Madeleine McCann Suspect Seen at McDonald’s Hours After Prison Release
The high suspect in the exposure of Madeleine McCann has been spotted tucking into a McDonald’s breakfast just hours after walking free from captivity.
Christian Brückner, 48, who has long been at the centre of the Madeleine McCann disquisition, was released from a German jail after serving a seven- time judgment for the rape of a US woman in Portugal back in 2005.
At around 9 am, he left the high-security captivity in Sehnde, Lower Saxony, in a black Audi. His lawyer was by his side, with police escorts shadowing the journey.
Not long after, he was photographed at a McDonald’s branch in Hannover, roughly eight miles away.
Brückner, wearing an electronic ankle tag, reportedly ordered a burger, chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce, a hot drink, and lit a cigarette while eating. After a brief 15 minutes, he vanished from sight once again.
His exact whereabouts remain unclear. His defence platoon has refused to disclose where he’ll live, though prosecutors verified his movements will be nearly covered.
He has also been forced to hand in his passport and is barred from leaving Germany.
Brückner’s lawyer Philipp Marquort told Der Spiegel: “This is the public prosecutor’s attempt to keep him in a kind of pretrial detention where they have access to him at any time.”
A Case That Haunts Europe
Madeleine McCann was just three years old when she disappeared from her family’s vacation apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on 3 May 2007.
Her parents, Kate and Gerry, had been dining nearby and discovered her missing after Gerry’s routine check an hour later.
Her exposure came in one of the most extensively reported missing-child cases in ultramodern history.
Bills, television appearances, and transnational juggernauts have kept her face in the public eye for nearly two decades.
While innumerable suspects have been delved into, none have ever faced charges.
German prosecutors contend Brückner remains their main suspect, citing phone records that place him near Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine faded and substantiation accounts claiming he confessed. Brückner, still, has constantly denied any involvement.
The Legal Hurdle
Experts warn the case against him faces serious obstacles. Liam Lane, a lawyer at Peters & Peters in London, explained: “It is not the strongest form of evidence, direct evidence, such as an eyewitness or CCTV showing the crime, is the strongest.
The more circumstantial the evidence, the less likely it is that there can be said to be a ‘realistic prospect of conviction’.”
Germany’s stricter double jeopardy laws could also complicate matters.
Lane noted: “In a case like this, if the evidence isn’t felt strong enough for a conviction by the German authorities at present, then the double jeopardy law in Germany would be an important consideration, as it would not be as simple to try to prosecute a suspect again following their acquittal.”
Ongoing Investigations
British police still classify Madeleine’s exposure as a missing-person case. The Metropolitan Police requested an interview with Brückner following his release, but he refused to cooperate.
Brückner was officially named as a suspect in 2020 after a TV tip-off and has faced multiple unrelated charges since.
In 2024, he was acquitted of five alleged sexual offences. He is, however, due back in court this October, accused of insulting prison staff.
For now, the Madeleine McCann case remains unresolved, and her parents, nearly 18 years on, are still waiting for answers.
