Braunschweig – Helge B. (52) is considered the most important witness in the Madeleine McCann case – one of the most spectacular missing person cases in the world. But suddenly the bad suspicion arises: he is said to have lied!
Now Helge B. is threatened with proceedings for “unsworn false statements”. The Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office is examining an initial suspicion, reports “Spiegel”.
Review: Madeleine “Maddie” McCann (3) disappeared from her family’s apartment in 2007 at a resort in Praia da Luz (Portugal) when her parents were having dinner at a restaurant. To this day there is no trace of the girl.
The main suspect in the missing person case is the German Christian Brückner (46). He is currently serving a sentence in Germany seven year prison sentence for rape. He denies having anything to do with Maddie’s disappearance.
Christian Brückner (46) is considered the main suspect in the missing Madeleine McCann case
Helge B. and Brückner have known each other for many years and met in Portugal. B. put the investigators on Brückner’s trail. He testified that Brückner admitted to him that he had something to do with Maddie’s disappearance of the girl.
And: Helge B. told the investigators about video cassettes that he claims to have stolen from Brückner. One shows Brückner whipping and raping an older woman. In another, Brückner can be seen with a naked, tied girl about 13 years old, who he is making fun of.
Suddenly the witness changes his statement!
B. told investigators that he had hidden the videotapes in a trailer. Also as BILD in June 2023 met the world’s first interview, he said: “When I later left Portugal, I left the videos in my caravan.”
But: The investigators were never able to find either the video cassettes or the caravan! Now it has become known: In January 2023, Helge B’s lawyer suddenly changed his statement about the video cassettes! Accordingly, B. did not leave the cassettes in a caravan, but in a finca where he used to live.
World exclusive at BILD “Brückner told me: She didn’t scream!”
Because of this contradiction, B. has now been reported by Brückner’s lawyer Friedrich Fülscher. The lawyer believes B. is not credible as a witness and tells BILD: “The public prosecutor’s office should have initiated an official investigation as soon as these circumstances became known. “We are far beyond initial suspicion here.”
Helge B. also reported on the videotapes in the rape trial, at the end of which Brückner was sentenced to seven years in prison. That’s why Brückner’s lawyer now applied for a stay in custody for his client and a resumption of the rape case.
B’s new statement about the whereabouts of the video recordings surprised the investigators at the Federal Criminal Police Office. That’s why, according to information from “Spiegel”, they questioned him again. They informed him that he could be prosecuted for “unsworn false statements.” B. is then said to have stopped the interrogation after consulting his lawyer.
The public prosecutor’s office also relies on B’s statement about the video cassettes in a current indictment against Brückner. It concerns several sexual crimes: the alleged rape of the Irish woman Hazel Behan in Portugal, two cases of alleged child abuse and other rapes of senior women that are said to be seen on the videotapes.
How are the investigators now dealing with Helge B’s statements about the videotapes? Is he credible or is he lying? Completely unclear!
The Maddie McCann case remains mysterious.