Madeleine McCann

[Darryl Kenyon]

we are told by learned members here, it should have been obvious to Madeleine's parents that she was at risk of being abducted.

That just about says it all. If you think parents leaving a three year old girl plus younger twins on their own in an apartment [ an apartment the night before a three year old girl was crying out for her parents ], while they go out enjoying themselves in a bar which did not leave a clear view of an apartment while leaving the patio doors unlocked instead of locking the patio doors and walking the extra yards to the front entrance does not increase the chance of a burglary or worse. Well !!

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

Self-styled criminology expert David Wilson said he would stake his professional reputation on Tobin being Bible John. He was as confident about Tobin as the German police seem to be about Breuckner.

We do not know exactly what evidence the German police have that has convinced them that Brueckner abducted Madeleine McCann, but it would seem to be something more concrete than what Wilson had on Tobin.

It seems, moreover, that they can place Brueckner in the vicinity of the McCanns' apartment at the time of her disappearance, whereas Tobin had alibis for two of the Bible John murders.

[cobalt]

Breuckner is a danger to the public and the German police understandably want him locked up in perpetuity. The McCann case offers that opportunity, along with the recognition of solving a highly publicised disappearance. If the German police are 'convinced' Breuckner is guilty it is odd they have not yet charged him.

The PJ seem less convinced about the guilt of Breuckner, but that may be a reluctance on their part to admit the possibility that an outside police force might succeed where they failed.
Or it may be they established that no phantom abductor ever entered the apartment and that the evidence pointing to Breuckner- some of which comes from anonymous associates of his who presumably share his criminal/drug lifestyle- is weaker than evidence pointing to the missing girl's parents.

[rjpalmer]

but I am not clear if any of the sexual crimes predate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

They do. For starters, he was convicted of two sex crimes against children while still a teenager and was in borstal for those crimes when he first fled to Portugal. Your theory that the German police are using Brueckner to “clear the books” of a crime committed in an entirely different country is an unusual one, to say the least. As a general rule, countries don’t like to admit they are exporting their home grown sex offenders on a very public world stage.

[cobalt]

There is still no national sex offenders register in Germany so far as I am aware, so any sexual offences Breuckner committed there would not have followed him over even had one existed in Portugal. An itinerant like Breuckner would be very hard to track down under any system. A whole list of crimes are alleged by the German police against Breuckner in addition to the appalling ones he has been convicted of, but I am not clear if any of the sexual crimes predate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The alleged ones certainly do, but we know from experience that police are always keen to clear up unsolved crimes of a serious nature.

A good example of this was Peter Tobin, who murdered teenagers across the UK and is suspected of a fair few more. These included the earlier 'Bible John' murders in Glasgow in the late 1960s. On the surface he seemed a good suspect. Tobin was a Glaswegian and certainly at the time visited the very dance hall where all the victims had been picked up. He resembled a photo fit, was known to use an alias that was almost identical to that used by the assumed killer and even, like the assumed killer, mentioned a relative who had scored a hole in one at golf. Self-styled criminology expert David Wilson said he would stake his professional reputation on Tobin being Bible John. He was as confident about Tobin as the German police seem to be about Breuckner.

A few disagreed, pointing out that Tobin was a fair bit younger than the murderer as described by witnesses in the dance hall and he was also ruled out by one of the victim's sisters who had been in a taxi cab with the assumed killer. Eventually DNA ruled Tobin out. Presumably Tobin's warped sense of humour had led him to insert details known from the Bible John inquiry into his own false narrative, long before he even came to the attention of the police.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

Brückner seems a very promising suspect, as this documentary shows.

A case in which a German committed a host of sexual offences in another country.

According to the documentary, the police mishandled the case partly because they had no experience of such a case, even though, we are told by learned members here, it should have been obvious to Madeleine's parents that she was at risk of being abducted.

All the samples collected by the police had been contaminated.

There was no sex offenders' register in Portugal at that time.

Brueckner had committed some 20 offences locally, including both sexual and burglary offences, yet it made more sense to the detective in charge to suspect the child's parents than someone like Brueckner.

The German police are convinced that Brueckner killed Madeleine.

They don't suspect Kate and Gerry McCann.

[FrankO]

Hi Frank
This is the sort of thing I am getting at . Someone who works in, or outside the bar [ handing out flyers ], could tip a burglar off that Apt 2 is watching football at the sports bar in the evening [ after getting friendly with Apt 2 , eliciting info on where they are staying etc ] .

