I thought I’d die, says pensioner rape victim of Madeleine suspect
THE American pensioner raped by the Madeleine McCann suspect told how she feared for her life.
In a chilling account of her sickening ordeal she revealed how German paedophile Christian Brueckner bound, gagged and tortured her during a 15-minute ordeal which he recorded.
The 72-year-old widow who had retired in Portugal’s Algarve, was beaten with a razor-sharp sword after the pervert broke into her villa in Praia da Luz in 2005 – two year’s before Madeleine vanished.
Detailing the assault to an FBI agent, the woman said: “I was grabbed by a very strong and tall man by the neck in the dark and pulled up the stairs into the bedroom. I remember thinking, ‘I hope he won’t kill me’.
“He said he was careful not to hurt me, which made me a little calmer, as I had previously been afraid that he would kill me after I initially saw the knife. I had feared for my life.”
The pensioner was so badly beaten, bruised and traumatised that she gave up her home and fled to America.
Brueckner evaded justice for 12 years before he was finally snared by DNA evidence taken from a hair at the scene. He was arrested in Milan and extradited to Germany where he is serving a seven-year sentence.