Madeleine McCann Case: Three-Way Warring Justice Systems

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The following comments were posted on Gerry and Kate McCann’s website:

“The widely reported news that we have a received a letter from the German authorities that states there is evidence or proof that Madeleine is dead is FALSE.” 

There’s a difference between sending a letter and receiving a letter. They don’t happen simultaneously. It can take a week or longer to receive a letter from Germany.

The German police are convinced Christian Brueckner killed Madeleine McCann and they says they have “concrete evidence, not mere indications” she is dead:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8431391/German-police-want-retest-mystery-saliva-McCanns-Praia-Luz-apartment.html

They are not the Keystone Cops as some people to seem to think. They wouldn’t say they have “concrete evidence” Madeleine is dead unless it was true. They haven’t shared this information yet because they don’t want to jeopardise their investigation.

I believe the German police do have real evidence Madeleine is dead. Word is that the van Christian B used had several young girls’ swimsuits in it, and that he bragged to a friend that he transported drugs in the van well hidden.

He also claimed to the friend that the van had a hidden compartment where he could conceal CHILDREN from searchers.

Not in his van but somewhere dug in a hole with his computer police found computer sticks with 8000 images of child porn on them. Horrible, horrible.

No doubt the McCanns knew years ago that their daughter was dead, they’re too smart to be unaware of the statistics. The letter to them from German police saying the child is dead, when the letter finally arrives, may actually set their minds at ease and remove all doubt, remove the last shred of cruelly false hope.

I wish Portugal and German police could cooperate fully without fear of comparison, especially with the saliva on Maddie’s blanket that the Portuguese tested for DNA. A request for further tests on it have been rejected as German arrogance. But perhaps new tests have become more sensitive since thirteen years ago??

Hi Machine and Hopeful

” They haven’t shared this information yet because they don’t want to jeopardise their investigation…. “

Sharing evidence confidentially with their Portuguese counterparts would do that? Unusual. And these points stand out to me in the latest of the UK reports:

1. Hans Christian Wolters is a prosecutor, and not a police investigator.

2. He has originated more than a tad of self-serving innuendo in the media for no very obvious reason.

3. He has the McCanns ticked off, at least for the moment, not least in telling them the drift of his letter (that Madeleine is dead) via the media.

4. He has ridiculed the Portuguese investigation publicly for no very obvious reason.

5. He won’t share anything he has up his sleeve with the Portuguese; and yet he wants something seemingly vital from them. 

6. The proposed saliva test is the same one as the Portuguese have already done - seemingly several times, possibly as recently as 2017.

7. In one report Wolters said he did not even know of the request for a new saliva test, which may have come directly from the German police, thus bypassing Wolters.

“They are not the Keystone Cops as some people to seem to think.” You are talking real cops or the prosecutor here? Consider this comparison. 

In the early days of Meredith’s case (1) the prosecutor never took his case to the media, (2) the police did the investigating, very extensively and rather quietly, and (3) the several supervising courts did most of the talking, and that was pretty limited.

An elected American prosecutor might have grandstanded as I think Wolters is doing, but would a British crown prosecutor?

***

Okay this explains the missing letters, two of them. They weren’t sent to the McCann address.

https://tinyurl.com/ya29ukur (good timeline)

https://tinyurl.com/y9x27b3w (Nick Pisa)

Scotland Yard were also critical of the Portuguese investigation for a number of reasons. The Portuguese police didn’t treat Madeleine’s disappearance as a crime until the next day - which meant the golden hour was wasted.

The golden hour is the term used for the time period immediately after an offence has been committed. It’s the best time to collect any physical evidence. Unfortunately, the crime scene was trampled by many people who were trying to help find Madeleine.

Scotland Yard eliminated Gerry and Kate McCann as suspects years ago. They don’t regard the reactions of the two sniffer dogs as credible evidence against them. One of the dogs - Eddie the cadaver dog - also detected dead body odour at the Haut de la Garenne children’s home in Jersey, but the police didn’t find any dead bodies. Cadaver dogs can indicate the possible presence of DNA and forensic evidence in a certain location, but their reactions can’t be used as evidence in court.

Another criticism of the Portuguese police is they mistakenly believed the DNA evidence collected from the McCann’s hire car was significant evidence against Gerry and Kate McCann despite the fact they were told by forensic scientists from the Forensic Science Service that the results were inconclusive. 