It does happen. A few years ago I went abroad to the same popular holiday resort on several occasions . I found out one time that in one of the more well known bars someone was tipping a group of lads off [ particularly on a Friday evening , when most people go home on a Saturday ], who was leaving said bar, late at night, on their own and especially if they were a bit under the influence. These Lads would then attempt to rob the unfortunate victim as they made their way back to the hotel.

Hi Darryl,

Thanks for sharing this extra information. It's interesting (and quite disturbing).

As I mentioned in my last post. I believe there is a fair chance this happened with Madeline. Someone gets friendly with the Tapas group and passes on the info they extract to a burglar [ for drugs or money ]. But this burglar is also a sexual deviant who takes Madeline instead. Perhaps by managing to lift the shutters part way ,he looks into the bedroom without actually entering that way , with the windows locking from the inside . But deciding there and then he would snatch a child instead, [ after entering through the patio doors ]. It would explain why the apartment didn't seem to have been rummaged for money, jewellery etc.

I hope the case will be coming to a close very soon and it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out that you're right about how it happened; Brückner seems a very promising suspect, as this documentary shows. Among other things it reveals that a USB stick was found under Brückner's burried dog containing loads of disturbing vidieos and photos.

Best regards,
Frank

[Darryl Kenyon]

Thanks for sharing, Roger. I listened to the podcast and what I also found interesting is that Brückner, according to this friend, was an excellent burglar; he was supposed to get into any house or appartment and when there would be a soccer game on television and people went to watch it together in bars and such, Brückner had the time of his life.

Hi Frank
This is the sort of thing I am getting at . Someone who works in, or outside the bar [ handing out flyers ], could tip a burglar off that Apt 2 is watching football at the sports bar in the evening [ after getting friendly with Apt 2 , eliciting info on where they are staying etc ] .

It does happen. A few years ago I went abroad to the same popular holiday resort on several occasions . I found out one time that in one of the more well known bars someone was tipping a group of lads off [ particularly on a Friday evening , when most people go home on a Saturday ], who was leaving said bar, late at night, on their own and especially if they were a bit under the influence. These Lads would then attempt to rob the unfortunate victim as they made their way back to the hotel.

As I mentioned in my last post. I believe there is a fair chance this happened with Madeline. Someone gets friendly with the Tapas group and passes on the info they extract to a burglar [ for drugs or money ]. But this burglar is also a sexual deviant who takes Madeline instead. Perhaps by managing to lift the shutters part way ,he looks into the bedroom without actually entering that way , with the windows locking from the inside . But deciding there and then he would snatch a child instead, [ after entering through the patio doors ]. It would explain why the apartment didn't seem to have been rummaged for money, jewellery etc.

Regards Darryl

[FrankO]

I could be wrong, but Ero's information sounds suspiciously like a garbled version of what John Clark reported on a podcast related to the case a few years ago. There were two tapes. One showed Brueckner beating an elderly woman, the other featured a young girl, but it was not Madeleine.

Thanks for sharing, Roger. I listened to the podcast and what I also found interesting is that Brückner, according to this friend, was an excellent burglar; he was supposed to get into any house or appartment and when there would be a soccer game on television and people went to watch it together in bars and such, Brückner had the time of his life.

I also read somewhere (don't remember where, though) that for a period of time before Madeleine's disappearance, he's supposed to have worked for a company that did maintenance work or such in appartments like the ones at of the Ocean Club's and that way he came to know them inside out. Very interesting, if really true.

[FrankO]

I have always been of the opinion that the answer to Madeline's disappearance is right there at the Ocean Club. IE Someone at the club, whether it was a paying guest in the same apartment block snatched her, or someone who worked there did, like a janitor. But more likely somebody within that complex a waiter or such like, at one of the bars say, was in contact with another person giving info out on who was out where, and at what time. Possibly sharing their inside knowledge in exchange for drugs.

I believe that's why the police have taken great stock on the phone call Breuckner was alleged to have made/received in the area . And why they asked for someone to come forward a while ago. They perhaps had already figured that the break ins before may have been done by someone who had inside info.

Quite possibly, Darryll. What struck me while reading up on the case is that after a day or two, the McCanns had adopted a daily, erm, I would say 'system', but for fear of it being overrated I'd better use the word 'routine', which would have been quite plain to any interested person(s) close to the Ocean Club. So, somebody with inside information may very well have been involved.

[Abby Normal]

I could be wrong, but Ero's information sounds suspiciously like a garbled version of what John Clark reported on a podcast related to the case a few years ago. There were two tapes. One showed Brueckner beating an elderly woman, the other featured a young girl, but it was not Madeleine.

