The suspect in the Madeleine McCann case allegedly had a creepy “rape lair” where he bound victims and filmed his attacks.
Christian Brueckner, who has not been charged in connection to McCann’s 2007 disappearance, appeared in court for his latest rape trial, where his former friend Manfred Seyferth testified he watched the suspect rape a teenager in the room while she was tied to a pole, The Sun reported.
The small room, shown in court photos, contained everyday items such as a loveseat, a coffee table and some other furniture, along a large pole in the middle of the room.
Seyferth believes the German took the 3-year-old Madeleine from her room in Portugal’s Praia da Luz resort, stating the “evil psychopath” was obsessed with young girls.
He saw a little girl in one of the videos filmed in the lair.
“He always had a young girlfriend with him and I think he is easily capable of taking a small child,” he told the court, The Sun reported.
“That’s why I think he may have something to do with Maddie. He broke in and saw her and because he likes young girls — he’s got lots of convictions — he took her.”
Bruckner is serving a 7-year sentence in Germany for raping an elderly American tourist in Algarve, Portugal, about an hour from the southern Portugal resort where Madeline disappeared.
Seyferth said he saw a video filmed in 2006 that showed Brueckner, 47, abuse a young woman, according to The Sun.
“I saw Brueckner directly in his face in one of the videos. And I could tell it was him from his voice in the other video,” he told the court.
“And then there was a second person, a girl, in Brueckner’s home.
“She was tied to a post and Brueckner was dancing around her. He forced her to perform a sex act on him, then when she was unwell he said: ‘You are ruining my carpet.'”
Seyferth testified that another friend, identified as Helge Busching — who Brueckner allegedly told McCann “didn’t even scream” — broke into the 47-year-old’s home in Praia da Luz near the resort where Madeleine was last seen and stole the camera.
“I wasn’t there when Helge took the camera. I wasn’t in the house, so I’m not sure which room he got it from,” he said.
“Helge showed me the tape. He came with a camera — an old model, a big kind of one.”
After watching the tape, he told his friend to “throw the f—king thing away.”
He pushed the camera footage out of his mind until Scotland Yard traced him to Greece and hung around for three days, even though he tried to send them away.
However, Seyferth wouldn’t get far because when he went to the German consulate to get a new passport, he was confronted by the BKA, Germany’s FBI equivalent, according to The Sun.
The camera’s drive has been turned over to Brueckner’s team.
Prosecutors discovered it in 2020, but refused to hand it over for years, now Brueckner’s legal team is fighting to keep the images on the drive out of the trial.
Seyferth also revealed that Brueckner lived near the resort McCann was staying at with her parents. He said his friend disappeared for months after McCann’s disappearance.
He also said Bruckner often broke into homes and was known as “The Climber,” because he was able to easily scale two-to-three stories.
“He was an expert at getting into apartments and hotel rooms,” he told the court, according to The Sun.
“Christian was athletic and he was strong. I saw him many times climb up to first and second-floor apartments and break in.”
The suspect faces up to 15 years in his current trial on rape charges.
He is accused of assaulting Hazel Behan at knifepoint while tying her to a table and whipping her.
He is also accused of tying a teenager to a pole in the same resort where the McCann’s stayed, and forcing her to perform a sex act, The Sun reported.
Brueckner has also been charged for grabbing the wrist of a child on a beach, just weeks before McCann would disappear.
