Madeleine McCann

The best friend of Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner has dramatically claimed “I know he did it.”

Michael Tatschl lived with the German paedophile in Praia da Luz, where Madeleine vanished. He said: “He was a pervert and more than capable of snatching a child for sexual kicks or money.”

We can reveal that Austrian drifter Mr Tatschl was grilled last year by German and Austrian police investigating Madeleine’s disappearance.

He reportedly told them how his pal bragged about burgling rich tourists’ holiday apartments

Mr Tatschl, 46, claimed that Brueckner, 43, also boasted about “selling kids” – although there as been no evidence found of this so far – and he fears Madeleine was sold to a sex ring.

He claimed: “He was always bragging about money and making money. He even talked about selling kids, maybe to Morocco.

“I think he probably sold Maddie to someone. Maybe a sex ring. I was living with him at the time. He was my best friend. I know he did it.”

Mr Tatschl claimed that Brueckner was obsessed with the dark web and suspects he used it to deal in pornography and drugs.

He also claimed Brueckner had a secret spot in his home in Praia da Lux where he kept stolen loot.

Mr Tatschl’s name emerged last week after Portuguese authorities granted access to Brueckner’s court records.

They showed Brueckner was locked up on remand with Mr Tatschl after they were caught stealing diesel from lorries.

Mr Tatschl, a dad of one who is now back in his native Austria, said he expects an arrest is “imminent” in Madeleine’s case.

In his first ever media interview, he described Brueckner as a “strange character”.

He said: “He was definitely a pervert. All his friends thought that about him. He had some sexual issues.

"I really hope they can finally close this case for the family and find Christian guilty for what he has done. He needs to admit it to the police.”

Brueckner befriended Mr Tatschl in late 2005. Mr Tatschl began living with him in early 2006 at his farmhouse in Praia da Luz, Algarve, which Brueckner shared with his German girlfriend.

Mr Tatschl said: “I was staying at his house and camping in a van in the garden. We spent a lot of time together and had good fun. He did not take drugs at the time but liked to have a drink.”

Mr Tatschl claimed that Brueckner bragged about regularly robbing holiday flats.

He alleged: “He was a very good burglar and would easily climb up to first-floor apartments when tourists were out.

"He would steal money, valuables and passports. He had a hiding place in his house, in the roof. He had the money and passports hidden up there."

He added: “Christian was always on the dark web. I don’t know exactly what he did but I suspect it involved drugs and pornography.”

Mr Tatschl said he was “sucked in” to Brueckner’s life of crime.

In April 2006, the pair were caught by police stealing diesel from two lorries in Portimao, Algarve. They spent over eight months on remand in jail awaiting trial.

Mr Tatschl claimed that while they were in jail, Brueckner got a pal to clear his home of the alleged stolen loot.

He claimed: “He ordered a friend to get rid of any evidence of burglaries or robberies. But this guy and another friend ended up robbing the house and took all the valuables and money.

“They also got a video camera from the house, which was how I found out he was a sick b*****d.

"On that camera was a video of him raping an old woman. It was of this elderly lady who was chained to a wooden post and she was being beaten and raped.”

It is not believed that the woman in the video was the American pensioner Brueckner was later convicted of raping and is currently serving jail time for in Germany.

After Brueckner’s release from prison, he stayed in Praia da Luz, living in the VW Westfalia van that police later seized.

Mr Tatschl said: “I think that confused the police as they were not sure where he was living exactly when Maddie vanished. But he had his van and was living free.”

Mr Tatschl moved to the hippy enclave of Orgiva in Andalusia, Spain, in April 2007, weeks before Madeleine, three, vanished on May 3.

He said Brueckner turned up in “late May or early June” driving a Tiffin Allegro winnebago. It was in this vehicle that police found a stash of girls’ swimming costumes in 2016.

Brueckner also allegedly bragged he could hide “drugs and children” inside the 30ft-long van.

Mr Tatschl said: “He parked it up in Orgiva and came looking for me.

“We all wondered where he’d got the money from? It was a big expensive thing. We assumed it was from a big drug deal or something like that. Now I suspect it was Maddie.

“He was only there for a couple of days and went on back to Germany. Mr Tatschl lost touch with Brueckner and returned to his native Austria several years ago to start a family.

It was while watching last year’s Netflix series The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann that he became convinced his friend was responsible.

He claimed: “When I saw the documentary I knew immediately that he was guilty.

"The part where the female tourist talked about the creepy guy with acne and blond hair, I just knew it was Christian for sure.”

Within weeks of the series airing, German and Austrian police knocked on Mr Tatschl’s door. He was interviewed by detectives over two days in April 2019.

He said: “They were very clear. They said, ‘We are investigating Maddie McCann and Christian Brueckner’.

“I was convinced it was him. I spent 14 hours talking about my time with Christian and what I knew about him.”

“I was sure it was him the minute the police came to find me.”

Asked why he did not contact police himself, he replied: “Perhaps I should have, but I don’t like the police very much.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/madeleine-mccann-suspects-best-friend-22230250

Post office back open.

Will a letter arrive.

limnam wrote: »

A lot of people struggle to imagine how it was done.

But with so much wrong in the case they remain open to it being anyone including the McCanns.

Some allow their lack of imagination to re-reinforce their innocence and defend them at all costs.

It's a divisive case.

Lack of imagination, lol. I'll take a common sense approach to established events over imagination before jumping to accuse someone of manslaughter any day.

Some posters have so much 'imagination', they're willing to believe the theories of a woman who suggests they may have carried their dead, mummified daughter home in their suitcase because they're so stuck on believing the parent's guilt.