Clark was the first British journalist on the scene, and the only journalist who ever interviewed Brueckner's "best friend" and housemate in Portugal. When Brueckner went to prison, he instructed some 'friends' to go to the house where he had lived in order to destroy all the evidence of his past crimes. In the attic they found a horde of passports, jewelry, as well as these sickening and explicit tapes. The tapes were supposedly destroyed or burned by these accomplices, so, if the German police really do have anything like what is being claimed, it would have to have come from these accomplices and it would also mean they lied about destroying the evidence.

thanks for that info rj. very informative and your probably right.

[Abby Normal]

I have always been of the opinion that the answer to Madeline's disappearance is right there at the Ocean Club. IE Someone at the club, whether it was a paying guest in the same apartment block snatched her, or someone who worked there did, like a janitor. But more likely somebody within that complex a waiter or such like, at one of the bars say, was in contact with another person giving info out on who was out where, and at what time. Possibly sharing their inside knowledge in exchange for drugs.

I believe that's why the police have taken great stock on the phone call Breuckner was alleged to have made/received in the area . And why they asked for someone to come forward a while ago. They perhaps had already figured that the break ins before may have been done by someone who had inside info.

Regards Darryl

hi dk
you very well may be right. someone on tje inside tipping off the intruder on the guests habits, when they will be out etc. and then the outside intruder breaks in while they are gone, usually to rob them. i heard there was a note at the restaurant saying something to the affect that the children of the tapas seven were alone in tje apartments, posted for all the employees to see.

[cobalt]

It's not character assassination to suggest the McCanns were the persons involved in the disappearance of their daughter. They accomplished that themselves by their statements and actions around the time of her disappearance. Gerry McCann claimed the Tapas group employed a 'system' they had used before for checking on children. The word 'system' is misleading since it suggests a tried and tested method known to the general public: the Tapas 'system' for checking on unattended children was unheard of before the disappearance and has never surfaced thereafter. It remains unique. It is as much a 'system' as stopping for a picnic on the hard shoulder of a motorway then pleading victimhood when a car crashes into your table. To paraphrase Mr. McCann, 'We would not have done that if we had known a car was going to crash into us. But a senior traffic policeman (un named) told us it was well within the bounds of responsible picnicking.''

Leaving an apartment unlocked is an invitation to any thief or worse. And even a locked patio door is no obstacle to an alert 4 year old child who by instinct watches everything and learns. I've even had a domestic cat which could leap up on door handles and open living room doors. The Tapas 'system' was designed to fail which is why I doubt it was ever employed in the first place. One idiotic bunch of parents I could just about believe: but not four of them engaging in a ludicrous game of musical chairs. The PJ presumably reached a similar conclusion.

However similar to the cases of Luard and Wallace quoted by PI, the respectable image of the Tapas group gave them an advantage. Like Luard they were able to call upon highly influential support, something Wallace lacked. Here is a quote from DK which reveals the class bias surrounding the case, one which assumes all low paid workers are crypto criminals and thus by implication, professionals are persons to be trusted.

'I have always been of the opinion that the answer to Madeline's disappearance is right there at the Ocean Club. IE Someone at the club, whether it was a paying guest in the same apartment block snatched her, or someone who worked there did, like a janitor. But more likely somebody within that complex a waiter or such like, at one of the bars say, was in contact with another person giving info out on who was out where, and at what time. Possibly sharing their inside knowledge in exchange for drugs.'

His first sentence is hard to disagree with.

[rjpalmer]

Hi ero
if they had that kind of evidence they would have charged him by now, especially if it was found a couple of years ago.

I could be wrong, but Ero's information sounds suspiciously like a garbled version of what John Clark reported on a podcast related to the case a few years ago. There were two tapes. One showed Brueckner beating an elderly woman, the other featured a young girl, but it was not Madeleine.

Clark was the first British journalist on the scene, and the only journalist who ever interviewed Brueckner's "best friend" and housemate in Portugal. When Brueckner went to prison, he instructed some 'friends' to go to the house where he had lived in order to destroy all the evidence of his past crimes. In the attic they found a horde of passports, jewelry, as well as these sickening and explicit tapes. The tapes were supposedly destroyed or burned by these accomplices, so, if the German police really do have anything like what is being claimed, it would have to have come from these accomplices and it would also mean they lied about destroying the evidence.

[mpriestnall]

What I was told it came from a device found in his old home in Portugal when they raided it a couple of years back when he was first identified as a suspect. I can only imagine a hard drive or USB stick of some kind. They were not specific. They did say the content was 'recovered', which could mean it was deleted and modern technology was able to 'undelete' it.

Hi erobitha, thanks for the extra info.