Exclusive:
Philipp Marquort, one of Christian Brueckner’s lawyers, said: ‘If I were him I would leave Europe and look for a state which doesn’t extradite to Europe or Great Britain, maybe like Suriname’
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Christian Brückner’s lawyer explains next intentions after not guilty verdict
The prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case is considering fleeing Europe and changing his appearance on his release from jail, the Mirror can reveal.
In a fresh blow to the missing Brit’s parents Kate and Gerry, convicted rapist Christian Brueckner is set to be released from jail in September and could be out on day release within weeks. And he is in talks with his defence team to move to a foreign country which doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Germany or Britain, where the Met are still probing Madeleine’s disappearance.
In an exclusive interview at his office, Philipp Marquort, who is one of Brueckner’s lawyers, said: “Sometimes he wants to stay here in Germany, sometimes he wants to leave Europe. If I were him I would leave Europe and look for a state which doesn’t extradite to Europe or Great Britain, maybe like Suriname.”
Mr Marquort said Brueckner, who he says speaks good English and Portuguese, as well as his native German, has also discussed the possibility of changing his image due to concerns over his public notoriety. He said: “We talked about the possibility of changing his appearance.
“I would get a face operation if I were him. I mentioned to him it would be nice for him to change his face or how he looks so that nobody can recognise him anymore. Right now he doesn’t have any money to do that. Right now he’s just the guy who tries to get a fake moustache or sunglasses or a hat.
“But I think if I were him I would sometime in the future try to change how I look and get plastic surgery.”
Brueckner is behind bars at Sehnde Prison, near Hanover, where he is serving seven years for raping a pensioner in Praia da Luz on the Algarve, where Madeleine vanished in May, 2007, aged almost four. German detectives are convinced Brueckner, who lived in a ramshackle farmhouse in the area, was responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance.
German prosecutor Hans-Christian Wolters first publicly linked Brueckner to the McCann case in 2020, and has repeatedly appealed for new information. But Brueckner, 48, vehemently denies any involvement and is now waiting for the green light from prison officials to allow him out on day release.
Mr Marquort says it is typical for inmates to be allowed out around eight months before the end of their sentence, with normal activities including visits to cafes, shops and estate agents in order to arrange suitable accommodation. He said: “So they probably should start next month.”
Mr Marquort says he understands the BKA, Germany’s version of the FBI, are still looking at eight cases in relation to Brueckner. This includes the Maddie case, for which he has never been charged, as well as five unrelated cases he was cleared of in October 2024.
Prosecutors are expected to lodge an appeal against the verdicts next month, but Mr Marquort is confident it will not succeed and will not stop his client being released from jail. He says Brueckner has access to some money and will be given a government funded discharge grant of around 2,000 Euros on his release in order to help him readapt to life on the outside.
He will have to pay an outstanding fine of roughly 1,400 Euros before his release, or face being kept in until January next year. But Mr Marquort says even if he struggles to pay it himself he knows of “some crazy Brits” he says will pay it for him.
He added Brueckner still owns a remote box factory which was previously raided by police in Neuwegesleben, eastern Germany. But he estimates it is only worth about 10,000 Euros and believes Brueckner would have trouble living there as he says he no longer has a driving license.
Speaking about how Brueckner, who spent more than two years in solitary confinement before being moved to a normal prison wing, will cope with freedom, he admitted: “It will be hard for him to find work. But he has always been a drifter. I think he’ll survive.”
Mr Wolters last week admitted “there is currently no prospect of an indictment in the Maddie case” and regarding the case Mr Marquort last night declared: “I don’t think they have anything”. Mr Marquort told how Bruckner is convinced he found a microphone, which he believes was planted by the authorities, in his prison cell at the end of last year.
And he says he is now in discussions with his lawyers about the possibility of suing Mr Wolters as part of a bombshell legal case he believes could see him awarded millions of pounds. He revealed: “Mr Brueckner is very happy that Mr Wolters said he won’t see any charges in the foreseeable future.
“But on the other hand, he’s very angry about how Mr Wolters reacted, that he tore into him in public and told everybody that he is the prime suspect.” The experienced defence attorney claimed: “He did the opposite of what he should have done and now he has started pedalling backwards”.
Mr Marquort said his client may launch the legal claim, which would be against the German federal state of Lower Saxony, in his home country or the US where he believes he could be awarded a bigger payout. He said: “I think the highest compensation paid in Germany is around 200,000 to 300,000 Euros, but I think we could at least put one digit on there so we get into the millions.
“I think he could get a seven figure sum, maybe an eight figure sum, but it’ll take a long time and the state will try not to pay.”
