An Irish lady who was raped at knifepoint in Portugal 18 years ago by a man she thinks to be the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has expressed her ‘pleasure’ at his indictment.
Hazel Behan, now 39, was attacked inside a vacation condo in Praia da Rocha in June 2004 by a German man with piercing blue eyes who entered via the balcony. Praia da Rocha is 10 kilometers from Praia da Luz, where Maddie vanished.
Christian Brueckner, who German authorities think kidnapped Maddie in May 2007, has been charged with Ms. Behan’s rape and four other sex offences committed in the same area between 2000 and 2017.
Ms. Behan, who previously renounced her right to anonymity in order to discuss her ordeal, stated yesterday that she believed there was “zero chance” Brueckner would ever be prosecuted for the charges and that she is “thrilled” by the prospect of obtaining justice.
German authorities have designated Christian Brueckner, who is presently incarcerated for rape, as the key suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
German authorities identified 45-year-old convicted rapist Brueckner as the man responsible for the abduction in May 2007, but he has not been charged. He was charged with a number of further sex offenses.
She exclaimed, “I am ecstatic that after many hours and days of interviews in Ireland and Germany, I will finally receive justice. It was the most heinous attack ever.’
Ms. Behan, who was 20 years old and working as a travel agent at the time of the assault, claims that an assailant wearing a mask mounted the exterior of her apartment while she slept and entered through the balcony.
She awoke to find herself at the point of a knife. She claims that the man subsequently punched her, bound her, and raped her while filming the assault.
Speaking with Olive Press, she continued, ‘It was really difficult and arduous to revisit the attack, having to spend over 20 hours with detectives in Ireland and then three days with German police.
However, the specific dedicated staff in both nations were incredibly considerate and competent as they escorted me back to my accommodation that evening.
“I’ve always maintained that my assailant was a German with piercing blue eyes and a voice I would quickly recognize.”
“When Brueckner’s name was publicized in connection with the Madeleine case, I immediately recognized him.” It made me ill to my stomach.
I felt I had no chance of receiving justice, but owing to the tireless efforts of Madeleine’s parents, today, 18 years after my rape, I have a chance to see my perpetrator behind bars (for her crime).
Brueckner was also charged with two alleged rapes that occurred in his Praia da Luz residence between 2000 and 2006. The alleged victims were a 14-year-old girl and a woman between 70 and 80 years old.
A month after Madeleine’s disappearance, he is also accused of ambushing a 10-year-old German girl playing on the beach in Salema in April 2007 in the Portuguese region of Faro while wearing just shoes.
He allegedly made her witness him perform a sex act against her will.
The fact that Brueckner has not been charged in connection with Madeleine McCann’s disappearance from the holiday apartment of her parents Kate and Gerry (pictured) in Praia da Luz will bring fresh heartache to Kate and Gerry McCann, who had hoped this would bring an end to the 15-year mystery.
Ten years later, he allegedly committed a similar crime against a girl on a playground in Portugal’s Bartolomeu de Messines.
According to prosecutors, the girl ran to her father for help, and Portuguese police detained the suspect at the site.
Friedrich Fulscher, Brueckner’s attorney, stated that the new charges came as a “complete surprise” to him and his client, and that they were based on “questionable witnesses and video evidence that no one has been able to locate.”
The charges relating to the alleged rapes of the two unidentified women are the result of a video recording of Brueckner allegedly assaulting them.
Two key witnesses and former friends of Brueckner, Helge Busching and Manfred Seyferth, are alleged to have stolen the camera with the recording from the German’s home near Praia da Luz on Portugal’s Algarve coast.
In the video, which has since been deleted, they describe Brueckner raping an elderly woman and a young girl.
According to German law, German nationals accused of crimes abroad may be tried in their home country.
Investigators believe the 45-year-old also murdered three-year-old Madeleine after abducting her on May 3, 2007 from a vacation apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. He has not been charged with her disappearance, however.
Brueckner, who has reportedly denied any involvement with the crime, was identified as a suspect in the McCann investigation by Portuguese officials in June 2020.
But the fact that Brueckner has not been charged for Madeleine’s disappearance from the holiday apartment of parents Kate and Gerry in Praia da Luz will cause fresh anguish as they had believed this would mark the end of the 15-year-mystery.
The Braunschweig prosecutor’s office confirmed in a statement that the accused was the same individual under investigation in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance.
‘Specifically, the accused is charged with three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of children,’ the prosecutor’s office noted.
It was reported that the inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann continues.
Madeleine vanished from this condominium in the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz in 2007 while on vacation with her family.
When asked about the McCann probe, prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told MailOnline, ‘We hope to be able to devote all of our resources to the McCann inquiry after all other investigations have concluded.
But we do not know how it will finish; for the time being, it is still open; perhaps we can bring a charge, perhaps we cannot; still, we are still optimistic.
In response to the series of fresh allegations, Brueckner’s attorney Fulscher told MailOnline, ‘This has taken me and my client by utter surprise.
The charges appear to be based on the testimony of two questionable witnesses and on video evidence that no one has been able to locate.
“These two individuals have also testified in the McCann case, although I have never seen their testimony.
“Part of the evidence in the case of the rape [of the 20-year-old lady] is that the perpetrator had a significant tattoo or birthmark on his leg, but the prosecution is well aware that my client has neither.
“For charges to be brought, the prosecutor must be convinced that the information in the case is trustworthy and pertinent, and we believe this is not the case. This investigation is not impartial.’
The case against Brueckner is anticipated to begin in the spring of 2019.
Brueckner is presently serving a seven-year prison sentence for the 2005 rape of an elderly American woman in her house in Praia da Luz.
He was convicted after his DNA was linked to a hair found in her bed. Brueckner and his attorney Fulscher have disputed his involvement and asserted that his conviction was the result of a botched investigation.
Hans Christian Wolters, the German prosecutor probing Madeleine’s disappearance, recently stated that the investigation into the child’s disappearance will continue indefinitely.
In a letter to a friend, obtained by MailOnline, Brueckner wrote: ‘In the 2005 rape of the elderly woman, the perpetrator was characterized as having black eyes and being incredibly muscular. I was found guilty yet I never had dark eyes or resembled Dwayne Johnson.
He continued, “There is no evidence whatsoever that I committed this awful crime.” There is no DNA – nothing. Things suddenly appeared where none existed previously.
“My hair from the 2005 case has appeared in the BKA (German police) laboratory 13 years later.” It was one of 15 hairs discovered, but only two of them contained DNA: mine and that of the elderly woman.
“No additional words are required,” he added.
The attorney for Brueckner has filed an appeal with the German courts, requesting that the 2019 rape conviction be reexamined due to the insufficient evidence used to convict him.
He asserts that evidence from the new cases under investigation proves that Brueckner could not have raped the elderly woman, as German authorities say that attack and the one on Behan were committed by the same tattooed man.
But Mr. Fulscher has pointed out that his client lacks tattoos and thus could not have committed the rapes, although he told MailOnline that he is not optimistic about his appeal being granted.
He stated, “Only a minuscule fraction of applications are successful.”
Earlier this year, on the 15th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance, her parents stated that learning the truth about what happened to their daughter is “essential.”
On the same day, the Metropolitan Police, which continues to consider the matter as a missing persons probe, said it is ‘dedicated’ to establishing the truth.
In July 2013, Scotland Yard opened its own investigation, Operation Grange, into Madeleine’s disappearance.