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6 months ago
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A HOLIDAY rep will tell a court today how she was raped on film by the man cops believe kidnapped and murdered Madeleine McCann.
Hazel B., then 20, will tell a court in Germany how monster Christian Brueckner climbed into her apartment in the Algarve – in chilling echoes of the Maddie snatch.
Brueckner pictured in court in Braunschweig today
AP
Hazel B. told cops her attacker had a scar or large mark on his leg
AFP
APOnce inside he tied her to a table leg and raped her at knifepoint, filming the ordeal – at one point leaving her terrified he planned to behead her.
During the attack, the masked sicko allegedly asked: “You are afraid of me aren’t you?”
When she lied and said “no”, he whipped her then chillingly demanded: “Are you afraid of me now?”
Hazel went on to tell cops her attacker had a scar or large mark on his leg – it is claimed Brueckner later had removed – to make sure he was never caught.
The testimony is seen as crucial for securing a conviction against Brueckner – who faces rape and exposure uncovered during the McCann investigation.
German prosecutors are understood to want Brueckner trapped behind bars for years before they move to charge him over missing Maddie.
Hazel B., now 40, is expected to tell Braunschweig regional court she was working as a tour guide in Praia da Rocha, when she was brutally raped in 2004.
DNA swabs taken from her case were later destroyed due to supposed “adverse preservation conditions”, and further physical evidence was also destroyed in 2009.
Eleven years later, however, she approached UK police and asked them to reopen her case, compelled at hearing about the German suspect linked to Maddie.
Hazel B. has said that at the time of her rape, she felt that Portuguese police had treated her insensitively.
And she even said that some locals had discouraged her from reporting her rape, saying it would damage tourism.
Hazel B. has waived her right to anonymity when she went public with her claim but she is still referred to by her first name, according to German law.
Madeleine, three, disappeared from an apartment in Praia da Luz on Portugal’s Algarve coast while on holiday with parents Kate and Gerry, now both 55, of Rothley, Leics.
German investigators believe Brueckner abducted and murdered her – although no charges have been filed against him.
Prosecutors in Germany confirmed Ms Fehlinger had been named in relation to sex abuse of children, in court.
Brueckner is on trial for a string of rapes and indecent exposure charges, uncovered during the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.
He denies the claims. The trial continues.
Madeleine McCann's disappearance
MADELEINE McCann vanished on May 3, 2007 - and cops believe Brueckner could have been behind her disappearance.
Almost 17 years on, no one has been charged in connection. These are the key dates:
May 3, 2007 – Kate McCann finds Madeleine missing at 10pm
May 14, 2007 – Property developer Robert Murat is named an “arguido” or formal suspect
August 31, 2007 – The McCanns launch libel action against Tal e Qual – a newspaper that claimed the couple killed Madeleine
September 7, 2007 – Kate and Gerry McCann are made “arguidos”
September 9, 2007– Madeleine’s parents return to England with their two-year-old twins
October 2, 2007– Lead detective Goncalo Amaral is taken off the case after criticising British police in a newspaper interview
July 21, 2009 – Portuguese police lift the “arguido” status of both Robert Murat and the McCanns
May 12, 2011 – On Madeleine’s eighth birthday, Scotland Yard launches a review into the case
April 25, 2012 – Scotland Yard officers say they believe Madeleine McCann is still alive
July 4, 2013 – Two years into a review of the case, Scotland Yard launched its own investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance
October 24, 2013– Portuguese police reopen their case after new lines of inquiry are found
November 27, 2013 – Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe called for British and Portuguese police to work together
October 28, 2015 – Scotland Yard reduces the number of officers working on Madeleine’s disappearance
March 11, 2017 – The Home Office grants Operation Grange an extra £85,000 to continue from April until September
September 28, 2017 – British police are granted £154,000 to keep the probe going until March 2018
November 2017 – Cops moved the search to Bulgaria
May 2018 – Another round of funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
September 2018 – An extra six months of funding is requested from the Home Office
November 2018 – More funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
November 2018 – UK police re-examine a theory Madeleine left the apartment to look for her parents
June 2019 – Another round of funding, believed to be £300,000 of government cash is granted
June 2019 – Portuguese police are probing a “new clue and suspect” after talks with British officers
June 2020 – New prime suspect revealed as a German paedo Christian Brueckner
April 2022 – Brueckner formally made an “arguido”
May 2023 – Police search remote Algarve reservoir Brueckner called his “little paradise”
Dan Charity
Dan Charity
English (US)