No one can come up with a credible theory, because logistically, it would be almost impossible to do. That's the problem with the accusation, not a 'lack of imagination'. I may imagine aliens came down and took Madeleine, that's imagination. I prefer to stick to probable rather than fantastical, though....

allegedly Bruckener stole e32,000 worth of valuables to fund a drug deal with this ‘Julia’ they are now hunting. I can’t imagine how many burgalaries and peoples safety in their homes ruined because of all of these crimes - we are far too soft on so called ‘minor’ crimes. Germans had the right idea - lock him up for 8 months while awaiting trial as he was a danger to society. God knows how many victims of his predatory behaviour they saved with that.

Reading this morning of the alleged terrorist who ‘allegedly’ stabbed and killed 3 people in that park in the UK - another violent criminal with a history of crime, psycopathic rages, threats and knife crime - let out early half way through his sentence despite social workers and probation saying he was violent and unpredictable and they could not monitor properly control him.

As with the predatory paedophiles and lifelong criminals the like of B. one has to start asking why is the soft agenda on sexual predators and convicted criminals and at what point is the like of the Australian approach going to be taken - where people are convicted and locked up for LIFE for their crimes and NOT let out early, and the good of the public is considered in sentencing alongside their past crime history which is not used to excuse them as it is in Ireland but to weigh their sentences (harder) based on their likliehood of reoffending and cause harm to innocent others and the public good.

we have all the technology and software we need - we need as a community to stop allowing our politicians to shrug off their responsibilities to the innocent , to victims and to the public and to stop making crime a lifestyle choice that rewards and pays lifelong dividends.

So long as the soft bleeding heart left approach to crime and violence continues we will have violent predators and monsters stalking our streets and communities - just like this guy B. and his criminal croonies.

cnocbui wrote: »

A perpetually stuck record accusing others of lack of imagination. :rolleyes:

Wouldn't need to if there wasn't people condoning leaving 3 kids on their own in an unlocked apartment while they go off on the vino.

SusieBlue wrote: »

Where are those posts, can you quote them?

cnocbui will tell you himself.


You can search his posts.

cnocbui wrote: »

You condoned it yourself.

SusieBlue wrote: »

Where are those posts, can you quote them?

There is one, mine. I don't have a problem with the McCann's actions at the time. So there is one person; but only one.

limnam wrote: »

You condoned it yourself.

Which, as you know very well, I have confirmed on every occasion. I'm still waiting for you to condemn me for letting my daughter climb trees and for taking my kids skiing, knowing full well that both could have resulted in death or serious injury. And it's lest.

cnocbui wrote: »

Which, as you know very well, I have confirmed on every occasion. I'm still waiting for you to condemn me for letting my daughter climb trees and for taking my kids skiing, knowing full well that both could have resulted in death or serious injury. And it's lest.

where we you while she was climbing a tree or skiing.

SusieBlue wrote: »

I read that post and took it in a completely different context to you.

Is that one ambiguous post with a person you’ve never ever agreed with on this topic really the reason that this point is brought up by yourself and others every 4/5 posts?
What’s the excuse for relentlessly bringing it up prior to when what post was made?

I have never seen anyone on this thread nor on any other thread for that matter say that leaving the kids alone was perfectly ok & acceptable and that they’d do the exact same thing themselves with their own children.

Which is what leads me to the opinion that bringing up the fact that that they shouldn’t have left the kids unsupervised is just the default position when anyone points out the glaring holes & impossibilities in the theory of the McCanns being responsible.

It’s just virtue signalling to distract from the fact that there is no way they could have done it.
Not one person has been able to come up with a rational explanation on how they might have carried out this criminally masterminded plan, and yet any time this is pointed out, yourself and others revert back to the ‘but the kids shouldn’t have been left alone’ line of conversation.
It’s so transparent to everyone.

th problem is that lots of people think it was ok and say things like 'lots of people did it', 'they thought it was ok' and give examples of things they did at home in their own homes as a way to trivialise it. anything other than total condemnation of them is unaceptable.



just because no one can give a definitive(or even half plausable) time line of how they could have done it doesnt mean that they didnt.
my mother watchs a lot of true crime documentries where they do the time line of it. some of the crimes and ways they covered it up are crazy and totally off the wall. a lot of times they were caught by shear luck and coincidence that the police looked at it a certain way.

Not that bad really, they were checking on them. Not too far away.

If the kid was kidnapped it was the kidnappers fault.

Dont forget if it was kidnapping, someone was going to get napped instead of Madeline that was napping. Nap

the_pen_turner wrote: »

th problem is that lots of people think it was ok and say things like 'lots of people did it', 'they thought it was ok' and give examples of things they did at home in their own homes as a way to trivialise it. anything other than total condemnation of them is unaceptable.



just because no one can give a definitive(or even half plausable) time line of how they could have done it doesnt mean that they didnt.
my mother watchs a lot of true crime documentries where they do the time line of it. some of the crimes and ways they covered it up are crazy and totally off the wall. a lot of times they were caught by shear luck and coincidence that the police looked at it a certain way.

But that is true, lots of people did do it and they did think it was safe. That’s not justifying it or excusing, that’s stating facts. That doesn’t negate from the fact that they shouldn’t have left the children but it does explain WHY they did it.
It wasn’t an uncommon thing to do, and they arrogantly assumed it was safe. They are now paying the ultimate, highest price for that arrogance.

I don’t see why utter and total condemnation is required every couple of posts when it’s pretty much universally agreed that they were in the wrong.

This comes up time and time again, I’m not looking for a minute by minute account of what went down. I’m just wondering roughly how you’d fit all that into 2.5 hours (90mins if you include Gerry’s tennis lesson).

If there being no evidence of something is a qualifying standard for making outlandish claims & baseless claims with nothing to back them up, I don’t see why we aren’t perusing the possibility that Madeleine was abducted by aliens.
I mean, there’s no evidence she wasn’t. So it’s obviously a possibility.