Former lawyer of Christian Bruckner says his ex-client could be behind Madeleine McCann's disappearance due to what 'he learned about him' as he brands the German paedophile a 'psychopath'
- Lawyer Serafim Vieira won't be surprised if Christian Bruckner is found guilty
- Bruckner is now become embroiled in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann
- The German carries past crimes of sexual assault and abuse of children
The Portuguese former lawyer of Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Bruckner has branded his client a ‘psychopath’ who ‘may be behind’ the youngster’s disappearance.
Serafim Vieira represented the German drifter when he was arrested for stealing diesel from trucks in 2006 – the year before the youngster vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.
The respected advocate was appointed by the Portuguese state to represent Bruckner at the Portimao Criminal Court because he could not afford to pay for a lawyer.
The German – who revealed his past crimes of the sexual assault and abuse of children and burglary to the judge - was found guilty of theft and fined and served eight months in jail.
Mr Vieira says he will 'not surprised if Christian Bruckner (pictured) is found of guilty of the murder of Madeleine McCann' and hopes 'he is made an example of' if that is the case
Portuguese police reportedly did not interview Bruckner in the weeks after the three-year-old's disappearance as they did not know that he was a convicted sex offender
Now advocate Serafim Vieira has revealed his disgust at having to represent serial sex offender Bruckner and his belief that he may be responsible for the kidnap and murder of Madeleine McCann.
‘I believe Christian Bruckner may be behind Maddie's disappearance,’ he told Portuguese television.
Speaking to MailOnline he added: ‘I will not surprised if Christian Bruckner is found of guilty of the murder of Madeleine McCann.
‘If it was Bruckner that kidnapped her I hope he will be made an example of. He must pay for what he did.
‘I believe it could have been Bruckner because of the circumstances and what I learned about him.’
Serafim Vieira (pictured) Portuguese lawyer of Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner, branded his client a ‘psychopath’
Mr Vieira, who has practiced criminal law in Portugal for 18 years, told how he was horrified when Bruckner revealed his sex crimes during his interrogation by the investigating judge.
He said: ‘Bruckner’s criminal record disturbed me.
‘The truth is that during his first interrogation in this case for theft Bruckner confessed that he had a criminal record in Germany.
‘He said at the age of 17 he committed theft and sexual abuse.’
Speaking on Portugal’s Friday at Nine TV show he added: ‘Bruckner did not give me any indication that he was not a psychopath. In fact to the contrary.’
The lawyer said that while Bruckner was leading an alternative lifestyle – not working and sleeping in his van – he did not look like a hippy.
In fact Bruckner bears a striking resemblance to the photo-fit of the man seen lurking around the McCann’s holiday apartment on the night the night Madeleine went missing, he claims.
Kate and Gerry McCann continue to hope that their daughter is alive amid latest developments
He said: ‘The style of clothing he had, even the hair cut he had, was not that of a hippie person. He was well-spoken.’
The lawyer added that Bruckner had a bad temper and got angry very quickly.
‘He was furious, he could not understand why he had sent to jail for stealing fuel.’
The lawyer revealed he was initially shocked when German police announced that Bruckner was suspected of Madeleine disappearance.
He told MailOnline: ‘I was surprised when I saw he had been named a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case because he had been one of my client.
‘I never expected that I person I had defended in court could be involved in the Madeleine McCann case.’
Mr Vieira acknowledged that Bruckner’s history of sex crimes should have meant he was put on the police sex offenders register.
But he claimed this blunder was not embarrassing for the Portuguese justice system.
He said: ‘As a lawyer I don’t think so.'
What do we know about Maddie murder suspect Christian Brueckner and his criminal past?
1976: Christian Brueckner is born in Würzburg under a different name, believed to be Fischer. He was adopted by the Brueckner family and took their surname.
1992: Christian Brueckner is arrested on suspicion of burglary in his hometown of Wurzburg, Bavaria.
1994: He is given a two-year sentence for 'abusing a child' and 'performing sex acts in front of a child'.
1995: Brueckner arrives in Portugal as an 18-year-old backpacker and begins working in catering in the seaside resorts of Lagos and Praia da Luz.
But friends say he became involved with a criminal syndicate trafficking drugs into the Algarve.
September 2005: He dons a mask and breaks into an apartment where a 72-year-old American tourist.
The victim was bound, gagged, blindfolded and whipped with a metal cane before being raped for 15 minutes. She said afterwards that he had clearly enjoyed 'torturing' her before the rape.
April 2007: He moves out of a farmhouse and into a campervan linked to the crime. The farmhouse is cleaned and a bag of wigs is found.
May 3, 2007: Madeleine McCann is snatched at around 10pm from her bed as her parents eat tapas with friends yards away.
Brueckner's mobile phone places him in the area that night. He returns to his native Germany shortly after that.
October 2011: He is sentenced to 21 months for 'dealing narcotics' in Niebüll, in northern Germany.
2014: He moves to Braunschweig where he starts running a town-centre kiosk. He then goes back to Portugal with a girlfriend.
2016: He is back in Germany. He is given 15 months in prison for 'sexual abuse of a child in the act of creating and possessing child pornographic material'.
May 3, 2017: Brueckner is said to be in a bar with a friend when a ten-year anniversary appeal following Madeleine's disappearance is shown on German television. He is said to have told him in a bar that he 'knew all about' what happened to her. He then showed his friend a video of him raping a woman.
MailOnline understands the friend went to police shortly afterwards.
June 2017: He heads back to Portugal and extradited again to Germany. The reason was a sentencing of the Braunschweig district court to 15 months' imprisonment for the sexual abuse of a child.
August 2018: After his release from prison he lives on the streets. But he was jailed again for drug offences.
First Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters addresses the media during a press conference on the Madeleine McCann case at the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig
September 2018: Brueckner is arrested in Italy and extradited to Germany and put on trial for raping an American in 2007 after a DNA match was found at the crime scene.
July 2019: He is jailed for 21 months for drug dealing in the northern German resort of Sylt.
August 2019: Brueckner is charged with the rape of the American tourist in Praia da Luz in 2005.
December 2019: He is convicted of rape of extortion of the tourist based on DNA evidence. He is given a seven year sentence, but this has not been imposed pending an appeal.
June 3, 2020: Scotland Yard and the German police reveal that that they have identified a suspect in the Maddie McCann case
June 4, 2020: Prosecutors in Braunschweig, where he lives, say they believe Madeleine McCann has been murdered, says spokesman Hans Christian Wolters. He is named in the German press as the prime suspect.
