New German suspect in Madeleine McCann mystery disappearance.

[Carana]

Totally agree Heriberto.  Bruckner is a small time villain, I don't believe murder was ever on his radar.

A small-time villain?

[Vertigo Swirl]

It's very simple, had Madeleine not disappeared his career would have continued.

How come he was the only victim out of the entire PJ?  Nothing to do with his own stupidity I suppose? 

[Brietta]

Quite some time ago, I watched a documentary on YouTube of a UK profiler (I don't think it was Canter, but an equally well-known one). All I really remember about it was that anyone - from a petty theft upwards - should be checked and ruled in or out as crimes can sometimes escalate in nature, depending on the psychological profile of a person of interest.

NB: His offending history would seem to fit the bill as a red flag according to that approach, even though it could turn out to be a false one.

In my opinion if it is possible to pull out all the stops to investigate a person it should be done; it is not a waste of time to eliminate someone as that will enable progress to the next stage

[Brietta]

TBH, I found it somewhat insenstive at the time that the family might have only learned about developments via the media. OTH, at some point early on, there was a clarification that a letter had been sent (via the police?) to the UK police, who were then to inform the family.  Was there a mix-up of communication at some point?

I find it possible that the family have since been informed of more details, perhaps unofficially. However, I also find it possible that they have been informed of the bare minimum as other, related, investigations may still be ongoing and a leak / hack from anyone could create chaos.

Summed up perfectly, Carana.

[Anthro]

Published today.

Mr Wolters said: "By that time Christian B had been under investigation already for three years. We did not take the decision to go public lightly.

https://news.sky.com/story/madeleine-mccann-police-have-been-investigating-prime-suspect-in-case-for-four-years-12324624?fbclid=IwAR07qcgB3PWnta-77hLmY9iu0zpU6bxX7MRnSYNzsERyUSN92SPAShHQ7tc

[Carana]

if they didn’t understand the basics they had no chance of solving the case

What they didn't have was the chance to investigate it without interference from UK.


Interview to Gonçalo Amaral

The full coverage of Detective Gonçalo Amaral's interview can be found here, which aired on May 2017. His actual interview only starts at 4:45.

He was interviewed at the place of Madeleine's disappearance, and demonstrated some of the witnesses' testimonies in the locale. This coverage is interesting because a lot of the information covered is not commonly known by the general public, perhaps due to a lot of misinformation spread by the media.

Summary of the Interview:

Det. Amaral describes the political pressure he felt while working on the case, including the presence of the British ambassador in the site nearly 24 after the disappearance. The ambassador seemed to have pressured the police into following an investigation based solely on the abduction theory, which hindered police work.

The interviewer asked "What if this [children being left alone, and one going missing] had happened in Britain?" Amaral replied that British law seems to be tougher in terms of child safety and the parents had likely been convicted in that case. (Source on this British Law)

Amaral describes the McCann couple's special treatment, but does not seem to believe in conspiracy theories. He think they had special treatment simply because they were British upper class and, since they "messed up" overseas and not in their home country, received political protection from the UK.

He's hardly likely to say that just perhaps the British ambassador was aware of Portimão's reputation for slippery stairs, is he?

[Anthro]

Mr Wolters’ most recent interview.

Translation credit: Ulrike U:

X: SY still assumes a missing person case, the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office and the BKA assume a murder. How do you work together? Does SY have any other findings? Is there different evidence?

W: That is probably because SY has been investigating the case since 2007 and at that time it was assumed that the girl could still be alive, that she could only be missing.
In Germany, we have only been investigating since 2017, and at the time when the whole investigation began here, we already had such solid evidence that the girl was dead that it didn't make sense to let it go on under a cloak of secrecy, but it was absolutely clear that it had to be classified as a homicide.
In addition, in Germany we as public prosecutors only take action if there has been a crime. And if someone is missing, that is regrettable but it doesn't have to be a crime, everyone has the right to keep their whereabouts secret from others, but thank God there is not always a crime behind it. That's one point why we have to say a missing person case couldn't have happened like that at the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office. The police, yes. They also investigate missing persons cases, which is different with the public prosecutor's office.
That is the reason why we are conducting criminal proceedings.