Scotland Yard publicly say they are treating the Madeleine McCann case as a missing person case, but they believe Madeleine McCann was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered by a predatory paedophile.

It’s not the first time the British police have been disingenuous. When Jamie Bulger was abducted in 1993, the police also said it was a missing person case, but they were treating case as a murder investigation - which is the reason why they were using the HOLMES computer system.

Leaving aside the concrete evidence that the German police say they have against Christian Brueckner, I can understand why they regard him as the prime suspect in this case: his mobile phone was pinged close to the McCanns’ apartment shortly before she was abducted; he re-registered his Jaguar car the day after Madeleine was abducted, he has been repeatedly convicted of sexually abusing children; he was also found to be in possession of over 8,000 images of child abuse; he has been convicted of burglary; he has been diagnosed as a psychopath; he knew Praia da Luz and the surrounding area very well and he was in the area when other children have disappeared into thin air.

Hi Machine.

Sure thing. Seemingly strong evidence so far, and a strong case against the start of the investigation in summer 2007 which is maybe worth our closer look.

And nice that Brueckner being locked up prevents him from originating a whole lot of smoke-blowing PR and getting foolish naifs on his side.

So whither next the McCanns? They might be the ones to break the trilateral impasse now.

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann isn’t Germany’s case and can’t be tried there.  A witness came forward to say they recognised ChristianB in a porn video of a 72-year old woman being raped and a hair belonging to CB was identified by his DNA.  The rape was way back in 2005 but only came to light 2015 - 2017.

German police first investigated CB for the McCann disappearance in 2013.

He has been on their radar all this time and especially so from 2015, as the rape took place in Praia de Luz.  ISTM the prosecutor thinks CB might be connected to the McCann disappearance because of the Praia de Luz connection.

Hans Christian Worlters claims he doesn’t have enough evidence to charge CB, yet he has told the world’s media CB is linked to six other murders.  The common theme being mutilation of the body as the age range is quite wide and are of both genders.

If he doesn’t have enough evidence and CB has not been charged, I am not sure it is correct procedure to convey to the world’s press that CB is a mass murderer when all that has been proven is child sexual abuse offences, pornography, rape and drug-dealing, all of which he was properly convicted of.

Hi KrissyG

Also I see this one report suggesting a key mis-step by German police back in 2013.

https://tinyurl.com/yaqwor63

Christian Brueckner could be tried in England, Germany or Portugal.

Section 9 of the 1861 offences against the person act would permit a trial in the UK if a suspect was charged with murder.

He could also be tried in Germany because he is a German citizen.

Hans Christian Wolters hasn’t claimed Christian Brueckner has killed anybody else. However, it’s standard procedure in Germany to check whether a suspect can be linked to similar crimes.

Hans Christain Wolters doesn’t think Christian Brueckner might be connected to Madeleine McCann’s disappearance. He and the German police are convinced he abducted and killed her. Their certainty isn’t based on a hunch or a gut feeling, but a number of pieces of evidence.

According to a witness, Christian Brueckner claimed he had raped a woman in Praia da Luz and that he was involved in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance and that he disposed of her body. The German police regard him as a credible witness because the information he provided them with led to Brueckner being convicted of the rape of a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz.

This clearly is not the only reason why the German police and prosecutors are convinced Christian Brueckner abducted and killed Madeleine McCann.

Hans Christian Wolters has publicly said they have “concrete evidence” that Brueckner killed Madeleine, but they haven’t shared this information with the media and the other police forces in England or Portugal.

The mobile phone evidence indicates he was close to the McCanns’ apartment shortly before she was abducted and the fact he re-registered the number plates of Jaguar the following day is regarded as suspicious.

The police have also intercepted Christian Brueckner’s online conversation about Madeleine McCann with another paedophile.

The German prosecutors have to be make a decision whether to prosecute an individual and it’s not always an easy decision to make. They clearly want to ensure they have as much evidence as possible. Their case against Christian Brueckner will be significantly bolstered if they find Madeleine McCann’s remains.

In England, the Code for Crown Prosecutors (the Code) is issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) under section 10 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. The Code gives guidance to prosecutors on the general principles to be applied when making decisions about prosecutions.

