Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MADDIE COPS PROBE SALIVA IN HOLS FLAT
Germans want to compare sample with suspect DNA
GERMAN investigators want to retest a mystery saliva sample found in the holiday apartment that Madeleine Mccann vanished from.
The evidence was found on the youngster’s bed after she went missing.
Portuguese scientists were unable to extract a full DNA profile from the sample and its origins are still unknown.
German authorities now want to carry out their own test on the “potentially vital evidence” in the hope a profile can be found. If successful, forensic experts would then compare it with the DNA of German suspect, convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner, 43.
Portuguese media reported that German authorities have asked for all evidence to be given to them so Brueckner can be tried in his homeland.
Prosecutors in Lisbon previously turned down a request by Scotland Yard to retest samples in 2012 and could refuse the German authorities too.
More than 600 samples, including hair and saliva, were taken from the Mccanns’ apartment in Praia da Luz when Madeline went missing, aged three, in 2007.
They remain in a lab in the city of Coimbra where they were initially tested, but is unknown if Brueckner’s DNA has been crosschecked against all the evidence. One saliva sample found on Madeleine’s bedspread was ruled out because it belonged to a boy who had stayed earlier.
Sources say it is a second saliva sample, reportedly found on Madeleine’s pillow, that German authorities want to test. They hope scientific advances since 2007 could result in a full DNA profile being obtained. Former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley said: “DNA science has galloped on a long way since Madeleine went missing.
“There are far more complex tests that can be applied now couldn’t have been done back in the day.”
But the German request to carry out fresh DNA tests has sparked a row with Portuguese authorities. A source close to Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria said: “This is a total waste of time. They now want to do it in their labs, as if ours aren’t good enough.” Mr Bleksley said the dispute “is descending into a very undignified bun fight”. A Portuguese paper yesterday described the situation as “an impasse”.
It said searches of areas in the Algarve linked to Brueckner will only take place if the Germans indicate specific spots.
Last week, Duarte Nuno Viera, former head of Portugal’s National Forensic Medicine Institute said of the samples: “They are kept in optimum conditions. It’s still possible today to repeat tests.”
Portuguese state prosecutors said last week they had received four requests for international judicial co-operation relating to the case. They did not reveal the date of the requests or the country that made them. German authorities suspect that Brueckner, who is currently in prison in Germany for rape, killed Madeleine.