crime
Trial day against Maddie suspect ends abruptly
The presiding judge Uta Engemann (M.) with the judges Timo Schmidt (l.) and Anke Hesse (r) in the courtroom at the start of the trial. photo
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
Christian B. is on trial for five sexual crimes. The 47-year-old is also suspected of murdering British woman Maddie in 2007. But surprisingly, the charges were not read out.
The 47-year-old has been under investigation for years on suspicion of murder in the case of little Maddie, who disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007, as it surprisingly became public knowledge in June 2020. The then three-year-old British girl was kidnapped from an apartment in the Algarve. German investigators believe Madeleine McCann is dead, although a body has never been found.
Current trial not directly related to Maddie case
However, the trial that has started at the Braunschweig Regional Court is not about Maddie’s case. It is responsible because Christian B., who has already been convicted several times, had his last place of residence in the Lower Saxony city. At the end of 2019, the Würzburg native was convicted of raping an elderly woman in Braunschweig. The crime scene in 2005 was Praia da Luz – exactly the place where little Maddie disappeared two years later. The man is now on trial for three counts of rape and two counts of child sexual abuse. He is said to have committed the crimes in Portugal between the end of 2000 and June 2017.
While the 2019 rape trial against B. went almost unnoticed by the public, journalists were already lining up in front of the courthouse before seven o’clock. They had to undergo strict security checks, which is why the trial started with a delay.
It is the first time that Christian B., who has a multiple criminal record, is seen publicly as a suspect in the Maddie case. The 47-year-old was led into the courtroom in handcuffs, wearing a lilac shirt with white stripes and a light gray jacket. The dark-blond, slim man did not hide his face and appeared composed. He took a seat between his four defenders. “The long solitary confinement is taking its toll on him, we saw a marked person today,” said defense attorney Friedrich Fülscher later.
Application for bias against lay judge because of social media post
After the lay judges were sworn in, defense attorney Fülscher filed a motion for bias against a female lay judge right at the beginning of the trial. He read out a social media post that had been sent from an account with the name of the honorary judge. The post in English calls for the killing of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Christian B’s lawyer said such a lay judge had no place in a constitutional procedure. The presiding judge Uta Inse Engemann announced a 40-minute break in the hearing.
After the break in deliberations, the public prosecutor’s office agreed to the motion for bias. “The statements are outside our legal system,” said senior public prosecutor Ute Lindemann about the honorary judge’s post. A call for murder and manslaughter is something “we will not tolerate here”. It is being examined whether criminal proceedings will be initiated against the lay judge. The co-plaintiff also joined the application.
“I can’t wait to look my tormentor in the eyes”
The trial against Christian B. is scheduled to continue next week with the decision on the application for bias. Then the more than 100-page indictment could be read out. The defendant is said to have surprised and raped an unknown 70 to 80-year-old woman in the bedroom of her Portuguese holiday apartment and filmed it.
He is also said to have brutally raped a 20-year-old woman from Ireland in Praia da Rocha in 2004. In addition to Maddie’s disappearance, the Irish woman’s case has also been a recurring topic in the Irish and British media in recent years. The Daily Mail newspaper quoted the woman as saying: “I can’t wait to look my tormentor in the eyes and see him in court.” According to the public prosecutor’s office, the Irish woman will be heard as a witness during the trial.
In both cases, the masked attacker is said to have tied up the women and beat them with a whip. According to the public prosecutor’s office, a German-speaking teenager, who also remained unknown, tied Christian B. to a wooden post in a living room, beat him and forced him to perform oral sex.
29 days of trial are scheduled for the circumstantial evidence trial. The verdict would therefore be pronounced at the end of June. When asked about his further strategy, defense attorney Fülscher referred to the next meetings. “It doesn’t get any more boring.”