There have been a number of high-profile cases in England when the CPS have decided to charge an individual with murder when the verdict could have gone either way e.g. Levi Bellfield and Barry George. They were both convicted of murder, However, Barry George was subsequently freed by the High Court even though the judges made it clear they though he was guilty of Jill Dando’s murder. The CPS are also convinced Barry George is guilty of murder.

The German prosecutors are right to appeal for information and to carry out new searches around the properties where Christian Brueckner lived. They have may have trod on a few toes and put a few noses out of joint, but Fiat justitia ruat caelumto - Let justice be done though the heavens fall.

He said, ‘eaten by pigs’, apparently, a line out of a Hannibal Lecter film.

If this is really what CB did to the body, there wouldn’t be any body left to find.

To me, it sounds the sort thing people say in a pub so I remain sceptical.  Time will tell.

Hi Krissy,

You’re confusing two different occasions. Apparently, Christian Brueckner said “Pigs also eat human flesh” to colleagues. I’ve seen no evidence the German police are taking these comments seriously.

It was the comments he made to another person in a bar that they are taking seriously. This was the person who provided the police with information that led to Brueckner being convicted of raping a 72-year-old woman. Brueckner allegedly told this person that he had snatched Madeleine and disposed of her body. The German police haven’t revealed any details about what Brueckner said to the media, but they want to carry out new searches - which indicates they think Brueckner dumped Madeleine’s body somewhere.

I think it’s best to wait and see what concrete evidence the German police actually have before dismissing it out of hand.

June 3, 2020 Knox was interviewed by Derek Watson on his podcast, episode 27.
She speaks a lot about the crime, same old lies, some current news that her grandma recently had heart surgery and is now taking chemotherapy and Knox must stay 6 feet away from her due to corona virus restrictions. Her youngest sis just turned 20 (Knox laments how her 20s were stolen from her). I will analyze this podcast more soon.

The headline was from Daily Record one week ago: “Scot who penned Amanda Knox jail letter says ‘it felt worth it’ after she vows to visit Scotland” (after the Covid19 lockdown she wants to go to Scotland). She mentioned this Scot in recent podcast. His name is Dave Moncoeur. He wrote to her in prison in 2010 because of his “feminist” views. He had been doing yoga and hanging with foreign students at art cafes who held strong Anarchic feminist views. “I believed AK’s situation was worsened by a male prejudice,” he said. He had also written to an ex-girlfriend who was in prison, who said the letters were very helpful. Moncoeur is an Edinburgh railway worker, now age 65.

The Derek Watson podcast episode 27 shows a very long haired Knox who manages to give Watson an overview of the crime without mentioning Meredith’s name once until saying how they kicked down Meredith’s door. She mentally distances herself from Kercher quite a bit throughout the interview. She seems exhausted with repeating the details of the crime which no doubt is natural, she’s jaded at this late date. At end of podcast she credits her hubby “He’s my everything” with being cowriter and coproducer and laughs that he is doing his Dungeons and Dragons wizard/gnome character working on his spells.

I’m too tired to comment further, got a yard man here to oversee and also stayed up late last night. Was good to see Harry Rag commenting on the Derek Watson podcast, he lets them have the truth with both barrels.

The investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance clearly wasn’t good enough:

Madeleine McCann suspect Christian B’s name wasn’t on list because of ‘court blunder’

A court blunder over the Madeleine McCann suspect’s sex crime history let him slip through the net after she vanished, it is claimed.

Christian B, as he is known under judicial privacy laws, should have been questioned as a sex offender living in the area where Madeleine went missing - but the Portuguese authorities hadn’t recorded his previous conviction, even though they had been told about it a year earlier.

https://tinyurl.com/y97vqzra

Hi Machine

Yes Bruckner seems to get a kick from sharing the details of his crimes. I’d read another similar report which stated that the German authorities were forbidden under their rules from notifying the Portuguese authorities in 2007 because Bruckner had committed the sexual assault as a juvenile and thus his records were sealed. Not such a smart rule in this circumstance.

There’s a report also that Bruckner could walk free late in July if his rape conviction is thrown out on the basis that that was not the subject of his extradition. If so the clock is ticking and Wolters would need a breakthrough in the next few days.

Whither the McCanns now? It does seem the Portuguese police are mostly cooperating, and concentrating on this house which Bruckner seemingly did not want examined.

https://tinyurl.com/y7c5ybhb

There’s reports also on what happened to those letters to the McCanns. Scotland Yard claim they caused no delay, but, the letter they received was from the German police not Wolters, and it said nothing about how Madeleine died.

