Shocking Madeleine McCann Case Twist: Prime Kidnapping Suspect Christian Brueckner Planned Daring Bid For Prison Freedom — and $260K Damages Cash Grab
Christian Brueckner was hoping to land $260,000 worth of damages after he was cleared of rapes this week.
Oct. 10 2024, Published 1:36 p.m. ET
Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner was hoping to land $260,000 worth of damages after he was cleared of rapes this week.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the German, 47, who moved to Portugal in his late teens, also planned a bid for early release for a separate conviction keeping him behind bars
In 2019, he was found guilty of the 2005 rape of an American woman in the Algarve in Portugal.
Brueckner also hoped to get an early release.
Brueckner was identified as prime Madeleine suspect in 2020.
According to The Sun, a court source said: "Brueckner's lawyer said in court he did not believe the 2019 conviction was safe and could be challenged after a witness was discredited.
"Appeals aren't quick but there is a chance he is released sooner.
"He'd also have a clear path to try for compensation."
Under German law anyone wrongfully imprisoned can receive $82 for each day in jail, plus further compensation.
Other legal experts believe any appeal has little chance of succeeding as one of his hairs were found at the 2005 scene.
Brueckner has yet to be charged over the three-year-old’s disappearance.
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Brueckner was identified as prime Madeleine suspect in 2020 but is yet to be charged over the three-year-old’s disappearance in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.
He denies any involvement.
Earlier this year, RadarOnline.com revealed Brueckner's dark past, in which he was labelled a "twisted loner" by a former school classmate who picked fights and stirred up drama long before he made international headlines.
A pupil feared Brueckner, who was adopted, "would turn out bad" as he would often get into fights with other kids and make a point of annoying them - and he was despised by staff.
The former pupil told DailyMail.com: "I've only ever had one fight in my life and that was with Brueckner.
Madeleine went missing in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.
"He spent a year talking about me behind my back. He would not stop making nasty comments. One day I exploded and told him to go back to the orphanage where he had come from.
"We all knew he was adopted, so I shouldn't have said that but I lost my temper with him.
"He jumped on me and we traded punches until a teacher pulled us apart.
"Everyone hated him in class and they all kept their distance, but it wasn't just the children – it was the teachers as well."
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