Main suspect in Maddie case for five crimes: Christian B. is said to have tied up, whipped and raped his victims

class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>

The noose tightens around little Maddie’s alleged kidnapper and murderer. From Friday, the main suspect, German Christian B.* (47), will appear before the regional court in Braunschweig, Germany. It is not about Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 and was probably murdered. Nevertheless, the trial could become a preliminary decision for a possible prosecution in the previously unsolved missing persons case. Because the witnesses in the current trial also play an important role in the Maddie case.

The current indictment: The Braunschweig Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses Christian B. of three counts of serious rape and two counts of child sexual abuse. His victims: girls and women between the ages of 10 and about 80. The German is said to have committed the alleged offenses in Portugal between December 2000 and June 2017. There are 29 days of negotiations planned for the sample process. The indictment is more than 100 pages long. Blick is on site and reports live from the courtroom.

Victims remained unknown

For the first two cases, the indictment does not mention the exact time of the crime, only a period from 2000 to 2006. The victims are also unknown. Christian B. is said to have filmed his actions himself: In the first case, Christian B. surprised an elderly lady in her bedroom while wearing a mask. There he tied her up, whipped her and raped her. In the second case, he allegedly tied a German-speaking teenager to a wooden post. He beat her and forced her to perform oral sex.

According to the indictment, B. surprised his third victim in her apartment in June 2004 with a knife and wearing a mask. He raped, gagged and tied up the 20-year-old Irish woman. He then beat her and also forced her to perform oral sex. B. would also have filmed this act. Three years later, he masturbated on a beach in front of a ten-year-old and forced her to look at him. The German allegedly masturbated in the presence of an eleven-year-old on the playground in 2017, according to the indictment. The Public Prosecution Service has little evidence.

Prime suspect in the Maddie case

Precisely because evidence is scarce, witnesses play an even more important role. Above all, Helge B.*, a former friend of Christian B. The drunken Christian B. is said to have told him at a festival in 2008 that Maddie “didn’t scream”. Although he reported this to investigators in 2008, according to the key witness, there was no response to his tip until 2017. Together with Manfred S.*, the second witness, he stole a video camera from the alleged Maddie killer – on which Christian B. filmed how he raped several women and a girl. The only problem: the proof could never be found. And the witnesses changed their statements several times.

Christian B. is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence – for, among other things, serious rape. In September 2005, Christian B. attacked a then 72-year-old American woman in her home in Praia da Luz. He threatened the woman with a scimitar, tied her up and raped her. He then forced his victim to hand over money. Here too, Helge B. was one of the witnesses. However, DNA evidence was also present in this case. Now B. has to appear in court again for similar violations.

Maddie, then three years old, disappeared from a holiday apartment in the Portuguese seaside resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007. The municipality is located in the Algarve region. There has been no trace of the British woman since.

Christian B. is repeatedly linked to her kidnapping based on witness statements and tips. The German also lived in the region where Maddie disappeared at the time. It also bears similarities to a previously created phantom image. But the chain of evidence is not closed – and the presumption of innocence applies.

Who is Christian B.?

According to ‘Bild’, Christian B. and his brother come from a difficult background. The mother had difficulty raising children, youth care had to intervene and the two boys were placed in a foster family. There the two were said to have been severely beaten – for example with whipping – and shouted. Afterwards, Christian B. was placed in a home.

According to media reports, Christian B. had been in trouble with the law since his youth: in 1994 – at the age of 17 – he sexually assaulted a child for the first time and was sentenced to two years in juvenile detention.

*Names changed

Source: Blick