It looks like this case if resolved could and should be a rules-changer.

There are some people in the media who want to discredit the German police and prosecutors and undermine their investigation.

Hans Christian Wolters never claimed the McCanns were told how Madeleine had died - just that they [the police and prosecutors] had concrete evidence she was dead.

He didn’t say that he had written a personal letter to the McCanns. This is what he said: “We have written to the McCanns”.

Police and prosecutors work closely together on cases. There has been no deception.

A fuller take on Scottish podcaster Derek Watson’s podcast with Knox (episode 27, June 3, 2020).

Knox calls herself a journalist and a criminal justice advocate. Watson asked her if the covid19 lockdown was similar to prison. She said somewhat, in that it limits her being close to loved ones like her grandmother, but other than that, not much parallel to prison.

She spoke of the ‘scary, drastic existential crisis situation’ she found herself in when police said she had amnesia and had witnessed the crime. She said they “broke her” when they didn’t believe her. I think the police pressure didn’t allow her to rationalize her behavior, and who knows how much of a memory blackout she had due to drugs and alcohol interaction?

Derek Watson asked her about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump threatening to boycott Italy on her behalf. Knox basically made light of their former support for her and said she knew that a SWAT team was never going to sweep down and scoop her up (from Capanne prison and back to U.S.A.).

Knox said the media is a tool, it can work for good or for evil. In her case the media exploited people’s fantasies and fears. She said that despite the extreme scenario of a sex game gone wrong, an idea which was created to try to explain Amanda’s involvement in a rape, that “This was a simple crime”. She said the media complicated it.

The “simple crime” one assumes is Knox’s explanation of a lone burglar attacking Meredith alone in the course of a robbery. She said police tried to figure some way to explain Knox being a part of the crime. “They tried to stake a square peg into a round hole.”

As her youngest sister turned 20 a year ago with the popular hashtag"Me@20”, Knox said, “I’m 33 now. So if you were me (she said to sis) you’d be going to prison now.”

“When I was in prison, I asked myself, ‘Why?!’” and she thought that perhaps her sheltered, extra good childhood was just so good that fate decided to give her some suffering.

She says people try to “blame me for my own wrongful conviction.”

She said, “I was a 20-year-old kid then.” “I was just a kid”...this seems to be a mantra in an effort to excuse all of her missteps with the police.

She appears sad and tears up and seems earnest in her sorrow when she said her parents and family “went so far” as in traveled far from U.S. to Italy, to support her. Only now does she seem to realize the sacrifices she caused them to make, but she rarely mentions her mother or father, even when Watson tries to steer the conversation that way. She mentions her grandma and her sister instead.

She talks of the “Filomena effect”, the name taken from her Italian roommate Filomena. She said that immediately after the crime she was still planning to try to get another apartment in Perugia with Filomena and Laura and continue on with school, but after she was charged by police, the goodwill among her former roommates toward her changed.

The suspicions that attach to a person accused of a crime, or a person incarcerated whether rightly or wrongly, are very hard to shake off she explained. That’s the Filomena effect: once tarnished by doubt and suspicion, everything changes.

She said the police “got a vibe and hammered it home”, as in they began to suspect Knox and ran with it. She said of the police that “I trusted them. I needed them to guide me. They guided me into a trap.” Again she feels her early sheltered childhood in its naive belief that bad people get sent to jail and police are friends, addages she had never questioned, did not prepare her for this sudden shock of being in custody. She claims she had never spared a thought for the justice system in her youth and was more of a poetry type person. Only after her Perugia experience did she wake up to the criminal justice system and she now wants everyone to care about it.

Derek Watson asked Knox what her future holds. “My hubby and I are hard at work (on many media projects).” She said to follow her on Twitter and Instagram. She says, “follow my exploits” on these.

Said she has a lot in the works. One is “Crime Story”, 5 seasons where her fave episode is one about “Vigilante Justice”.

Earlier in the interview she mentioned her podcast “The Truth About True Crime”.

In a wildly ironic statement she makes toward the end of interview she says she is very concerned about the “social fabric of society” and “how truth has been called into question”, that people cannot seem to agree on what facts are anymore: “People have less faith in facts anymore—surrounding Trump’s presidency.” Watson suggests “fake news” is part of this. Knox gets all political. She also says she’s concerned about the environment.

