MADELEINE McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner’s trial over a string of rape charges was today suspended after just nine minutes.
Handcuffed Brueckner, 47, brazenly strode into the hearing with a blank expression on his face before the trial was adjourned after a judge’s “kill the b*****d” rant was read out in court.
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He is accused of three rapes and two sex assaults.
Charges being heard during the trial at Braunschweig Regional Court are not related to Maddie, who he is suspected of abducting 17 years ago.
But just nine minutes into today’s opening hearing, the trial had to be adjourned.
His lawyer Dr Friedrich Fülscher, funded by legal aid, immediately set about trying to discredit one of the lay-judges who was set to help decide Brueckner’s verdict.
Dr Fülscher claimed she had called for the assassination of a president on social media.
He said the woman had written “kill the b*****d now” and “kill the devil”, referring to Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro.
Dr Fülscher said the remark meant she was unfit to sit on the case and could not be relied upon as far as his client was concerned.
The hearing was adjourned before Judge Christina Engelmann ruled the lay judge could not preside over the case because of the posts.
Brueckner’s hearing has now been frozen until next Friday so a replacement lay judge can be found.
Outside the court, Brueckner’s lawyer whinged it was no surprise his client looked unwell.
Dr Fülscher said: “He’s been two years in solitary confinement, so of course he is not healthy.”
Whining Dr Fülscher admitted Brueckner was “in poor physical health” and even tried to blame the MEDIA for making his client feel stressed.
Dr Fülscher told German TV: “Brueckner found the media presence extremely stressful because the media are here for the Madeleine case, not this one.
“He is in poor physical health.”
Brueckner stared blankly as he arrived at court today in a police van with bars over the window, wearing a dark green hooded jacket.
It was the first time he had been pictured since 2020 when he hobbled out of a hospital in shackles after being assaulted in prison.
While defendants in Germany have the right to obscure their faces, Brueckner unashamedly chose not to.
Photographers and TV cameras crowded around the Maddie suspect, shielded from reporters and the press by protective Perspex.
He was led to the defence bench where his handcuffs were removed and where he sat next to his lawyer Dr Friedrich Fülscher.
Brueckner was smartly dressed in suede boots, a light blue blazer, and tie-less purple shirt.
As the judges were sworn in Brueckner appeared business-like consulting papers on the desk in front of him.
Brueckner appeared at Braunschweig regional court in front of a panel of five judges – as Germany does not use a jury system.
Prosecutors allege Brueckner raped three women and twice sexually molested children in Portugal.
His alleged victims include Irish mum Hazel Behan, who says he raped her when she was 20 and working as a holiday rep in Portugal in 2004.
He is also charged with raping and abusing a teenage girl and a 70 to 80-year-old woman at his house in Praia da Luz between December 2000 and June 2006.
Further sickening allegations the court heard were that he masturbated in front of a girl at a playground in Messines in June 2017.
He also faces claims he did the same in front of another girl, on Salema beach, Portugal, in April 2007.
Key dates in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance
MADELEINE McCann vanished on May 3, 2007 – and cops believe Brueckner could have been behind her disappearace.
Almost 17 years on, no one has been charged in connection. These are the key dates:
May 3, 2007 – Kate McCann finds Madeleine missing at 10pm
May 14, 2007 – Property developer Robert Murat is named an “arguido” or formal suspect
August 31, 2007 – The McCanns launch libel action against Tal e Qual – a newspaper that claimed the couple killed Madeleine
September 7, 2007 – Kate and Gerry McCann are made “arguidos”
September 9, 2007– Madeleine’s parents return to England with their two-year-old twins
October 2, 2007– Lead detective Goncalo Amaral is taken off the case after criticising British police in a newspaper interview
July 21, 2009 – Portuguese police lift the “arguido” status of both Robert Murat and the McCanns
May 12, 2011 – On Madeleine’s eighth birthday, Scotland Yard launches a review into the case
April 25, 2012 – Scotland Yard officers say they believe Madeleine McCann is still alive
July 4, 2013 – Two years into a review of the case, Scotland Yard launched its own investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance
October 24, 2013– Portuguese police reopen their case after new lines of inquiry are found
November 27, 2013 – Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe called for British and Portuguese police to work together
October 28, 2015 – Scotland Yard reduces the number of officers working on Madeleine’s disappearance
March 11, 2017 – The Home Office grants Operation Grange an extra £85,000 to continue from April until September
September 28, 2017 – British police are granted £154,000 to keep the probe going until March 2018
November 2017 – Cops moved the search to Bulgaria
May 2018 – Another round of funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
September 2018 – An extra six months of funding is requested from the Home Office
November 2018 – More funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
November 2018 – UK police re-examine a theory Madeleine left the apartment to look for her parents
June 2019 – Another round of funding, believed to be £300,000 of government cash is granted
June 2019 – Portuguese police are probing a “new clue and suspect” after talks with British officers
June 2020 – New prime suspect revealed as a German paedo Christian Brueckner
April 2022 – Brueckner formally made an “arguido”
May 2023 – Police search remote Algarve reservoir Brueckner called his “little paradise”
German drifter Brueckner is already in jail serving a seven-year sentence for rape.
A fresh conviction will keep him behind bars — as fears grow he may never be charged over Madeleine’s disappearance.
Brueckner was identified four years ago as the main suspect in the abduction of Madeleine from her family’s holiday flat in Portugal in 2007.
German investigators believe Brueckner abducted and murdered her – although no charges have been filed against him.
Ahead of his court appearance today, his lawyer shamelessly pledged to get him cleared.
Dr Fülscher said he was confident he could defend him against the allegations
He claimed the charges were part of a witch-hunt against Brueckner.
Dr Fülscher revealed he had brought in a powerful and expensive defence team, insisting: “I am convinced that there can only be an acquittal at the end of the trial.”
Meanwhile, Brueckner mocked police in a sickening rant from behind bars.
In his first comments on the case, Brueckner unashamedly branded his trial as “ridiculous”.
The German drifter also remorselessly ridiculed cops saying: “I hope (they) will find some answers to (their) questions soon.”
Brueckner has been moved from Oldenburg prison in northern Germany to Schnedebruch near Hannover, according to MailOnline.
He said: “My situation didn’t change at all. I just moved prison. I’m still totally isolated. Since (sic) more than two years now.
“I’m still not allowed to talk with anybody else then to my lawyers and to my punishers (guards).”
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