madeleine vanished.
CONTACT
Mr Wolters said: “Since we have this case here in Braunschweig since 2018, there was no contact from German police or prosecutor to our suspect.
“He can talk to us any time he wants to. We don’t try to speak with him because it’s not the right time. We don’t believe he will say he did it, so if
we want to speak with him we have to tell him all our evidences.
“There is a possibility that he will try to speak to our witnesses and say to them, ‘tell the police it is not true’.
“We think we have 90 per cent evidence. If he knows our evidence he can try to change this.”
Mr Wolters wants to hear from anyone who recognises a dark Jaguar XJ6 and a yellow and white T3 Westfalia VW camper van used by Brueckner during his time in Portugal.
He added: “It’s important that we will solve the case, that we can charge our suspect and he gets the appropriate sentence. He has been the only suspect since the beginning.”