It was just hilarious to see the ultimate liar Amanda Knox pretending to care about “the truth” in public discourse and to set herself up as a proponent of reason when she was the one who couldn’t tell fact from fiction, used “the best truth she was able to think” which conflicted with objective truth, and pretended to forget entirely or to see things in flashbacks and visions after a crime which she claimed she was nowhere near, visions in which a completely innocent man was her roommate’s killer. He happened to be a boss she had a beef with.

She is laugh out loud comical in her well honed chameleon act full of verbal squirreling and shifting. Give her the award for best mask wearing.

https://tinyurl.com/y7zuxdsw

https://tinyurl.com/yccjyu4z

https://tinyurl.com/ycdu8r42

Hi Hopeful. Thanks for the excellent reporting. For both Knox and maybe the assumed killer of Madeleine, after 12-plus years the endgame is nigh.

Hi Machine. You’ve seen the two “developments” in the Portugal case I’m sure.

The original lead investigator blaming the parents, yet again, with waves of negative comments against him (compelling to me) under the reports.

Also Bruckner’s “best friend” saying how bizarre Bruckner was back then and joking of kidnapping for sex rings.

My best guess is that Wolters has photographic evidence of some kind under wraps.

https://tinyurl.com/y7lsgac2

https://tinyurl.com/ya8mwjgl

https://tinyurl.com/ya8mwjgl

https://tinyurl.com/ybk8rftz

The Madeleine McCann case is a divisive one that provokes extremely strong emotions on both sides and this will continue to be the case until the mystery of her disappearance is solved.

Gonçalo Amaral’s investigation was flawed and he ultimately ended up at an impasse with nobody being charged with or convicted of any crimes.

Madeleine’s disappearance should have been treated as a crime the day she disappeared, Christian Brueckner should have been questioned and investigated sooner and Gonçalo Amaral should haven’t regarded the reactions of the two sniffer dogs as definitive proof that Madeleine had died in the apartment and her body was transported in the McCanns’ hire car.

The Portuguese police were told by the Forensic Science Service that the DNA results were inconclusive, but they treated the DNA results as damning evidence against Gerry and Kate McCann.

I think the concrete evidence is either a photograph of Madeleine McCann after she was abducted or an intercepted confession. The German police and prosecutors have been quite unequivocal about their belief that Christian Brueckner abducted and killed Madeleine. Journalists in Germany are taking their claim seriously because they know the police and prosecutors wouldn’t have said they are convinced Madeleine is dead without good reasons for saying so.

Some people have been evaluating the Hans Christian Wolter’s comments based on their presupposition that Madeleine McCann died in an accident at the apartment and Kate and Gerry McCann disposed of her body. That’s the reason why they are sneering at him and not taking his claims seriously. People will be left with egg on their faces and I don’t think it will be Hans Christian Wolters.

@Peter Quennell @The Machine, I agree with you both. The German police have some definitive evidence against Christian B. The recent friend who said Christian spoke of selling kids to sex rings in Morocco, has shed light on what was in the man’s sick mind. Others said all he cared about was money and cars.

He probably was tempted to try lucrative sex selling of kids for money, but was too scared of involving third parties (besides his lookout at the hotel) knowing child crimes are extra risky, knew he’d get caught.

His jokes to a male friend about wishing and wanting to attempt such a crime, to sell kids for sex, have a lot of truth in them. He probably thought about it many times, but in the end his blood lust and desire for “safety” from prosecution probably won the day so that he quickly killed the children and disposed of them. That’s what most child abductors do within roughly 48 hours? of capturing and using their prize. Utterly heartless beasts these types of criminals.

If Maddie had been shipped off to some foreign country for a sex slave, especially a place like Morocco, she would stand out as a white child. I believe she would have been recognized and reported during these 13 years. It’s not that easy to disappear with the internet in everyone’s house, phone cameras everywhere and her face plastered on a million newspapers and magazines with her distinctive pupil in her eye. 

It’s a shame the sniffer dogs set the Portuguese onto the wrong track. Ditto the inconclusive DNA that pointed to the beleaguered parents.

It seems only fitting that with Christian Brueckner being a German, he has been nabbed by the German police. They almost surely have hard proof of his crimes, and are keeping mum simply to prevent a mistrial.

The man is one twisted sick puppy.