[Brietta]

I doubt if he can prove that Madeleine was murdered. If he can and didn't tell her parents that's unforgivable imo.

Wolters is working towards finding out what may have happened to Madeleine and based on zero knowledge you find his approach "unforgivable".

What is it you don't find unforgivable about the unrelenting vendetta the McCanns have suffered for over fourteen years - that isn't designed to help it is designed to cause actual harm.

[Carana]

Mr Wolters’ most recent interview.

Translation credit: Ulrike U:

X: SY still assumes a missing person case, the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office and the BKA assume a murder. How do you work together? Does SY have any other findings? Is there different evidence?

W: That is probably because SY has been investigating the case since 2007 and at that time it was assumed that the girl could still be alive, that she could only be missing.
In Germany, we have only been investigating since 2017, and at the time when the whole investigation began here, we already had such solid evidence that the girl was dead that it didn't make sense to let it go on under a cloak of secrecy, but it was absolutely clear that it had to be classified as a homicide.
In addition, in Germany we as public prosecutors only take action if there has been a crime. And if someone is missing, that is regrettable but it doesn't have to be a crime, everyone has the right to keep their whereabouts secret from others, but thank God there is not always a crime behind it. That's one point why we have to say a missing person case couldn't have happened like that at the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office. The police, yes. They also investigate missing persons cases, which is different with the public prosecutor's office.
That is the reason why we are conducting criminal proceedings.

Thanks, Anthro. Is there a link to the source?

Trying to work out what he means. And I know nothing about German criminal law. Coming to grips with the Portuguese codes was bad enough.

A case can be considered as a missing person investigation by the police, but if the prosecution takes it up, there has to be suspicion (founded?) of a crime? Treating it as a crime might provide more powers to investigate, search warrant facilitation, etc. Not sure.

NB: Or does he mean that it wouldn't have made it to the prosecutor's office unless there had been (whatever level of) suspicion of a crime?

[faithlilly]

Thanks, Anthro. Is there a link to the source?

Trying to work out what he means. And I know nothing about German criminal law. Coming to grips with the Portuguese codes was bad enough.

A case can be considered as a missing person investigation by the police, but if the prosecution takes it up, there has to be suspicion (founded?) of a crime? Treating it as a crime might provide more powers to investigate, search warrant facilitation, etc. Not sure.

NB: Or does he mean that it wouldn't have made it to the prosecutor's office unless there had been (whatever level of) suspicion of a crime?

What concerns me more is that a prosecutor who should know every twist and turn of this case thinks that SY have been investigating this crime since 2007.

[Carana]

What concerns me more is that a prosecutor who should know every twist and turn of this case thinks that SY have been investigating this crime since 2007.

They were assisting as of 2007, but didn't have the lead.

[Anthro]

Thanks, Anthro. Is there a link to the source?

Trying to work out what he means. And I know nothing about German criminal law. Coming to grips with the Portuguese codes was bad enough.

A case can be considered as a missing person investigation by the police, but if the prosecution takes it up, there has to be suspicion (founded?) of a crime? Treating it as a crime might provide more powers to investigate, search warrant facilitation, etc. Not sure.

NB: Or does he mean that it wouldn't have made it to the prosecutor's office unless there had been (whatever level of) suspicion of a crime?

Hi Carana, I will look for the link. The translator did not refer to any but it is Mr Wolters’ interview, dated today.

[Anthro]

What concerns me more is that a prosecutor who should know every twist and turn of this case thinks that SY have been investigating this crime since 2007.

More like lost in translation?

[jassi]

More like lost in translation?

If that's the case, what else might have been lost in translation ?

[barrier]

They were assisting as of 2007, but didn't have the lead.

Their "expertise" didn't help then.