“Last year Meredith’s killer Rudy Guede was spotted cycling to work after being granted day release after serving just 12 years of his 16 year sentence.” The Sun, in a link from Peter Quennell. Thanks for update on Rudy. It’s good that he is working.

Goncalo Amaral predicted that ‘a German paedophile’ would be scapegoated and more recently that the ideal solution for the Germans is that the next step is that he dies.  Case closed. 

Well, of course, Amaral is jealous of what he sees as ‘his case’ but he probably knows the most about it.

My view is we don’t know what happened.  All we have is the McCann’s narrative, ‘We left Madeleine alone for half an hour and she was abducted’.  It was Gerry who set the time of the disappearance at circa ‘9:15pm’, being the time differential between when Matt went to check and ‘heard’ nothing - he didn’t look - and when Kate went.

This is why I do not judge the parents for ‘leaving their kids alone’ for there is no evidence that they ‘left their kids alone and Madeleine was abducted’.  Nobody knows for sure what has happened.

However, the McCanns’ story doesn’t add up, nor their actions afterwards, (for example, in their initial police statement, Gerry claimed the door was locked and he specifically used a key to unlock it as well as a narrative that the ‘abductor’ must have pulled up the shutters and climbed out, which later changed) so I cannot see why anyone would ‘have egg on their face’ in the highly unlikely event that ChristianB is the culprit, or if he is, that it happened the way the McCanns have presented it.  People do and will speculate.

I have seen nothing in the mass media that presents any evidence other than that he is a disgusting character whose profile fits the bill of ‘a paedophile abductor’ when he couldn’t even get a diesel fuel robbery right and seems to constantly spend time in prison for getting caught.  Plus the minion characters prominently displayed on his campervan isn’t the best way to go under the radar and hope no-one saw you.

Hi Krissy,

Goncalo Amaral predicting that Christian Brueckner would become the prime suspect is irrelevant and it certainly doesn’t prove Brueckner is innocent.

Scotland Yard, the CPS and the German police and prosecutors reject his claim that Madeleine McCann died in the apartment and her parents disposed of her body.

Goncalo Amaral made some glaring errors e.g treating the DNA results as damning evidence against Gerry and Kate McCann despite the fact he was told the results were inconclusive; and regarding the reactions of the two sniffer dogs as definitive proof that Madeleine had died in the apartment and her body was transported in the McCanns’ hire car.

There’s a very good reason why Gerry and Kate McCann were not charged with Madeleine’s abduction i.e. there’s no credible evidence that she died in the apartment or that her parents disposed of her body. Goncalo Amaral’s investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance was characterised by embarrassing errors and it ultimately led nowhere.

It seems some might have decided that Christian Brueckner is innocent without knowing reason why the German police claim they have concrete evidence against him. This is akin to a juror deciding the defendant is innocent before the case has been presented in court.

The evidence against someone who is suspected of committing murder is not supposed to be discussed in the media before the trial in England. Publication of material which is sub judice - under judgement - is contempt of court. You can actually be imprisoned for up to two years for it.

The reason for the sub judice rule in England is obvious i.e. the publication of the details of the prosecution’s case creates a substantial risk that the course of justice in the relevant proceedings could be seriously impeded or prejudiced.

Amanda Knox’s family and supporters used the mainstream media in America and England in an effort to influence the court proceedings in Italy. Curt Knox and Edda Mellas repeatedly lied through their teeth to journalists e.g. Curt claimed the knife had been essentially thrown out because the DNA on the blade could belong half to Italy and Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito had been abused by the police and Edda Mellas said Knox wasn’t provided with an interpreter.

The German prosecutors have done the right thing in not disclosing the evidence they have against Christian Brueckner. It doesn’t mean they don’t have any evidence against him.

I think Machine gives a good reason why its maybe better to keep our powder dry as Krissyg is inclining to.

UK (and Italian) prosecutors and their medias MUST by law play their cards very close to their chest, or risk a penalty.

But Wolters hasn’t done that. He has done a tantalising and self-serving limited hangout, for no reason that I for one can discern.

And his approach to handling the parents of the victim seems to me pretty abysmal.

In fact he doesn’t seem to have done anything on the lines Dr Mignini did for the Kerchers.

Even the letter or letters to them seem to have been by the police and not him. I’m not fully convinced Wolters and the German police are on the same page. 

But at the same time the way the McCanns have handled this does not seem a million miles from the way the Knox-Mellases have, from back in the same year of 2007.

Meredith’s case is outstandingly black-and-white; this one is the exact opposite. The definition of murk, almost.

And so while Meredith’s case has only two factions (right and wrong), this is more a Game of Thrones facsimile.

Goncalvo Amaral thinks the parents are responsible.  That is not my view as I do not know the facts.  I don’t think ChristianB is ‘innocent’.  There are just no facts that I can see that would lead me to a conclusion one way or another.

However, unlike the tabloids I don’t go along with the view, who cares if he did it or not, he is so disgusting, lock him up and throw away the key!

Of course, Hans Christian Wolters, the German prosecutor, may well have what he believes to be firm evidence.  I am guessing it is from the same source that recounted what he or she saw on the 72-year-old woman’s rape video (which by the way, the source claims he and his chum had burgled from ChristianB and then thrown it away after watching it and recognising him when he pulled off his mask.  If the source is a fellow criminal or is a ‘prison cell confession’ it will be hard to get a conviction because such persons are not seen as reliable witnesses.

Judges and juries are undoubtedly influenced by media maelstroms surrounding a case and it often leads to them acquitting the defendants despite overwhelming evidence of their guilt.

OJ Simpson, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, Oscar Pistorius and Casey Anthony were all acquitted of murder. They were all slam dunk cases. I don’t think any of them would have been acquitted if their respective cases hadn’t been subjected intense media scrutiny.

When ascertaining whether someone is guilty or innocent of murder, judges and jurors need to calmly reach a verdict based on the evidence presented in court. The emotional pendulum needs to be still - not swinging wildly about.

Right now Germany’s Supreme Court is deciding whether Bruckner gets released on parole (or permanently) and the concern is that he could skip Germany for another country with no extradition treaty with Germany.

https://tinyurl.com/ybddr2dh

We looked at such cases in the year between the Nencini and Maresca/Bruno courts, when Knox said she could choose a life on the run over being extradited to Italy.

Life on the run is no picnic, and to sustain it Bruckner would need a protected and well hidden pile of cash ready at the other end up in the millions.

https://tinyurl.com/yas5j2wx

https://tinyurl.com/yd4bkyey

In the Mirror article (first link above) Wolters is quoted as saying he would have Bruckner arrested on another charge if the Supreme Court chooses to spring him.

The UK investigative forces seem to be sitting this one out. The Portuguese forces seem busy and may be doing something useful, hard to tell at this point.

Wolters now says they may never be able to charge Bruckner, even if he is sprung and remains in Germany. The smoking gun is just not there.

https://tinyurl.com/y883t2qk

The German Supreme Court and the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg are due to rule on two Bruckner appeals in a few days.

What has happened to Wolter’s plan to arrest him for another crime if he is sprung? No mention there.

If he is released in July, I guess he will be boning up fast on the German equivalent of this.

https://tinyurl.com/yapdf5l7

Or the Portuguese equivalent maybe? Might he have a shot at the UK? BREXIT is causing various extradition treaties to no longer apply. For example, see this:

https://tinyurl.com/yampy5u3

Germany has announced that in the wake of Brexit it will not be extraditing its citizens to the UK. The grounds used for this decision is simply that the UK is no longer an EU member state.

Tick tick tick… tick tick. Not much new in the past several days.

But in a report mainly about Brueckner being given a hard time in prison the Mirror includes this:

https://tinyurl.com/yb8u8cn4

His former partner later asked him if he abducted the three-year-old and he warned her “just don’t go there”, it is claimed.

The woman claims Brueckner, then 30, told her: “I have a job to do in Praia da Luz tomorrow.

“It’s a horrible job but it’s something I have to do and it will change my life. You won’t be seeing me for a while.”

A friend of the woman said she did not take Brueckner’s comments seriously that night because she did not think he was capable of doing something terrible.

The friend said: “What he [Brueckner] said at that dinner suggests he planned the whole thing very carefully and that he might even have stolen Madeleine to order.

“But we also can’t help feeling guilty thinking we should have pulled together all the clues years ago and gone to the police.”

Where next:

Or to next entry Hanover-Area Search: Possible Major Advance In Germany’s McCann-Brueckner Investigation

Or to previous entry Good Balanced Debate On A Controversial Case, No Too-Frequent Victim Stance For Accused